Board Thread:Gumball Talk/@comment-31194372-20170817224418/@comment-30307603-20170820023745

"The Compilation". Is not that I find the episode to be bad, but it is painfully mediocre, and save Nobody's A Nobody (which is one of best songs in the series, in my opinion), Tobias's phone review, and the small fourth wall break, it's probably my least favorite episode from the season.

"The Compilation" suffers from being terribly mundane. Outside of the aforementioned portions, nothing sticks out as being memorable. It either consists of one-off visual gags with no real punchline (the brothers' overly long handshake and the fire hydrant gag come to mind) or long rambles that deliver a punchline that is frankly unsatisfying (Richard's butter stick and the disappointing joke about the awful "The Greving").

"The Compilation" is structured very similarly to "The Uploads." However, "The Uploads" succeeds because (for me, at least), it manages to deliver some comedy that evolves past overly long visual gags. Each joke in "The Uploads" is meaningful and is well-structured. The same cannot be said for "The Compilation". When I watch the episode, I really do get the feeling it was a last-minute rush job made for the case of showcasing the awesome Nobody's a Nobody (not unlikely given its production code is GB440, as in the last episode of the season production-code-wise).

Now, one could argue that many episodes are built like "The Compilation". Said episodes have one memorable moment that defines the episode ("The Job", "The Money", "The Fury", "The Choices", "The Weirdo"). The big difference between these episodes and "The Compilation" is that those episodes have substance beyond their big jaw-dropping climaxes. These episodes have something to say, and the episodes are written with an idea of how to weave the climax and the rest of the episode together. The same cannot be said about "The Compilation"; it feels haphazard. Even comparing "The Compilation" to other clip-show episodes ("The Love", "The Night", "The Uploads"), the episodes aren't focused on trying to deliver some big climax and mange to remain consistently funny.

I will say it again: I do not think "The Compilation" is awful. However, the episode gives off this air of apathy that makes it feel forgettable.

Seriously, "The Grieving" was awful and the writers had so much comedic potential. Such a wasted joke.