The Mysterious Benedict Society Season 1 (2021) 🪣🧩

Four gifted kids, one bucket, and a villain who thinks subtlety is optional.


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Disclaimer

Before we even start — this show isn’t on Disney+ anymore. Yep. They pulled a “let’s yeet our own content into the void because money spreadsheets said so.” Same way they did Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. And that’s a crime because I legitimately liked this show a lot. This was a breakout role for a bunch of the kid actors, especially Emmy DeOliveira as Kate, and now? Poof. Gone. Congrats, Disney — you just strangled your own child stars’ breakout projects. 👏👏


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Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we?

The trailers sold this as quirky, Wes Anderson-lite, brainy kid adventure with mystery vibes. You know, colorful and whimsical with puzzles and a pinch of creep. And… that’s mostly what we got. Except the tone sometimes whiplashed between “fun campy mystery” and “uhhh okay this is kinda unsettling for kids.”


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Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Season 1 drops us into the story of four children who are definitely not “normal school kids.” Reynie (Mystic Inscho), Sticky (Seth B. Carr), Kate (Emmy DeOliveira), and Constance (Marta Kessler) all ace a series of bizarre, brain-melting tests that feel like SAT meets escape room meets fever dream. The prize? Joining the mysterious Mr. Benedict (Tony Hale) in his mission to stop an evil mastermind broadcasting subliminal messages that basically scream “creepy cult brainwashing.”

The kids get sent into a school/orphanage thingy that doubles as a front for evil plans, and from there it’s all puzzles, sneaking, clever teamwork, and occasional wtf is happening moments.


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Character Breakdown

The Kids (our main squad):

Reynie Muldoon (Mystic Inscho): The “leader” kid. Smart, calm, and actually kind of a sweetheart. He’s the brains holding this group together.

Sticky Washington (Seth B. Carr): Memory like a computer, but also anxious enough to crumble under pressure. Smart, but self-doubt is his sidekick.

Kate Wetherall (Emmy DeOliveira): Bucket girl. Literally carries a bucket everywhere like it’s her emotional support pet. Acrobatics, ropes, tools, gadgets — all in the bucket. She’s fearless, a little reckless, and the one I resonated with the most just for the chaotic practicality. 🪣

Constance Contraire (Marta Kessler): My queen of snark. She’s four years old, acts like she’s forty, and roasts people like it’s an Olympic sport. Every scene she’s in = instant upgrade.

Now let’s talk about why Constance and Kate are my personal MVPs.

Kate 🪣 is basically the definition of chaotic practicality. She doesn’t just carry a bucket — she treats it like it’s the Excalibur of household objects. Rope, marbles, a flashlight, probably an alternate dimension inside if you dig deep enough. Is it bizarre that a kid’s emotional support system is a literal paint bucket? Yes. Is it iconic? Also yes.

Then there’s Constance 🧩 — the snark machine. She’s four years old going on forty, and the way she rips into people feels like she’s been chain-smoking sarcasm since birth. My favorite bit? Anytime Kate tries to make the bucket sound essential, Constance comes back with some savage comment like, “Oh no, what would we do without the almighty bucket?” And Kate, bless her, takes it completely seriously. The back-and-forth between those two just cracked me up.

Constance is the voice of the audience half the time — pointing out how bizarre Kate’s attachment is, while Kate doubles down like, “Don’t question the bucket.” That weird friendship-rivalry dynamic made their interactions some of the best parts of Season 1.



The Adults & Mentors:

Mr. Benedict (Tony Hale): The eccentric genius who recruits the kids. Sweet, stammer-y, lives in a house that looks like IKEA and a thrift store had a baby.

Number Two (Kristen Schaal): Sharp, strict, and slightly unhinged. Wears yellow like it’s a personality trait.

Rhonda (MaameYaa Boafo): Caring, patient, the balance between eccentric Benedict and strict Number Two.

Milligan (Ryan Hurst): The seven-foot-tall bodyguard/secret weapon who lurks in the background like a cryptid. Gruff but loyal. You kinda want him to give you a bear hug.

Yes, You Heard That Right: Ryan Hurst as Mulligan

Yeah, I’m not kidding. That Ryan Hurst. The guy who played Opie Winston in Sons of Anarchy, then turned around and became Beta in The Walking Dead — one of the creepiest, most intimidating villains that show ever had. And now? He’s here in a Disney kid-friendly mystery series… as Mulligan, the lovable, bumbling doofus who disguises himself with dollar-store mustaches and somehow saves the day anyway.

On paper, this casting shouldn’t work. Ryan Hurst has biker gang grit and horror villain menace written all over him. His vibe screams “grizzled apocalypse survivor,” not “quirky uncle energy.” But somehow, it works perfectly. His big teddy bear presence softens into this warm, clumsy protector role, and every time he’s onscreen, you feel both safe and entertained.

He shouldn’t fit in a kid-friendly adventure about puzzles and bucket-carrying children, but that’s exactly why he does. Mulligan ends up being one of my favorite characters, because Ryan Hurst brings that mix of goofy charm and secret badass that nobody saw coming.



The Villains:

Dr. L.D. Curtain (Tony Hale again, pulling double duty): Benedict’s long-lost twin brother and the big bad. Runs the “Institute” with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Wants to “fix the world” through mass manipulation, aka “let’s mind control everybody.” Very Bond villain energy.

Jackson & Jillson (Ben Cockell & Shannon Kook-Chun): Henchmen siblings who give off Stepford Wives meets Mean Teacher vibes. Creepy smiles, too-perfect manners, absolute red flags.



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Pacing

Mostly solid. The tests at the start are a little slow but quirky enough to hold you, then it settles into sneaky spy-kid antics. A couple of episodes drag where it feels like the writers padded with “walking and whispering in hallways,” but overall? It moves well enough.


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Pros & Cons

Pros:

The kid actors are great. Like, they actually feel like kids, not polished Disney robots.

The quirky design of the world — colorful but off-kilter — fits the vibe.

Constance’s one-liners. Honestly, give her her own spin-off.

Kate’s bucket. 🪣 Yes it’s weird, yes it’s maybe unhealthy, but it’s iconic.


Cons:

Sometimes the adult characters felt a little… dull. Not the actors’ fault, but the writing just left them standing around being exposition machines.

The tone wobbled. Sometimes it was fun camp mystery, other times it suddenly leaned horror-adjacent (like the faceless cultish vibes). Pick a lane, show.



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Final Thoughts

I legit really liked Season 1. It scratched that quirky mystery itch while still giving us lovable kids and a properly hiss-able villain. It’s so sad Disney canceled it — especially since this could’ve been a cult favorite kids’ adventure show with actual staying power. And now it’s not just canceled, it’s gone. Deleted off streaming like it never existed.

That sucks, because kids like Emmy DeOliveira (Kate) deserved to have their big breakout still visible, not tossed into the content dumpster.


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Rating

8.5/10. Because while I loved it and had a ton of fun, I can’t ignore the occasional dull moments in the adult acting and the tonal inconsistency. Still, this was good TV.


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning ⚠️

Alright, past this point, we’re spoiling Season 1. Don’t complain, you’ve been warned.


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Spoilers (Season 1 Only)

The tests at the start? Still some of my favorite sequences. Watching each kid’s personality shine through (Kate just YOLO’ing her way through puzzles, Constance trolling the adults, Sticky panicking but pulling through) was chef’s kiss.

The Institute was creepy in the best way. Curtain running a school that’s basically a cult disguised as education — that hit uncomfortably close to how manipulative systems actually work. Those subliminal “Emergency” messages being beamed into people’s brains? Straight up chilling.

Milligan’s role in Season 1 stays deliberately mysterious. You know there’s more to him, but they hold back the twist for later (so I’ll save that for Season 2 review).

Reynie and Curtain’s conversations were really interesting — like seeing the “good path” and “bad path” side by side. And Curtain being Benedict’s twin? Yeah, saw it coming, but still a fun reveal in context.

The finale — kids exposing the Institute, working together to topple Curtain’s little cult — felt satisfying. It wrapped up enough, but left the bigger fight dangling.