This article was published during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, The Muppets Mayhem being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Now that The Muppets Mayhem has been out and available for a couple months, we fully expect that most of you have already made your way through the series at least two or three (or four?) times. It’s necessary for any of us who need to memorize scenes, catch every Easter egg, or to fully absorb every detail of the Electric Mayhem’s big spotlight.
Of course, now that we’re intimately familiar with the story of the Mayhem recording their first album, we’re left with some questions. That’s natural, as the show is designed for multiple seasons, but we want to shine some light on the biggest dangling threads. Perhaps a potential season 2 pick up on them, or we may be left hanging (much like the Mayhem van over the cliff at the end of episode 1). Either way, let’s talk about what The Muppets Mayhem didn’t get around to!
How did the Electric Mayhem meet/recruit the rest of the band?
We got a lot of backstory about the creation of the Mayhem as a band. We saw the band’s kickoff of Dr. Teeth making music with Floyd, we saw Animal join the fray (and even a glimpse of him playing percussion for the first time), we heard the story of how Penny gave the band their name, and we even got an origin story for the iconic Electric Mayhem bus. But that’s not the whole story – what about Janice, Zoot, and Lips? Will we get to see how they picked up their instruments and found their way into the world of the Mayhem?
Where did Baby Animal come from?
One of the biggest moments in The Muppets Mayhem was the revelation that Floyd raised Animal from a baby into an adult(-ish) drummer. But who left Baby Animal on Floyd’s doorstep? Someone had to write the “KEEP” note. Someone had to find a way to get Animal into that tiny cage. Whoever did manage to ensnare Animal must’ve been either really resourceful or really lucky.
What’s up with Janice’s twin sister?
Another huge shocker was that Janice has an identical twin sister out there… somewhere. And hoo boy, does that open up a huge can of worms. Is Janice’s twin exactly like Janice, or are they going to be diametrically different? Do they sound identical? What caused their rift? Can the world handle two Janices? And most importantly, where is she now?
How will Lips save the world?
Notice how I didn’t phrase this question, “Will Lips save the world?” I have no doubt that he has the capability to do so, and to be perfectly honest, we’re kinda counting on him. But what we don’t yet know is how he’ll go about it. After his inspirational vision in the desert, we saw him meeting with speechwriters and giving a TED Talk, but it’s not at all clear what his message was. And if Lips is known for one thing, it’s clarity.
What happened to Nora and Hannah’s parents?
Not much is known about Nora and Hannah’s parents. We learned through the dialog that their mom left them when they were young, and their dad passed away. But beyond that, we don’t have many more details. Will we ever see their estranged mother? Is the source of their father’s passing important to their story? All of these backstory details feel deliberately vague, and it seems likely there will be more to uncover in season 2.
What’s next for Moog?
Most superfans, like Moog, have the lofty goal of wanting to get close to the focus of their fanaticism. Throughout season 1 of The Muppets Mayhem, Moog graduated from fanboy to hangaround to album producer to bona fide friend and unofficial member of the band. It certainly seems like all his dreams have come true, so what could he possibly want next? This is a practical question as much as it is a philosophical one. What drives you after you get everything you want?
How did Floyd really leave the Army?
Sure, we get the story from Floyd about Floyd getting discharged from West Point for “turning Taps into a jazz odyssey”, but there’s gotta be way more to his story than that. What inspired him to enlist in the first place? Did he really get kicked out just for getting musically creative? And why does he insist on continuing to wear the Army green hat if his discharge was so dishonorable? Here’s hoping we get a solid flashback in season 2 that features Floyd with a crew cut.
Is Zoot’s reality really real?
Zoot seems to be able to make things levitate. He can take photographs of events that only exist within the minds of his marshmallow-tripping bandmates. He has somehow given sentience to his shoe, and created life in the form of “Jimmy Shoe”. It might be easy to write it all off as Zoot’s hallucinations, but his reality has bled out into the actual world, as witnessed by folks like Cheech and Chong or Morgan Freeman. Sure, it would probably be ultimately unsatisfying to get a definitive answer about what’s going on with Zoot, but that won’t stop us from putting the question out there in the universe.
Will we see more Muppets?
Six Mayhem members, two dentists, one record executive, a handful of bunnies, a cactus, a shoe, and a very brief cameo by Statler and Waldorf. Has there ever been a big Muppet project with so few actual puppets in it? Does this give a potential second season a good reason to keep the cast small, or perhaps it will justify a reason to expand. Some viewers were expecting A-listers like Kermit and Piggy to pop up, and others were grateful that they stayed away to give the band their spotlight. But the question remains: Who – if anyone – might we see in the future of Muppets Mayhem?
Unfortunately, it seems that we won’t get a single answer about any of these for quite a while, so we’ll be left with no option but to wonder. And if any Disney+ executives are reading this, we hope you’re wondering about the above questions too, so why not just give the show a second season greenlight and finally put an end to all our wondering!?
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
