The Ape

"The Ape" is the thirtieth episode of Season 1 in The Amazing World of Gumball.

Synopsis
Miss Simian tries to befriend Gumball in order to win an award.

Plot
The episode starts out with Rocky cleaning a trophy, when he is startled by Miss Simian's reflection. He almost drops the trophy before Miss Simian catches it for him. She then goes about explaining about her long strive to get these trophies before announcing to Rocky her attempt at the newest one. A "Teacher's Performance" award. Rocky, however, points out that she needs a recommendation by at least one student to receive that award, and not one student actually likes her.

Miss Simian is then thrown into depression, which causes her to ignore everything and everyone, letting her class mess around. Gumball and Darwin take notice to this, and try to go to lunch, before Miss Simian asks Gumball if she could hang around with him. After he rejects her, Gumball goes on a rant pointing out how Miss Simian continues to follow him around anyways, still depressed.

After Gumball and Darwin try to shoo her away, they reluctantly let her in the Wattersons' house. Nicole, however, immediately disapproves of her on her property, in which the family demands her out. Miss Simian then goes on a sob story trying to stay friends with the family. However, the kids ask her not to leave, and take it upon themselves to teach her how to attract friends.

Gumball and Darwin try some ideas to teach her how to be a good friend. First, they try to play Dodj or Daar, but refused, because all of the cards were about her. Gumball uses an ice cream scenario in which he tries to get her to share invisible ice cream. However, this only makes Gumball feel uncomfortable after a while, so they try something else. Gumball then tries a high five exercise, but merely gets smacked in the face by Miss Simian's "high five."

After a while, Miss Simian starts to become more accepted to the family, by literally blowing Richard's stomach, and entertaining the children. Nicole, however, doesn’t approve of this, and threatens her, however, Miss Simian argues that she's changed, and that she means no harm. Nicole decides to take her word for it, and lets her go. Shortly afterwards, Miss Simian convinces Gumball to quickly write a letter of recommendation for her, in which he does without a second's thought. Miss Simian cheers, and leaves the Wattersons.

Nicole and the Wattersons then search around the school for Miss Simian, having baked a cake for her positive emotional change. Rocky, however, reveals that she's left because she's "finally got some losers to write her Favorite Teacher nomination." Nicole then flashes back to the times Miss Simian called her a "loser," and realizes she’s been tricked, and angrily chases after her.

The Wattersons catch up with Miss Simian on the freeway, and attempt to ram her down. She, however, out maneuvers them, and mocks them. Nicole, even more enraged, demands her family to try alternate methods to take her out by having Darwin shoot candy, and throwing random things. Miss Simian laughs before realizing she lost the note before finding it on her antennae. Nicole then tries to get Richard to grab it, which he attempts reluctantly. This causes the cars to go out of control, and tosses Miss Simian over the incomplete overpass. The family then mocks her for a bit, before Nicole stops them from being sadistic enough to laugh at injured people.

Miss Simian later receives her award, and despite ending up in a wheelchair and full-body cast, believes that it was "so worth it."

Characters
Main Characters
 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Miss Simian
 * Nicole

Supporting Characters

 * Richard
 * Anais

Minor Characters

 * Rocky
 * Penny
 * Molly
 * Alan
 * Masami
 * Tina
 * Carmen
 * Idaho
 * Banana Joe
 * Rachel
 * Teri
 * Bobert
 * Leslie
 * Fuzzball
 * 8-Bit Dog
 * Green Bear
 * Mushroom
 * Box Squid (debut)
 * Anton
 * William
 * Mr. Small (flashback)
 * Jackie Wilson (flashback)
 * Exercise Bacon (flashback)
 * Mother (flashback)
 * Beanie Bird (flashback)
 * Owl (debut)

Trivia

 * This was the first episode that prominently features Miss Simian.
 * In Nicole's flashback, one of the Eggheads appears, which is odd, considering that in other episodes, he is shown to be around the same age as Gumball and Darwin.
 * In this episode, it is revealed that Nicole, Richard, and many other characters graduated in the 1980s.
 * This was the first Gumball episode to purposely premiere at the halftime of 7:45 instead of 7:30, likely to help with the ratings of the show Level Up, which had recently started airing.
 * In the scene where Richard is in Miss Simian's car, Richard says "Hi," and Miss Simian says "Five," and starts high-fiving him in the face. The captions mistake "Five" for "Bye!"
 * On the "Favorite Teacher Award" at the end of the episode, it displays Miss Simian's name as "Mrs. Simian," noting that she may have been married before.
 * The title card music from "The Mustache" was reused.

Continuity

 * This episode marked the first time in the series that the Dodj or Daar motto was completed with no interruptions.
 * It is revealed in Nicole's flashback that Miss Simian used to call her a "loser" all throughout her life. This also marks her second flashback in the series, the first being in "The Gi."
 * Miss Simian's license plate number is 66666, just like the Doughnut Sheriff's police car in "The Third."
 * In the flashback of Nicole and Richard's wedding, Richard was not screaming like he was supposed to be in "The Wand," implying that he was exaggerating.
 * In "The Goons," Richard said that the sofa would be cramped if more than three people sit on it at once, but in this episode, the sofa seated five people comfortably.

Cultural References

 * The scene in which Richard tries to grab the letter from Miss Simian's windshield is reminiscent of the chase scene in Back To The Future Part II.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Miss Simian is on the couch tickling Richard, and he rolls off, Darwin suddenly appears from where Richard was laying.
 * The license plate number on the Wattersons' car frequently disappears.
 * Gumball's seat in the car shifts at one point.
 * Miss Simian's seatbelt disappears and reappears randomly.
 * In the scene where Richard is trying to grab the note, you see two of Anais, and two of Darwin.
 * Although the title of the episode is "The Ape," Miss Simian is actually a monkey (specifically, a baboon).
 * When Darwin spits hard candy at Miss Simian's car, holes show up on the hood before any of the pieces connect.
 * In the flashback of Nicole and Richard's wedding, Richard was not screaming like he was supposed to be in "The Wand," implying that he was exaggerating.
 * In "The Goons," Richard said that the sofa would be cramped if more than three people sit on it at once, but in this episode, the sofa seated five people comfortably. This error also occurred in "The Finale".
 * When Nicole leans back and says, "And that, kids, is why you wear seatbelts." in the car, her head linework overlaps her left shoulder.
 * Despite Rocky saying that nobody likes Miss Simian, Principal Brown does.

Amiga Simian