User blog:ThatGuy456/A Guy's Thoughts: (Week 3) "New Amazing World of Gumball in February!"


 * Come meet Richard, our rabbit pink dad!


 * Mom and sister are really really rad!

and : Come and meet our family! New Amazing World of Gumball all through February.

(This was a real commercial)

Cartoon Network, why do you love to butcher Nobody's A Nobody so much? Please, stop.

Week 3 of the event that brought such a train wreck of an advertisement. Once again, this post is complete with my analysis and terribly unfunny captions.

Spoilers, as usual:

The Ollie
"The Ollie" is Gumball's take on the skateboarding culture, and although this may seem like a mundane idea to work with, it surprisingly made for a very good episode with some good gags and a satisfying climax and ending.

The episode follows Gumball trying to teach his brother about skating culture; Darwin blissfully follows Gumball's advice unaware that his brother is a poser. Using this premise, the episode manages to tell all sorts of jokes; Gumball's history lecture to Darwin about the origin of skateboarding not only looked cool with the paper stop-motion style, but was also quite humorous. The brothers' and their attempt to properly dress the skater part was also pretty comical, especially Gumball's little tirade to Darwin about how skaters need to "look hardcore". Heck, when Darwin is showing skepticism towards Gumball's claims of being a real skater, the viewers are treated to a small subtle fourth-wall break calling out the absurdity of the orientation that the 2D characters are drawn at. However, the climax of the episode proves to be the strongest segment. In an attempt to save Darwin, Gumball takes his skateboard and proceeds to successfully skate in of the coolest scenes in the series thus far. The scene is animated by guest animator Simon Landrein, and like other scenes in the series that try something new with the art, it seamlessly fits in and just goes to show much of a visual magnum opus Gumball really is. The very surreal animation style of the sequence allows for some very interesting jokes and is very reminiscent of a comic book.

In addition, the climax has Gumball actually succeed at something with no catches (except for a minor one at the end). Seeing Gumball with a legitimate talent is refreshing to see and goes to show how far the character has come since Season 1. Who was once a kid with no talent and a very childish mindset is now a more matured and independent kid who has his own talents to hone. "The Ollie" is quite the fine episode, and anyone, not just skaters, can enjoy it (trust me, I am the furthest thing from a skater).

The Catfish
"The Catfish" has a cat and a fish catfishing their step grandfather so that he will have more friends online; it's a simple premise, but the episode makes it work, providing some hilarious moments and a very interesting climax.

Typically, when most shows try to integrate the internet and modern technology into their shows, it often comes off as cringe-worthy because it seems as if the writers don't have a firm understanding of the culture surrounding it. However, "The Catfish", (and Gumball in general, excluding a few awful duds), establishes that the writers have a firm understanding on how to properly incorporate the internet and social media. It's not treated as "hip" or comes across as adults begging to get in "The Cool Cat Kids Club"; it's natural and benefits the plot. Some of the episode's best gags come from effective the use of modern technology, such as Gumball's phone constantly vibrating as he receives Louie's constant messaging (and his phone eventually giving up on him due to the obscene images), as well as the glorious nod to fanart. The climax and its absurdity also works very well; seeing Gumball and Darwin trying to stop Jojo from destroying "Muriel" was quite entertaining, some of the scenes even reminding me of some of the classic Loony Toons shorts. In addition, seeing Jojo take the form of this weird beast was unexpected as it was amusing. The falling action leading to the big "catfish" joke was just perfect despite its simplicity.

This episode also takes a deeper look into Jojo's and Louie's relationship and the dynamic between them. Jojo is portrayed as an over-protective and clingy wife trying to keep his social-butterfly husband captive. Given Jojo's past, this characterization actually works quite well; her husband abandoned both her and Richard for seemingly shoddy reasons. It makes sense that she would be afraid to let go of Louie; she fears that he will leave her. How Jojo handled Frankie's departure was something I was always curious about, so I'm glad it was touched upon in this episode. I hope that a future episode will go more in depth about this. "The Catfish" will serve a nice purpose for those who are interested in the Watterson family and how they interact with each other.

The Cycle
"The Cycle" has the Watterson children trying to help their dad reason with his long-time bully, Harold Wilson. Although this episode may have a frustrating start, the climax and some of the jokes definitely help to make up for it.

Harold has proven to be one of the more unlikable characters in the series, as evidenced by "The Castle" and especially "The Choices". His problem comes from the fact that he's a d**k character with no comedic or sympathetic edge. While the episode seems to be going for that direction with his character at first, the climax more than makes up for it. His jerkish antics after "receiving" a check for one billion dollars is one of the funniest yet somehow one of the realest ways possible is absolutely entertaining. From the way he thanks his former employer to how he just throws out his wife, everything about that climax makes me like Harold as a character, even if it's only for 3 minutes. Putting that aside, the episode still delivers some entertaining scenes. The whole ordeal occurring at the law attorney's office, from the way she drains money out of the Wattersons via her talking speed to her song about her sad life, the way this scene is structured is just perfect. Seeing a younger Richard in high school was also very amusing although it was slightly weird not to see Nicole in that flashback.

Richard's character is also handled quite nicely in this episode. Richard is surprisingly mature and honestly tries his hardest to remain civil with Harold. It's his kids that suggest they take the meaner options, not he; heck, he was the one who wanted to stop his bully from financially destroying himself. He even goes about dishing his revenge to him in a civilized manner. This is definitely one of Richard's best outings as a character, and it goes to show how likable of a character he has become. The guy can't even get himself to fully insult his kids, and he feels the need to apologize to them after he dishes out his compliments as insults. It's a very sincere and heartwarming scene. Overall, "The Cycle" will definitely appeal to those who enjoy seeing jerk characters get their comeuppance and still has some great scenes for those not interested.

The Stars
"The Stars" is an episode providing social commentary, with the commentary focusing on the abuse of internet reviews and the "customer is always right" mentality. When Gumball usually does social commentary, I find that it does it well to great effect ("The Safety", "The Upgrade", "The Points", "The Blame"). However, I find that while this episode does make its point clear, it is not an enjoyable episode and does not hold up as well to its contenders.

One of my main gripes with the episode comes from the mediocre characterization of the characters, specifically Gumball, Darwin, and Richard. Throughout the episode, these three prove to be pretty insufferable to watch; while Larry is no stranger to the shenanigans the Wattersons place on him, this episode proves to be different because the three are intentionally going out of their way to make his life miserable for selfish gains, as opposed to episodes such as "The Refund" or "The Pizza", in which his sufferings are just the result of the circumstances with no bad will intended. This problem is worsened by the fact that nobody ever calls out the Watterson brothers for their wrong-doing. The tweens were far meaner to Larry than Richard was, as irritating I find him to be in this episode. I understand that the episode's plot demanded that the characters were douches in order to deliver the social commentary, but I hold the belief that if the characters need to be seriously changed to make a point, then there is no point in making the point. The characters should come before the message, and if there was no feasible way to deliver the message without making the characters d***s, then it's better to rework the episode or even scrap it.

Another gripe I have with this episode has to do with one the jokes: Richard's baldness. It may seem like a nitpick to some (and it probably is), but I simply cannot get over this joke. Richard is a rabbit, a creature with fur, and after previous episode, "The Cycle", just established he had fur to some degree, it's off-putting for the show to suddenly refer to him as bald. I would be able to move on from it had it been a one-off gag, but the fact that his baldness is the resolution to the episode just irritates me to no end. While I do find some problems with the episode, there are some enjoyable segments. Larry's cheaply made movie did just about everything right; it was so bad that it was good. The gag with the the lower ratings physically devolving the initially fine culinary establishment was also quite entertaining. Mr. Robinson attempting (and failing) to murder his wife with the use of the termites was the best part of the entire episode.

Overall, "The Stars" sets out to be a critique on the relationship between the customer and the vendor, but the way the episode goes about trying to conduct its story just falls apart. There are individual jokes worth taking a look at, however.

Closing Thoughts
As per usual, here's a summarized version of my thoughts on Season 5 thus far:

Loved: "The Rerun", "The Stories", "The Vision", "The Choices", "The Test", "The Copycats", "The Fuss", "The Matchmaker", "The Console", "The Ollie"

Liked: "The Slide", "The Loophole", "The Potato", "The Outside", "The Vase", "The Box", "The Catfish", "The Cycle"

Okay: "The Guy", "The Code"

Meh: "The Boredom"

Disliked: "The Stars"

Next week, you're in for a tirade. Two words: "The Diet".

Another Shout-out to Matt
Once again, Matt writes a compelling piece on a episode, this time "The Dream", but nearly nobody reads, again. Please, if you have the time, check out his piece; while it didn't make me like "The Dream", it definitely offered a new perspective to view the episode from.

Links both here and in the heading.