The Stories

"The Stories" is the second episode of Season 5 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 158th episode overall.

Synopsis
Molly gets coaching from the guys to improve her story-telling.

Plot
The episode begins in the morning on the bus. Gumball is playing a game of Would you Rather? with his younger brother; the game doesn't last very long when Gumball offers mediocre choices for the game. Much to Gumball's dismay, Darwin asks someone else on the bus whether they can change the subject. Molly takes up on his offer and begins to tell everyone on the bus a story of her life; despite all the buildup to a satisfying climax, her story only tells of a time when she turned off the faucet. Gumball makes a saracstic quip about the story's quality, and because she lacks a sense of sarcasm, she continues to bore the students on the bus with her story. This continues until the bus arrives at school.

In the building, Gumball and Darwin are utterly irritated with Molly's non-stop stories and are ready to do something about it. Gumball's initial attempt to end her stories involves having Darwin do the talking for him; put on the spot, Darwin quickly tries to think of a kind way to approch the situation, and despite Gumball's interruptions, Darwin suggests to Molly that they go to the library to edit her stories.

In the library, Gumball tries again to communicate to Molly that her stories are mundane by using the editing software to cut out any of the actual "story." Again, Darwin tries to recover for his brother's blunder by stating how the two love Molly's stories just fine. Molly then proceeds to tell the boys more of her life stories throughout classtime and up until lunch.

At lunch, Molly is still yapping away about her tame life, and the Watterson brothers, deciding that they have had enough try to literally tune her out. However, Molly says relativley intresting words in her stories (such as explosion, murder, and backflip) that peak the intrests of the boys only for the words to be used in a boring context that cause Gumball and Darwin to tune out again.

Later in gym class, Molly is still telling her two friends about her unintresting experiences, and Gumball is thus on his wit's end with her. Simultaneously, Jamie walks toward her class with a meanacing grin on her face and a dodgeball in her hands. Gumball suggests that they have Molly take the hit of Jamie's vigorous dodgeball throws, but Darwin suggests the more rational solution of having one of their classmates listen to her stories in their places; however, the children all decide that they would all rather be hit by Jamie's dodgeballs than hear another word of Molly's stories. All the students are getting pelted by dodgeballs, and the Wattersin duo prepare to take a hit; Molly takes a hit for them, though, explaining that this is her way of expressing gratitude for the boys taking their time to listen to her. Despite the emotional tension, Molly manages to recover quickly from the ball and continues to tell her stories.

The next day, Molly arrives at school, but she can't seem to find anyone, specifically Gumball and Darwin. It is revealed that the two are trying to hide from Molly in order to avoid listening to her stories. Quickly, the two find a hiding spot in an old abandoned restroom. Just when they're settling into the location, they run into Molly.

Suprised, the two decide to ask why Molly is here. They are saddened to hear that Molly hides here ("her special dark place") when she feels awkward and lonely. After hearing these words, the two brothers walk out of the room with one motivation: to give Molly a story worth telling! They manage to enlist the help of several students and staff to help after they reveal that they too have been hiding from Molly.

Ten minutes pass, and Molly walks out of "her special dark place." This is the cue of the students and the staff to begin their scenario. The "story" starts by Bobert walking from around the corner to greet Molly, only for him to short circuit from water pouring out of the water fountain (with that being controlled by Carrie). Bobert's temporary short circuit causes him to accidently "kiss" Carmen; this triggers Alan to respond by launching himself into the robot. Bobert then hits Tina, who out of anger, thrusts Bobert into the wall with her tail; Bobert then transforms into combat mode and duels with Tina. Their fight causes a hole to tear into the wall where Principal Brown and the school nurse are trying to hide their sudden pregnancy from Principal Brown's girlfriend. Upon their exposure, the nurse throws a bottle of chemicals that nearly hits Molly. Mr. Small emerges from his office and inhales these chemicals; this causes him to go "insane" and trip the Coach who falls down the stories of the building.

Excited, Molly goes to the playground to tell Gumball and Darwin of what she has just observed. Initally, it seems as if Molly has not learned anything from the experience because she drones about the mundane details and not any of the "plot-points"; at the end, however, Molly reveals that she knew that the whole ordeal was a fake scenario set up by the boys to give her an interesting story. Touched by the act, Molly kisses the boys on the forehead as a sign of friendship, ending the episode.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Molly

Minor Characters

 * Rocky
 * Teri
 * Sarah
 * Alan
 * Carmen
 * Banana Joe
 * Carrie
 * Tobias
 * Molly's grandmother (mentioned)
 * Molly's uncle (mentioned)
 * Gary
 * Cyclops Dog
 * Mrs. Collins (mentioned)
 * Ocho
 * Jamie
 * Leslie
 * Masami
 * Eggheads
 * Anais
 * Nicole (mentioned)
 * Richard (mentioned)
 * Bobert
 * Coach
 * Mr. Collins (mentioned)
 * Pixel Octopus
 * Principal Brown
 * Tina Rex
 * School Nurse
 * Miss Simian (mentioned)
 * Mr. Small

Trivia

 * This is the first episode of Season 5 to be aired. However, it is the second episode of Season 5 in chronological order as "The Rerun" is the first episode of the season.
 * This episode was aired during Season 4's run, but it is part of Season 5.
 * This episode is Molly's second major role in the series. Her first role was "The Void."
 * Darwin broke the fourth wall when he mentioned that they are going through a cross-fade montage instead of listening to one of Molly's stories.

Continuity

 * This is the second time Molly gave Gumball a kiss. The first was "The Comic."

Cultural References

 * When arriving at the school, Gumball makes a face that resembles the Grumpy Cat internet meme.
 * Bobert makes a reference to the popular ending scene from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where the Terminator gives out a thumbs-up while he melts in lava.
 * Mr. Small makes a reference to the hallway swimming video fad.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Gumball says "And a gosh darn ending!" to Darwin, he disappears, save for his arm, for a frame.