I didn’t think I would be the ideal audience for Among Us, the new show that dropped yesterday on Paramount+. I’ve played the game but don’t have a strong attachment to the brand, and I’ve always perceived it as intended for a middle school audience. Regardless of whether that’s true for the game, it’s certainly not true for the show, and I found a lot to love as someone only passively aware of Among Us’ cultural significance. The show is fun, not obsessed with game references, and makes a far more earnest attempt at depicting drama and death than I could have guessed. Put simply, Among Us works.
First, a quick warning: this show probably isn’t suitable for young kids. Among Us the game has permeated the PCs, consoles, and phones of people of all ages, but Among Us is aimed a little older; despite being rated TV-PG, it feels more like it’s right over the cusp of PG-13. There’s mild swearing, copious cartoon gore, and a pretty bleak tone in the later episodes as the body count begins to stack up.
The show’s premise is roughly identical to that of the game. A spaceship is on the way to deliver a shipment of “Ore+” to the Mira corporation, and it’s staffed by crewmates: round, human-like creatures each donning a different colored spacesuit, which is also their name. However, one of them is an imposter, a shapeshifting alien a la John Carpenter’s The Thing, and that monster is thirsty for blood. Despite its silly, sometimes childlike tone in the opening episodes, the show is a murder mystery, and as the number of victims increases, the mood adjusts accordingly, which I appreciated. It resists the urge to make jokes about the drama and treats the stakes sincerely, which kept me invested.
A party in episode one. I’m using it as a pseudo group shot, because nobody has died yet at this point.
If you’re not coming to the show as a fan of the game, you’re probably coming for the star-studded cast, which is generally utilized well. Ashley Johnson (known for Critical Role and The Last of Us) gives a standout performance as Purple, a skeptical security guard who’s also the most grounded crewmate. Meanwhile, Elijah Wood (known for The Lord of the Rings), Yvette Nicole Brown (known for Community), and Patton Oswalt (known for Ratatouille) are also highlights as Green, Orange, and White, respectively. That said, some characters don’t get as much of a chance to shine as I’d hoped, either getting buried in the ensemble or dying too early in the show. Because of this, the latter episodes are generally stronger; by the time the crew has diminished, we’ve gotten to know each character well enough to fully understand their motivations and to really mourn them when they die.
While Among Us (the game) doesn’t have prewritten dialogue or a traditional narrative, I’d argue that its structure creates a story every time you play, and the Among Us show adapts this well. The loop from tension to murder to trial to verdict is effective; the show’s best scenes are also my favorite parts of the game, when crewmates debate whom to accuse and eject from the ship. If you’re a fan of the games, you’ll find it well-represented here, but if you’re unfamiliar, you don’t need to do any catching up.
A shot in the show’s intro, where Red is playing a video game. The video game parody changes every episode.
I especially appreciate how distinct each character looks and acts, considering they all have roughly identical bodies. The outfits and personalities are distinct, and I’m amazed at how much personality the show’s team of artists can imbue in a simple visor. Closer looks at the imposter are also very well done, with a disturbing, Cronenberg-like design. There are also plenty of visual nods to both Among Us and other video games, but they’re unobtrusive side jokes, and you won’t miss anything if you don’t catch them. One of my favorite touches is that the intro sequence changes every episode to reflect who’s alive and who’s dead (and also changes the video game reference on Red’s monitor).
I am satisfied with Among Us, and left the season finale glad that Infinity Train’s Owen Dennis was the one to create the adaptation. While it’s not necessarily groundbreaking storytelling, I enjoyed its various twists, animation style, and balance of respect for the source material and the medium of television. Most of all, it nails a distinct tone of drama, comedy, and light horror that defines the experience when playing the game. Among Us takes its source material seriously and succeeds because of it.
