User blog comment:ThatGuy456/A Guy's Thoughts: Slight Shortcoming/@comment-28146494-20181121041749

Very interesting read. I wholeheartedly agree with your stance on these issues (even on Rob, who I infamously do not care for). It does come across as rather strange that they'd build a background for Richard's side of the family and have that motif of episode consistently go for a while, but leaving the important aspects of Penny, Carrie, and Rob in the dust. They're near-integral parts of Gumball and Darwin's lives, so to see them just get chucked to the side is baffling. Yes, they'll occasionally throw us a bone, such as Penny and Carrie's select scenes in The Petals and The Deal, but IMO it isn't nearly compensation enough. "Too little too late" isn't even the proper way to describe the state of these characters. The recent handling of Penny and Carrie just reeks of damage control, whereas Rob at this point may very well be a lost cause. Take note also that these issues mainly crop up around Season 5, furthering my belief that that was the point the show went completely downhill.

Gumball is a wonderful show that has done great things, but in all it really has failed to handle its anti-status quo elements very well. I'd say maybe more care could come, but given how many episodes are left to go I think salvaging this cavalcade of poor handling and failed opportunities is beyond impossible.