The Parking

"The Parking" is the tenth episode of Season 4 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 126th overall.

Synopsis
The Wattersons struggle to find a space in the mall parking lot.

Plot
The episode starts with the Watterson family driving towards Elmore Mall for a family day out. As Nicole parked the car in the parking lot, Richard yells at her to stop and take the space that is closer to the entrance. Once she left the space for the other one, a car comes and occupies it. When she turns around, another car takes away the space she previously took. Though Nicole was frustrated at the prospect of searching for a new parking space, Gumball points at a old woman going back to her car which promotes them to stalk her until she reaches her car. After waiting for a long time for her to move past one car, Anais suggests they should have more details before following someone. She points out 3 shoppers who were returning to their cars. Shopper no.1 is a family man who was forced to return to his car while his wife went ahead with more shopping, leaving him to wait for hours. Shopper no.2 is unmarried but is unattentive and may have forgotten where he parked his car. Finally shopper no.3 who had already left the space open while Anais was profiling and some other shopper has taken his space. Gumball then reminds everyone that the old lady has reached her car but to their disappointment she only stopped to catch her breath. Gumball then tries to deceive the milk guy into parking the car for them but that failed miserably.

The Wattersons tried searching in the Mall's parking garage for a space but even that was full. Richard then spotted a spray can man and got an idea to use him to create their own parking space, but placed it in the middle of the driving path. The milk guy sees him doing that and chases after him, but Richard accidently dropped the spray can man over the edge of the building during the chase and the milk guy sees that Richard unwittingly sprayed a path toward the edge causing a long line of cars to drive out of the building causing a pileup of cars. Richard smiled sheepishly at the milk guy who looked angrily at him as Richard returned to his car. As the cars continue to pileup, the Wattersons believed to have found a parking area with no cars; a true parking paradise, but to their dismay they discovered that it was a giant sign for a future carpark. The kids and Richard decide to spend the time by singing "99 Bottles of Age Appropriate Beverage" while slowly degrading Nicole's sanity in the process. Before they could start again Nicole quickly suggested that they play a game of I Spy only to lose another empty parking space.

The family decided to leave the garage which still has a growing pileup of cars next to it. They finally discover an empty space but they were challenged by another driver who wanted it. A little standoff occurred followed by a race toward the space but the Wattersons lost due to their car losing fuel and Richard forgot to stay in the driving seat while they were pushing. Nicole was so furious that she resorted to defacing the driver's car but Darwin points out that this was a reserved parking for disabled citizens. Suprised by this, Nicole quickly explains that she was just putting artwork on it and turns her defacement into a drawing before running away. They return to following the old woman while yelling at her to pick up the pace, but Darwin suggested they give her a lift toward her car. On the way, she gave them some details about her car in which they discover that it was a bus and that she hoodwinked them into giving her a ride to the bus stop. That was the last straw for Nicole's patience and asserts that they will find a space outside of the mall parking lot.

The Wattersons drive to all sorts of locations like a dumpster alley, a car wash and a runway and they still had no luck. They even parked in a junkyard where they were caught by a magnet crane and were about to be dumped into a crusher but to their annoyance another car went in first. Their list of locations became more absurd as they tried to park in an elevator, a window cleaner's lift, an operating room and a cinema; including the movie in the cinema. In their tireless search they finally saw someone leaving a space and noticed that other cars were stalking nearby, ready to claim it first. Unwilling to let this spot go, Nicole speeds towards it while the other cars were tailing her to get that spot. She rams them aside as she warns her family to brace themselves as she sends the car crashing directly onto the spot. Though their car was busted they finally suceeded in parking their car. They celebrate their hard earned victory but Gumball breaks the mood when he points out that the space is directly infront of their house; right back where they started.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Anais
 * Richard
 * Nicole
 * Cartax

Supporting Characters

 * Betty

Minor Characters

 * Doughnut Sheriff
 * Milk Guy (debut)
 * Cowboy
 * Pantsbully
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Mr. Pepperoni
 * Hank
 * Banana Bob
 * Spray-Paint Bottle
 * Larry
 * Principal Brown
 * Mr. Small
 * George
 * Newspaper Employee
 * Crocodile Woman
 * Jeff
 * Susan
 * Harold
 * Albert
 * Donald
 * Marvin
 * Manly Warrior
 * Goblin
 * Butterknife
 * Dolphin Man
 * School Nurse
 * Elderly Doctor
 * Green Bear
 * Shooting Star
 * Melted Cheese Guy
 * Gary
 * Jackie
 * Siciliana (mentioned)
 * Karen
 * Librarian
 * Felicity
 * Shape People
 * Louie
 * Bomb Guy
 * Charlie
 * Neck Beard
 * Exercise Bacon
 * Hexagon Lady
 * Clipboard Man
 * Hobo
 * Orange Guard
 * Sphere Citizens
 * Cupcake Woman
 * Blue Elephant

Trivia

 * Animation from "The Return" is reused.
 * 55 characters appeared in this episode, tying it with "The Oracle" on fourth most characters in the series. The ones beating it are "The Safety" (in which 57 appeared), "The Butterfly" tied with "The Spoiler" (in which 65 appeared), and "The World" (in which 83 appeared).

Continuity

 * This is the second episode in which I Spy is played. The first was in "The Password."
 * The poster on the bus advertises the shampoo from "The Downer," complete with the woman from the shampoo's commercial in said episode.
 * Gumball, Darwin and Anais twist their faces the same way Gumball did in "The Joy."

Cultural References

 * The song "99 Bottles of Age-Appropriate Bevarage On The Wall" is a parody of "99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall."

Goofs/Errors

 * Both the Cowboy and Pantsbully get spots early in the episode. However, they are seen driving off of the parking lot later in the episode.
 * When the cars start driving off of the parking lot, Jeff is in front of Susan. In the next scene, Susan is in front of Jeff.
 * Anais' arm disappears when she face slaps after they stopped near the bus stop.
 * The animation of Anais and Nicole cheering behaved differently when the camera zooms out at the end of the episode.