User blog:Jamesgrout/Top 5 Worst and Best Amazing World of Gumball Season 6 Episodes

This is it then, the last ever episode, sorry it's taken over a week since said episode broadcasted, I haven't been able to see every episode of it until today. But let's get the elephant in the room out of the way before we get into it, we're surely all dissapointed by the ending as that it appears to be a cliffhanger, people on YouTube are talking about it as a bad ending, but others are talking about that movie that people have mentioned from time to time and on several websites, it could well not be over yet, I haven't' seen anywhere online saying that it's production is cancelled so I wouldn't conclude anything yet, let's keep our heads high for now. With all the different things the show has always done, I have really been keen to see how it would all wrap up ultimately.

For the season itself, like all seasons of the show, there have been some real low points though the show has still been good, it made me think about the world a lot, and so, what I needed from its least season was kill or cure of some sort. I couldn't compare seasons so there has never been a real weakest season of the show, until now, season 6 has been my least favourite season, the show was always great at pulling itself back up from bad points, it did so for each season, but there really wasn't much so for this one.

However, season 6 admittedly actually didn't have too many particularly bad episodes, it just had so many bad ones in quantity, and here's what they were:

Top 5 Worst
All the parents leaving their kids locked in a dull room while they have an enjoyable time, terrible parents, as we all know, are very common in cartoon series' and here's a collaboration of it from all of them. This episode is just plain uncomfortable to watch seeing the heating rise, even to the point of Gumball taking his clothes off, it's conflicts like this that make me realise the difference between those that keep us entertained for the amount off time and those we just want to be over. Anais adjusting Antons projectory to assure it hits Gumball sums up the unpleasantness of the episode perfectly, but I think it makes it even worse that it doesn't even end there and something still happens in the episode, it's something I would just want to move on from quickly, but they delay that for even a small amount of time... no! It's as simple as this really, Gumball was right, Leslie went too far by letting Gumball shrivel up in the sun and this is only four minutes in and the main conflicts set up... so Gumball didn't realise what use flowers are, I believe he would just have meant flowers that don't talk, not like Leslie, Idahod knew that about his species, as much as I personally didn't like 'The Potato'. Maybe Gumball should have known the use of flowers if it was taught at school, so the other problem is that it's too hard to know who exactly is in the wrong or right with this conflict, and with everything that happens, the reconciliation Gumball and Leslie have at the end is pretty wasted, it's not going to do much good after all they put eachother through. Here we have the most pointless and time wasteful episode of the whole show, it just gives us really annoying and stupid scenarios like the dill pickle one, as soon as the scene changes started it became plain obvious that it was all just a dream and the reveal that Gumballs "9 whole days" mistake we saw at the beginning actually caused the facepalm with the final blow, that really feels like a spit in the face, like we should have known that piece of stupidity would have done it so they just wasted our time with annoying and stupid scenarios. Then there's that last line telling us that family are just non stop headaches and plain annoying, but thankfully, I know well enough that this isn't the case, even in TAWOG, I know so because of the majority of what I've seen of it over time, so that's the only thing saving this episode, that it can't affect how I feel about the rest of the show, it's nicely detatched from them, which is part off the reason it's pointless. It's opening is very similar to 'The Money', Richard losing it all, I've always found it uncomfortable when the show enphasises on the little amount of money the Wattersons have, now such epsiodes became formulaic as well. Richard tries to make the kids take the blame, and the episode itself, it's suggested that they have lottery tickets and a metal detector, but instead we get a story about the Wattersons ripping off 2 innocent people for everything. Yes they get caught in the end but this doesn't make up for anything because they're the main characters, they shouldn't be made the bad guys, and the way they get caught is that they were brother and sister, but we saw them about to go to sleep in the same bed, and that was when they spotted the Wattersons, causing them to faint and them having to set up the photos which let to their capturing, so, plot hole. Also, if Gumball actually wants to go to college, I really feel sorry for him, and why does Richard laugh at him for thinking he has a fund for it? This is also the first time the Wattersons have really had nothing to eat, they always had food before, certainly enough for Richard and I did always wonder how with it always suggested that they have little to no money, but here, they really don't and it's confirmed. Then the last so called joke of them resorting to eating grass, well, that's neither funny nor reassuring, and that's the nice way of putting it from me.
 * #5 Worst: The Candidate
 * #4 Worst: The Awareness
 * #3 Worst: The Brain
 * #2 Worst: The Ad

Dishonourable mentions: And, Surprising no one I'm sure, #1 worst is:
 * 'The Cringe': I just don't remember much about this episode, just enough to know I don't want to watch it a second time, I think the only reason I watched it a first time is because I still needed to make a worst list and therefore needed to know. Such cringe is an aquired taste but if you, like me, don't like it, well it was already at a point of no return after the first time, so even if it was a good episode, it wouldn't help anything, as Gumball himself would say, it'd be like putting lipstick on a skeleton
 * 'The Sucker': Just 11 minutes of Darwin getting manipulated, honestly, just because they're cartoon rouges, doesn't mean they're loveable ones, yes they get their comeuppance in the end but  it doesn't make the time spent with them worthwhile
 * 'The Pact': There does have to be come conflict with Gumball and Penny while in a relationship, but this is the point it goes beyond enjoyablity, all just to lead to a plain negative ending, and seeing Gumball starved after days in the back of Brown's car is insult to injury
 * 'The Founder': The over dependance on the internet card has really become overplayed, not in TAWOG but just the media generally, Richard even puts it before his family, it's plot is also a repeat of 'The Refund' and nothing is accomplished in the end (footnote 1)
 * 'The Father': The episode Richard least deserves it and he gets maimed repeatedly and I don't like seeing Frankee getting away with all this, just because he's the main characters grandfather, doesn't mean it's right. I wanted more for this episode, with its good points like the one time the criminals actually get caught or "the future starts now", but the more I though about where it should rank, the more fitting it seemed among the worst ones.
 * 'The Parents': The episode about Nicole reconciling with her parents among the worst ones, how ccan this be? Because the thing that makes them reconcile is Gumball singing which appears to be about this but is actually about him wanting a vast amount of Christmas presents from them, derails the shows main character really badly and is such an easily avoided mistake, why couldn't it just have ended at "well done Gumball"? Because it's a comedy series? Well 'The Shell' and 'The Choices' are the shows 2 best recieved episodes without needing this, but if this were the way comedy series' were going, I wouldn't want to watch any more new ones (footnote 2). But if you love this episode, you should still even if what I've said here happens to have made you think about anyting.
 * 'The Web': Opens with Gumball and Darwin preparing to cyber bully their school mates and then gives us a load of weak, cliched and stupid antics with no redemption or pay off

... Do I need to say anything? Well I might as well since the only thing to say is that it was just 11 minutes of Anais torturing and attempting to murder Gumball and Darwin. Having said that though, there is something I want to elaborate on. Gumball was going to be sent to hell when this set when he would have been 8, well, I'd always concieved him as a good person and yes the series did change over time and he had his share of bad days, but being killed at 8 and sent to hell? I really think this is something entirely different, as step too far. For the episode itself, what was it meant to be? A turning around concept from something like 'Lisa's First Word' from The Simpsons where instead it's the new arrrival jelous of the older siblings? All it shows is that some concepts, however good they are elsewhere, like in Shrek, do not work for everything. It sure was hard to think back to the great interaction between Gumball, Darwin and Anais after this atrocity, like in 'The Helmet', "we're nothing without you", but after a while, you can realise that there is way more of that than bad foundation like this under it, but still, it was a horrible episode which made it hard to think about the show, considering this is meant ot be 4 years before and that's it.
 * The Rival

Intermission
I'd like to talk about a few middle placers, but first, 'The One', it's certainly a bad episode with its ending, or suggesting Gumballs optimism is small when it isn't, but it's not in the dishonourable mentions because it gave some of the kill I needed. I never really thought about Gumball having a big ego, though he was always described as this, with the personifiation kissing himself, it sure looked bad, but I always concieved him as good and saw myself in him quite a lot, so this was the moment I could just accept what I saw but still go by what my natural instinct tells me about him. Then 'The Decisions' added more to this, giving all focus on the bad caused by Gumball's crazy schemes, assuring no escaping it, which were always a big part of what made episodes fun. It's also wrong in suggesting Darwin can't make his own decisions and is the dumping ground for all anus jokes of the show.

So let's talk about soe middle placers:

'The Anybody', Gumball is depicted badly here, Clayton is supposed to be the liar, this change was unnecesary, but the scenarios of Anton changing into everybody were pretty fun, so they did make good use of him.

'The Drama', they made great use of Carries characteristics being a ghost and Leslie and Masami get their comeuppance, but it doesn't make sense why they tried to get into Gumballs head in the first place, and I really didn't like seeing Darwin walking away unscathed after insulting Gumballs relationship with Penny, right or wrong, it's disheartening to me.

'The Revolt', it's a strong conflict fitting of the world of Elmore, but the ending, other than being obvious, I think ruins the world they created, I had always enjoyed being in this fun cartoony world, every now and then though they ruin it a bit with bad things and you can't always tell what does or doesn't make sense in such a world, but this episode ending was, I think, the final nail in the coffin. Luckily it's back to normal again in the next episode though, but it still wasn't nice to see.

'The Schooling', poor Larry, no one wants to end up in his position but I really like that Gumball and Darwin actually learnt a useful lesson and I thought the scenarios of him taking up all of Larry's jobs were highly fun, not always so feel good though.

'The Inquisition', well, it's set up was a really great one as a final episode for such a show, but I need not say another word about the ending, but still, we mustn't give up hope, there could still be a movie, we hope this episode will just turn out to be a set up, or prequel for one but in the meantime, as an episode on its own, it's incomplete.

But you know, whatever ups and downs this show goes through, it's got some significant times to look back to, 'The Shell', of course, and 'Werd Like You and Me'', everybody coming together, positivity that can always be fallen back on. But, of course there are still going to be good episodes, even if a show has lost its touch entirely and turned fully bad, like Family Guy or SpongeBob did, as they were good before, they will still be some episodes that are still good, and so, thank goodness for its saving graces:''

Top 5 Best
Polly really is fond of Gumball, that's really satisfying. What I love about the story is how the episode spends half the time on the things that happen to Gumball and Darwin and the other half on Polly explaining how it all happened and how it pieces together, underlining the cleverness and it seemed like a great pullback that the situations weren't really as bad as them seemed at first, like Gumball and Darwin helping out a charity. Gumball stating it's like its being edited by a teenaged vlogger intrigued me with wonder of what really was happening and the way some of it came to be, like the cold of the fridge being the trigger I thought were very interesting. As much as I wouldn't want the last interaction we see of Gumball and Penny being her shouting all insults she can at him, it's not going to ruin the fun of the episode or its good points for me, it was well worth it, clearly Gumball was more dissapointed about the bus ending though so I'm fine with it if he is. It's a clever and interesting idea of Richard dressing up as a lady to make friends, they do tend to be more sociable, and a hugely fun misunderstandings concept that he's having an affair. The other ladies are funny too, the episode really ticks all the boxes, and there's nothing I could find that's really wrong with it. Also, I wonder if the ending was meant to be a commentary on fanss questioning the logics on TV shows "why don't they just do it that way" etc. As much as I said that the over dependance on the internet card is overplayed in media nowadays, leave it to TAWOG to still be able to make it interesting and creative. So much to love in this episode, the different roles everybody has, it going as far as everybody going backto medieval times, concepts like ATM machines going on holiday and blowing all their money.
 * #5 Best: The Mess
 * #4 Best: The Lady
 * #3 Best: The Intelligence

Even considering leaving the internet unplugged, the only thing is that Gumball does plug the internet back in despite this and everybody just goes back to normal, it seemed like a flaw at first but I did then think that we need some internet, the episode may not clarify this but nothing can say it should, it has so much already, this ending just defies analysis.

I was hesitant with it at first because it features the internet character, calling back to an episode I didn't like 'The Internet', because he's shown not to allow videos taken down, but still I thought I should watch it, something was calling me, and then, Gumball just unplugging him, led me to soon realise, this means that people in TAWOG still have control over machines, even if one is sentient, and the cyber police even appear in the above episode, what would be the point of them if videos from online couldn't be removed? I always though they should be, so the episodes 'The Secret' and  'The Internet' were just plot hole spawned and so wouldn't really matter. Yeah in real life things like FaceBook fail to take photos down, but it's not like it can't be done at all, so yes bad things happen in real life, but not as bad as TAWOG sometimes shows, but seeing Gumball unplug the internet, it finally gave me proper closure over the above episodes.

One last thing, a special shout out to that quote "any last words?", "yolo", "thanks for making this easier for me". This is the biggest advantage of a show running so long, this basic concept. I love it that it shows that Gumball and Darwin deserve a day off and that they get it. Even if, as Darwin says, you start to lose track of the plot, it's still all for the better in the end. Then as Richard, Nicole and Anais are about to fall off a cliff, Gumball and Darwin weren't going to let them in favour of a nothing day, even after earth had appeared to have been destroyed entirely, and then Gumball saves their lives, using his relaxing techniques, still not having to get off his chair, so he and Darwin still deservingly win. And I don't even care what that message was going to say or who it was from, I just wanted Gumball and Darwin to be victorious, so if a show can make you rather the protagonists get their way instead of having a huge adventure, then you truly know that, through it all, the show has ultimately been a true triumph (until an uncertain ending which appears to be a cliffhanger but like I said, keep heads high still).
 * #2 Best: The Vegging

Honourable mentions:
 * 'The Spinoffs': DR WERCKER IS BACK THANK GOODNESS! Was my initial reaction and how he's gone really big trying to take Gumball out of the show altogether, the skits theirselves though aren't anything outstanding, not bad just not amazing.
 * 'The Future': It sure got me excited for a good ending, action packed and everything, the only reason it's not in my top 5 best is because at the end of the day it's a bit too similar to 'The Rerun'
 * 'The Ghouls': Very creative and the best of the halloween specials, but not the best ending
 * 'The Factory': It's quirky and fun despite being quite negative, I loved gags like Nicole mistaking the charts for people and a great ending, but it still didn't quite redeem its negative look on workplaces
 * 'The Agent': Just some good old fun with secret agent antics.
 * 'The Buddy': Jamie's actually being punished, Anais makes a friend at last, the ending was kind of given away a bit early but full of fun gags.
 * 'The Transformation': So, I loved Gumball and Pennys banter at the beginning and his story repeating at the end, but in the middle, I was looking forward to finding outwhy the rest of her family don't come out of their shells, the reason Penny came out of her shell in the first place was to be herself, no longer being afraid of who they are, yes it makes sense that parents would have safety concerns but it contradicts 'The Shell' and goes against why it's the best episode by doing this. But then, Gumball being naked, after reprehensible episodes like 'The Dress', this is the only time I think it has a legitimate reason and any decent pay off, I know the general concencus is that 'The Oracle' was that episode but I don't think so, maybe if it at least wasn't shown on TV... it got to the point I didn't even want to bother with 'The Advice', here though, proportioning it to a cartoon world where some where, at least some clothes and others don't, seeing Pennys parents not mad at him for it, knowing he has a decent reason, knowing it doesn't matter with Penny as they already are in a relationship, with all this together, I really felt like all tensions connecting to it were lifted, and with that, the pain and anxiety from those horrible other episodes was finally overwritten. And back to the honourable mentions...
 * 'The Shippening': An actually good Sara episode, and I thought it would be dreadful thinking about what Sara might do with such power.

And #1 best is:

... Well what do you know, after all the times this show told us the world was miserable and life sucks, most infamously in 'The Worst', but even with hints of it in episodes I reall like like 'The Rerun', "what you do in the present alters the future in some terrible way anyway" or 'The Pest', "for most people life compleetely blows", they were really going to tell us that there is a light side and that, though it all, life is beautiful. Even if some of what they say isn't accurate, likee that most of life is "ugh", when in actual fact there really is more good in the world than bad, they gave us a great message. They had their unique way of portraying it, a unique song and really creative, action packed scenarios of everything that happens with the world turned black and white, not to mention Rocky actually got a date... It really feels like a huge journey and a great pullback that Alan, of all people, had given up and yet Gumball and Darwin managed to replenish his faith with a whole new perspective, thus giving a really triumphant feel, and how many Gumball episodes can you really call triumphunt, not many, there is, once again, 'The Shell' of course, but not many. It really brought me back to the shows older seasons when it was much more feel good, nothing short of beautiful.
 * The Faith

Would such a show really leave us on a bad note with an episode like that? Let's keep our heads high, now, if there will be a movie, maybe I'll do a blog post of some sort for it, since we've come this far.