So, I finished season two of Dead End Paranormal Park and am angry, however, not for anything that happened in the show but outside of it. This is because, though the second season was amazing, with many great episodes and, in fact, my favorite episode of the entire series, the ending left very little answered or completed. This wouldn’t normally be an issue, at least not an unpleasant one. I love a good cliffhanger. But, after a quick Google search, I learned that the series would never conclude, at least in animated form; the show was canceled!
Let’s be clear, the only reason I’m so mad about this is that the series as a whole, but especially the second season, was EXCELLENT. There was so much great character development and progression in the story, the action got better (and more abundant, especially at the end), and there was SO MUCH at the end that will never be concluded. I will never be able to finish it! I NEEDED to know, and unless I find some way to read the comics, I never will. So, before continuing to read this review, and especially before continuing the show, I highly recommend that either you are prepared to watch a show without a conclusive ending or have some way of reading the source material, so you can finish the story after watching the show. This way, you won’t be as frustrated as I currently am.
Onto more positive things, though; man, did the story go crazy this season! I don’t want to summarize it because it will be full of spoilers, but I will mention some early-season highlights. The first of these is introducing a new character, Fingers, played by Jamie Demetriou. He’s an angel shaped like a hand whose goal is to teach Pugsley how to use his magic powers. Since Temeluchus left his body last season, it isn’t as easy for Pugsley to use his demon abilities. Aside from the ability to talk and his higher intelligence, at first, Pugsley isn’t even sure he even has powers. However, he realizes he still has them, and when Fingers appears, despite Barney’s misgivings, he asks Fingers to teach him how to use his powers. Without major spoilers, let’s say Barney isn’t entirely wrong about this new character.
There aren’t many new characters, at least not many I can talk about without ruining the season, but there is an older character I’d like to talk about. I’ll be honest and say that by the time I realized I hadn’t mentioned her in my review of the last season, I couldn’t figure out where to put her to make things flow. However, after finishing the second season, I’m delighted I didn’t talk about her because she played a much more significant part in this section of the story than the last. I’m, of course, talking about Badyah “Deathslide” Hassan, played by Kathreen Khavari. Judging by the fact that she wears a hijab, she is a 17 to 18-year-old Muslim girl who is very social and is good friends with Norma. In fact, in this season, some of my favorite scenes and episodes revolve around her, at least in part. Badyah’s relationship with Norma and how it changes throughout this season is one of the best things about this season to me. Without ruining how it goes down, Norma realizes she has feelings for Badyah, and after she confesses them to Badyah, their dynamic changes.
Along with this, the immediate aftermath of Norma’s reveal leads to, in my opinion, one of the best episodes of the whole series. It’s unique and, because of what comes after, leads to some exciting
Another couple we didn’t get enough of was, of course, Barney and Logs. What we do get in this season, however, is fantastic. The highlight is an episode in which Barney’s family, sans grandma, come to the park for dinner, where they will officially meet Logs, and he will get to meet the rest of the Guttmans. Dead, End both the park and show, being what they are, everything does not go as Barney expects to, with shenanigans caused by both his friends and a surprise guest happening. Despite all of it, however, everyone gets along, and the first meeting, though strange, goes well. It also leads to a very sweet moment between Barney and Logs, and the two of them become closer. Now, this is not the only bit of Barney and Logs that we get (thankfully), but it is a great episode all around. Lastly, as a side note, I love the title, “Eat the Parents.” I love title puns! Very nice writers.
Lastly, the last thing the writers did right was the ending. Though the conclusion of the show wasn’t what I wanted, everything that came before, especially in the last two episodes, was great. There was a lot more action than normal, which was very nice to look at, we got to go to a new plane, and we even got an answer to a question that was asked forever ago, back in season one. I was SO HAPPY to get a solid and satisfying conclusion to that section of the story. Even with everything, at least we got that. Though I won’t spoil them, there were many things that were concluded. The issue was that there were also more questions asked after which never got and (at least in the show) never will be answered. If this weren’t the last season, I’d love how the second one concluded, and, for those of you who can read the original work, you may be able to feel differently once you finished reading the comics, but that is not the case for me.
As I’ve stated, this season, and the entire show, is not meant for those who cannot handle watching something that, unless they’re going to read the source material, will not have a satisfying ending. This is not to downgrade what the show doesn’t have because what it does have, it does very well. I love all the representation, The magic works well, and the world is impeccable. I love the story. It all comes together very well, especially when you factor in how they got to cast that represents the character, mainly with Zach, who plays Barney, as he is also trans. These types of things matter in media. It’s most likely already happened, but if it hasn’t, I know someone someday will watch this show and feel the scene. They will be able to connect to the show as a whole, or at least one of the characters, and find something they weren’t finding in their day-to-day life, and mainly something very important. That’s what happened to me when I met Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender. I hope, even with the ending being what it is, that this happens for someone, and if you think it might be you or someone you love, or if you or the person would enjoy the show because it’s a good show, I recommend more, just be sure to warn them first.
