User blog comment:Mattalamode/A Season 5 Retrospective Review: The Problem Child/@comment-30307603-20171112042616

Season 5 has been something. Its latter half has brought about some bumps along the way, but Season 5 still managed to be enjoyable all things considered. No Season 4 by any means, but still sufficient in what it hoped to accomplish.

The way the show has handled its characters has been strange this season. While I am all for the show exploring more of its peripheral cast, it feels as if the Watterson brothers have taken a hit. Both do not feel as consistent as they were in Seasons 3 and 4. It feels as if Gumball constantly flips between his Season 3/4 personality and a more dim-witted and naive personality, and it makes for a jarring viewing experience. Darwin does not seem to have as strong of a footing as he once did. In addition, I am not too big a fan of how the legitimacy of Rob was destroyed in the swoop on of one episode.

The show has handled topical humor in the past perfectly fine, but it has been a bit dicey this season. I think the fundamental difference between this season and seasons prior is that the writers actually had a story they legitimately wanted to tell, and the same cannot be said for much of this season's commentary. It was especially disappointing given how strong "The Vision" was and how it handled its topical themes.

I do not mind the show dialing back on the more plot-heavy elements, but not at the price of elements needing exploration getting ignored (case and point: Carrie/Darwin arc).

However, from a visual perspective, Season 5 has been stunning. The use of more realistic lighting this season had made this cartoon even more eye-candy than it already was. The constant improvement of the 3D CGI and the more fluid integration makes things an absolute joy.

Season 5 was not terrible by any means. It was still good, and is definitely worth a watch-through. However, I cannot say I like it as much as Season 4 or Season 3. However, sometimes, the writers need a season like this to play around with what works and what does not.

Time to jump on the blog boom bandwagon now.