User blog comment:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: The Candidate/@comment-30307603-20180311231757

One of the main reasons I prefer "The Candidate" over other poor attempts at social satire ("The Stars" and "The Worst" come to mind) is because of how the cast is used. "The Stars" and especially "The Worst" stripped the characters of their personalities for the sake of forcing them into a mold to deliver the message. Again, modifications here and there are perfectly okay and are to be expected in a comedy-focused series, but there is a limit as to how much bending one can do before it becomes overdone, and episodes such as "The Stars" and "The Worst" suffered from this.

Everyone in "The Candidate" still acts like themselves. Gumball has always been impulsive and arrogant, so his role as the charismatic yet rambunctious populist makes sense. Banana Joe is a gullible dimwit who has always wanted to stand out, so him being a loud-mouth conspiracy theorist works quite nicely. Anais is a highly intelligent kid who lacks any real social grace, so her being a well-meaning leader who is unpopular among her people is fitting. Nobody is forced into personality for the sake of a forced commentary; everything is nicely in-place.

The slang was disgusting, though; not much else needs to be said on that.

The episode was quite solid. My only real nitpick is that they could have downplayed Gumball's arrogance in the final act as it was getting stale. The inclusion of the all great Sussie would have been nice as well.

This was an awesome way to bring back "A Second Opinion," and I am excited to see what direction you are planning to take it in the future.