The Car

"The Car" is the thirty-first episode of Season 1 of The Amazing World of Gumball.

Synopsis
Gumball and Darwin accidentally ruin Mr. Robinson's brand new car.

Plot
The episode begins with Anais rudely awakening her mother, demanding that she gets out of bed to take her the "Daisy the Donkey On Ice" show. Nicole refuses and tells her she's too tired, but Anais blackmails her with a tape recording of Nicole contradicting herself by calling any parent who wouldn't take their child to watch it a "horrible mother". Nicole gives in and tells Anais that they would go. Downstairs, Nicole comes down to inform Richard to keep an eye on Gumball and Darwin in the meantime as he tries out a weight loss machine. Richard assures Nicole that nothing would go wrong as the boys are only playing their made-up game and that Richard is there to watch—a thought that heavily worries Nicole. Outside, Gumball makes a contraption to launch a ball to the moon as a response to a card. After a miscalculation, the ball hits Gumball and ricochets off into the Robinson's backyard.

Meanwhile, Mr. Robinson tells Mrs. Robinson that having a sudden decision to buy a new car is not a mid-life crisis before the ball comes down and smacks off her wig. Gumball and Darwin excitedly look over in the Robinson's yard before admiring the qualities of Mr. Robinson, who is now laughing at Mrs. Robinson's expense before she puts her wig back on. They come over to retrieve the ball and shower him with compliments before Mr. Robinson scolds them and, seeing through their gullibility, tells them that they're playing a "new game" as punishment while the Robinsons use this as their opportunity to secretly trick Gumball and Darwin into doing all the work. The Watterson boys misinterpret the meaning of "game" in this situation and assume that the game by Mr. Robinson is a privilege to play.

The first game has the two sorting out the back lawn of dried leaves. They do with relative ease, even finding the time to organize each leaf by its color and saving a special one that resembles Mr. Robinson's face, to the Robinsons' shock of confusion. They ask if they can keep the leaf, to which he flatly responds "No". Mr. Robinson then introduces the second game and demands they cut the lawn with a nail clipper. Gumball and Darwin finish in seconds, literally confusing both of the Robinsons again. The third game is to paint the fence blue, much to the humor of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson. However, the kids finish before they could do anything, literally shocking and confusing both the Robinsons again. He then demands them to paint the fence a different color which they do in seconds, and the process repeats until he screams in agony.

Darwin gives Mr. Robinson a painting of a bird that looks like him, to which Mr. Robinson confusedly says "Uh, thanks?". Realizing that the outside activities were a failure, he invites the kids inside. He then stains his own carpet, demanding they clean it. Gumball and Darwin do it with ease, to the shock and confusion of both the Robinsons. Then Mr. Robinson tries to stain it again, and again, and again before it fails. Gumball and Darwin then offer him a refill for his drink before he grabs the pitcher and throws it. Gumball and Darwin again manage to literally get it before it actually hits the carpet by Gumball swallowing it. This literally starts to confuse and scare Mr. Robinson.

After being kicked out, Gumball tells Darwin that Mr. Robinson merely hides the fact that he needs help despite trying to tell the boys to leave him alone. Gumball and Darwin then pester Mr. Robinson by helping him in any and every situation: clipping his toenails while he reads the newspaper, feeding him lunch, even using the restroom, and during his nap, only this makes Mr. Robinson literally angry, and after he fumes while his head literally changes red, he shouts "AHHHHHHHHHH!" in anger, causing the house to literally shake outside. Mr. Robinson then asks the kids why they're so willing to help in which they reply they love him. Then Gumball and Darwin offer to clean his car, which is denied at first, but then Gumball and Darwin offer to clean Mrs. Robinson, so cleaning the car is granted. Gumball tries to scrub the car before it literally collapses and burns. The kids then panic at this disaster, but reason they should hide from Mr. Robinson for life, so they hide in the attic of the Watterson's House. Mr. Robinson is shocked at the sight of his wrecked car, then Mrs. Robinson points out that Gumball and Darwin are hiding in the attic, and that really makes Mr. Robinson angry, threatening to avenge his now destroyed car by calling the Doughnut Sheriff. Gumball and Darwin realize that they've made both of the Robinsons angry, but Richard overhears them. Meanwhile, Nicole and Anais are returning home from the show, but when Anais notices the Robinsons talking to the Doughnut Sheriff, Nicole suddenly becomes nervous and tells Anais that they'll go around the back of the house while Daisy the Donkey is left exposed in the car, leaving both the Robinsons and the Doughnut Sheriff confused. Meanwhile, after Gumball and Darwin tell Richard what they've done, Richard explains that it was his machine that dented the car. He tried to remove the dents by putting in more dents but destroyed the car in the process. Richard quickly fixes the car, but as the car creaks, he runs away. Richard then warns them that they can't tell Nicole but she appears with Anais settling the situation. She explains that she backed into his car when they were pulling out of the parking spot, and that's what destroyed the car. She was going to explain to the Robinsons but they were already late. The Wattersons then agree that they should apologize to the Robinsons.

Meanwhile, the Robinsons are demanding that the Doughnut Sheriff searches the house for Gumball and Darwin and arrests them. He explains he doesn't have a warrant so that request is invalid, making Mr. Robinson scream in rage, pointing out that he pays his taxes, which pays the Doughnut Sheriff's salary, making Mr. Robinson the Doughnut Sheriff's boss. The Doughnut Sheriff tries to reason with them, which enrages the older couple even more, and as the Robinsons are infuriated about their plan being ruined by Gumball and Darwin, they officially declare all out war against the Wattersons. When the Wattersons come out to apologize, they're shocked by Mr. and Mrs. Robinson deliberately violently destroying Richard's car, thus officially declaring all out war against the Wattersons. The Doughnut Sheriff panickedly tries to reason with them to stop, but Mrs. Robinson attempts to assault him, only to be tazed. Mr. Robinson thinks that the Doughnut Sheriff killed her, shouting in slow motion "MARGARET!", then attempts to avenge her by angrily attacking the Doughnut Sheriff, who panickedly tries to stop Mr. Robinson, resulting in both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson being tazed in defeat. Nicole then suggests that they give the Robinsons some time to calm down. The Robinsons are now arrested as they are officially declared insane by the Doughnut Sheriff for their actions. The Wattersons let the Doughnut Sheriff know they're not pressing charges despite living next to "such monsters", then Gumball and Darwin promise to watch their house, which obviously enrages The Robinsons even more as The Wattersons watch the Police car drive off, with Richard showing his new and improved body, indicating that the Electro Fat really did work.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Mr. Robinson
 * Mrs. Robinson

Supporting Characters

 * Richard
 * Nicole
 * Anais

Minor Characters

 * Doughnut Sheriff
 * Daisy the Donkey
 * The Sun

Trivia

 * This was the first episode written, but one of the last ones of the season to be aired.
 * When Mr. Robinson tries to stain his carpet but Gumball catches the drink in his mouth, the music played is the Ending Theme slowed down.
 * This episode reveals that Mrs. Robinson's hair not is real, but a wig.
 * This episode takes place on July 21; this is proven when Anais holds a poster of Daisy The Donkey On Ice, showing the date at the bottom.

Continuity

 * The episode also shows Richard using the Electro Fat machine, which was shown to be in the attic in The Poltergeist.
 * This was the second time the Dodj or Daar motto was completed. The first was in the previous episode, The Ape.
 * This is the fourth time Mr. Robinson's car has been damaged by Gumball. The first time was in The Debt, the second time was in The End and the third time was in The Goons.

Cultural References

 * The scene where the Robinsons are smashing up the Watterson's car is a reference to a simiar scene in the movie The Big Lebowski. Mr. Robinson's line "This what happens when you mess with Gaylord!" is almost directly lifted from the film.
 * The license plate on the Doughnut Sheriff's cruiser reads "Elmore 9999999999". '999' is the British emergency dialing system.
 * The 'Tall Street' newspaper Mr. Robinson read is a parody of the 'Wall Street Journal.'

Goofs/Errors

 * When Richard steps out of the house, his footsteps sounded like he was walking on grass.
 * This episode was aired out of order -  the 'new' car that the Robinsons have is the same car we have seen throughout the series already.
 * When Gumball and Darwin pick up the sunset leaf that has Mr. Robinson's face on it, it suddenly turns green.
 * At first, the Electro Fat machine is shown to have three electrodes, but during Richard's flashback when he rips it off his chest and throws it, hitting the car, it only has two.
 * When Gumball and Darwin say "More ice, sir?", Darwin's mouth does not move.
 * When Gumball and Darwin greet Mr. Robinson, Gumball's eyebrows go missing for a split-second.
 * Gumball's tail is missing when he drinks Mr. Robinson's lemonade in slow motion.
 * Gumball's eyebrows are missing when he and Darwin try to apologize to The Robinsons.
 * The siren used during the fire sequence earlier in the episode is European, but the police car had '911' written on it, the Canadian and American emergency dialing system. The European emergency dialing system is '999'.
 * When Gumball and Darwin are sent to rake the leaves, they alert the Robinsons through a doorbell, even though no kind of doorbell mechanism is visible on their door.
 * Gumball would be very hurt and injured as the ball hit him in real life.
 * When Gumball, Anais, Darwin, and Nicole say "Huh", Darwin's right arm turns black.
 * When Gumball and Darwin paint the fence green, the green spots on Gumball and Darwin's faces turn blue for a split second.
 * The trees are aligned in a certain order when Mrs. Robinson's hair is knocked off, but when Gumball and Darwin peek over the Robinson's fence, the trees are aligned differently.