Dead End: Paranormal Park (TV Series)

Dead End: Paranormal Park is a 2022 Netflix animated show. It is based on the graphic novel series Deadandia by Hamish Steele, who is also the show's creator.

Two teens show up for a job opening at Phoenix Park, a local attraction centered around film star Pauline Phoenix's illustrious career. While Norma (Kody Kavitha) is a Pauline fan that wants to live her dream by working with her idol, Barney (Zach Barack) is seeking a new home after his parents ignore his grandmother's hurtful words during Friday dinners. He hopes that the job will give him the space he needs, that he can share with his dog Pugsley.

Only thing: the job was a lie. Courtney the demon (Emily Osment) created the notice to offer a human vessel to the Demon King Temeluchus (Alex Brightman). He ends up possessing Pugsley, forcing Norma and Barney to team up and save his dog. They succeed, only now Pugsley can talk and has many opinions about how wonderful humans are. Courtney, realizing that she needs the fragment of demon soul that allows Pugsley to talk (also voiced by Alex Brightman), decides to "hire" the humans and use Pugsley to return home to the Demon Realm. As Norma demonstrates her information of the park, Pugsley learns magic under Courtney's tutelage, and Barney works up the nerve to talk to his crush, they hope to uncover the mystery behind an employee's sudden disappearance.

Season 2 is TBD. The webcomic Deadendia is available both online and in graphic novel form.


 * Action Girl: The janitor,, wields a giant axe and isn't afraid to use it.
 * Big Brother Instinct: While Barney feels guilty about ghosting his little brother Patrick, he doesn't know how to explain the complicated home situation. Then at Patrick's birthday party in Phoenix Park, the Night Hag goes after the kid after assimilating his friends. Barney pulls off his dinosaur disguise and hugs Patrick after seeing he's safe, while committing to keep him safe from the Night Hag. In the season one finale,.
 * Break the Cutie: Norma.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending: How season one ends;.
 * Good All Along: Turns out that, despite Norma's suspicions,.
 * Innocent Bigot: Subverted with Grammy-Gram in Barney's view. While we don't hear what she said to Barney, it was so hurtful that he refuses to talk to her. He's more furious with his parents for making excuses for her behavior, because he says he can't trust that they will have his back as a trans teenager.
 * The Music Meister: Pugsley has a spell that turns the whole park into a musical number. He was saving it for Barney's birthday, but Norma orders him to use it, without knowing what the spell was, to cause a distraction. It ends up Gone Horribly Right because they are also pulled into the musical number, with even The spell only ends once the episode does, as Barney and Norma sing the finale.
 * Not So Above It All: While most characters under the singing spell are either oblivious to it or complaining about being forced to sing,.
 * Parents as People: This is basically the situation with Barney's parents. They supposed his transitioning, using his preferred name and pronouns and getting him a binder as we see in the bathing scene. The problem is that his father holds it over his head as an obligation, and Barney points that out using their restaurant meal as an analogy. His mother pretends that everything is fine, including when her mother makes transphobic remarks towards Barney, and sweeps problems under the rug. You would think that when he ran away to stay in Phoenix Park that they would have called the cops and reported him as a runaway, since Barney is Norma's age and still a minor. Instead, they apparently did nothing, with his mother telling a disguised Barney that her son is just doing an act. Season one ends with them.
 * Pet the Dog: When.
 * Red Herring: Given the elevator to the Demon Realm is in Dead End, where Jennifer Swan ran in the show's first scene, one could reasonably assume that Temeluchus had something to do with her disappearance..
 * The Reveal:
 * Barney ran away from home because his grandmother made transphobic remarks about him at an awkward family dinner, and his parents didn't stand up to her. His mother keeps saying that she doesn't know better, but Barney calls bullshit.
 * Pauline Phoenix.
 * The Runaway: While Barney's initial plan is to get the job, save up for a place of his own to live with Pugsley, that changes when Courtney gives him a security guard position off the books. She shows him where he can stay in the Dead End house, welcoming him as her new roommate. As Norma and his little brother Patrick point out, this means he ran away from home.
 * The Un-Reveal: The season finale doesn't explain why.
 * Wants a Prize For Basic Decency: Barney accuses his parents of doing this when they try to clear the air at an awkward dinner. They say that they supported him during his transition and gave him what he wanted. Barney says that parents are supposed to support their children, no matter what, and they're ignoring the bigger issue in the room.
 * Wham! Line: Seems all's well that ends well at the end of the first episode; Courtney hires both Barney and Norma as security guards, and shows Barney a space where he can stay. He and Pugsley tuck into coffins, as Barney sleepily wishes his dog good night. Then Pugsley responds, "Night night, Barney." Barney's eyes shoot open as he realizes that his dog just talked.