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Carol and the End of the World Review

Carol and the End of the World is an animated comedy drama television miniseries that premiered on Netflix in 2023. It’s a very unique series.

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“There is no reward or prize. You’re already there.

That’s when perfection happens. That’s when time stops and your heart opens.

And it may only be for a second, but once it collapses,

all you need to do is paddle out and capture it all over again. And again. And again“

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With a mysterious planet hurtling towards Earth, extinction is imminent for the people of the world. While most feel liberated to pursue their wildest dreams, one quiet and awkward woman stands alone, lost among the hedonistic masses. This is the first animated show after ‘BoJack Horseman’ that feels similar to that now iconic series in style and approach. It’s not as comedic and it’s even more existentialist in its themes, but this is truly a great companion piece to that important Netflix series.

This is a very weird show that has such an offbeat melancholic tone to it that is unlike anything else on television right now. It approaches apocalyptic storytelling in an authentic, more believable way. Yes, some people in this dying world are still working, which was odd, but most release themselves to hedonistic pursuits, which seems only natural when imminent death is upon you. The series’ tone is its strongest aspect along with an intriguing, almost anthology-like structure.

Carol is a woman who lives a monotonous, boring life and the show through her explores depression and the comfort of repetitive daily routines, the latter being particularly relatable to me as I also very much fall into the trap of that comfort. Her dry line delivery made me smile quite a lot and she is a protagonist unlike no other. You rarely see such a regular, boring middle-aged central character and this is another area where the series shows its originality.

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Donna and Luis made for wonderful colleagues/friends and I loved the dynamic that developed between this interesting, endearing trio. Other characters come and go and aren’t all that memorable in a show that is at its best when focusing just on Carol and/or her two friends.

Pilot started off the show pretty well and with that distinct tone that really worked. The Distraction introduced Donna to the roster and the dynamic between the two was very amusing in this first episode. This show is often more a drama than a comedy, but in this episode the humorous situations were aplenty. Throuple is a stellar episode that has a very moving ending.

Sisters is among the highlights of the season as it explored the fraught sibling relationship between Carol and her sister. It’s an episode that was framed interestingly and it depicted the importance of familial relationships so well. David is by far the magnum opus of the series and one of the best television episodes of the year. A colleague of Carol’s dies, so she sets off to make a proper burial for the poor guy who had nobody in life who cared for him. It’s a deeply existentialist, powerful examination of our mortality and what happens when we die. Its ending was so touching that it honestly made me tear up. It was a wonderfully positive way to end what is otherwise a very dark story.

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Holidays is a moving, but forgettable Donna-centric episode. The Beetle Broach is solid, but not great. The Life & Times of Bashiir Hassan focuses on Steven and Eric, who aren’t all that interesting as characters, but their dynamic still produced some heartwarming results. The rest of the episode was creative, but hardly functional. Saltwater Lullaby: A Surf Odyssey is a solid character study for Carol, but the overall plot was slim here. The Investigation is a powerful exploration of suppressed emotions and denial as these people finally realize that they are going to die soon, so they embrace their emotions. It’s a great finale that capped off the season strongly after a couple of lackluster episodes in its second half.