The Lie

"The Lie" is the twenty-sixth episode of Season 3 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the one hundred and second episode overall.

Synopsis
Noticing that everyone is in the doldrums of January, Gumball and Anais invent a new holiday to spark excitement.

Plot
It is January, and the people of Elmore are depressed since Christmas has passed. At the Watterson home, Gumball and Anais decide to make up a new holiday to cheer people up. After much brainstorming, Gumball comes up with the idea of Sluzzle Tag.

In the school bus, Gumball tells Darwin all about Sluzzle Tag, and Sluzzle Dude. At the mention of no school during the (made-up) holiday, the others in the bus (including even Rocky) gather around Gumball to hear about the new holiday. Banana Joe then realizes that Rocky is not driving the bus, and so they crash into Miss Simian's classroom. Hearing about the new holiday, Miss Simian does not believe that it is real. But even the other school staff (specifically Mr. Small and Principal Brown) argue that it is real, and the principal declares no school, and for everyone to take the day off. Everyone leaves the school with joy, except Miss Simian who becomes determined to prove that Sluzzle Tag is a lie.

Later, Gumball, Darwin and Richard go shopping for Sluzzle Tag. After Gumball tells them that they eat junk food during the holiday, Richard invents the Sluzzlewurst which contains all the meat in and on it. He pays for five of them and two bottles of milk which results in his card being completely sucked off its value. Then he and his children go home, with Miss Simian spying on them.

At night, many citizens decorate their toilets for Sluzzle Dude (who, Gumball says, will come out of their toilets to leave them presents). The Wattersons eat a dinner of Sluzzlewursts, watch the Sluzzle Tag special, and bond together. Then Richard and Nicole put their children to sleep.

But as they are just about to sleep, Anais reminds Gumball that Sluzzle Tag is not real, and that Sluzzle Dude won't be coming. Gumball panics that the whole town will be upset with him if all he promises to them won't come true. With the help of Anais, he takes all the leftover Christmas presents from the trash, and sneaks around the town, leaving the presents through the toilet. After Neck Beard uses a toilet Gumball was in, Gumball and Anais start sneaking through alternative ways. Just as they leave a present in their own house, they are caught by Miss Simian who takes a picture of them putting a present in their bathroom. Darwin (who was asleep in the bathroom, waiting for Sluzzle Dude) is shown the photo by Miss Simian, and starts to scream loudly at the truth, but the narrator decided it's best to not show the audience Darwin screaming because of what happened at two earlier episodes he did scream. He screams so loud, other citizens and his parents come in the bathroom. Gumball then apologizes to them, and confesses that Sluzzle Tag isn't real.

Instead of being upset, the citizens sigh in relief. Banana Bob says that he kind of knew that Sluzzle Tag was fake, and the others agree with this. They say that they needed something to cheer them up through January. Then Darwin gives Miss Simian a present. The episode ends with the narrator saying the moral of this story is "that when life is tough and joy hard to come by, most people are happier believing a lie."

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Anais
 * Miss Simian

Supporting Characters

 * Darwin
 * Nicole
 * Richard

Minor Characters

 * Mr. Small
 * Pigeon
 * Sluzzle Dude (mentioned)
 * Tobias
 * Banana Joe
 * Masami
 * Principal Brown
 * Teri
 * Jamie
 * Carrie
 * Alan
 * Leslie
 * Rocky
 * Sarah
 * Carmen
 * Blue Elephant
 * Idaho
 * Juke
 * Marvin
 * Plaid Old Man
 * Jackie
 * Harold
 * Betty
 * Larry
 * Orange Woman
 * Banana Bob
 * Banana Barbara
 * Skeleton Kids
 * Earth
 * Neck Beard
 * Cube Dog

Trivia

 * This episode aired one year after "The Skull."
 * This is the second episode to have a guest star, with Sir Derek Jacobi as the narrator.
 * This is the first time Mr. Small's face without the fluff is seen.
 * Anais states that it is 349 days until the next Christmas, placing Sluzzle Tag on January 10 if this episode is not set in a leap year, and January 11th if it is.
 * This is the final episode to be broadcasted in 2014.

Continuity

 * This is Miss Simian's fourth major role in an episode, the others being "The Ape," "The Apology," and "The Joy."
 * This is the tenth time Richard is seen naked. The first nine were in "The Responsible," The Prank," "The Ape," "The Knights," "The Flakers," "The Authority," "The Pony," "The Tag," and "The Kids."
 * The photo of Miss Simian's backside might have been from "The Apology."
 * Music from "Christmas" is reused when Gumball and Anais deliver Sluzzle Tag gifts to everyone.

Cultural References

 * The occasional narration in this episode follows the rhyme and meter of the famous and frequently parodied poem known as "The Night Before Christmas."
 * The really depressed version of Darwin resembles how early black-and-white cartoons looked like. He also liked like old Mickey Mouse
 * The episode and Miss Simian's evil grin is a reference to the Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (both the book and the Chuck Jones cartoon).
 * When Richard summons the Sluzzlewurst, this is a reference to the transformation scene of the 90's anime Sailor Moon.
 * "The Night Before Sluzzle Tag" is likely a reference to Rankin/Bass stop-motion Christmas specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Anais says "Yeah, for a bald surfer," her eyelashes are missing.
 * When Gumball explains that Sluzzle Tag was made up Banana Bob and Jackie were on the window. In the next scene, they switched places. After that scene, they were in there normal spots.
 * When Richard and the children enter the supermarket, he is shown pushing a shopping cart. However when he holds up the toilet seat decorations, the cart disappears.