The Downer

"The Downer" is the thirty-seventh episode of Season 3 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 113th episode overall.

Synopsis
When Gumball's family tries to cheer him out of a inexplicable lousy mood, he wishes they would all disappear.

Plot
The episode begins with Richard and Darwin angrily knocking on Gumball's door. Nicole and Anais join them, then suddenly Gumball yells, "No!". His family goes in and they all see Gumball in bed, and Gumball shows them his grumpy face and tells them he's in a bad mood. His family then pat their hands on Gumball to cheer him up. Gumball, getting more mad, angrily yells at his family to go away and leave him in peace. Suddenly, Gumball then sees his family has disappeared.

Gumball walks into the family room and asks where his family is hiding. Gumball then realizes that his wish for making his family go away has come true.

Gumball begins playing with blocks, and pretends he's a giant monster terrorizing a city. He drops a block person down the toilet. Gumball then attempts to cheer himself up by watching television and singing a song, but his bad mood returns. Gumball then cooks dinner and pretends to act like his family. But Gumball is still in a bad mood.

He leaves his house and rampages through the neighborhood and town, and Gumball discovers he's the last person on Earth since everybody in Elmore is gone, even Gumball's family. He then sees miserable signs and billboards that have changed. He arrives at the Elmore Mall in an attempt to bring everybody back. A shadowy darkness then closes in on Gumball, forcing him to run away. Gumball returns to his house before the darkness consumed everything, leaving only Gumball in the abyss. He tries to remember his father's advice from earlier in the episode. Darwin suddenly appears and the darkness fades away, revealing that his family is back. It reveals that Gumball was only hallucinating because of his bad mood and misery. Gumball and Darwin walk away, and Anais asks Nicole if they should tell him. Before Nicole could say anything, a flashback plays, revealing everybody in Elmore while Gumball hallucinates. After the flashback ends, Nicole replies that they should leave Gumball the embarrassment.

Main Characters

 * Gumball

Supporting Characters

 * Darwin
 * Anais
 * Nicole
 * Richard

Minor Characters

 * Objects
 * Penny (mentioned)
 * Mr. Robinson (mentioned)
 * Principal Brown (mentioned)
 * Alan
 * Ocho
 * Lego Figures
 * Frog Kid
 * Doughnut Sheriff
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Sausage Dog
 * Pantsbully
 * Cowboy
 * Jackie
 * Mr. Poop
 * Neck Beard
 * Blue Elephant
 * Marvin
 * Carmen's father
 * Larry
 * Karen
 * Banana Bob

Trivia

 * According to Ben Bocquelet, this episode underwent a considerable rewrite because the early draft was deemed excessively dark.
 * This episode, along with "The Egg," "The Triangle," and "The Money" aired in multiple countries before it aired in the US.
 * This is the first new episode to premiere on a Monday since "The Club."
 * Gumball breaks the Fourth Wall by speaking to the viewer and singing Life to the viewer as well through most of this episode.

Continuity

 * Anais mentions the Seven Pressure Point Heart Disintegrating Move at the beginning of the episode, which was demonstrated in "The Move."
 * In the same scene, Nicole calls Gumball "Gummypuss," which was what she kept calling him throughout "The Meddler."
 * Gumball makes the same face he did in "The Bros," "The Friend," and "The Spoiler."
 * The plug socket that Richard tried to kiss in "The Flakers" reappears in this episode.
 * Music from "The World," "The Kiss," "The Oracle," "The Secret," "The Tape," and "The Procrastinators" is reused.
 * This is the third episode in which a character imitates Darwin. The first was in "The Sidekick," and the second was in "The Safety."

Cultural References

 * One of the billboards Gumball sees has "Captain Crud" on it, which references the cereal mascot, Captain Crunch.
 * The song "Life" is a parody of Pharrell Williams' "Happy."
 * Gumball makes a reference to the Christian rapture when he states that everyone has gone to a better place.
 * When Gumball pretends to be a monster destroying a city, Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" plays in the background.
 * When the darkness affects Watterson's family picture it begins to resemble The Scream painting by Edvard Munch.
 * The toy that Gumball plays with resembles a LEGO set, complete with figures.
 * The way that Gumball runs away from the darkness may be a reference to the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.
 * The darkness grabbing Gumball's face is a reference to the character Venom from the Spider-Man franchise.

Goofs/Errors

 * In one scene, Gumball loses his whiskers while tilting his head.
 * During the song "Life," when Gumball says he has the sun on the TV screen, the spaceship he plays as moves even though he has his arms out and destroyed the controller earlier in the song.