User blog:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: The Picnic

Introduction
I think I set myself up for too much here. Either way, at some point I knew I'd have to talk about Season 1, so let's just pull this bandage off as quickly as possible.

Truly, what is there to say about it that hasn't already been said? Nothing. It's a season that is so unrepresentative of the rest of the series that at this point that a solid 70% of it is universally dreaded. Furthermore, it definitely contributed to the show's level of popularity in that it really blew any chances of creating a solid fanbase early on. There was no bite in the writing or anything of true substance, so the show was considered sub-par and dismissed by a lot of people, which is a shame, because right from the start of Season 2, there was an insane rebound into something much more spectacular.

Unfortunately, this episode is definitely a contributing factor to these early preconceptions.

The Actual Start of the Article
The whole episode is dedicated to Gumball and Darwin taking the worst possible precautions in getting lost in the Forest of Doom on a school field trip. Basically, they go into the forest despite being explicitly told not to (They weren't listening. Plot devices!), and in true Season 1 quality, they perform a comedy of errors involving staring at the Sun, eating rocks, and Darwin eating Gumball's clothes, which I will admit was so pathetically shoehorned into the plot that it's kind of hilarious. After getting into a fight and rebuilding their trust almost immediately afterwards (deep story, I give it a 10/10), they finally reunite with their class at the picnic site and eat garbage. While doing so, however, their class leaves without them, and the whole thing is put through a vicious cycle, with Darwin asking (akin to the episode's start), "Did she say avoid or go through the Forest of Doom?"

Analysis
You can be picky and cite worse animation and all of that stuff, but the real issue with the first season was just that they made Gumball and Darwin unrealistically idiotic, consistently finding themselves in trouble by accident, and let me tell you, they sure ran that premise dry, didn't they? (There's even an episode where Gumball feels the need to reassert his dumbness. Because we needed that reaffirmation.) This episode is probably one of the worst offenders, one that portrays its characters without any other dimension or apprehension.

Yes, I will admit that the duo, specifically Gumball, is unfathomably dumb. There is not a single episode with the characters exhibiting such a disregard not for rationale but just common sense (aside from "The Spoon." Why does everybody love that episode?). There's not even a logically-sound reason as to why the characters would act in such a way. (Seriously, they're supposed to be 12 and they're trying to eat rocks.) As such, I feel obligated to view it from a generically comedic standpoint completely detached from the series, and I think that when you do that, the episode isn't nearly as bad. The main reason I don't mind the episode is that I found a lot of the gags, though childish, to be fairly well-conceived. I especially liked the calm delivery of Darwin declaring the indescribable pain of his eyes after staring at the Sun (and their flaming eyes was a nice reveal, too). Then there's all of the individual moments that don't carry weight but help contribute to the whole of setting the scene, what with the eyes in the tree alternating between cutesy and demonic and the wind telling Gumball and Darwin to go the other way (which they fail to realize, causing the wind to pelt Gumball with a tin can). These are all jokes fairly unrepresentative of the series but that still work on a comedic level. It's just a matter of the characters not fitting the bill. I will say that the only sight gag I didn't care for in the slightest was Gumball being naked, which was unnecessary and carrying no weight at all aside from seeing them there pixels. In fact, everything about the tangent was unnecessary, with the whole "Gumball going greenhorn for one minute (and yes, I did count. It was literally one minute) before recuperating" being not only pointless but an ill-conceived bridge to the pair finally reaching the campgrounds. To call it a bridge would give it too much credit, though, because the episode literally just jumps to the next scene without further explanation. With that being said, jokes about Gumball being naked were always a bit frustrating for me throughout Season 1 because there was no real justification for the jokes. Thankfully, the issue was remedied a lot by Season 3 thanks to added context, with "The Safety" delivering a quality punchline about censorship and "The Oracle" which, despite the possibility of only existing for the sake of seeing the falling-through, was good fun regardless. Also, let it be known that the episode's food chain gag was reused to greater effect in "The Question," so even if you hate this episode at its core, you can't say that nothing good came out of it. At the very least, it seems the writers are able to recognize, looking back, what jokes worked more effectively than others and add a new perspective. It's recycling, sure, but it at least shows some intuition on the part of the writers in recognizing earlier successes and failures. (In addition, the Forest of Doom was important in "The Shell." See, good things can come out of it.)

I'd even go so far as to argue that this episode may have been a precursor to all those skit-based episodes like "The Tape." The structure of this episode is so poor that it's pretty obvious that the whole thing is just a compilation of fun ideas thrown together, so for all I know, it was just a vague step in the right direction. If that's not the case, then, uh, sorry for calling the plot garbage, Ben. (At least he acknowledged that he hated the episode too, though that certainly doesn't help my case too much, does it?)

Look, I'm going to be honest. This is nowhere close to a solid episode in my opinion and I honestly don't particularly care for it. The only reason I wrote this is because everybody else hates it even more. I accept all the reasons that the episode is objectively ill-fit for the series, but I still think that parts of it worked, contrary to popular opinion that it's irreparably horrific. And yes, I do realize that it's not ideal to say, "It's not good, but it could be worse." Still, I think that considering its near-universal panning, being able to say anything remotely positive about the experience is a marginal success. (Still can't salvage "The Genius," though, sorry.)

Alright. Got that one down. Kind of.

So next week, I'm doing something a bit different. I went to /r/gumball and asked some people what their least favorite episodes are. As such, the next article is going to be essentially a series of mini-articles where I try to articulate a bit on the suggestions. Think of it as small, individual appeals: the episodes aren't necessarily loathed, but if one user hates it, then it's my mission to try to challenge them. If you have any episodes that you want me to cover, hit me up. See you then.

For the last installment regarding "The Dream," CLICK HERE.

(For my personal blog full of comprehensive reviews, CLICK HERE .)