The Mysterious Benedict Society (TV series)

This article is about television series based on the books written by Trenton Lee Stewart. For the franchise as a whole, see The Mysterious Benedict Society. For the first book in the series, see The Mysterious Benedict Society (book).

The Mysterious Benedict Society
File:The Mysterious Benedict Society logo.jpeg
Genre	Family Mystery Adventure
Based on	The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Developed by	Matt Manfredi Phil Hay
Starring	Tony Hale Kristen Schaal MaameYaa Boafo Ryan Hurst Gia Sandhu Mystic Inscho Seth B. Carr Emmy DeOliveira Marta Kessler
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	James Bobin Phil Hay Matt Manfredi Deepak Nayar Karen Kehela Sherwood Todd Slavkin Darren Swimmer Jamie Tarses
Production location(s)	British Columbia
Running time	51-57 minutes
Production company(s)	20th Television Fanfare Slavkin Swimmer Productions Familystyle Sonar Entertainment
Distributor	Disney Platform Distribution
Release
Original network	Disney+
Original release	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25) – present
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

The Mysterious Benedict Society is an American mystery adventure television series based on the children's books by Trenton Lee Stewart. The series stars Tony Hale as Mr. Benedict, who gathers four children to stop a global emergency. Hale also portrays Benedict's twin brother, Mr. Curtain, who is the founder of the school the children infiltrate. The series premiered on Disney+ on June 25, 2021, and consists of eight episodes. In September 2021, the series was renewed for a second season. On May 16, 2022, it was announced the second season would be released in September 2022.

Premise

During a global crisis called "The Emergency", Mr. Benedict, a very talented and smart individual, recruits four kids for a dangerous mission to infiltrate the Learning Institute for Veritas and Enlightenment (L.I.V.E) on Nomansan island. The Institute is a school run by Dr. L.D Curtain, who is sending messages that infiltrate one's subconscious using children, which allows him to slip in ideas and thoughts into people's minds. Mr. Benedict sends the four kids he has recruited into the Institute to stop this nefariousness and to save the world from Dr. Curtain's machinations.

Cast and characters

Main

• Tony Hale as Mr. Nicholas Benedict, the leader of the Mysterious Benedict Society. He has type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy and faints when experiencing intense emotions. Assisted by his trusty associates, Benedict camps out by the Institute for most of the series to keep watch over the children.
  • Hale also portrays Dr. L.D. Curtain/Nathaniel Benedict, the founder of the Institute and Benedict's long-lost twin brother. He is secretly working on a machine called the Whisperer that is causing a worldwide emergency.
  • Luke Roessler plays the young versions of Nicholas and Nathaniel.
• Kristen Schaal as Number Two, an associate of Benedict
• MaameYaa Boafo as Rhonda, an associate of Benedict
• Ryan Hurst as Milligan, an associate of Benedict
• Gia Sandhu as Ms. Perumal, Reynie's tutor in the orphanage
• Mystic Inscho as Reynie Muldoon, one of the children Benedict recruits. He is intelligent and resourceful.
• Seth B. Carr as George "Sticky" Washington, one of the children Benedict recruits. He is incredibly smart and can remember everything he reads.
  • Trae Maridadi plays young Sticky.
• Emmy DeOliveira as Kate Wetherall, one of the children Benedict recruits. She always carries around a bucket with tools she might need.
  • Leia Bajic plays young Kate.
• Marta Kessler as Constance Contraire, the youngest prodigy of the children Benedict recruits

Recurring

• Saara Chaudry as Martina Crowe, a student at the Institute who competes with Reynie and Sticky and recruits Kate to her tetherball team.
• Katherine Evans as Jillson, one of the children's guides when they arrive at the Institute.
• Ben Cockell as Jackson, one of the children's guides when they arrive at the Institute.
• Fred Melamed as Captain Noland, skipper of the luxurious ocean liner The Shortcut, upon which the young detectives travel the world.
• Shannon Kook as Mr. Oshiro, a teacher who works at the Institute and often puzzles his students with brain teasers and questions.
• Ricardo Ortiz as S.Q., Curtain's adopted son, who is oblivious to his evil deeds and befriends Reynie.
• Trenna Keating as Dr. Garrison, Curtain's chief scientist working on the Whisperer.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"A Bunch Of Smart Orphans"	James Bobin	Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)
Reynie Muldoon, an orphan who often feels like an outsider and weird, is given the special opportunity to try out for a scholarship to attend the Boatwright Academy, a prestigious school. He arrives to take the test to get in, and finds that only he passes. Reynie is told to return soon for a second, much harder test, and to bring only one pencil. He finds one girl, Rhonda, has lost her pencil, so he breaks his in two and gives Rhonda one half. Once again, he is the only one in the room to pass the test. Three other children who also passed arrive from different rooms, and all together the four partake in a series of other unique quizzes that test their wit and ability to work together. Once only three of them are left, including Reynie himself, Sticky, and Kate, they are escorted to meet Mr. Benedict. Benedict tells them that both Rhonda and the scholarship to Boatwright were a ruse. He introduces them to the fourth member of their team, Constance. Benedict admits that he gathered them to stop something called the "Emergency" just as an alarm goes off.
2	"Carrying A Bird"	Greg Beeman	Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)
Benedict explains that the Emergency is caused by hidden messages in the television. Strange men attack the facility, but Rhonda (who works for Benedict), Number Two, Milligan, and the children, hold them off. Benedict prepares the children to send them to a remote school off-shore where he believes the messages are originating. The team gets to work practicing Morse code and bonding with each other. Sticky tells the others how his uncle and aunt put too much pressure on him, so he ran away. The children are taken to the academy while Benedict observes on the outskirts of the campus. The kids meet Jackson and Jillson, their guides. The team finds all the contradicting rules and guidelines confusing while waiting to meet the headmaster. They choose to report back to Benedict. Kate decides to climb a tower she believes has the transmitter in it alone, causing an argument. The kids attend their first class, which Reynie and Kate excel at. The headmaster arrives, looking identical to Benedict and calling himself Curtain.
3	"Depends on the Wagon"	Glen Winter	Chelsey Lora	July 2, 2021 (2021-07-02)
The children figure out that Mr Curtain and Mr Benedict are twin brothers and send that information to Benedict. He infers that the headmaster of the Institute is his long-lost brother Nathaniel. Back at the Institute, the four children view a ranking of all of the students by academic prowess. They see that Kate and Constance are failing their classes and that the least successful student is exiled from the island. They communicate this to Mr. Benedict, who advises Kate and Constance to cheat. Meanwhile, Milligan is sent to retrieve a letter from Mr. Benedict's old study that contains pictures and information about Curtain and Benedict and has to hide from agents of Curtain, who are placing cameras in the house. Reynie is called to Mr. Curtain's office and meets his adoptive son, known as S.Q, who has a passion for drawing. He and Curtain eat together, and the headmaster advises him to trust no one, not even his friends. Kate and Constance sneak out at night searching for information on the transmissions but are caught by Jackson and Jillson. Back at Stonetown, Ms. Perumal gets suspicious about Reynie's whereabouts and schedules a meeting with the headmaster of Boatwright Academy.
4	"A Whisper, Not a Shout"	Wendey Stanzler	James Rogers III	July 9, 2021 (2021-07-09)
The four children devise a plan for cheating for the next exam and try to read part of Mr Curtain's journal. Back at Stonetown, Number Two gets suspicious of Rhonda's outings and follows her to find out she is writing messages on the walls of the town inciting to fight the Emergency. This causes a feud between the two women, their respective philosophies of uptightness and recklessness clashing when it comes to decision-making. Sticky gets caught giving answers to Kate via Morse Code during a test and is sent to an anxiety-inducing Waiting Room. The three others worry for him, Kate having flunked her test and Constance having started trying in school and acing her test. Mr Benedict and Milligan go on a dangerous mission to spy on Mr Curtain. Sticky talks with the headmaster without revealing that he was helping Kate, and gets sent to the Waiting Room for the rest of the day. Milligan and Benedict find out a potential base for Curtain's activities. Once Sticky comes back, Constance reveals she has decoded Mr Curtain's journal, using a rotational Caesar Cipher. They find out that Benedict, Number Two, Milligan, and Rhonda are all on a list of potential enemies to mindsweep. The next morning, the student ratings show that Constance is not in danger anymore, but Kate is to be barged. Additionally, Mr Curtain enters Mr Oshiro's class to promote Reynie and Sticky as Messengers. While leaving, Kate plays a game of tetherball with Martina Crowe. Martina, impressed by her skills, convinces the headmaster to let Kate stay at school, to join the tetherball team, in a probationary scholarship of sorts. Constance starts to hear voices that may have to do with the Emergency (Due to her hypersensitivity, she alone hears them).
5	"The Art of Conveyance and Round-Trippery"	Karyn Kusama	Taylor Mallory	July 16, 2021 (2021-07-16)
The children receive an encoded message from Mr. Benedict telling them where to find the secret passageway. After being invited to sit at the Messenger-only table, Reynie and Sticky are alerted that Jackson and Jillson have seen flickering lights near the channel, and they realize that their method of communication can no longer be used. The kids manage to alert Mr. Benedict about the discovery without getting caught. Kate and Constance manage to find and enter the secret passageway, and after narrowly avoiding getting caught, they discover that Mr. Curtain is planning to launch something big tomorrow, called the "farm and the forest". Ms. Perumal manages to find Mr. Benedict and his associates and questions them about Reynie’s whereabouts. After being questioned, Mr Benedict decides to collect the children the following day. For their Messenger duty, Reynie and Sticky are led to the Whisperer, a machine invented by Mr. Curtain. After repeating a series of phrases, their voices are sent out as subliminal messages, which Constance can hear. The four kids realize they have to disable the Whisperer without getting caught.
6	"Run Silent, Run Deep"	Greg Beeman	Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer	July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23)
30 years ago, Curtain and Benedict are in an orphanage performing in a play, hoping to impress people so they can get adopted. However, Benedict is the only one that gets adopted, and betrays his brother by not asking his parents to adopt him. In the present, Benedict sends Milligan to rescue the children. Milligan travels in a submarine, but crashes in the bottom of the lake. Sticky is again led to the Whisperer, and starts acting strangely. Dr Curtain is impressed by Sticky’s results, so he tells Sticky he will be spending a lot more time in the Whisperer. Sticky’s subliminal messages tell people to buy blue berets. Constance investigates this and manages to retrieve a beret. S.Q. leads Reynie to the forest, which is composed of fake trees with large antennas attached. Kate manages to befriend Martina, and manages to copy her keycard which gives her executive access to the farm, which is a server room. Sticky and the other kids fight, which leads to Kate trying to enter the farm by herself.
7	"The Dance of the Celestial Orb"	Shannon Kohli	Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer	July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30)
Kate tries to enter the server room but is forced to escape after Jackson and Jillson discovered there was an intruder. While escaping, Kate falls off a cliff. Sticky realizes that he was the one that caused Kate to be in trouble, and turns back to normal. Kate is rescued by Milligan, who survived the submarine crash, and tells Kate that he was ordered to take the kids home. Reynie is called in for questioning to Dr. Curtain’s office, who believes he is the one who broke into the server room. However, Curtain’s men believe that it was Martina because Kate copied her keycard. Martina believes that someone has framed her, and Kate is the only one she can trust because she is the only person who is nice to her. Ms. Perumal comes back and tells Mr. Benedict that she believes him after seeing a large crowd of people, including her mother, being mind controlled into buying the berets. Ms. Perumal informs him of this, and gives him a letter to send to Reynie, which the falcon flies away with. S.Q. discovers the letter, and Reynie convinces him to not tell his father. Jackson and Jillson find out Mr. Benedict’s location, but he escapes in a hot air balloon, and goes to help the children. After investigating, Martina discovers that it was Kate who broke into the server room.
8	"Big Day Today"	Mark Tonderai	Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi	August 6, 2021 (2021-08-06)
Mr. Benedict, Rhonda and Number Two arrive on the island. Martina outs Kate's involvement in breaking into the server room, but Kate tells Dr. Curtain to leave Martina alone and is ordered to be brain swept, though Constance saves her. Milligan suddenly remembers that he was once a scientist and that Dr. Curtain was indeed the one who erased his memory. Sticky is called to the Whisperer, but fights it this time. Kate has Constance go up the tower while Milligan and soon Martina and the tetherball team fight off Dr. Curtain's bodyguards. Reynie tries to make a joke so that Dr. Curtain laughs and falls asleep, but he does not have the same narcolepsy as Mr. Benedict. Reynie instead makes him vulnerable, which makes him angry and thus falls asleep. As Kate arrives, Constance uses her stubbornness to confuse and destroy the Whisperer. Mr. Benedict arrives in time and converses with his brother; both angry at the other for their actions. Dr. Curtain tricks Mr. Benedict into falling asleep and escapes with S.Q. and Dr. Garrison. Milligan realizes that he is Kate's father and they reconnect, Sticky speaks with his aunt and decides to attend Boatwright Academy, Ms. Perumal adopts Reynie, Constance decides to live with Mr. Benedict, though she refuses to get adopted, and Rhonda and Number Two become better friends. Elsewhere, Dr. Garrison presents Dr. Curtain with a new plan, and he replies that this could be interesting.

Production

Development

It was announced in September 2019 that a series order for an adaptation of the Trenton Lee Stewart fantasy book series of the same name was close to completion at Hulu. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi wrote the pilot episode with James Bobin set to direct. Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer were set as showrunners for the series. In November 2020, the series was moved to Disney+. In February 2021, it was announced that the series would consist of eight episodes and premiere on June 25, 2021. In July 2021, Hay and Manfredi said that, should the series be renewed for future seasons, they would incorporate and combine elements from the book series instead of each season being straight adaptations. On September 28, 2021, Disney+ renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

Tony Hale was cast in February 2020 to portray twin brothers Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain. Kristen Schaal, MaameYaa Boafo, Ryan Hurst, Gia Sandhu, Mystic Inscho, Seth Carr, Emmy DeOliveira, and Marta Kessler were added as series regulars, playing Number Two, Rhonda, Milligan, Ms. Perumal, Reynie Muldoon, George 'Sticky' Washington, Kate Wetherall, and Constance Contraire, respectively, in April. Upon learning that he had gotten the role, Inscho said that he was "thrilled" and felt that the casting "made all of the hard work and efforts [he] put in worth it."

Writing

About playing both Benedict and Curtain and differentiating the characters, Hale noted that "Reading the books and [seeing] just how affable Mr. Benedict is — he comes from a place of compassion and love. And then Curtain, you hear more of their backstory as the show goes, but he’s got a tremendous amount of pain and trauma — he’s also very misunderstood." Hale also described Benedict as an "erratic and befuddled" person with terrible posture, which was fun for Hale to portray. Hale also enjoyed working on his "narcoleptic pratfalls" and Trenton Lee Stewart, saying "Just those different colors that Trenton Stewart added to the series. Working with a writer like that, and just how many twists and turns he puts in the series, that is just candy for an actor. It’s just so fun to work with." On playing Curtain, Hale elaborated, saying "It would have been easy to play the idea of an evil twin. But I wanted to find parts of him with which I resonated: his humanity, mainly. He probably feels misunderstood and this comes from his own pain." Hale also added that the character would not be the same if it were not for the hair, costume, and makeup put in to his overall getup. Hale finds parts of the characters that are like himself in order to play the role properly.

Inscho noted in an interview that the themes he hoped viewers would take away from watching the series would be those of family and friendship, and Carr said that he thought the show was that the "impossible is possible". Talking about his character, Carr said that "What I definitely admire most is his empathy. I feel like his empathy plays a big part in him caring for others when others didn’t really care for him. So, I feel like, in a way, he’s kind of like a lone wolf until he found his buddies." In another interview, DeOliveira said that the character of Kate Wetherall is "really fun, she is stubborn, adventurous, brave, and independent" and complemented her "willingness to just go for it, she doesn’t always think everything through, but she is not afraid to just jump in." Speaking to her character's story arc in the series and commenting on whether the viewers might see more of her character in content to come, actor Gia Sandhu noted that Ms. Perumal "surprises herself in how much she realises she cares for Reynard. She depends on him a lot more than she expects in the beginning."

Filming

Filming was initially set to begin in mid 2020 in British Columbia, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It officially began filming on August 26, with scenes shot at Gastown, Vancouver in November. Filming concluded on January 19, 2021. Filming for the second season will be relocating to California with the state's film and TV tax credits program.

Visual effects

Folks VFX provide the visual effects for the series. Philippe Thibault serves as visual effects supervisor. He described working on the series as "making eight little movies". Upon being hired as VFX supervisor, Thibault began reading the original books, as it was important to him to be faithful to the source material in order to "respect what's been done and where it's coming from". He also said that his work on the series was different from his previous work due to the CG-created elements, such as parts of the city of Stonetown and elements in certain shots, being significantly less noticeable than his previous work.

Music

Theodore Shapiro and Joseph Shirley compose the series' music. The soundtrack of The Mysterious Benedict Society includes multiple classic rock songs. Screenwriter Phil Hay noted that "the music they chose helped convey the tone they were going for," as well as that "We had this idea together that this is a type of music that we love that has a real specific place. That sort of ‘70s AM power pop, we sort of realized in a strange collision of all the stuff in this, visually and storywise, that this world, that’s what people listen to in our mind. That’s the kind of music people love." Hay finally revealed that the song ‘Let Your Love Flow’ by The Bellamy Brothers would be used in the series.

Marketing

Disney released a trailer for the series on May 20, 2021, as well as promotional art and teaser images.

Release

The series debuted on June 25, 2021, with a two episode premiere, it consisted of 8 episodes, and ran until August 6, 2021.

Reception

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 86% based on 22 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Mysterious Benedict Society has a slow windup, but its delightful supporting cast and sparky tone make for winning family entertainment." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Daniel D'Addario of Variety gave the show a positive review and stated, "Within the growing set of shows about kids asked to save the world, The Mysterious Benedict Society stands out, and might itself save a rainy weekend for curious kids sometime this summer." Joel Keller of Decider gave the show a positive review and stated that it was "smart without being overly precious, but is just weird enough to keep kids' attention." Petrana Radulovic of Polygon gave the show a positive review and stated that it "has all the components a great kid classic needs." Josh Bell of CBR gave the show a positive review and stated, "The characters are distinctive and appealing enough to keep The Mysterious Benedict Society engaging even in its slower early stages." James Croot of Stuff.co.nz gave the show a positive review and stated that it was "brightly coloured, bold and bravura in its execution."

Ashley Moulton of Common Sense Media gave the show five out of five and an '8+' age rating, stating "Everything about it is superb -- its acting, storytelling, and wonderfully immersive dystopian world." Kristen Lopez of IndieWire gave the show a 'B+' and stated, "Manfredi and Hay aren't afraid to create a series that both praises the intelligence of children while also admitting that being a kid is weird and confusing." Joseph Stanichar of Paste gave the show 7.5 out of 10 and stated, "Even though the children's performances fell a bit short, I hope that they'll grow on me throughout the series. For now, the promise of Hale's dual roles and seeing how future scenes will be presented is more than enough to convince me to keep watching." Nick Spacek of Starburst gave the show 4 out of 5 and stated, "Rather than being something for children with a few jokes the grown-ups will appreciate, it has the same youthful joie de vivre as a film like Moonrise Kingdom, but with the vivacity and energy of Spy Kids." Joanne Soh of The New Paper gave the show 4 out of 5 and stated, "Hale may be brilliant as the narcoleptic genius, but the child actors are the real heroes, especially the scene-stealing Kessler." Brad Newsome of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the show 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Based on the novel by Trenton Lee Stewart, and with a quirky tone set by producer-director James Bobin (Flight of the Conchords), it should captivate its intended audience." Lucy Mangan of The Guardian gave the show 3 out of 5 and stated, "What could have offered children a chance to understand the historically unprecedented aspects of the internet age they live in, made the young fish conscious of the water they swim in, is left simply as a romp."

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the show a negative review and stated, "The first two episodes have a start-and-stop energy, with more tests leading to more tests, and it gets more and more tedious." Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter gave the show a negative review and stated, "There could be potential here, but not enough to build real enthusiasm."

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2022	20th Visual Effects Society Awards	Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode	Philippe Thibault, Marie-Pierre Boucher, Alexis Belanger, Gabriel Beauvais (for "A Bunch of Smart Orphans")	Nominated
	Directors Guild of America	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs	James Bobin	Nominated
	Leo Awards	Best Direction in a Youth or Children's Program or Series	Shannon Kohli	Won
		Best Cinematography in a Youth or Children's Program or Series	François Dagenais	Won
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a Streaming Series Role: Teen Actor	Ricardo Ortiz	Pending

External links

• The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+
• The Mysterious Benedict Society at IMDb