The Lady

"The Lady" is the second episode of Season 6 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 198th episode overall.

Synopsis
Gumball and Darwin find out that Dad has been dressing as a woman to make friends.

Plot
The episode starts with Principal Brown taking a bite out of the so-called candies, subsequently being interrupted by a freakishly altered Mr. Corneille, thinking that he is a spirit animal. Brown walks out of the lounge to encounter the coach, thinking she has spiders made out of meat. After urgently calling Mr. Small about the "candies," Brown sees a hallucination of a goat head and realizes that the candy he has just eaten was a candle and collapses.

Due to the incident in which all of the school staff has gotten ill from eating misguiding candles, Gumball and Darwin both are given a day off from school and walk home. The door reveals a woman who, upon seeing the two opposite, immediately closes the door. Richard opens the door with red lipstick smeared on his lips, which Gumball immediately questions. Richard makes up an excuse that the lipstick is just a stain from eating a red vegetable and tells that the lady was just his personal trainer, then leaves for the "gym",  leaving Gumball and Darwin in suspicion.

At the Elmore Shopping Mall, Gumball and Darwin spy on their father purchasing perfume for the woman they saw and when Darwin suggests it's for himself, Gumball is quick to say that even if it was for him, it was to mask the odor of his "shame". Unfortunately, Gumball is so furious that the word, "shame", reverberates throughout the store, catching Richard's attention. Trying to now speak to his brother, Gumball accidentally speaks into a nearby mic, drawing Richard's attention even more. Looking up at the screen, it's revealed that the brothers ended up being in front of a miniature backdrop with a camera and mic aimed in their direction, which makes them look like more realistic animals on the screen above them, which has 4K resolution.

As soon as Gumball shuts off the camera, Darwin observes that their father has gone missing. It is revealed that he has retreated to a nearby restroom to alter his appearance through makeup, a change of clothes, and jewelry to the point of him looking like a real woman.

Gumball and Darwin are walking through the store when they find that the woman that they saw in their house is now in the store as well with intentions to socialize with three other females close to her age. Interested, Gumball and Darwin manipulate their ears to grow in order to pick up more sound from a far distance. Through conversation, it's revealed that the woman's name is Samantha, and the conversation is laced in a laugh track, similar to that of old sitcoms.

One of Samantha's friends mentions the elusive boyfriend that she's been talking about, but is quick to say that he's not elusive, but rather he'd avoid all questions that are meant for him. One of the women is quick to fend off the skepticism, remarking that it doesn't matter who Samantha's boyfriend is, but if he's alive and happy, that's all that really matters. When Samantha mentions meeting her boyfriend in the park, Gumball and Darwin scream at each other in shock; however, their grown ears are shown to create feedback, which is so loud that they faint and foam at the mouth.

At the park, Samantha is waiting on a bench while her friends are eavesdropping from behind a sign, to which the whole situation is being watched by Gumball and Darwin from a bush. Samantha knows that her friends are watching, thus she checks her watch and states that she sees her lover and strolls to a tree to embrace him. Much to the boys' shock, they see their father's hands hugging the woman; however, it is here that we see Richard hugging himself, still in his disguise.

While his friends are happy, Gumball and Darwin lament over what they see, disbelieving the fact that he'd go behind his family's backs to date another woman. Darwin then notes the quite literal bombshell that has been dropped on the both of them; Darwin thought it was always metaphorical.

Back at home, Richard comes through the door and are greeted with his sons' presence, which are now distraught over their knowledge of his new "girlfriend". Upon asking how his children feel about the whole ordeal, Darwin is unfazed by the plates he has smashed on the floor half-heartedly as Gumball interrogates his father. Through this conversation, it's shown that Richard is so lonely, he proclaims that he needed a way to be entertained, but this does not quell his children's stress. Upon mentioning three other women, Gumball further loses his temper.

Wanting to smash another plate, Darwin snaps out of his half-hearted mood to find that there's no more plates; therefore, he walks upstairs to his room and orders more plates online. They're immediately delivered to their house and opens the box and attempts to smash another plate; however, Darwin finds that he accidentally ordered paper plates.

Richard eventually begins to feel remorse over tricking his family and resolves to break up with the other girls and dispose of his "girlfriend" 's possessions. While Gumball suggests breaking up through nonpersonal means, Richard wants to be sure that he could never go back. After Richard comes back downstairs, Gumball finally realizes that Samantha and their father are the same person. Darwin finally comes to this realization after multiple failed attempts to deduct what they witnessed as a result of misunderstanding. Upon realization, Gumball now knows that he was trying to be friends with the women, not cheat on their mother, thus they chase after him with intentions to stop their father from ruining his friendship.

At another house where the three other women are hanging out, Richard bursts through the door in his disguise to reveal his secret: he was a lonely house-husband who had nothing to do to pass the time while his wife was at work and his children attended school. He has attempted to make friends with other men through going to a football game; however, his lack of knowledge about sports and how they're basically played is so absurd that the crowd falls silent and he's kicked out of the stadium. Richard has even tried to help a mechanic fix a car, but hands him the jack that was being used to lift the car. Before the mechanic has time to process what was given to him, the front end of the vehicle crushes the mechanic, much to Richard's shock. Lastly, he tries to join in a basketball game with other players, but runs the other way upon emerging feels of shyness at the last minute.

Richard begins to feel that he doesn't feel like a man, nor isn't good at being one, but when he saw the women, he envied how carefree they were, hence the leporine sought out to become a woman in hopes of improving his social life. Before one of the other women has a chance to speak, Richard's sons burst through the door to try to stop him from exposing his secret; however, Richard reassures the boys that he did what was right and thanks the women for being his friends. Before he leaves, the women reveal their own secrets: most of the group were already men (for the exception of the old woman in the group).

The men decide to hang out as women and pretend this situation never happened, all the while Gumball is insisting that they could carry on as friends as men. Having been ignored, Gumball and Darwin leave the house, no longer caring about what happens from then on as the men continue their deep friendship as women.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Richard (Samantha)
 * Marvin (Violet)
 * George (Angela)
 * Maria

Minor Characters

 * Principal Brown
 * Mr. Corneille
 * Coach
 * Mr. Small
 * Alan
 * Carmen
 * Masami
 * Joan
 * Bandage Paramedic
 * The Mall Fountain
 * Gary
 * Nicole (mentioned)
 * Hot Dog Guy
 * Sphere Citizens
 * Football Players
 * Referee
 * Orange Security Guard
 * Cowboy
 * Harold
 * Tattoo Artist
 * Jackie
 * Felicity

Trivia

 * This episode was originally planned to air on November 17, 2017.
 * This episode guest stars Luke McQuillan, a famous YouTuber known for his voice impression on The Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur, makes his voice appearance as Samantha (Richard's persona.)
 * The fourth wall is broken when Gumball and Darwin notice the music near the end.
 * The song itself is aware being on the TV Show.
 * It's broken once more when the ladies freeze-frame and "The End" appears on the table.

Continuity

 * This is the fourth time Richard dresses up as a woman. The first three were in "The Finale," "The Name" and "The Safety."

Cultural References

 * The scenes between Richard and his friends and their disguises as girls are a direct reference to the popular NBC series The Golden Girls, with Maria, Samantha, Angela and Violet respectively based on Sophia, Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose.
 * The song that plays near the end of the episode is a parody of "Thank You for Being a Friend," the theme song from The Golden Girls. Which in itself, is a cover of the Andrew Gold song of the same name.
 * Gumball's face change at the first scene is a reference to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Richard enters the mall bathroom, his whiskers disappear.
 * After the scene where Darwin tries to break the newly-bought paper plate, Gumball changes seats and the shattered plate fragments on the floor are gone.