Review: ‘Oscar’s Hotel’ “Hunger Pains”

Jacob Kornfeld ’19 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

“I want you to father my food baby!” College students would unanimously agree this line from the second episode of P.J. Liguori‘s, better known as KickThePJ, new Vimeo-based web series Oscar’s Hotel For Fantastical Creatures hits too close to home. The episode’s plot revolves around Oliver(Chris Kendall), the show’s protagonist who was recently promoted to the titular position of Oscar’s Ass. (Assistant). His quest to feed the hungry denizens of the hotel results in him trekking into the freezer to retrieve the coveted ingratiates necessary for OctoChef’s(Mamrie Hart) culinary masterpieces.

More so than the previous episode, this one relies much more heavily on the use of puppets. These wonderfully bright and unique creations of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop are adorable and don’t seem out of place in the Fantastical Hotel. The design of Rash(Phil Lester) the bacon and the steak known as the Sir Loin(Elliott Gould), who is as equally old and wise as he is mustachioed, is one of the best aspects of the episode. It’s also worth noting that only three characters in this episode were not animatronic in some way.

This doesn’t take away from the experience of Oscar’s Hotel at all as the characters feel completely at home in the wacky and bizarre of the Hotel. Unfortunately, the set
design in this episode leaves something to be desired. With the exception of the interior and exterior of the Tribe of Lost and Forgotten Food Creature’s watermelon shelter, the sets for this episode were very bland. With foreground pieces made up of purely white objects meant to resemble ice and snow chunks and backgrounds which, at times, are simply a purple gradient, the set is a big disappointment—especially considering the complex and busy sets praised in the previous episode.

With the business of set design aside, the clever and funny writing were a step up from that of the pilot episode, which already featured pretty humorous material. The comedy highlight of this episode is definitely the section in which all the tribe members announce to Oliver their new life goals as he brings them to their kitcheny doom. With the exception of the set design, episode two is an improvement over the first episode in every way and leaves viewers hungry for more!

Episode Rank: B+