User blog comment:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: The Detective/@comment-9300845-20170617030802/@comment-31194372-20170618073325

You raise a really good point. I do think that Anais can be used more, but I guess the show's being smart about not stuffing the character into everything for the sake of having the whole gang if she doesn't necessarily belong there. Even so, the show seldom takes many chances with her in a starring role, and some of her more recent episodes (especially "The Guy") have felt a bit safe. To the show's credit, though, a lot of episodes lately have actually had her equally-represented alongside Gumball and Darwin ("The Vase," "The Console," "The Cycle"), so that's a step in the right direction.

(Oh, and I just had this idea for an episode where Darwin and Anais could team up and effectively nullify Gumball's impulses - just putting that out there.)

And I can understand people getting angry about Nicole not appearing as much, though it's not like she had many commanding appearances last season either short of "The Fury" (though I suppose she was generally a bit more omnipresent). The issue's really amplified, in my opinion, because of how many starring roles Richard's been having lately, what with "The Cycle," "The Stars," "The Diet," and "The Menu." Meanwhile, Nicole hasn't had an episode featuring her as the predominant parent since "The Mothers," so I sort of get all the flak. I think that the show is trying to stress the kids more than ever, and Richard simply has much easier (not better, per se, but simpler to implement) chemistry with them given his aloofness and naivete.

Meanwhile, considering Penny's lack of appearances lately, I'm also curious how the show's going to work in Carrie, especially since the show's been extremely quiet about the relationship since "The Matchmaker." (As in, she hasn't been mentioned at all - a bit weird.) I'm honestly not all that concerned with Penny's implementation, though - scarcity keeps 'em special, and I think that's the writers' intention.

For everybody wondering when their favorite character's going to pop up, though: you have to remember that TAWOG has a gargantuan amount of fleshed-out characters. The show's always trying to cater to all of them, so aside from Gumball and Darwin, there's not anybody else that really gets that much attention, and we just have to live with that.