The Mothers

"The Mothers" is the seventeenth episode of Season 3 in The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the ninety-third episode overall.

Synopsis
It’s Mother’s Day, and kids put their moms through a series of tests to determine who the World’s Greatest Mom is.

Plot
It's Mother's Day and all the students are making cards to express how much gratitude they feel for their respective moms. Gumball and Darwin are making a card that represents Nicole as a superhero. Darwin explains that their card needs more glitter, to which Gumball responds it is already so shiny he needs sunglasses to read it. They start talking about past year, when they offered her a "perfume", which was in reality an air freshener. Nicole, not to disappoint her sons, who intended to impress her in Mother's Day, tried her new "perfume", which burned her eyes. Going back to the present, Darwin points out that their gift made her smell like a car for months, although Gumball responds him that she "loved it". Tobias interjects into their conversation, replying that it's written "Superest Mother in the World" on their card. He claims that his mother is better than theirs, to which Gumball answers that Tobias's mom is only better on being "average", because Nicole is awesome. Banana Joe also decides to interject into the conversation, alleging his mother is the best in the world and indicating that it's written on his card. Gumball replies that, just because he wrote something on a piece of paper, that doesn't mean it's true. Darwin questions Banana Joe about his card and he decides to show it, revealing it's a sad clown although Banana Joe is convinced that it's a banana. On the top, it's written "Superest Mom".

Gumball explains that Banana Joe's mother is only the best mother in their neighborhood, to which Darwin replies that, sometimes, Nicole also drives down their street. Due to this, Gumball reconsiders, concluding that Darwin is right and claiming that Banana Joe's mom is only the better inside her house.

The school bell sounds. Gumball and Darwin are about to leave the classroom when Tobias manifests, telling them to back off. Gumball also tells him to back off, starting a whole discussion of "Back offs". Darwin, sick of their discussion, asks them, rhetorically, if they're going to fight or dance. Gumball has an idea about how to determine the best mom ever but before revealing it, he is interrupted by Banana Joe, who suggests trapping their moms inside a cage, where they will fight to the death. Gumball refuses and proposes to establish a contest in which they will evaluate each mother's qualities and determine who has the best mom ever.

After school, Gumball and Darwin bring their mom, Nicole to the mall. Nicole has closed her eyes wondering about the surprise her sons have organized to her. When wondering about a new haircut, Nicole explains that the last time Gumball and Darwin prepared her a new one; she had to wear a wig for a month. Gumball suggests her to enjoy some time in the mall because they have to do something more. They meet with Tobias and Banana Joe, asking them if they have also brought their moms. Tobias and Banana Joe respond that yes, they did it. All of them, including Darwin, start commenting how shameful it will be when realizing that one of their moms is better than the others. They stop and, to be clear, Gumball assures that none of their moms knows that they have established a contest to identify the best mom ever. After making sure everything is right, he interrogates everyone, asking if there are more questions. Banana Joe asks him if the question has to be related to their plan, to which Gumball agrees. He makes another question but Gumball ignores him and decides to start officially their contest. The first round is speed.

Nicole is rising on an escalator. However, Tobias modifies its direction so it can move at the backward, also increasing its speed. Nicole starts running, jumping over a bunch of people who are trying to come down. She is running so fast that, as soon as Tobias turns off the escalator and recognizes, reluctantly, that Nicole has won this round, the power of inertia makes her continue running, break a window and fly over the mall on a huge speed. The next round is reflex challenge. Banana Barbara is walking on the mall when, suddenly, a tin can hits her on the head and she passes out. Banana Joe hit her with the can so he could prove his mother had good corporal reflexes. Darwin suggests that Banana Joe should try to warn his mother. He throws her a can, hitting her on the head again and saying to watch out then. Darwin mentions that Banana Joe should have warned her before throwing the can. He decides to throw it one last time and warns his mother, who is too slow to understand she's about to be hit and injured a third time. Gumball decides to attribute her one point for having survived that. Now it's time to test Tobias' mom. As she walks near to the fridges zone, Tobias lets one of them fall over his mom, who catches it and raises it with her "super strength", surprising Darwin, Gumball and Banana Joe, that decide to go away, preparing themselves to the next challenge. However, it's revealed that both Tobias and his mom are cheating on the contest. The fridge that fell over her is made up of card.

More challenges are made. They are always introduced by Darwin with unusual lady's legs. And in all of them, Tobias and his mom cheat on the contest, prejudicing Nicole and Banana Barbara to win every round.

At the last challenge, which is the Hot Sauce Challenge, Tobias' mom tastes a whole bottle of spicy pepper. Tobias praises her and winks his eye to her. However, that denounces them and Gumball understands that they replaced the hot sauce for ketchup and have been cheating all the time. Jackie denies it several times but she is forced to admit it later. After that, Banana Barbara shows up and tastes a spoonful of hot sauce, which makes her to blow up.

Nicole is sat down on a chair, tired due to the contest Gumball, Darwin, Tobias and Banana Joe organized secretly. Gumball and Darwin decide to show up and announce they she has won their contest and has proved to be the Best Mom ever. However, when she discovers she has been suffering all this time because of them, she angrily banishes her sons to the car.

Gumball and Darwin now understand that what they did to their mom was wrong and decide to make things right for Nicole, and decided to write on a sign how much regretful they are for having upset her. Nevertheless, they get suspended when their scaffold falls, facing a certain death. Gumball starts screaming. Although Darwin replies that his mom can't hear him, but incredibly, Nicole (who was in a salon) heard his cries for help, understanding they're in danger and decides to rescue her sons. When reaching the building where they are, a guard interrupts her, claiming that only cars can pass through the gate. She ignores him and immobilizes him, managing to reach the interior of the building. Gumball screams to her that they're at the level thirty-two, which upsets her because she already very tired. However, the commercial sign they're stuck in rips and they go down to the level sixteen. A crowd is observing this horrible scene. Gumball's pants go down and his tighty-whities are shown, which disgusts them.

Gumball and Darwin don't manage to remain grabbed to the commercial sign for much longer and start to fall. However, Nicole grabs an extinguisher hose, attaching it to her body and jumping from the level sixteen to catch them. She is able to save her sons, and Gumball and Darwin are rescued before reaching the floor and getting injured.

The crowd praises Nicole, who informs Gumball and Darwin that what they did was very dangerous, but she realizes they did all of that to impress her and her sons really could do something special for her. Gumball tells her she's the superest mom in the world. Banana Joe shows up and tells to his mom she is the superest mom in his heart. Tobias decides to offer a card to his mom but when she is about to receive it, her son rips it and looks at her with a disappointed glare.

Nicole mentions she needs help to go to the car because she put her back out. Gumball tells her she's invincible and can do everything, to which she responds that she's not a superhero, just a regular mom would do to her sons. She rises up and says, "Now come on. Let's go home.", and the hose roller which she is attached to, falls from the level sixteen, getting on a street light and hoisting her, which makes her appear to be flying like a superhero.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Nicole
 * Tobias
 * Jackie
 * Banana Joe
 * Banana Barbara

Minor Characters

 * Karen
 * Receptionist (cameo)
 * Penny
 * Masami
 * Carmen
 * Juke
 * Eggheads
 * Leslie
 * Cowboy
 * Harold
 * Gary
 * Librarian
 * Pantsbully
 * Cupcake Woman
 * Billy
 * Felicity
 * Green Security Guard
 * Martin
 * Blue Elephant
 * Betty
 * Crocodile Woman
 * Mrs. Fitzgerald
 * Hexagon Lady
 * Hobo
 * Orange Security Guard
 * Brown Security Guard
 * Hank
 * Marvin
 * Principal Brown

Trivia

 * This is the first major role of Banana Barbara and Jackie.
 * This episode was originally planned for season one, but was moved to season three due to low budget. It was originally named "The Mom."
 * Daniel Lennard's name appears on a hair product display stand.

Continuity

 * This is the third time Nicole demonstrates her athletic skills. The first two times were in "The DVD" and "The Remote."
 * This is the Receptionist's second appearance, her first appearance was in "The Painting."
 * Janice and the Awesome Store can be seen in Elmore Mall's parking lot.
 * This is the third time Nicole appears in a flaming background, the first two were "The Responsible" and "The Authority."
 * The paintball poster from "The Fridge" is seen at the ending of the episode.
 * This is Tobias' third major role. His first two were in "The Third" and "The Knights."

Cultural References

 * When Billy asks if "it's a bird or it's a plane," he references the superhero Superman.
 * Nicole's curl of hair after the spa, her wearing the cape, along with how her advanced hearing helped her hear the kids from outside through the hair dryer is also a reference to Superman.
 * When Banana Joe says "Three go in, one comes out," it is a reference to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Nicole says "I think this thing is broken," her voice actor, Teresa Gallagher, starts to slip into her natural British accent by accident.
 * A better title for round four of the "mom-off" would be "Balance" as opposed to "Agility."
 * When Nicole is slipping onto the oil, her skirt is colored pink instead of gray.
 * After Jackie cheats at the hot sauce challenge, bottles at the hot sauce stand suddenly appear.
 * In the resilience challenge, the shelves disappear, even though the cans are inside the shelves.
 * When Gumball fights Tobias, his outline disappears.
 * When Jackie cheats at the strength challenge, Gumball, Banana Joe, and Tobias should have seen that the fake refrigerator was a cardboard cutout from where they were.
 * Janice can be seen outside the parking lot when Gumball and Darwin are hanging from the banner, but it then appears inside the parking lot before Nicole saves them.

Les mères