User blog comment:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: Individual Appeals: Part II/@comment-30307603-20170316212242

As always, great work. This is definitely one of the longer posts on here, so congratulations on that.

Now, on to my response:

The Gripes: While "The Gripes" does serve to provide commentary of the over-privileged, I do still find the whining overplayed a bit, even if the generosity of the Elmore citizens tries to counter. Also from a character standpoint, this plot doesn't make too much sense considering the show has stated multiple times that the Wattersons are a lower-income middle class family. That being said, I don't dislike the episode, I just find it "okay".

The Fridge: I do agree with Martin in that this episode is pretty frustrating. Your assessment is accurate: Nicole has always had this raging edge to her. However, what makes this episode different from other instances is the fact that Nicole uses this rage to practically abuse Gumball and put the rest of her family down in a very mean way. I will say that some of the abuse Gumball endures is sightly funny and I really love the climax of the episode.

The Limit: A lot of my problems with this episode is very similar to my problems with "The Hero", which I'm sure you have at least looked at by now. I will leave it at this and say that "The Limit" fares better than "The Hero" for me because it's at least not trying to be emotional.

The Ex: Once again, this is another episode I went really in depth into (looking back at, it's probably my longest review for that mini-series), so I will say that I can think of some ways to keep Rob as the villain without resorting to undoing "The Rerun". Of course, that would require the relationship between Gumball and Rob to become more complex, especially on Rob's behalf, but it can be done. I also very much still disagree with your stance on Tina and believe that she could have had more episodes had they pushed her character in the "I want to explore my femininity" direction, but that's another debate for another time.

The End: I think it's one of Season 1's better episodes. I do like how Gumball's and Darwin's belief that the world is going to end comes from misinterpreting Bobert as opposed to pure stupidity. I do think the first half of the episode, the one taking place in the school, is better than the second half. I think the jokes they tell at the school, such as abandoning school and Gumball's marriage proposal, are for more interesting then the second half involving the Wattersons trying to cram into a porta-potty (That's what they're called, right?) while displaying the typical "dum guys and smart girls" tropes.

The Sock: For me, this episode has a lot of good jokes going for it, such as the brothers' brutal honesty, Mr. Small's rap, and as you said, the window joke involving Rocky, and these jokes do kind of make up for the shallow plot. Not the biggest fan of the brothers' characterization in this episode, but at least it's amusing this time around.

The Downer and The Countdown: Not too much to add here. I agree with everything you've stated here, and I did discuss these two episodes, especially "The Countdown", in a previous post of mine.

Good and nice long comment.