Who doesn’t love a comedy duo? In this animated show, the pair in question are Doctors Sleech and Klak, best friends and surgeons treating all kinds of weird and wonderful alien oddities.
Both quirky, our medics are set up as a classic introvert/extrovert pair and each other’s foils. Sleech (Stephanie Hsu) is the reckless outgoing counterpart, who struggles to admit her mistakes…and to let people in. Klak (Keke Palmer) is cautious, neurotic, and more emotionally vulnerable. The pair make for the most interesting characters in the show, though notable mentions go to nerdy empath bird man Plowp (Kieran Culkin), and the cool and sophisticated Doctor Azel (a solid voice acting debut from singer Sam Smith).
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is a mature show. Yes, on a surface level it dedicates a quarter of its episodes to horny shenanigans, but it goes beyond the adult animation expectations in the amount of time spent acknowledging its characters’ respective fears and flaws. These traits and the fallout they cause are mined effectively for humour and pathos. In fact, there’s a lot more character development than I expected for a first season which is good, but it does leave me wondering if the writers have set themselves a challenging pace to work with should they get a second season.
and that’s just the patients
The format of the show also feels a bit more grown up, including its audience in the medical and scientific problems, using technical terms and avoiding dumbing down situations with over the top analogies like other sci fi shows (*cough* Star Trek *cough*). It balances this nicely with the fun quirks that animated sci fi allows for, such as alien STIs and anxiety eating worm parasites. The intelligent wackiness feels not dissimilar to Futurama, so if you liked that this might be your cup of alien tea (goo?).
My only complaints about this show are that some of the B plots in the early episodes aren’t particularly engaging. Some of the characters also didn’t gel for me, Nurse Tup is seemingly meant to be the grumpy type like T’Ana from Lower Decks but it didn’t come across as effectively as it was meant to. I kept waiting for Matt to be more fleshed out since Sleech regards him so highly but we only had a few glimmers of his personality towards the end of the season. Luckily, Sleech, Klak, Plowp and Azel are usually the focal point and they’re vibrant and engaging.
Whilst this animated show has a ways to go with its world building and supporting characters, and honing some of its smaller storylines, it’s nonetheless a solid first season: fun, smart, queer, and a great addition to the much underrepresented genre of female character fronted adult animation. Hsu and Palmer really shine as the chaotic surgeons and I’m hopeful there’ll be a second season and more of Sleech and Klak’s adventures.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
Otaku Brit (^.^) 