Below are spoilers for the first season of Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, a new series that came out as part of the 2024 TV premiere schedule. If you still need to catch up, you can catch all thirteen episodes with a Netflix subscription today.
When it comes to the best animated shows for adults on Netflix, many tend to run for only ten episodes. However, for Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, the new series wound up with thirteen, which surprised me considering that the story felt complete in Episode 10. However, I had the chance to ask showrunner Echo Wu why they decided to up the count – and her answer makes total sense.
Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld released all thirteen episodes as part of the 2024 Netflix schedule, and for ten episodes, it had a consistent plot. Jentry (voiced by lead Ali Wong) had to learn how to use her fire powers to combat demons from the Underworld who wished to steal them from her while also dealing with her life as a teenager.
Episode 10 came, and there was a colossal battle, resolutions, deaths, and more, but then it continued for another three episodes, and at first, I was confused. It felt like a complete story, but instead, we learned more about Jentry, her mother, and more about Gugu, Jentry's great-aunt.
I asked Echo Wu why they felt the need to extend the story rather than save some of the tale for a possible Season 2 since that easily could have been another arc in Jentry's story. Wu explained that the big reason was that Gugu was a complicated character – and that she needed a difficult ending to her arc, too:
Because I think it's also important that Gugu had a completion to her arc also. I think we were fortunate enough to go beyond ten episodes, and so the last three really feel like they're wrapping up something for Gugu because without it, it didn't feel satisfying to me to have that sort of ending. I think Gugu is a complicated character and she deserves to have a complicated ending.
Throughout Season 1, Gugu is an unreliable character. We really thought we knew what she had done in the past, only for that story to be turned on its head a few episodes later, from the supposed betrayal of her family to selfish deeds. But it was clear she still loved and cared for Jentry more than anything else.
In the end, Gugu does what she sets out to do and separates the Moonie from the Mogui in order to protect Jentry, and then her ghost vanishes, leaving Jentry on her own. It's bittersweet, and the two share a goodbye despite everything that happened – which, Wu explains, allows Jentry to finally leave her hometown and set out on the next adventure:
I think that, to me, wrapped up Jentry's journey so that she can really lay Riverfork and all these issues to rest and then kind of move onto the next chapter.
We see Jentry step through a portal at the end of the show, so she's undoubtedly leaving her hometown behind and setting out on her own. Honestly, it makes me feel like a possible Season 2 of the show would explore how she deals without Gugu, considering she was such a big part of Season 1.
Even so, I'll still miss the sassy great-aunt ghost and all the moments between her and Jentry. But if we're lucky enough to get a Jentry Chau vs the Underworld Season 2, I'll be down for whatever underworld adventures she gets into.
Until then, I'll just rewatch another great Netflix show—maybe check out Arcane Season 2 and theorize about Jinx again. Or just look ahead to the next shows coming out as part of the upcoming 2025 Netflix schedule.
