Dead End: Paranormal Park, AKA The Best Children's Show of 2022

There are many things to consider when trying to decide what TV shows are worth watching or creating. To some viewers, all it takes is having enough episodes to spend the day bingeing and enjoying the plot unfold. For others, you need enough content and hidden meanings and messages to decode throughout the series in order to create a subversive environment for yourself. If all you require is a good amount of episodes, I'll let you know that so far season one of Dead End: Paranormal Park has ten episodes ranging from twenty to twenty five minutes each. If you lean towards the latter statement, then this article is for you. Here are the top three reasons I fell in love with Dead End, and why I think you will too. Beware: There will definitely be spoilers for season one of the show.

Consistent LGBTQ+ Representation

Released on June 16th of 2022 in the US, Dead End: Paranormal Park takes place in an amusement park based off of character Pauline Phoenix, an over the top southern woman/celebrity/drag queen. The main characters Barney and Norma meet at the park while interviewing for a security position to work for Dead End. Think Disneyland meets Five Nights At Freddy's. Things go south incredibly quickly, with the two finding out they are not interviewing for a job, but instead are being sacrificed to a demon monarch. They make it out alive with a new bond and new job working at the park after proving themselves useful for demon busting the monarch who was going to possess them. This show is incredibly fun with a buzzing start to the series, but what isn't expected from the intro is that the series will include lots of consistent LGBTQ+ representation throughout the ten episodes.

The first thing to mention is that the main character, Barney, is a trans man, and he is played by a trans voice actor! My favorite thing about this detail is not only the fact that we get a transgender main character, but also the fact that Barney comes out to the audience directly. It is very common that queer characters get outed to the audience or their co-characters during the plot at some point. A popular example of this concept is Simon in the 2018 film Love, Simon. In this film, the main character is outed to the rest of his school through another character. But in this series, Barney gets the opportunity to come out to other characters as well as the audience on his own. We get his introduction to the show as being excited about his job offer, and leaving his house. On his way out, he is stopped by his mother and reminded about a family dinner, to which he responds with, "does grammy gram know that I'm coming?" and then "Does she know that Barney is coming?" in reference to his grandmother potentially misgendering and/or deadnaming him at the dinner. With this, Barney gets to come out to the audience in a passive way. However, after this introduction, we get to see Barney come out to his new friend and colleague Norma by telling her directly, "I'm trans Norma."

Aside from the MC being trans, we also get other members of the LGBTQ+ community sprinkled throughout the show consistently. And I don't mean we get two men holding hands in the background here and there. I mean we get real, recurring characters identifying as queer throughout the show! Barney is MLM and so is another of his male colleagues, Logs, who ends up confessing his feelings for Barney during episode ten of the show. But before they explicitly tell each other how they feel, we get sneak peaks into their crushes during the show. We see Barney making heart eyes at Logs during the first few episodes, as well as the two characters flirting up a storm while waiting in line for the shows equivalent of a Tunnel of Love ride at the park during episode six of the first season. During this same episode, we see a lesbian couple standing behind them in line for the ride, and they talk to the boys about how the ride brought them together on their first date. These two characters make multiple appearances in episode six and more in episodes after as well.

What I really like about the representation in this show for queer youth is that they just exist. The show allows the characters to come out to the audience, but the creators don't blow it out of proportion or make the story line all about the coming out speech. The character comes out, and the plot moves on without dwelling on it. I also really appreciate the way this show does not include any casual transphobia or homophobia in the script. In any scenes where Barney talks about his trans experience, and the transphobia he faces from his grandmother, the script does not allow for the audience to hear any of it. The show allows us as the audience to understand what Barney is facing, without the casual usage of misgendering him, or giving us a deadname to use. This allows for a younger audience to be less confused about the topic, and only know Barney as himself without the influence of his life prior to coming out.

Racial and Cultural Inclusivity

Aside from the representation of queer youth in Dead End: Paranormal Park, we also get a good range of cultural and racial diversity in the group of characters. Though Barney is a white man, we see cultural representation through his religion. He is seen several times with the Star of David and makes references to his jewish practice. Norma Khan is a Pakistani-American girl who is one of the main characters alongside Barney. There is also Logan (Logs) Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American character and love interest to Barney. Another character is Badyah a muslim woman who works at the park with Norma and Barney. And the lesbian couple that I mentioned in episode six were both black women. This show makes consistent use of diversity by introducing characters of different races, religions, and cultures and allows them to coexist without argument. The creators allow these characters to exist together and make references to their culture through casual conversation and never capitalize on it as a plot point. The characters simply are, and continue to be, while the plot does its own thing, similar to the way the show treats gender and sexuality.

Having Tough Conversations In A Positive Light

The last thing I want to mention is the way Dead End: Paranormal Park chooses to handle serious discussions surrounding topics brought up in the series. There are a few lines that I want to reference directly for this section, the first of which being the lines "This is the first place that I can truly be me." and "I can just be Barney." Dead End does an excellent job at helping the audience understand some of what it may be like for trans youth today. As a trans person myself, I find that the way in which the topic is discussed is very relatable and accurate to how some trans youth feel in this generation, and I love it. This means that we may be able to communicate to young children ways to understand and accept trans people in their lives, or find comfort in themselves if they come to identify as trans. Sometimes it can be really difficult to be trans, knowing that even if the people in your life know and accept you, there is still an underlying fear that they may not fully see you the way you want to be seen. The line "I can just be Barney" opens the door to talk about being cis-passing and how good it feels to finally feel like yourself in an environment that fully accepts you for you.

Another good line to talk about is "My biggest fear is the real world." In episode three, Norma goes with the rest of the theme park crew to a team building exercise, and opens up to the audience about her fear of the world and general anxiety (it should also be known that Norma is a canonically autistic character, confirmed by cast). She has a conversation about her fear of other people and her fear of rejection with her colleagues in this episode. Norma talks about how she feels inferior to others and how she sees the world as confusing and scary on a day to day basis. What I like about this episode is that we get to take a closer look at how anxiety can manifest in young people and how it can effect interactions with the world in general. When Norma opens up to Barney about her anxiety, he takes her seriously and the rest of the characters help her through the episode. Character Badyah has a conversation with her about her own anxieties and helps her to feel less alone with the group.

There are countless other incredible lines such as "I wish you were the old Pugsly," "[before I come home] You've gotta make it one first," and other lines that open up discussion about being trans and allow growth for the characters throughout the series. I love this show because it allows for us to have conversations about serious things in a way that teaches children right from wrong, how to feel empathy for others, and continue to learn and grow with this new generation. These discussions do not leave a sour taste in your mouth or an uneasy discomfort after the characters stop talking. You actually feel like there has been progress made and we understand the characters better.

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Long story short, if you are looking for a new show to binge, Dead End: Paranormal Park is the show to watch. With Netflix letting go of around 70 employees in their animation department, we need to get this show on the top charts to ensure another season being created! I hope that you guys enjoyed this read and enjoy watching this new show.

Have a good day, I'll see you guys next time!

Signed,

Lina McGovern