User blog:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: The Roots

There are some episodes that I just latch onto. The process always starts out the same.

First, I watch the episode and don't take away much from them, shoving it to the back of my mind. Then, when blasting through random episodes, I stumble upon it again, walking in with indifference instead of expectation and walking out with my mind going straight Pollock all over the place. So far, on that list of rarities are "The Sweaters," "The Mirror," and "The Nest," off the top of my head.

I mention this because I like to fancy that you take some abnormally stalkerish interest in my personal life, but I also feel like "The Roots" is very much the same for other people; they just haven't gotten past that first step. And I'll admit that I initially approached it the same way, but I've since been able to look beyond all of that - this episode is one of the best in its season.

The Actual Start of the Article™
"The Roots" starts off with a simple idea: seeing Darwin looking woefully at a fishtank at the pet store which... exists in this universe for some reason... the Wattersons make it their mission to reconnect him with his piscine roots. As their distress in their inability to make him any more comfortable rises, the Wattersons take even more insane and questionable measures to make Darwin feel at home while ironically making him feel even less so.

Ultimately, it reaches the helpless point where the Wattersons realize they just have unleash Darwin back into the wild and hope for the best. At that point, we're, as an audience, starting to get clued in on what's actually going on: this isn't what Darwin wanted at all. And sure enough, after some action-packed car-chasing, the realization strikes in the form of Darwin smacking himself against the front window of the family car: this was all a guilt trip. He wanted a tank.

And that act of deception only makes Darwin more of a Watterson.

Analysis
First of all, to get all the light and fluffy reasons "The Roots" works out of the way: it's a solidly-written episode that hits every beat perfectly. The structure actually reminds me a lot of "The Petals" - it's a very specific, difficult-to-pull-off episode type that functions both in terms of creating strong moments in isolation but with a sense of cohesion and proper elevation that understands the worth of its jokes and doesn't run anything dry.

In other words, there's a whole lot of strong material stuffed into this episode. The revelatory moment of Gumball and Nicole observing a real-life cat; Gumball, Anais, and Richard destroying their electronics at the realization that Nicole can access their browser history; the quickly-resolved yet graphic family meltdown; my personal favorite, the tortured whale cries... and that's just naming a few. Even in the episodes's emotional climax of "releasing" Darwin, it still throws around as many jokes as possible to add insult to injury and make the situation harder for everyone else to swallow.



If there's one large thing I can see people taking offense to over "The Roots," it's how Darwin is mistreated repeatedly by his family, but that's the entire point. The joke isn't placed on Darwin as a victim of the situation that the show is exploiting, because it's everybody else who looks all the dumber in their inability to deduce the proper solution to the issue at hand. In a similar vein, I think "The Roots" was also wise in not trying to hide the fact that it wasn't fundamentally a "Darwin episode" - this was very much about the family trying to do him some sense of botched justice.

Beyond that, too, Darwin isn't simply there to be manipulated by everybody else, either, as was the case in episodes like "The Matchmaker," even. He's constantly there to disapprove, fulfilling his purpose in the show flawlessly, and that makes the end product feel a lot more balanced. The show always seems to be trying its darnedest to make Darwin lose all importance and bite, but in "The Roots," he's consciously turning the table on everybody else while trying to maintain his own sense of sangfroid (not that he does too great of a job at it... but who would?). In the end, though, Darwin only becomes more frustrated and the Wattersons more desperate, and the increasing tension keeps the viewer on their feet with each unpredictable step.



In addition, (and in true Matt fashion,) I really enjoyed how low-key cynical everything got. The entire premise is a botched guilt trip, and from Darwin of all characters, that's pretty exciting. Instead of going full-Season 2, though, the episode is smart enough to tuck that wrinkle away and leave us within all of the other characters' mindsets. We're thus lulled into the same one-sided sympathy that they are, and the reality of the situation isn't revealed until the emotional almost-but-deceptively-not-a-closer. I don't think the show's messed around with the audience this much since "The Promise," albeit a bit more palatably.

The fact that Darwin's intention is so clear in rewatching, too, shows quite the bit of masterful planning. (Notice his emphasis on "large tank" in the beginning and his nonchalance in turning up the TV's volume while everybody else freaks out upstairs.) It's like when a joke is only obvious upon readjusting the entire framework of how you perceive it, and that's darn-near impossible to pull off. Kudos.



So there you go. "The Roots" is just a great episode, concocted out of some of the best material that the show's had while finding a meaningful use for its characters - it strikes an equilibrium without either side faltering for the sake of the other, and the result is a satisfying little episode.

Next week I'll be tackling "The Dress," one of the most hated-upon episodes of Season 1. For once, though, I actually, legitimately liked it for whatever reason, so let's see what justice I can manage. It'll be an uphill battle, that's for sure. But alas, that's the only battle I know how to make. See you then.