Is Alpha Betas the Next Big Adult Cartoon?

Adult cartoons and I have a very estranged relationship. It isn’t because I believe that animation can’t or shouldn’t be used with adult themes, quite the opposite in fact; I, like countless other animation fans, despise the notion that animation is strictly a children’s medium, or that it’s somehow more immature than live-action.

I just can’t personally get into a lot of Western adult animations because they all seem to do the exact same thing; they’re either overly gross or gratuitous with sex, violence, and swearing, the visual style is ugly or unappealing, almost every main character is an irredeemable jerk, or their stories are really just uninspired South Park-style social commentaries. Many adult cartoons or features tend to fall under two or more of those categories as well; the most egregious examples include the likes of Family Guy (or really any of Seth MacFarlane’s animated projects), Big Mouth, some of the later seasons of South Park, Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, and Sausage Party. Those aspects, to me, just make these adult animated properties feel uninspired and uncreative; it’s as if to distance themselves from that notion that “animation is for children” as far as possible, creators feel the need to saturate their projects with as many adult “themes” as they can, regardless if they’re cliché or even tasteful.

It’s because of this that I appreciate adult cartoons that subvert these trends or play with them more creatively; my own personal favorites of these include Hazbin Hotel plus its spinoff Helluva Boss (both of which I do want to cover at a later time), Rick and Morty, and of course the topic of this review – which, funnily enough, was actually animated by the same studio as Rick and Morty.

For those who aren’t aware, Alpha Betas is the wholly original animated collaborative lovebaby between Starburns Industries, 3Blackdot, and four of the biggest gaming YouTubers out there: VanossGaming, The Gaming Terroriser, I AM WILDCAT, and BasicallyIDoWrk. Working under the collective title Bush House, the latter four voice a group of characters based very closely on their online personas, a tight-knit squad of gaming buddies who are tasked by the CIA themselves to use their intimate knowledge of video games to help protect the United States’ security and electrical power supply.

Why would they need these guys, of all people, to help with that, you ask? Because video games were actually created as a sustainable alternative energy source after fossil fuels started running out, of course.

Thus, to sustain this supply and keep the world’s power grid from going down, the CIA’s Energy Division sends this Alpha Team – consisting of Evan Fong’s Eddie (Vanoss), Brian Michael Hanby’s Buck (Terroriser), Tyler Wine’s Tommy (WILDCAT), and Marcel Cunningham’s Mason (Basically) – on crucial missions into the various games’ coding to eliminate any and all threats to the system that could endanger modern society as they know it.

But, of course, we are still dealing with a bunch of immature twenty-something gamers here – likewise, despite the importance of their jobs, you already know they’re going to dick around with this responsibility any chance that they get.

The pilot episode establishes this contrast between the team's serious responsibilities for the government and their goofy, unserious natures very effectively in just the cold open. It begins with a harrowing wartime scene on Omaha Beach in World War II, where Alpha Team are racing to take out a Nazi commander while ducking into bunkers and dodging torrential bullets; the music, sound design, fast-paced animation, and the guys’ dialogue establish the seriousness and intensity you would expect from such a setting, helped by details and moments like the other soldiers’ appropriate terror, Eddie barking fervent orders at the others, and the legitimate panic in Tommy’s face when their targeted commander aims the gatling gun directly at him. The scene plays this seriousness totally straight, and until the end there isn’t a clear joke in sight – that is, until Eddie busts down the door, shouts the godlike line “What’s up ya Nazi biiiiiitch!?”, and completes their mission by blowtorching the Nazi commander’s skin off with a very out-of-place flamethrower.

(This subsequent shot of Stephen calling the guys “American heroes” while Ruby puts her head in her hands in response to this scene sums up this contrast nicely:)

Watching this scene for the first time, I immediately understood what kind of show Alpha Betas would be: a silly comedy that thrives on over-the-top action and humor that’s so shocking but so out-there that it’s impossible to take too seriously. It’s a style and a genre that plenty of adult cartoons fall under (in fact I’m pretty sure all of the examples I gave at the start of this review fall somewhere under that umbrella), but what made this pilot stand out for me was how that style stayed connected to the central themes and the premise of going into a video game to fulfill a government job. It’s a pretty ridiculous premise, and the show is fully aware of that, so it plays into the ridiculousness and takes advantage of the fact that video games, by design, can be as brutal, silly, and unrealistic as they’d like; thus, the guys can get away with doing and saying some really bonkers things inside the games (just like in the above scene), and you can’t help but laugh at just how unrealistic and bonkers it can get.

It’s also worth mentioning that the pilot contains plenty of bits that felt far more shocking than a Nazi getting blowtorched could ever hope to be, however at no point did I feel that the jokes were completely tasteless or gratuitous. This was probably because they also worked under that same premise: they’re so over-the-top that you can’t take them seriously, and the fact that they’re taking place in a virtual world makes it easier to laugh along because it’s just a simulation.

This contrast between seriousness and silliness also serves as the core source of conflict between the CIA and Alpha Team. The CIA characters are no-nonsense and stone-faced (well, apart from Stephen for spoilery reasons), and they completely understand how crucial their jobs really are to sustaining society. The guys, on the other hand, treat their jobs just as casually as they do their everyday life; despite the importance of their missions, they are immature, obnoxious, constantly joking around, ribbing and insulting each other, doing reckless things, and generally behaving like a typical gaming group you’d find on YouTube. The only one to outwardly show an understanding of the seriousness is Eddie, but even then it’s implied and outright stated by the other characters that this is probably just to impress their coworker Ruby (played by Stephanie Beatriz), who makes it clear throughout the episode that she is NOT interested. Is it any wonder, then, why their boss Allison (Paget Brewster), despite their skill at their jobs, is constantly rolling her eyes at them? This contrast made for amazing character interactions in the pilot as the conflicting interests of Alpha Team and the CIA characters clashed, which led to some very quotable dialogue (I mean, I just had to write down Allison’s “You can’t fix a toilet by shitting in it”).

But that’s exactly what makes Alpha Team so interesting to me as characters, what sets them apart from other Idiot Protagonists you’d see in other adult cartoons: they actually aren’t idiots at all. They are genuinely good at their jobs, and Allison even admits that they’ve never failed a single mission. And this makes sense, since their direct experience playing games together (as implied in this comic book trailer) makes them, of all people, really the most qualified for these jobs.

The guys are smart and skilled in general, and unlike Allison, I wasn't annoyed by them at all. Yes, no doubt they are flawed, but they each have their own unique traits and quirks that make them appealing protagonists. Eddie acts egocentric and self-entitled, but it’s also implied that his Chronic Hero Syndrome is at least partly genuine rather than performative; Buck is expletive and has a short fuse that’s reflected in his skill with explosives, but he still cares deeply about carrying out their missions efficiently; Tommy is a “pompous know-it-all” according to Allison, but this comes from his passion and drive for his knowledge and interests; and then there’s Mason, who is blunt and sarcastic but also constantly lampshades his coworkers’ antics and displays the most self-awareness out of all of them.

There’s also a relatable, charming quality to the guys’ antics that allows the audience to connect with and care for them as protagonists. Their snarky back-and-forth conversations with each other – such as a scene towards the beginning when the others are ribbing Eddie for being a terrible “Don’t touch the floor” player – were actually some of my favorite scenes in the pilot because they sounded exactly like how best friends would talk to each other in real life, especially from Vanoss and his groups of friends. Even if you had never seen or heard of their content before, just from their performances here you can detect a natural chemistry between the actors that extends to their characters and their interactions. This was always the intention too, as the writers Chris Bruno and David Howard Lee actually watched a lot of the guys’ videos to study that chemistry and implement it into the Alpha Team’s interactions. That extra effort definitely paid off, because that same crass yet genuine and entertaining camaraderie comes across completely whenever Alpha Team are onscreen together.

Also, quick note: you absolutely do not need to be a fan of Vanoss, Wildcat, or any YouTube gamers to enjoy Alpha Betas. You can freely enjoy this pilot episode and likely any other content to come without having even heard those names before.

However, that being said, I do feel that this series will mean a lot more to you if you’re into gaming and gamer culture.

Because, honestly, that’s what really makes Alpha Betas so fascinating to me. While it is silly and over-the-top, it's also an honest love letter to gaming culture and the people who partake in it. It satirizes and spoofs popular games and their audiences while also celebrating them. It makes video games a core piece of the world's lore, a world that literally depends on gamers and their skillsets in order to survive. It's such a breath of fresh air to see gaming culture depicted so positively and organically here, especially when generally negative attitudes towards video games and the people who play them still pervade Western society to this day. In fact, I would argue that the contrast between the CIA cast and Alpha Team is also a loose metaphor for how larger Western culture tends to react to gaming culture; the guys are just having fun with a medium that they're skilled in, while Allison and her colleagues perceive that as childish and annoying.

Yes, I know I'm taking this silly cartoon that Vanoss and his friends wanted to make for fun a bit too seriously there, but I still think it's fascinating to think about and I personally can't wait to see how this culture clash plays out in future episodes.

But that does beg the question: could someone with no knowledge of video games or gaming culture still enjoy this show? While I do believe that anyone can enjoy anything, I also believe what I stated earlier; Alpha Betas will definitely mean something completely different to someone with gaming or YouTube experience compared to someone without that knowledge. This is especially so with the subtler inside jokes regarding the nature of the Energy Division’s games themselves, like the title of the game “Red Head Intervention”, some commentary on players’ behavior when a game is too difficult, or Buck’s frustration at a buggy non-player character in this clip. People without any gaming knowledge likely won’t get these types of jokes or won’t find them nearly as funny, which could diminish the entertainment value for them. However I do still believe that anyone can enjoy this for what it is, no matter if they’re in-the-know or not. It really does just depend on who you are and what your tastes are; if you enjoy adult cartoons with dark humor and solid character interaction, with just a little bit of high-octane, ridiculous action on the side, then you should still get a kick out of this.

Overall, I highly recommend Alpha Betas for anyone looking for the next adult cartoon passion project that manages to balance its bonkers energy without sacrificing its entertainment value. I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for these characters, and with the Kickstarter staying open for just a few more days, now’s a better time than ever to check it out and give it your support!

You can watch the Alpha Betas pilot episode here:

Please support the official release. You can donate to the Alpha Betas Kickstarter here and follow the team on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

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