Since becoming a viral sensation more than a decade ago, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared has never failed to generate wild speculation on its hidden meaning – and that tradition continues with its Channel 4 return.
At the end of a blisteringly funny (and occasionally haunting) season, creators Joe Pelling, Becky Sloan and Baker Terry craft a gripping finale, which peels back a new layer of the DHMIS universe.
After getting some long overdue replacement batteries, Yellow Guy suddenly becomes the most intelligent character in the show and goes on a journey through the upper levels of his nightmarish home.
The creative team have long said they would never confirm exactly what’s going on in their surreal horror-comedy, but they did offer some insight into the finale’s key moments during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
Read on for what they had to say, but be warned that major spoilers follow from this point on.
Who is the woman in the house?
Yellow Guy’s unnerving journey through his disorienting home sees him encounter older versions of his pals Red Guy and Duck, before arriving on a level inhabited by a strange woman, named Lesley in the credits (played by Vivienne Soan).
Intriguingly, there are hints that she could be controlling what happens to our long-suffering trio, as she owns both a dollhouse that reflects the events of the show and an enormous book that she promises contains answers.
However, co-creator Joe Pelling tells fans that much uncertainty remains over who is really pulling the strings in Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, explaining that they “didn’t want to put a full stop on it”.
He posed the question: “Is there someone in charge of her?”
Of course, many will be wondering who Lesley is, but another valid question is what she is. At first glance, she appears to be the closest thing to a “real person” that DHMIS has seen to date, but that’s not necessarily how the creators envisaged her.
“I don’t even know if I see her as a human,” said Pelling.
Becky Sloan added: “We wanted to be a bit ambiguous. She’s got this teddy stuffing coming out of her face, so she’s somewhere in-between their world and human.”
Why was Yellow Guy the one who discovered her?
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As arguably the most tortured soul in the group, many fans have grown very protective of Yellow Guy during the storied history of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared.
In this finale, he finally gets a moment of triumph – albeit, short-lived – which the creators felt was well-earned.
“On the surface he is very dim,” began Pelling. “But he’s also very open and he’s more open to exploring the world around him than the other two are; less cynical.
“So in that sense, it seemed like he was the right character to sort of step up and see their world a bit differently. And that whole idea of them understanding who they are, where they are, what they are; for us, the driving force of the show is them questioning what their dynamic is.”
He added: “And for him to be the one that takes a leap forward just felt like the most interesting route to go.”
Are the stairs hinting at season 2?
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As Yellow Guy is sent back to the ground floor with an encyclopaedic tome in hand, we catch a brief glimpse of another flight of stairs that implies the existence of an even higher power in the DHMIS universe.
Is this laying the groundwork for a second season? Not necessarily.
“It’s more like we didn’t want to say this is the end of his little journey; the idea that it just keeps going and going,” explained Pelling. “But also, there’s just something funny about slightly evading the question, deliberately not putting a clear answer.
“Because what’s interesting about the show, I suppose, is people analysing it, and once you take out that element of discussion then maybe it becomes less interesting.”
Will we ever find out what’s in the book?
In light of these comments, it isn’t surprising that our big book of answers is literally shredded in the final moments, sending a clear message to viewers that they should never expect definitive resolutions to the show’s numerous mysteries.
“[It’s] amusing to us but annoying for everyone else,” said Sloan of the devastating last-minute twist.
On fan theories, she previously said: “We would never be like ‘this is correct’ or ‘this is incorrect’ because I think that would ruin it. I think it’s best to leave it to people’s imagination a bit and play on that.”
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is available to stream on All4. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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