The Potato

"The Potato" is the thirteenth episode of Season 5 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 169th episode overall.

Synopsis
When Darwin has lunch with Idaho, he decides to stop eating potatoes in solidarity with his brotato, but he finds his obsession with his favorite food harder to kick than he ever imagined, so Gumball decides to help his friend curb his carb cravings.

Plot
The episode begins with Darwin sitting down next to Idaho, with his lunch (which is a potato). Darwin slices open the potato and begins to eat it, right in front of Idaho, to the latter's shock. Gumball then joins them and greets Idaho, then calls him a "brotato". Idaho storms off with his lunch, and Darwin ponders why he is upset, and Gumball points out that the reason is because Darwin is eating potatoes. Darwin then decides never to eat potatoes again, deciding to eat other foods he likes and goes to ask for fries. Gumball points out that those are potato as well, and all of Darwin's other favorite foods are made of potatoes. Darwin calls himself insensitive, and then has a flashback of instances where he does things that involve potatoes in front of Idaho (For example, one instance he had made a birthday cake for Idaho out of a potato.) Darwin calls himself insensitive again, and Gumball decides to help the former with his craving.

After confiscating Darwin's potato stash, Gumball inquires if Darwin has anymore hidden. Darwin tries to hide the fact that he has more potatoes hidden, but Gumball finds the secret stashes very quickly. Darwin then has a fit of mood swings due to ditching his craving of potatoes, and Gumball and Darwin then search the internet and decide to do origami. After making numerous origami swans, Gumball asks if Darwin feels better, which Darwin objects. Gumball comments that they at least haven't hurt anyone's feelings. Teri comes in and asks the duo if they have seen her parents as they were coming to pick her up earlier that day, and the duo look at the two large origami swans next to them, and nervously say "no" to Teri's question. Teri then tells them "never mind" and walks off.

Gumball attempts (and fails) to use hypnosis to curb Darwin's craving. Sarah then comes and greets them in a confusing manner (which she briefly has to explain to them). The duo explain that they are trying to curb Darwin's potato craving. Sarah then gets an idea, and then has Darwin watch a quick video of potatoes being cooked into French fries, which in turn has spooky music. However, Darwin just responds by showing Gumball and Sarah the same video, but this time it has happier, farmlike music. Darwin also comments that it might have worked better if they didn't hold his eyes open with French fries, as he throws the fries aside, only for them to go into a fan and get shredded, the fries' crumbs being splattered all over Darwin's face. Darwin asks if they have any more ideas, and Sarah suggests Mr. Small's therapy club (which is revealed to just be duo therapy with him and Sarah) and Gumball complains about this.

Shortly, the subject of Darwin's craving curb is brought up by Gumball, and when asked why he is curbing his potato craving, Darwin says that it makes Idaho upset. Mr. Small suggests that Darwin imagine a potato with a face every time he goes to eat one. Darwin tries it, and it works. Darwin thanks Mr. Small, but then sees a stream of sausages on his desk, as well as steak. Mr. Small reveals that he still eats meat because he cannot stand not eating it, prompting Darwin to eat a potato he finds on the floor. However, Darwin begins to hallucinate potatoes singing a song, telling him to stop eating them. Darwin then comes to and decides to lock himself in his room until he stops eating potatoes, and runs off to do so. Gumball and Sarah try to get Mr. Small's assistance, but he shamefully yells at them not to look at him.

Gumball and Sarah run to Idaho, and Gumball eagerly tells Idaho that Darwin has quit eating potatoes. Idaho tells Gumball that Darwin's potato consumption never upset him, because he is a different kind of potato. Idaho goes off to see Darwin, and Gumball dismisses it as fine at first, until Sarah tries to tell Gumball that Idaho is in serious danger (because he is a potato). Meanwhile, Idaho mistakenly puts on tanning oil instead of sunscreen, making him crispy. Back at school, Sarah desperately tries to explain to Gumball that Idaho is in peril, but Gumball doesn't understand. Idaho, elsewhere, gets salt dumped on him by a worker putting rocksalt on the road despite the absence of ice and snow. Gumball eventually realizes that Idaho is in real danger, and runs off to save him. Much to Sarah's annoyance.

Idaho goes to Gumball and Darwin's house, and goes upstairs. Idaho opens the door to the duo's bedroom, and Darwin is there, starved for potatoes and in a monstrous state. Meanwhile, Gumball and Sarah have reached the house and they open the door with difficulty. They run up the stairs and see bits of potato in the bedroom as well as Darwin eating potato, and Gumball screams "Noo...!" and mourns, thinking that Darwin ate Idaho. Idaho then comes, unscathed, and Gumball is confused. Idaho explains that he brought Darwin a potato dish to tell Darwin that it's okay to eat potatoes. Gumball asks why Idaho was angry at Darwin, but Idaho says that he was mad at Gumball for calling him a "brotato", as he hates the nickname. Sarah makes a joke out of it and they laugh, while Gumball nervously laughs.

Seemingly in his head, Gumball tells himself to laugh with them so they think he understands. Darwin then asks if they are going to pretend he didn't say that out loud. Idaho and Sarah agree with Darwin, while Gumball continues laughing nervously, ending the episode.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Idaho
 * Sarah

Minor Characters

 * Mr. Small
 * Frank
 * Tobias
 * Leslie
 * Carrie
 * Teri
 * Jamie
 * Banana Joe
 * Miss Simian (mentioned)
 * Teri's mother
 * Teri's father
 * Dolphin Man
 * Goblin
 * Hank

Trivia

 * This is the third episode not written by Ben Bocquelet. The first two were "The Vacation" and "The Law."
 * This episode implies that Mr. Small may be of a hypocrite as he generally discourages meat consumption yet he eats meat himself.
 * Running Gag: Darwin throws a food made out of potatoes at a fan and it gets on his face.

Continuity

 * This episode is Idaho's second major role. The first one was "The Bumpkin."
 * Gumball makes the same face he did in "The Guy."
 * This episode marks the second time Darwin demonstrates his "suckerfish ability." The first time he did that was in "The Party."
 * The Grimms' Fairy Tales book from "The Blame" makes its second appearance.
 * The face that Darwin makes when shouting on the table is the same face he made in "The Pony" when he was mimicking the face Anais makes when she doesn't get what she wants.

Cultural References

 * Sarah refers to herself as "Scoop Dogg," a reference to the rapper Snoop Dogg.
 * Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet symphonic poem is played in the background in the scene where Darwin gives up all his potatoes.
 * Darwin using fries to keep his eye-lids open while watching a video is a possible reference to an iconic scene from A Clockwork Orange.
 * The hypnotization CD that Darwin listens to features David Zanthor on the cover, a reference to a spoof magician character created and played by James Lamont.
 * The song "Potato" is reminiscent of "Bicycle" by Queen. The pose at the beginning of the song is also similar to the one in their "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video.
 * In the song, the potatoes have flappy heads and beady black eyes which is similar to Canadians in South Park.