Inside Job

Inside Job is a 2021 animated show on Netflix. It is created by Shion Takeuchi. Alex Hirsch of Gravity Falls is a producer on the show.

Reagan Ridley should be on top of the world. She's primed to become the next successor of Cognito, Inc. Her father Rand founded the company and got ousted after he tried blowing up the sun in a bid to cure skin cancer. Now the Ridleys have divorced, and Rand has moved in with Reagan. To make matters worse, her boss J.R. says that she's great at the science and conspiracies, not so much at the team management. He hires a co-leader, a smiling Nice Guy named Brett, to help Reagan earn her promotion to Cognito, Inc. CEO. Reagan hates that Brett gets along with everyone but doesn't have an ounce of evil -- or tech smarts -- in his body. But as they become friends, and deal with shenanigans that may destroy the planet, Reagan may realize this dream to rule the world has a tainted source.

Part 2 is set to come out in 2022. A preview has been released in June of the same year.


 * Adaptational Villainy: In addition to the celebrities who are secretly Reptoids who plan to conquer the world and (might) prey on humans, there is Buzz Aldrin (who murdered Neil Armstrong and became a cult leader) and the Flat Earth Society (who are an actual terrorist group).
 * The Alcoholic:
 * Rand has been drinking so much that he regularly gets organs from the cloning department at Cognito, Inc. Episode 2 features him blackmailing J.R. to get more livers. Reagan does ask why not cut back on drinking.
 * According to, Reagan's alcohol index is at high levels. She gets it from her dad. We know that things are going to suck in season two when.
 * Ancient Conspiracy: Cognito works for a cabal of secretive folks who claim to have ruled the world from the shadows since, as they put it "the dawn of time". This isn't as easy as it used to be, so they founded Cognito to act as intermediaries.
 * Bad Boss: J.R. downplays this; he has never been known to murder his employees (at least not onscreen), but he does a lot of other things that make him detestable. For example, he gives Brett the job of making a ceremonial toast at a gala because he was the only one who did not physically or sexually assault anyone at the meeting where it is announced (JR was part of said meeting), pleads with the Reptoids not to cut their funding as he “has mistresses to feed”, tries to provoke a kraken into wrecking his yacht (while passengers are on it) so he can collect on insurance, and possibly worst of all, steals the entire employee pension fund, and then buys a Supervillain Lair to act as a tax haven. In an episode where Reagan is happy because of J.R. promotion (because that means he's leaving) and feels like celebrating, he offers to "erase" someone for "funsies" by sending him to the Shadow Prison.
 * Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: The whole point of the plot. All conspiracies are real, and a select number of corporations manage them. The Illuminati is Cognito, Inc.'s biggest competitor.
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * When the Reptoids hear about how Rand caused Reagan to have a violent response to hugging-- -- they all agree that Rand is a terrible father.
 * ROBOTUS snarkily says that Reagan shouldn't be avoiding her problems when she opts to make a robot duplicate of her supposed soulmate Bryan rather than actually go on a date with the guy..
 * More like Well-Intentioned Extremist has standards, but.
 * Used as an off joke in one episode where a realtor who claims to have been in the "evil real estate business" (meaning she sells Supervillain Lairs) for 15 years calls J.R. (her current customer, whom she just required to sign his name on the deed with his own blood) a "psycho".
 * Genre Savvy: In "Clone Gunman," Brett admits to Reagan that he accidentally created an Akira situation to stop the runaway clones. He then checks that she knows the movie. "Of course, I've seen Akira! Anime is very mainstream right now!" It ends up being an apt summary of the situation.
 * Godzilla Threshold: ROBOTUS nearly destroyed the world in the pilot when Reagan shows him how things really are. Thus, it's a really big deal in the season finale when.
 * Good All Along: Both the pilot and season one finale have Reagan suspect that Brett is pretending to be a nice, easygoing people pleaser to hide his ulterior motives. In the first one, they work together to stop ROBOTUS, while in the season one finale he ends up accidentally.
 * Handicapped Badass: Andre is a druggie to repress really bad Tourette's and OCD, while performing surgery on his crew and serving as the team medic. As shown in "My Big Flat Earth Wedding" and "Inside Reagan", he can be dangerous if it means his team is in danger.
 * Horrible Judge of Character: The "cloak guys" who Cognito answers to; putting J.R. in charge was bad enough,
 * Ignored Epiphany: As Rand admits in the season two opener, he misses his ex-wife and despite hurting the latter so badly that she never wants to speak to him again. He proceeds to.
 * Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Andre Lee, one of Reagan's colleges. Whether he is a doctor at all is debatable, his job is to create diseases whenever Cognito needs a plague (which seems disturbingly often). He is also a neurotic mess who uses drugs to cope with his OCD, drugs  which include chemtrails.
 * Mushroom Man: Myc, part of the main cast. He's a mushroom-like creature with psychic powers, a dry, sarcastic wit, and a foul mouth. Also something of a pervert.
 * Necessary Evil: In the first episode, Brent asks Reagan directly if Cognito Inc is evil - she doesn’t deny it, but claims they are no more evil than Facebook or Starbucks, stating, “At least here I develop tech to prevent war with Atlantis.” One seminar instructor, when asking recruits if there are any questions, discourages anyone from asking about ethical concerns.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Defied. Buzz Aldrin is portrayed as a horny jerk in "Buzzkill", and celebrities who are secretly Reptoids include Queen Elizabeth II, Mark Zuckerberg (though he clearly deserved dying in the shadow council trials), Judge Judy, and Reese Witherspoon (who claims the true meaning of "Shake it Off" is how she has to molt every thousand years).
 * Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Brett is not stupid by normal standards; J.R. mentions that he's a Yale graduate, which is not an easy thing to accomplish even as a personal trainer. He also has great people skills, as shown in the pilot. It's just that compared to Reagan's super-genius that he's an idiot who lacks the qualifications to co-lead a team that manages conspiracies.
 * Only Sane Man: While Brett has his issues, like his compulsion to please everyone and ignore his own needs or other people's red flags, he's definitely the most normal person working at Cognito, Inc. He admits that Reagan is right to be suspicious of him because he is underqualified for the job as her co-leader, calls her for help when ROBOTUS goes haywire, and later tries to guide her gently when J.R. orders them to choose someone to fire.
 * OOC Is Serious Business:
 * If Rand is actually scared for Reagan's well-being rather than being a dick to her? Yeah, be afraid. Very afraid.
 * Druggie Andre becoming retrospective? That is a sign that things are going to go off-the-rails. During "The Brettfast Club," he waxes eloquent about the racism preserved in Still Valley due to everyone thinking they're still in the 80s.
 * If Brett stops smiling or actually stands up to people, things get serious for this people-pleaser. Case in point, during "The Brettfast Club", he's actually hurt that Reagan thinks 80s nostalgia is stupid and doesn't want to indulge him while they go undercover in Still Valley to locate a missing Myc.
 * A Party - Also Known as an Orgy: The Reptoids are infamous for their gatherings (not just parties) turning into this. They're perfectly okay with humans participating, but after Andre does so he winds up with no less than five Reptoid-originating STDs, plus another from Myc.
 * Pet the Dog
 * In her twisted way, Tamiko keeps trying to encourage Reagan to be happy and live for herself. She's a narcissist and emotionally abusive, but if Reagan is actually in danger? Tamiko will go Mama Bear and attempt to rescue her.
 * In "My Big Flat Earth Wedding," there are a few examples:
 * Myc normally pokes Reagan's buttons. He offers to do telepathy to ease her stress about planning her mom's wedding.
 * J.R. freaks out when a kidnapped Reagan is in mortal danger, thanks to Harold the Flat-Earther making her drive to the "edge of the Earth" aka the portal to inner Earth. He orders Glenn to get in the ocean, swim for it, and rescue her!
 * Harold thanks Reagan for "fulfilling" his dream of seeing the edge of the world. Excusing that he kidnapped her to do that, it was his only decent moment.
 * When it seems that Reagan has met her leadership goals, J.R. gives her the promotion as promised..
 * Sassy Black Woman: Gigi Thompson (Cognito Inc's Head of Media Manipulation and Subliminal Messages) another member of the main cast; sassy and snarky.
 * Ship Tease: It's not confirmed, but "The Brettfast Club" hints that Brett has a crush on Reagan, and that's why he gets really hurt when she refuses to play along with his 80's fantasies in Still Valley. Reagan's tech skills and ability to solve a crisis definitely impress him, as he praises Reagan for ROBOTUS being tough enough to kick his ass in the pilot. The Cold Open features him running a simulation of his  family where his mother asks him if Reagan is more than a friend at work.
 * The Starscream:
 * Too Kinky to Torture: Brett reveals in the pilot that he did 38 weeks of hazing at Yale to get into all the fraternities. As a result, he can handle large amounts of physical pain, and even seems to welcome it.
 * Tyrant Takes the Helm: The season two opener shows that
 * Unperson: J.R. claims that anyone sent to the Shadow Prison is "erased from history". It is implied he has done this to employees simply For the Evulz.
 * Villain Protagonist: Reagan and most of the supporting cast could be considered Anti-Villain types, as they are more than willing to commit such atrocities as murder, kidnapping, and brainwashing for the greater good. Except for Brent, who could be considered the Token Good Teammate, even if he isn't very bright.
 * Who Shot JFK?: In this reality, the true killer was "Grassy Noel" Atkinson, the longest serving member of Cognito Inc, and by his own account, the best assassin alive, claiming JFK was not the only Head of State he has killed. Ironically, this revelation was far less interesting than the reason why JFK was killed - JFK had been seduced by a Roswell alien and had gotten a Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong, requiring Atkison to kill him before the eggs hatched and released a Horde of Alien Locusts upon the world, something that sounds bizarre even when compared to other JFK-related conspiracy theories
 * You Get Me Coffee: While Brett is Reagan's co-leader, she notes that J.R. had hired him as an unpaid intern. It means that J.R. will occasionally use Brett for demeaning, deceptive, or dangerous tasks, like serving as the sample Reptoid that the staff has to hug in the H.R. meeting, or asking him to pose as a billionaire to convince Jeff Bezos to buy J.R.'s yacht. (It Makes Sense in Context) Brett doesn't mind the former task because he loves hugging people, and for the latter he eagerly breaks out his method acting, honorably offering himself as a hostage when the Flat Earthers take over the ship.
 * You Shall Not Pass: Attempted. In the season one finale when.