The Party

"The Party" is the seventeenth episode of Season 1 of The Amazing World of Gumball.

Synopsis
Rachel throws a party and, after blackmail from her brother, lets him and his friends attend on one condition: each of them must bring a date.

Plot
Rachel is throwing a party for her older friends, and Tobias blackmails her into inviting all of his friends as well, though she tells them they each have to bring a date. The gang rushes off to find dates, leaving Darwin looking confused and asking what's a date. Miss Simian sees all of this happen and decides to tell Principal Brown.

At lunch, Gumball suggests he and Darwin make a list of dates so they can get into the party. Darwin still doesn't know what a date is, so he asks. Bobert appears and defines it for him and quickly leaves. Darwin suggests Penny, but Gumball, being too shy, sheepishly says no. With that out of the way, the two of them begin listing girls. First is Carrie, who tries to eat a sandwich, but fails. Gumball lists her as "maybe". Next is Teri, who is laughing with a few other girls. Gumball lists her as "possibly". Third is Carmen, who is reading a book. Gumball doesn't list her and moves on to Sussie, who is grossly chewing food. Gumball flatly says "no" and crosses her off the list. Suddenly, a paper airplane lands in Gumball's food. Gumball unfolds the paper and finds a note that reads "Would you be the jelly in my peanut butter sandwich?". Taking this literally instead of figuratively, he declines. Gumball then rushes off to ask some girls out.

The scene transitions to the lockers, where Masami and Teri are chatting. Gumball goes to Masami first, but angers her by calling her unattractive and doubting her femininity. She turns gray (like a raincloud), zaps him, then storms off. Gumball asks Teri next, but Gumball messes it up by telling her she looks desperate. Teri slaps him, but since she is made of paper, it doesn't do much. Then Sussie walks by, so Gumball asks her. She responds with a stinky burp, which leaves Gumball petrified as she walks away. Banana Joe, along with his date Carmen, walks past and jokes at his failure to get a date, leaving Gumball looking hurt. Gumball is persuaded to ask Tina by Anais, and at the doorstep of Rachel's house he meets Penny, who is upset that Gumball didn't ask her as his date.

The four go inside the house, and it ends up being pretty boring for Gumball while Darwin has the time of his life. Tina asks Gumball for a dance, which he rejects. Suddenly, Miss Simian bursts through the door, spooking the party-goers, and "busts them wide open". It is discovered that her intent was not to rat the party-goers out, but to join the party. She presses a button on Juke, causing dance music to come on. The party instantly becomes exciting.

Everybody goes insane, with the TV throwing itself out the window and Banana Joe flying through a different window. Rachel is horrified, thinking that her party is ruined, since only underclassmen came (trashing the house) and her friends did not. Darwin tells her that the party is not ruined, since the underclassmen are her friends and he will personally clean up the entire house. Rachel doubts him for a moment, but when Darwin reassures her, she feels better about the party.

The next scene is after the crazy part of the party when most of them are tired but Sussie (in which still eating as usual). Meanwhile, Gumball had been dancing with Tina awkwardly. Penny comes up to him, dancing with Hector just as awkwardly. Penny tells Gumball that she had been the one who sent the note, which Gumball is confused about, as he states that he was not hungry and did not wish to be in a sandwich. Penny laughs, as she is amazed that Gumball did not understand the note. Then Hector offered Tina the next dance, but Tina said he can have the current dance and "drops" Gumball.

Darwin had been cleaning up the house as promised. Rachel is very grateful and asks Darwin why he doesn't have a girlfriend. When Darwin states that he does not see the point of one, Rachel shows him and kisses him on the cheek, causing him to faint. Gumball and Penny forgive each other, and Gumball asks Penny out to the next party there is (nervously). She accepts, and are about to kiss when Richard loudly honks his car multiple times, interrupting them once more. Gumball has to drag him to the car while Penny and Rachel discuss the boys that they have met (Rachel being slightly disappointed, Penny being proud).

In the car, Richard asks the boys about the party, which the boys are both very happy about; Also Richard says that he likes Penny better than Tina, making Gumball blush in embarrassment.

Darwin deciding to yodel to describe how his night went. The three drive home after a long night, just as Rachel and Tobias' parents get home and pass by Miss Simian and Principal Brown in a closet. They had been about to kiss before they had been interrupted by the parents walking by.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Rachel
 * Penny

Supporting Characters

 * Tobias
 * Anais
 * Nicole
 * Miss Simian
 * Principal Brown
 * Richard
 * Tina
 * Hector

Minor Characters

 * Carrie
 * Teri
 * Molly
 * Carmen
 * Sussie
 * Masami
 * Banana Joe
 * Leslie
 * Alan
 * Bobert
 * Idaho
 * Clayton
 * Jamie
 * Juke
 * Ocho
 * Rob (debut)
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Jackie
 * Harold
 * The Sun

Trivia

 * Rachel speaks for the first time in this episode.
 * This is Rachel's first, and so far only, major role. Considering the fact the writers don't like her, Rachel may not get another major role.
 * This was the first episode to have its own promo.
 * This was the first time we see Leslie without his flower pot.
 * In this episode, we find out that Darwin is part suckerfish.
 * This episode reveals Darwin's full name, unless he was joking, which is not likely due to his nativity.
 * This implies that there have been two other "Darwins" before him.
 * This was the first episode Tobias' parents speak.
 * Although we don't see their full appearance in the episode even though it was their debut episode.
 * Richard says he's been married for 20 years, indicating he and Nicole are either in their late 30s or 40s.
 * The characters referenced the party as a "High School Party"; however, the students attend Elmore Junior High.

Continuity

 * This is the second time the sun talks. The first time was in "The End."
 * This is the first time Penny has ever been mad at Gumball. Even then, she was definitely more upset with Tina.
 * This is the second time Gumball and Penny have almost kissed but failed. They are also in the same outer space background, which was first seen in "The Pressure."

Cultural References

 * On Elmore Stream-It, Tina was looking for date for a party. She could be talking about this party since she had no date when Gumball called her.
 * When Tobias and the gang say "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel," it is a reference to The Brady Bunch quote "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia."
 * Alan appeared to be shaking his face back and forth in between two balloons, a reference to the lewd act of motorboating (burying your face into a woman's breasts, then shaking it around while yelling).
 * When the party turns up Anton's make-up is similar to the kind that Gene Simmons - leader of KISS  - has during his performances.

Goofs/Errors

 * In the closed captions, Sussie's name is spelled Saucy.
 * When Gumball and Penny are embracing, Penny had no arms.
 * Rachel said everyone had to have a date for the party; however, Darwin was at the party even though he didn't have a date.
 * In a forward shot of the Wattersons' car, Tina isn't present.
 * Darwin didn't seem to know what a date was in this episode, but in "The Pressure," he did when he tells Gumball that he needed a date to get into the tree house. This episode could have taken place before then, or Darwin might have just forgotten what a date was.
 * In this episode, Carmen is dating Banana Joe, but in the show's original promos, she is dating Alan.
 * When Gumball is in the school hallway Gumball tells Sussie she's his date for the party even though he crossed her off the list in the cafeteria.