The Mysterious Benedict Society doesn't form until late in the second episode of the upcoming Disney+ series. The first two episodes of The Mysterious Benedict Society available for review cover only the earliest stages of the mission that its main characters undertake; so, it's tough to fully judge the adaptation of Trenton Lee Stewart's middle-grade book series. However, by the end of the second episode, events are moving into place in an intriguing way that looks like a good sign for the rest of the show's first, eight-episode season.
Even if the show's plot is slow to get started, the characters and visual style are charming -- a junior version of the aesthetics and themes found in Wes Anderson and Tim Burton's work. The Mysterious Benedict Society is kid-friendly, but not immature (likely due to the series originally being developed for Hulu, not Disney+) and cute without becoming cloying. Veteran comedy stars Tony Hale and Kristen Schaal are clearly having fun with their roles as mentors to the central kid characters, but there's never any question that those kids are the real stars.
The first episode focuses mainly on Reynie Muldoon (Mystic Inscho), an orphan whose prodigious intelligence makes him an outcast. Reynie's only friend is his teacher Ms. Perumal (Gia Sandhu), who encourages him to apply to a prestigious boarding school. The test that Reynie participates in is strange and seemingly arbitrary. As he progresses past nearly every other child involved, it becomes clear that this is not an academic admissions exam.
Eventually, Reynie meets three other young orphans who have fulfilled the bizarre standards of some mysterious benefactor: George "Sticky" Washington (Seth Carr) is a bespectacled introvert with perfect memory. Kate Weatherall (Emmy DeOliveira) is an outgoing acrobat who always carries around a bucket of tools with her. And Constance Contraire (Marta Timofeeva) is a pint-sized, vaguely European grump who doesn't play by the rules.
Instead of being admitted to an elite school, they've been recruited by the reclusive, eccentric Mr. Benedict (Hale), a sort of benevolent Willy Wonka-style figure who put them through these strange scenarios to discover the proper candidates for his clandestine endeavor. Mr. Benedict brings the children to his labyrinthine mansion and lets them in on a secret about an ongoing worldwide catastrophe known only as "the Emergency."
Although no one mentions the actual year, The Mysterious Benedict Society is set in a vague time period that looks stuck between the 1950s and early 1960s. There's television and radio, but no computers or cell phones and the cars and fashions are all impeccably retro. Social values seem more in line with the present day, though, and the Emergency could be viewed as an allegory for the proliferation of misinformation online. "The truth itself is under attack," Mr. Benedict says, and the result of the Emergency is the prevalence of anxiety and fear.
It's all the work of some nefarious force adding subliminal messages to TV and radio broadcasts, originating from a shadowy island boarding school called the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. Toward the end of the second episode, the kids go undercover as students at the Institute, with the mission to discover the source of the signals. Once the kids are undercover, that's when the show seems to find its footing. The characters are distinctive and appealing enough to keep The Mysterious Benedict Society engaging even in its slower early stages, but their arrival at the Institute gives both them and the show purpose, with the second episode ending on a delightful cliffhanger.
Even after the kids are all gathered, Reynie remains the main character, but he's a little bland and upstanding, especially compared to the outspoken, proactive Kate and the sullen, sharp-tongued Constance. Timofeeva has a tough job keeping Constance from becoming as insufferable to the audience as she is to the other characters, and she gets the balance right most of the time. She's a consistent scene-stealer but never overwhelms the other characters.
In addition to Schaal as Mr. Benedict's Number Two, the cast includes MaameYaa Boafo and Ryan Hurst as Mr. Benedict's other assistants. Schaal gets the most broadly comedic role and she makes the most of it. Hurst has an unexpected moment to shine as his mostly taciturn enforcer character tells the story of his dark origin. Boafo's Rhonda is the most underused assistant thus far, but creators and writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi successfully balance a large cast in these first two episodes, so it's likely that she'll get her moment to shine.
The Mysterious Benedict Society's aggressive whimsy mirrors similar YA adaptations like A Series of Unfortunate Events and Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. While that whimsy might get tiresome as the season progresses, its first two episodes provide a solid foundation for the unfolding story. The Mysterious Benedict Society requires a little patience at first, but it's already starting to pay off for the family-friendly adventure.
Starring Mystic Inscho, Seth Carr, Emmy DeOliveira, Marta Timofeeva, Tony Hale, Kristen Schaal, Ryan Hurst, MaameYaa Boafo and Gia Sandhu, The Mysterious Benedict Society premieres its first two episodes on Friday, June 25 on Disney+, with subsequent episodes premiering each Friday.