User blog comment:ThatGuy456/A Guy's Thoughts: Slight Shortcoming/@comment-25453486-20181122001730/@comment-30307603-20181122035035

I don't know. I don't feel as if everything done with Penny prior to "The Shell" acts as fair compensation for how everything has been executed afterwards. "The Shell" was when things got interesting with the character. "The Shell" was the episode that committed to a huge change in the show's narrative. "The Shell" was the episode that indicated more was to come. The relationship between Gumball and Penny was cute in the first few seasons, but "The Shell" was the time to elevate everything, and in that regard, the show floundered a bit.

Yup. "Why did you even bother in the first place?" perfectly sums up the existence of the romantic dynamic between Darwin and Carrie in this show. As I have mentioned several times in the article, I don't want the show to necessarily force a new identity upon itself and become exclusively a romance, but I would like the show to make the relationship between the two mean something like "The Scam" and "The Matchmaker" would suggest. There is so much that could be done with them, and the show seemed so eager to get them together, but barely anything of note has happened with them. It just leaves me wondering why the writers brought it up in the first place.

As others have mentioned several times in the comment section, a lot of Rob's issues can be traced to the show poorly pacing his arc. However, I would much prefer his retirement with some dignity intact than what occurred post "The Disaster" and "The Rerun." However, in the show's defense, there is a chance for the finale to come in and alleviate some of my issues, so I'm holding my breath and seeing what occurs.

It seems to be a somewhat common notion that Seasons 5 and 6 aren't as good as their predecessors. Personally, I still find there is some good to be found in these two seasons even if the humor and wit did take a step back. Not saying that it makes these seasons any better, but flaws and all (and trust me, I have a list), I'm still slow to completely scoff at them. Perhaps, I'm a tad too biased.

Aw! Glad I was able to echo (ε) your thoughts so well to the point of inspiration. I'll keep my eyes open if you decide to go through with it.