The Darkest Season!!!: Moral Orel Retrospective: Season 3 

Hey guys i really hope you like the video let me know if you like the new animation style or if you prefer the style i did with the second part of the review. I hope this review had some of you guys go back and check out this series again. It always deserves a look and deserves to be remembered in my opinion. I hope to see you guys next time!

I love that in the final scene of the show you can see pictures of Orel's family hanging on the wall, it's a relief to see that after all he's been thorugh he didn't become hateful and broken like his parents

I was hoping you’d mention Shapey a little more. The scene where he actually talks and tells Bloberta “Mommy, when I’m thirsty, it feels how I feel when I’m alone”, just hits me hard.

That payoff ending showing that Orel escaped the cycle of abuse and went on to have happy family with Christina was such a beautiful moment. I just imagine how much more satisfying it would have been if we had a full season 3 plus the 2 more seasons originally intended. All that extra story and character development would have been amazing and would have truly cemented this show as one of the best shows Adult Swim has ever aired. Instead the bombshell is revealed to the family that Clay was actually a repressed gay man and cheating with Stopframe, and then it just ends.... Its really a tragedy this show never got to tell its whole story. As dark and surreal as it could be it really touched on difficult subject matters with brilliant writing in a way I've seen few shows do. When I first saw the show when it was on the air I didn't quite get it as I was a bit younger and just kinda laughed at the ridiculous comedic moments but I didn't get the deeper themes so I semi forgot about it. Recently my friend listed it as one of his top 5 favorite shows of all time and so I went back and rewatched it and I'm glad I did, its a fantastic forgotten gem of a series.

On the note of Orel becoming a church in Grounded, this is one of my favorite metaphors ever. Similar to when he learns about Buddhism, the idea that he IS a church is essentially the revelation that you don't NEED to go to church to love God. You can bring church wherever you go. You can be worshipping the lord while eating breakfast, driving to work, going fishing, making love to your partner, etc. But at the end when Clay is beating Orel you see shots of him as the church, and with each smack he slowly recedes back into the church. Symbolising the repression of thie notion that he is his own person who can be spiritual without the need for a religion or dogma.

i absolutely adore this show. it was pivotal in my young atheist faze when it came to accepting that spirituality isnt bad in itself, and not to hate people who were ignorant. this show is great btw, 100 percent 10/10

Closeface was always my favorite episode. It just felt nice after all the darkness.

Nurse Bendy's episode, specifically, sparked my interest in psychology because her manic regression is just... It breaks my heart because the /fuck/ did that poor woman have to go through. She unpacks so much and honestly, the ending sequence of that arc in particular is just.... Rough.

Sacrifice is my favorite episode of the series, alongside Honor and Nature

I feel like it could have been on Game of Thrones/Breaking Bad/Bojack territory if it aired on something like HBO and was given more freedom.

I never thought clays beatings were him showing Orel a weird way of love I thought that clay never knew how to be a dad. He didn’t know what it meant. He was a very weird mamas boy and then when it was just him and his dad, his dad pretty much resented him. He never knew the real point of the father son trip because he never went on it. His dad more than likely supported him financially, had a study, and so on and so forth. So clay became a very superficial dad. Only doing this on the surface and but never truly loving his son like a dad should.

I can remember the night I saw my first moral oral episode. It was 3am and I just got finished watching robot chicken but then no children started blaring on the screen and I watched numb. Holy shit. I will never forget the feelings I felt watching Bloberta cry then quickly turn away as she notices Clay. Legendary song and a legendary show.

Man, I love this show. When I first heard about it years ago, I thought it sounded horribly crude and disrespectful, like it was mindless hatred against Christianity. Then I found out the entire series was on Adult Swim's website and curiosity got the better of me (or I'm just a sucker for stop-motion animation). I watched it all and loved it, and realized it wasn't really anti-Christian so much as anti-hypocrisy. It was nuanced in its commentary. I wanted more (and still do). This was back around 2014 or so. I ended up watching it again 2 more times within a few months. Finally a year or two ago I rewatched it again on Hulu. This series is funny, tragic, touching, and hard-hitting. No matter how many times I watch it, it doesn't seem to lose its impact. Adult Swim's greatest sin was canceling Moral Orel too soon. The one thing I hate about this show is that there are no more episodes. After Beforel Orel, I wish they'd given the creators one more special to properly bring everything to a close. But at least we got Frankenhole. And now, from the creator of Xavier: Renegade Angel, we have The Shivering Truth. I guess I do have a weakness for stop-motion.

Even tho I’m not Christian, the fact that oral is still able to keep his faith in god (as seen in a clip in the episode “honor” u can see him as an adult in his house with a cross on the wall) honestly that’s a powerful message. After all the crap he went through I’m glad he was still able to find confort in his religion even tho I’m not part of that religion.

Honestly the most insightful show, that surface level personalities harbor such dark and destructive characters, tbh orel was mostly a medium to tell the story of moralton.

writing staff did confirm it only got rid of one twin

I love that you put the final scene of the show and how the pictures in the background really show that all 3 boys grew up happy. I do wish we could have seen a little more character development for shapey. I always saw his actions as a cry for attention due to being neglected, especially when he went up to his mom and expressed how his thirst for her milk really makes him feel.

I’m S3 E4, they did feature Orel in some way. He was on Reverend Putty’s radio show at the very beginning of the episode.

What do you mean episode 7 is where they show Bloberta isn't just a victim? She's been abusive to BlockyShaky, Moral, and Clay the entire series, and she's manipulated, lied to, and cheated on Clay the entire series. Every episode where she's present she's not just a victim. Yeah, Clay is an abusive asshole, but that cruelty, hatred, neglect, and abuse is far from onesided. He's awful but he's just as undeserving of it as Bloberta.

did you notice that in the episode about joe and nurse bendy realize each other's familial significance "hubby" bear is tied up when we see him in the background of scene's taking place within nurse bendy's apartment. presumably this is to keep hubby from ever falling on her in a "proactive" (to borrow your term) position again.

This whole season was a wonderfully complex piece of art. Sundays was one of the one's that hit me hard. One of my favorite exchanges from Honor is "Coach, you like my dad the way my mom likes my dad don't you..." "Your mom likes your dad?"

When I first watched the grounded from church episode when he had those disturbing visions, I was like WHAT THE HELL did I just watch 😳 the episode alone was disturbing too but going back to that one was crazy. I always wondered if that was god supposedly or if he was having a near death experience 🤔

Thank you. Moral Orel is probably my favorite animated adult show and even before watching the third part I must say thank you. I love the few video essays and reviews about this show and yours are really good. Love you man. Thank you.

Episode 6 "Dumb" is my favourite of the series. Hands-down the funniest and the most complete in its emotional arc. Plus they brilliantly use a cover of The New Pornographers's "Fail Safe" by The Choir Practice. And a rare happy ending.

I remember when season 3 aired they had Dino and one of the Adult Swim people introducing each episode and then saying “Alone” was the final nail in the coffin. My boyfriend at the time and I both said “So this is going to be darker than Numb?!” Season 3 was my favorite of the 3, using The Mountain Goats was absolutely perfect, and I genuinely got choked up at the end. I was so thankful Orel got a happy ending.

it's always abortion that gets a show in trouble. family guy had an abortion episode so bad they had to turn it into a spoken word performance.

If I'm gonna be honest, Miss Censordoll is my favourite character from this show (aside from Orel, and maybe Coach Stopframe) because of the Alone episode. It took what seemed like a very typical self-righteous villain character and actually gave her a pretty dark backstory that seems to make everything make sense, and actually made her out to be a lot more creepy. ((also she had a few good lines as well, and I just enjoy the voice performance overall))

This series was important to healing from my Christian childhood. But, I miss A LOT of social cues. So this discussion video helped me understand what was happening [e.g. I had no clue that was adult Orel at the end]. So, I thank you for this review, so I know exactly why my eyes are all sweaty.

This show kinda hits too real for me considering I'm dealing with a very verbally abusive stepmom who treats me like a piece of shit that's lower than humans

I feel as if the dog orel and his family have in the final scene represents, orel not allowing religion to completely dictate his actions, as opposed to his family and the towns folk of moralton, becuase of barthowlemew

Great video! I feel it's worth mentioning though that the creator was unaware that the show would be cancelled until they were already during production and that the heads at Adult Swim cut the episode order in half, explaining its rushed conclusion. I'd love to see you review Beforel Orel, however, which provides a lot of insight into Orel's beginnings.

still got the lost episode and the before orel special

Recently got into Moral Orel and loved it so much I watched all of it in under a week lol. Although I was a tad lost on some of the intricacies of the scenes, I was still loving the series and it has now become a favourite of mine. Thank you for making this video series. You have a very clear and concise way of explaining things, and now I can understand even a little bit more about the show. Thank you. :)

The episode "Alone" was so dark it literally killed the series and forced it into an early cancellation

I appreciate that you’ve gone through the entire series like this. As a teenager this was always one of my favorite shows and it truly moved me with how deep it got the more it went on. This is such an overlooked and powerful show with an amazing animation style, more people really need to watch moral orel

It’s pretty cool that Orel’s kids resembled his mom and dad

Me when a favorite show airs it's finally or final episode: "Welp time to read/write fan-fiction and tie up loose ends with crazy theories" But yeah how dark could the show have gotten if it continue...as I want to make a comparison with the dad from this show with the Aunt from Happy Sugar Life. Anyways, awesome new animation style for this episode since it helps boost emotional cues.

Wow this show was really something. It could have gotten a lot more appreciation had it aired today.

I love that final episode so much, it makes me happy that Orel made it out of the cycle

This is really sad. I almost don't want to watch it, but I still will when I have the time.

You were one of the first creators to make a popular video on this show man. When your video came out there was barely anything on Moral Orel on RU-vid and all the videos had little views. You popularized this subject so much bro you were way ahead of the curve. I hope to see you back at it making videos soon.

Thanks for covering Moral Orel you did a great job, it's one of my favorite shows & saddened that it abruptly ended prematurely!

Dude this was an amazing 3 part series! Good shit

I know that both Clay and Bloberta are both deeply flawed, damaged characters..But I find it hard to feel any sympathy for them in how their wounds are mostly self-inflicted. Clay takes out his misery, self-hatred and anger out on Orel, showing no empathy or guilt over shooting him (him being in denial goes out the window when he gleefully tells Orel "I'm GLAD I shot you!") later on. Much as he is suffering and forced to hide who he truly is, he always had the choice to be treat his family better..And he willingly neglects and harms them. Much the same with Bloberta. She took advantage of Clay and trapped him in a marriage neither of them was ready for. She goes on to deny him any warmth or compassion despite willingly marrying him and being fully aware of what a horrible person he is. She chooses to have an affair that results in Shapey and drives the rift between her and Clay even deeper. They're both truly horrible, selfish and wicked people who deserve the misery they mired themselves in. Tragic pasts or not, they could have made the most of it..But chose not to.

This show genuinely made me feel more than almost all of the animated projects I have seen, this final season tackles topics I never imagined I would see critiqued on tv, If any of you haven’t seen Don Hertzfeldt’s, It’s Such A Beautiful Day, it is the only other piece of animated film I know of that has impacted me like this. I would love to see an analysis on it if you ever get around to it Stuffy! Proud to see your videos improving with each new installment.

The fact Orel broke the cycle of his father and his father's father abuse on their child. Lives up to the morals they supposedly valued, in truth that kindness and hope can be salvaged from a pit of dispair.

Great video! This retrospective introduced me to you. Can't wait to see what else you come out with.

I like the ending even better when you think about the fact that Christina was in the exact same situation as Orel. Sure, we didn't get to see exactly what her life was like and maybe her parents stories were a little different, but it was implied that her family was a carbon copy of Orel's, give or take. So, to see her also escape the cycle of abuse along with Orel and them both finding happiness with their family warms my heart. Two people who were severely traumatized found happiness in each other and their family, it is possible. And I love how Beforel Orel talks about his Grandpa and how he's not a bad guy. He tried to teach Orel good lessons, but he was too young and impressionable to understand. I really wish we could've seen Orel talk to his grandpa after the hunting trip because his father wouldn't be in the way anymore. Actually, now that I think about it, that most likely happened. Orel may have reached out to his grandpa and learned the upbringing of his dad. This could've brought him to forgive his dad for how he treated him. Not justify it, but give him a reason to forgive and most past him. Which is why he still has a picture of him in his house. Also maybe as a reminder so he doesn't repeat the abuse

Alone was one of my personal favorite episodes of Moral Orel. The fact that they even produced this show and gave an in-depth dive into the dark themes is something I really needed. I really wish this wasn’t dubbed as the episode too dark and got it canceled bc I feel like it’s real life. we need more shows like that depicting real life in all its aspect.

Saw this series for the first time 2 weeks ago. I was amazed at this brilliant series. I wish that they made 5 season.

This was a great retrospective - from a new subscriber. (Also love the style)

Jeez, just beautiful. Great stuff man

I'm so happy that others are realizing the majesty and powerful show that is Moral Orel. I sincerely enjoyed all three of your parts. Though you did miss some (in my opinion) crucial parts but I bet you were pressed for time.

Bloberta and Clay have the worst kind of relationship. They both started as decent-ish people but they made each other into worse people.

Alone is the one episode that I cannot get out of my head, sure the rest of the series is great, but I cannot stop thinking specifically about Alone

I was waiting for this 💯💯

WOAH I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THERE BEING TWINS Also, I'd like to say, I really appreciate that you put so much thought and effort into this video. It's very informative (clearly) And you did a really good job at showing and describing the entire season. This show means a lot to me and I really love how passionate you are when you talk about these scenes.

The episode where Orel becomes a church changed my life...no shit.

My favorite part of the final episode is you see Shapey and Block became a firefighter and cop ❤️ they turned out okay at the end

Love these videos thank you

Thanks for introducing me to this show... now i will wait for a season 4!

Such an amazing show. I wish it was never cancelled.

the animation in Sacrifice is spectacular

Haven't watched the video yet, but Episode 4 (and the other episodes) legit is the first time I've ever felt legitimately nervous watching something. The whole show was great but that entire Episode is something I probably won't forget.

The characters names I have always found interesting.

This was the season I first found out about the mountain goats and they became my favorite band

I haven't watched the show, but i want to watch it after seeing all this videos. Found Moral Orel because of Sewerslvt, she used all the conversation of Work in her song Ecifircas, that woman is a legend

if I can sum up Morel Orel in one word its Dickensian

I loved this 3 part series and you now have a new subscriber:)

Shapey and Block being a police man and a fireman post time skip (as seen in the pictures on Orel and Christina’s walls) is really absurdly wholesome to me for some reason-

God this season just broke me inside

The fact that this show was cancelled makes me mad. This show has a lot of potential imo. 😤

I love this song now bc of the show 🎧

Honestly my favorite season. Morel Orel has a special place in my heart due to being such a good satire of fundamentalist Christianity. I grew up in a fairly conservative household with a lot religion forced down my throat it helped me come to terms with how I viewed Christianity. My favorite episode is the episode where reverend putty gives a speech about hope after seeing his group so depressed. Also the episode with bloberta masturbating is so fucking depressing. The end with no children playing was so unrelenting in how bleak it was.

bruh i remember watching “the darkest episode” when i was like 14

It had five seasons with only three that aired on television. The network found it too disturbing.

I remember watching this during my summer vacation when I was 14 I was watching more mature content my parents officially let me watch adult swim instead of sneaking into the living room to watch it

really well done. just sad i just found this show

I will never stop being angry that we didn't get the original 5 seasons of this masterpiece that were planned.

Dude I love the mountain goats

19:24 “from Hope to Hope-lsss”

I am obsessed. With this show, and with Clay. I know he's the most widely hated character, but the thing I like about him is the fact that he's a giant self hating, abusive alcoholic dumpsterfire. ... It also scares me that I see the worst parts of myself in him.

When he says I'm a church it's meant to represent that it's all himself. His feelings and ideas about God come from that building and his mind as a means to comfort himself and that's it. That's why he's cradling himself as a church in his vision.

I feel like after what we saw happen to nurse bendy in that one episode with the three women, we needed some closure for her. It was basically watching a child (mentally) be tortured. I'm sure other aspects would have been explored if the series got its 5 seasons, but I think the creators just wanted to give her a happy ending before the series ended. Something I appreciate, because it was hard watching her have that meltdown

ooof, this was an experience. Not doing that again

Well done :)

If you can or haven't already, I feel like you should talk about Mary Shelly's Frankenhole! It was a show I used to watch around when it was airing, but I can never find anything about it.

Recentky watched this series due to someone showing it to me, and damn do I feel bad for Clay. Sure, he has his wrongs and faults but all his life, he’s been abused and never got his way at all. I really feel like this show really should’ve had those two extra seasons. Just fucking sucks Ngl.

Great job on this bud! I somehow stumbled upon part 1 of your trilogy and watched all 3 parts straight away. I remember watching season one when it first came out and got a kick on how it felt like such a spoof on the old "Davey & Goliath" animated show. But yeah, then it turned so dark and twisted I was left confused after episodes wondering what the hell did I just watch? Thanks for all the info and especially letting me know what ever became of this little gem!

7:27 best album. Literally Clay and Bloberta are the Alpha Couple.

You should have seen the episode before Orel. When he's a little kid. He goes to visit his grandpa (clays dad) and hes the only adult who treated Orel as a person and teach him not to be brain washed. We find out that Orel actually didn't even know what God was because Clay hadn't told him yet. It's a really good episode. It's the 14th episode of season 3

Clay's mom also drank, sky dived and rode Rollercoasters. The smoking was only part of it

I can’t stop watching this fucking show lmao

Did Orel end up becoming a police officer. The picture behind him and his family at the end of the series seems to indicate that he might have.

Well buddy, anyone who says "screw it bring on the copyright strikes" gets MY sub!

might as well do a short video on the morel orel special "Trust"

Awwwww good ending love that

Moral Orel is one of those shows that Makes me feel depressed and I worry to myself that someone is gonna make me review this show!

All i hear is Rigby

Wow. A happy ending