The Scam

"The Scam" is the thirty-ninth episode of Season 4 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 155th episode overall.

Synopsis
Carrie backs up Gumball's story about a monster, and the students want to hire them as ghost exterminators for Halloween candy.

Plot
It is Halloween, and to celebrate, Miss Simian is hosting a Halloween-themed show and tell for her students. The event seems rather dull until Gumball's turn; for his presentation, he tells his class a Halloween story about Gargaroth. The story tells of Gargaroth, a hideous monster who initially demanded a princess's hand in marriage. The king agreed to this, but the princess was so disgusted by Gargaroth's appearance that she left him at the altar; saddened, Gargaroth began eating everyone around him until he was banished to the underworld and all mentions of his name were forbidden, for any mentions of the name would allow him to re-enter the mortal realm.

As Gumball tells the story, he repeatedly mentions the name "Gargaroth", which terrifies his classmates. While somewhat impressed, Miss Simian still finds the story rather lackluster; that is until Sarah's head begins to levitate and all sorts of paranormal activities occur. Panic ensues in the classroom and everyone in the room (except Gumball and Darwin) flees in terror. Once everyone has left, it is revealed that Carrie is the one behind the big scare; this big scare was all part of Gumball's and Carrie's plan: to have the school under the false belief that Gargaroth (performed by Carrie) is possessing it, and that the ghost exterminators (Gumball and Darwin) can get rid of him for the price of Halloween candy.

Gumball and Carrie are ready to put their plan to action, but Darwin has other plans, for he believes that the scam his older brother and Carrie are trying to pull is terribly immoral, and he refuses to take part in it. Darwin's opinion on the scam quickly changes once Gumball mentions that this is Darwin's opportunity to get close to Carrie (whom he has a crush on).

After Darwin's brief romantic fantasy of him and Carrie together, the Watterson brothers begin to put the plan to work. Masquerading as ghost exterminators, Gumball and Darwin begin convincing several of the students and staff that Gargaroth is haunting them, with Carrie causing unearthly activities to support their claims. The trio is successful in both scamming the school and eventually, the entire town out of candy. As they leave, however, the school floor begins to crack and the sky starts to glow a dark red.

Once they finish with their scam, the three return to the Wattersons' house; Gumball, Darwin and Carrie are about to eat the candy they "earned" in the attic. Carrie, lacking a body to do so herself, asks Darwin very sheepishly whether she can temporarily possess his body to consume their goods. Their moment is cut short, as Gumball looks out the window and notices the ominous aura surrounding Elmore Junior High. The three decide to investigate what is occurring at the place.

As they arrive at the scene, Mr. Small tells them that Gargaroth has taken over the school; the trio is shocked to hear that their originally fictitious story is actually truthful, but the three put aside their concerns to deal with the problem at hand.

Very slowly, the three enter the school building; Gargaroth rises from the underworld and prepares to attacks the children. They make few attempts to fight him, all of which fail. Shortly after Darwin states they deserve Gargaroth's attacks for the actions they have committed, Carrie realizes that the only way to get rid of him is to satisfy his hunger. If Gargaroth consumes all of the sweets, he will explode. Both of the Watterson brothers (although Gumball more reluctantly) agree to feed him their candy, so Carrie casts a spell that transports the candy from the attic to Gargaroth's mouth. When it seems as if Gargaroth only requires one last piece of candy, Gumball decides to take the last lollipop for himself.

Out of options, Carrie realizes that she must selflessly become Gargaroth's bride and live in the underworld forever, much to Darwin's horror. As Gargaroth is about to kiss Carrie and seal the marriage, Gumball grudgingly feeds him the last candy he has, causing Gargaroth to explode and the school to return to its normal state. Once the children exit the building, they are hailed as heroes for their efforts.

While the crowd carries Gumball away, Darwin tries to ask Carrie out on a date, but he is too shy to do so properly. However, Carrie is willing to spend some time with him and asks if he would like to get an ice cream with her; before she can receive her answer, though, Gumball pulls his brother away, ending the episode.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Carrie

Supporting Characters

 * Gargaroth

Minor Characters

 * Miss Simian
 * Idaho
 * Tobias
 * Banana Joe
 * Tina
 * Leslie
 * Masami
 * Sarah
 * Bobert
 * Anton
 * Carmen
 * Alan
 * Sussie
 * Principal Brown
 * Coach
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Billy
 * Eggheads
 * Juke
 * Rocky
 * Mr. Small
 * Green Bear
 * Mr. Corneille
 * Hexagon Lady
 * Orange Guard
 * Gary
 * Melted Cheese Guy
 * Jeff
 * Neck Beard
 * Harold
 * Jackie
 * Shooting Star
 * Cowboy
 * Construction Men
 * Hobo
 * Mrs. Fitzgerald
 * Mr. Pepperoni
 * Siciliana

Trivia

 * This episode was aired during Season 5's run, but it is part of Season 4.
 * This episode aired in multiple countries before it aired in the U.S.
 * Gumball's dislike of raisins reflects Jacob Hopkins' dislike of raisins.

Continuity

 * This episode Carrie's marks fourth major role. The other three are "The Ghost," "Halloween" and "The Mirror."
 * This is the show's second Halloween episode, the first was "Halloween."
 * This is also the second episode that hints at romantic feelings between Carrie and Darwin.
 * Tina's witch hat, Banana Joe's vampire outfit from "Halloween," and Anton's Gene Simmons makeup from "The Party" are reused.

Cultural References

 * Idaho's opening song has lyrics taken directly from a scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth.
 * The song How Low Would You Go? is a parody of Hewey Lewis & the News' "I Want A New Drug".
 * At the beginning of the episode, students dress up in various costumes. Among them are Gumball as Beetlejuice from the eponymous movie; Darwin as the Wolf Man from the movie of the same name; Sarah as the Moon from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; Leslie as Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors; and Anton as Gene Simmons of KISS.
 * When Darwin is fantasizing about dancing with Carrie, the piece of music that he hums is a reference to Lovin You by Minnie Riperton.
 * Gumball and Darwin's Gargaroth-hunting costumes, the method in which they go about fighting Gargaroth, and the theme music that plays throughout the episode are references to the film Ghostbusters.
 * Gargaroth resembles prince Hermaeus Mora from The Elder Scrolls franchise.
 * Gumball acting like a snake is a possible reference to the character Kaa from The Jungle Book.
 * The beam of energy that extends upwards from the school and up to the sky resembles a spirit portal from Avatar: The Legend of Korra.

Goofs/Errors

 * Sussie is shown to be one of the students scared by Carrie's trick, but she is nowhere to be seen in wide shots of the classroom.
 * When Gumball "wraps" his body around Darwin, he loses his Halloween costume.
 * The kids lose their Halloween costumes in the second half of the episode for inexplicable reasons.