User blog:Supersinger9000/Alli's Top 15 Amazing World of Gumball Episodes

So, this started off as a reply to the forum talking about people's top ten best/worst Gumball episodes, but it got so long that I'm making it a blog post instead, so I don't clog up the comments to that topic. l've been working on my top ten list of Gumball episodes ever since I started watching the show, constantly updating it as new episodes have come out. I had to change it to a top 15 because there are so many episodes I can't stand to leave off the list. I'm probably going to do something big with it once the show ends, since I've been working on it for so long. Maybe make a long detailed article about it, or maybe a youtube video. But for now, here's my tentative list. (Warning, this may get a little lengthy)

15. The Tape:
This is the only season 2 episode on this list, so it's mostly on here to give that season a spot on here. That said, I genuinly love this episode. The comedy is on point and I used to make little movies on my video camera when I was that age too, so it's got the nostalgia factor for me. My faveorite is the Ninja George segment.

14. The Shell:
A lot of people are probably going to be mad that I didn't put this higher on the list. But, to be honest, I just don't find Penny to be that interesting a character. She's just generally nice and that's about it. This episode, in my opinion, was the only one that gave her a personality. Then it just went away, because you can get over your insecurities that quickly aparently. But what everyone says about this episode is true, great animation, heartwarming message. I just don't have the heart to leave it off.

13. The Console:
I don't know what to say about this one. Just that it was hilarious and all the video game references were on point. It's the best video game parody I've seen so far.

12. The Copycats:
Can I just say that I love the meta episodes? Because I do. This is the first of many meta episodes on this list. Them taking down Miracle Star was hilarious (I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that word a lot on this list.) Especially the song. Also a good sendoff to Jacob and Terell. I'll always miss you!

11. The Kids:
From one sendoff episode to another! I like that instead of quietly changing the voice actors and hoping that no one would notice they actually made an episode about it and gave one heck of a sendoff to the first voice actors to play Gumball and Darwin. Plus that song, that song is awesome.

10. The Puppets:
Oh man, I love the creepy puppet trope. My favorite episode of Gravity Falls is probably Sock Opera and I was in a production of Avenue Q in high school so I was pretty excited for this one. And it did the trope masterfully. I especially like how the puppets can't move on their own unless they're in their world, just using Darwin to speak through, like a parsitic relationship. To me that's creepier than having them move on their own. And of course, there's those last three minutes. What can I say about them? They're amazing. The crew worked hard on that sequence and it shows.

9: The Hug:
Cringe comedy at its finest. I showed this one to my friends when we were drunk and two of them were busting a gut while the other one was covering her eyes the entire time. It's just so goddamn relatable. I think we've all had awkward encounters in the past.

8: The Countdown:
This was the first Gumball episode that I had ever seen, so maybe I'm biased, but I just love how crazy this one gets. I've seen this plot done in other shows, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide in particular. (If you haven't seen that show, you should, it's really good.) So having the characters see and acknowledge the clock was a special treat for me as a first time viewer. When Gumball ran into the clock and actually broke it I knew that I was in for something special. It's just so Gumball. Something as ordinary as trying to get to school on time turns into this chaotic mess and it subverts common tv show tropes. It was such a great introduction. I love time travel plots too so that might have something to do with my decision.

7. The Signal:
This is one I don't see on a lot of top ten lists for this show, and, to be honest, I don't get why. I think it's amazing. The first time I saw it I thought there was something wrong with my phone until I saw Gumball looking around, confused. That's when I realized this was going to be a good one. I love the way the satalite interruptions messed with reality. The scene where the car is out of control is a personal highlight for me. And the ending, I think, makes it a gamechanger in terms of the show. They've done meta plots before, but there was always an in-universe explanation for what was happening, even if it was a particularily weak one like in "The Money". Not this time, this episode spells it out, that the characters are just characters in a tv show in universe as well as out. And even if the characters don't remember, we do, and that colors our perception of the show from now on, in a good way.

6. The Vegging:
I know, this one's recent, but you know what I said about how I love meta episodes? Yeah. After a relativly slow opening to season 6 all the jokes in this episode hit bulls-eyes. I've heard it compared to "The Procrastinators" and I think the comparason's apt. But I love "The Procrastinators", it was even on this list for a long time before some really good season five episodes kicked it off. So an episode that's like "The Procrastinators" but with a lot of meta jokes and foreshadowing? Sign me up!

5. The Bus:
This is definetly the most action packed of all the Gumball episodes, with the possible exception of an episode that's coming later in the list, and it had me on the edge of my seat. It doesn't lose sight of the humor either, as there's some really good jokes in it, like when the donut cop misses his throw of the million dollars. And that twist! The Amazing World of Gumball has a history of predictable twists like in "The Matchmaker" (The photo was of Carrie the whole time!) or "The Outside" (Frankie was never in prison!) but this one I think caught everyone off guard and it made Rob that much more menacing of a villian so by the time he shows up again we know he's going to do something bad. Great episode, great twist.

4. The Void:
Back when I first made this list, right when season 4 was just getting started, this was my number one favoite episode. It's the one that started the whole meta narrative and void arc and I found the idea to be facinating, I still do. A place where rejected things or people go and once you're there, everyone forgets that you even existed. Now that is creepy. The design of the void is great too, I remeber showing this episode to a friend and when the void was revealed behind those photographs, he actually gasped. I used to say that it was a very Gravity Falls-esqe episode, but with that trademark Gumball style sense of humor, as our main characters have to solve a supernatural mystery. And being like Gravity Falls is defenetly not a bad thing.

3. The Choices:
People have already talked about this one to death, so I won't say too much but yeah, I cried the first time I watched this, and I think a lot of you did too. The last few minutes of this episode is probably one of the most heartwarming things ever put on television. It actually gave me hope for the future, which is hard to do nowadays, but, to be fair, I'm a bit of a sap, ok, I'm a huge sap, as I'll get into in a bit.

2. The Origins:
Ever since I started watching this show I was in love with Darwin's backstory. I just thought that the idea of having your pet grow legs, but you adopt them into the family anyways no questions asked was super sweet. I don't know what draws me to it so much, but it just does. I even wrote a fanfiction before this episode came out about what I thought his backstory would be. So when I heard that they were finally going to be making an episode about it after all these years, my expectations were high, and a part of me was bracing myself for a letdown. But this episode not only managed to meet my expectations, it surpassed them. This episode is unapolagetically adorable and heartwarming and I love it. I'm a sucker for "The power of friendship" stories and this one just did it so perfectaly. This was the first episode of Gumball to actually make me cry. There are a few things that don't make sense about it, like that weird heart-connection thing that wasn't explained very well and is never adressed again, but I'll look past all that just for the warm gooey feeling it puts me in.

And now, before we get to my number one pick, some honorable mentions:
Halloween, The Fan, The Uploads, The Name, The Procrastinators, The Test, The Money, The Nobody, The Plan.

1. The Disaster/The Rerun:
These episodes, what can I say about these episodes? Everything was just perfect, the action, the comedy, the tearjearking moments, the heartwarming moments, all of them are just done so incredibly well. Both Gumball and Rob are at their best, and I just love the conflict between them here. Neither one is entirely the bad guy, Rob knows that he and everything else is just fiction, and that he was forced to be the villain in order to survive. He's understandibly upset and angry so he takes it out on Gumball, because he's the main character. But Gumball has no idea what's going on, and even if he did, he couldn't stop it. I think episodes like "The Signal" and "The Test" prove that he's not to happy about this whole thing or his role in it either. And I truly do believe that Gumball would have saved him in the void if he knew he was there. He was willing to save him here after all, even risking his life to do so. It's not a hero/villain scenario like Rob seems to think it is, just two people who are in an incredibly bad situation. And Rob goes through a lot of character development here, realizing just how far he's gone for revenge on a person who might not even deserve it. Too bad "The Ex" screwed that up. I just don't think that The Amazing World of Gumball is ever going to be able to top this. Maybe with the grand finale, but that's a big if.

So that's my list! What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.