The Safety

"The Safety" is the thirty-second episode of Season 3 of The Amazing World of Gumball, and the 108th overall.

Synopsis
After watching a safety video in health class, Darwin becomes obsessed with keeping his family and others safe, and his overprotective ways spread throughout Elmore.

Plot
The episode opens with a video on safety called "Watch Out Little Teddy." It revolves around Little Teddy, an accident prone bear, who is repeatedly injured and then reprimanded by the narrator for being unsafe. The video's creepy and unsettling nature frightens Mr. Small and the students, but no one is more affected than Darwin. On the way home, Darwin starts being overprotective of Gumball, and jumps into action at even the slightest perceived threat.

The next day, Gumball wakes up and later discovers that Darwin has put a child filter on the house, and that he cannot say any swear words (even though he does not know any). All the food has been replaced by pure protein, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamins because Darwin is worried about harmful substances. Darwin states that it is for their own good, much to Gumball's irritation. Richard, Anais, and Nicole repeat it in a dazed voice, then afterwards Darwin stops Richard from eating too many vitamins.

In the living room, Gumball turns the TV on and watches a cartoon. The character, a wolf, tries to catch another character, an ostrich. While Gumball laughs, Darwin calls the wolf and reprimands him for using unsafe dynamite and an anvil. Then he also reprimands the ostrich for running, because it is dangerous. He then persuades them to remove the violence, jokes and music. After Darwin says that all of this is for their own good, the characters become hypnotized and start chanting "It is for our own good" as well. Gumball, in rage, bites his own tail which causes him to smash into the ceiling and fall unconscious.

Gumball wakes up in the living room, chained to a chair. He sees his family, also tied up but seemingly brainwashed, and they reveal that Darwin is now trying to make Elmore safe. After Gumball is shocked by a device (the equivalent of him exercising "safely"), fed by a machine, and sees a bucket under his chair, he questions his family about how they would give up their freedom. At this point, his family reveals that they are just pretending to be brainwashed because they are being watched through a camera, but Gumball does not get this until he notices the camera behind him. Then he sees the key to their locks, eats a cactus while trying to get the key, and creates a replica key out of the cactus instead.

Now free, they set out to stop Darwin from invading the world to make it safe. They easily escape Darwin's minions (led by Principal Brown) because of their delays caused by ensuring their own safety. The Wattersons arrive at the town hall (Darwin's lair), and Gumball makes a plan: Richard would create a diversion, allowing Nicole, Anais and Gumball to zip-line inside. Once inside, Nicole would neutralize the guards while Anais would disable the alarm systems and open the door, and this will allow Gumball to confront Darwin.

The first part of the plan goes smoothly after a disguised Richard takes out the guard at the entrance. After breaking the fourth wall by smashing into a warning notice while zip-lining, Nicole stays behind inside the town hall to deal with the guards. At the entrance of Darwin's lair, Anais quickly disables the security systems and opens the door. Then Gumball enters the lair, and leaves behind Anais as she explains her complex process of how she disabled the security systems.

In the lair, Gumball confronts Darwin with a semi-dramatic entrance. After ignoring advice to use the stairs, he swings down with a curtain, and makes Darwin see his own extreme ways with safety. After a short chat, Darwin accepts the fact that life isn't always safe, and decides to get rid of all his safety measures and rules. But before he gets rid of his rules, Gumball asks if he can add one.

At school, the students all line up in the school hallway, and salute Gumball and Darwin as the lords of Elmore. Then they slap themselves, and the brothers can be heard laughing as they walk by.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Anais
 * Nicole
 * Richard

Minor Characters

 * Little Teddy
 * Bluebird
 * Butterfly
 * Elderly Woman
 * Mr. Small
 * Sea Serpent
 * Leslie
 * Masami
 * Sarah
 * Tobias
 * Molly
 * Gary
 * Betty
 * Pigeons
 * Ostrich
 * Wolf
 * Principal Brown
 * Harold
 * Jeff
 * Pantsbully
 * Carmen's father
 * Neck Beard
 * Orange Guards
 * Red Guard
 * Blue Guard
 * Green Security Guard
 * Blue Elephant
 * Charlie
 * Bobert
 * Coach
 * Jamie
 * Rocky
 * Alan
 * Doughnut Sheriff
 * Melted Cheese Guy
 * Teri
 * Carmen
 * Cyclops Dog
 * Marvin
 * Eggheads
 * Miss Simian
 * Clayton
 * Rosie
 * Cube Dogs
 * Librarian
 * Penny
 * Juke
 * Mushroom
 * Idaho
 * Ocho
 * Banana Joe

Trivia

 * This episode premiered first in Latin America, along with the "The Question," "The Oracle," and "The Saint."
 * This is the second episode that involves safety. The first one being "The Authority."
 * The safety video shown at the beginning of the episode was animated by Jérémie Périn.
 * The fourth wall is broken in three ways in this episode:
 * Darwin's "child filter" causes a few fourth wall breaks, such as Gumball noticing his dialogue being censored.
 * Gumball, Nicole, and Anais crash into the warning message that appears on the screen.
 * They also notice the "Biff!," "Kapow!," and "Twiddle!" action cards that appear on the screen.
 * According to Darwin's cameras, this episode takes place on February 9, 2014.
 * 57 characters appeared in this episode, making it the third most in the series, and beating "The Oracle" and "The Parking," which both had 55 characters. The ones beating "The Safety" are "The Butterfly," tied with "The Spoiler" (65 characters), and "The World" (83 characters).

Continuity

 * Music from "The Internet," "The Fan," and "The Plan" is reused.
 * The City Hall reappears in this episode. Its first appearance was in "The Name."
 * This is the sixth time Gumball makes his evil face. The first five were in "The Move," "The Procrastinators," "The Burden," "The Man," and "The Saint."
 * This is the third time Richard dresses as a woman. The first two were in "The Finale," and "The Name."
 * Footage of Rocky and Teri from "The Joy" is displayed on Darwin's surveillance monitors.
 * Molly reappears in person at Elmore Junior High for the first time since "The Fight."

Cultural References

 * The action scenes with Nicole against the colored security guards is a reference to the fight scenes to the 1966 Batman TV series.
 * The cartoon Gumball is watching is a reference to Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner from the Looney Tunes cartoons.
 * When the footage of the safety video warps, still images of Overlook Hotel from The Shining can be briefly seen.
 * The safety video at the start of the episode is a possible reference to the public information films (PIF), which were shown during British commercial breaks in the 70s, and were known for their creepy and unsettling nature.
 * The scene in the safety video where Little Teddy runs into a rake is a possible reference to the Simpsons episode "Cape Fearre."

Goofs/Errors

 * When Darwin shoves Gumball away from a puddle, he has 4 legs when he screams "Drowned!" at Gumball.
 * When Gumball and Darwin laugh at the end of the episode, Darwin's mouth doesn't move.
 * When Gary appears on the surveillance monitor, he has no eyes.
 * Principal Brown and Neck Beard appear on the cameras despite being stationed outside the City Hall.
 * Nicole fights off two of the same Orange Guards.