The Matchmaker

"The Matchmaker" is the sixteenth episode of Season 5 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 172nd episode overall.

Synopsis
Gumball enlists Carrie to help bring Darwin and Teri together, but when they can't make Darwin and Teri's love blossom naturally, they decide to make it happen supernaturally.

Plot
The episode begins with Darwin alone in his bedroom, staring at his computer screen as he breaks into a heartbreaking song. Before long, Gumball appears and inquires what was on his mind but Darwin refuses to tell him and storms out in embarrassment. Riddled, Gumball checks the computer Darwin was staring at and finds a photo supposedly of Teri and concludes his brother has a crush on her. Determined to help him out, he enlists Carrie to set Darwin up with Teri. Although Carrie is saddened by this request, as she was already in love with Darwin, she accepts.

At school, Darwin is writing a poem as Gumball and Carrie look on. Seeing how desperate he is, Gumball suggests going into more extreme methods to set him up, such as making a love potion, which Carrie quickly declines to. Unbeknownst to Gumball, Carrie is still somewhat jealous and secretly plots to sabotage his plans. Their first plan involves trying to trick Teri into entering a quarantine, but Carrie sabotages this plan by throwing out the soda bottle meant to be a "deadly chemical." For the second plan, Gumball tries to convince Darwin to shout out his secrets to Teri, which only upsets Carrie more.

Later at the library, Gumball tells Carrie his next plan: Marry Darwin and Teri online. Finally, the guilt-ridden Carrie admits she was trying to ruin Darwin's chances with Teri because of her feelings for him. Gumball gives her his sympathies but tells her that Darwin no longer has romantic feelings for her and there is nothing they can do about it but help him find his love. Carrie sadly agrees and decides to make the love potion that will bring Teri and Darwin together, using Darwin's shoe, a piece of Teri, and her own tear as ingredients. Once the potion is ready, Gumball dips arrows into it and shoots both Darwin and Teri, making them instantly fall in love.

Back home, Darwin is getting ready for his date. Gumball is expecting him to show his gratitude after setting him up, which only confuses the latter. Gumball explains that he saw Darwin's photo of Teri and that he and Carrie were his matchmakers. Darwin explains that the photo was not of Teri, but of Carrie, who, being a ghost, does not show up on photos. Realizing his grievous mistake, Gumball summons Carrie and tells her they have to break up Teri and Darwin as their love is not true after all. Once again, the two resort to extreme methods to break them up. They go from forcing Alan onto Teri in front of Darwin, to making Darwin obese and unattractive, to introducing Teri to Richard and his gross habits, to making Teri think she has cooties as a result of Darwin kissing others in the past. Unfortunately, none of those methods work and only bring them closer together.

Heartbroken, Carrie begins to cry. However, Darwin notices her tear, which breaks the spell. Carrie then sheepishly asks Darwin if he would like to go on a date with her. Darwin gladly accepts. Suddenly Teri, still under the spell, rises up. Gumball then shoots another arrow at Teri's spray bottle, which she promptly falls in love with. After this, Darwin and Carrie then share a kiss as Gumball happily watches them, ending the episode.

Main Characters

 * Darwin
 * Carrie
 * Gumball
 * Teri

Minor Characters

 * Daisy the Donkey
 * Carmen
 * Masami
 * Alan
 * Tobias
 * Rocky
 * Jamie
 * School Nurse
 * Tina (cameo)
 * Banana Joe (cameo)
 * Anton (cameo)
 * Penny
 * Richard
 * Juke
 * Leslie
 * Rachel (flashback)
 * Ghosts (flashback)
 * Sussie (flashback)
 * Bandage Doctor (flashback)
 * Chris Morris (mentioned)

Trivia

 * This is the first Valentine's Day special, as well as the seventh holiday special. The others were "Halloween," "Christmas," "The Mothers," "The Mirror," "The Lie," and "The Scam."
 * This episode marks the first time Rachel has appeared since "The Internet."

Continuity

 * This is Carrie's fifth major role. The others were "The Ghost," "Halloween," "The Mirror," and "The Scam."
 * This is also Teri's second major role. Her first was in "The Virus."
 * Music from "The Origins" and "The Bros" is reused.
 * This is the eighth time that two characters kiss on the lips. The first time was in "The Kiss," the second time was in "Halloween," the third was in "The Boombox," the fourth was in "The Extras," the fifth was in "The Shell," and the sixth was in "The Man", and the seventh was in "The Choices."
 * Gumball appears to be good at archery, as seen in "The Society" and "The Spoiler."
 * Carrie not showing up in photographs was previously discussed in "The Photo."
 * Gumball summons Carrie by calling her name several times, just like it was revealed in "The Mirror."
 * Clips from "The Responsible," "The Pressure," "The Dress, "The Prank," "The Party," "Halloween," "The Dream," "The Finale," "The Burden," and "The Traitor" are all seen in Darwin's flashbacks.

Cultural References

 * One of the faces Gumball makes is similar to one of the faces of Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh!.
 * Gumball melting from a "chemical spill" may be a reference to Robocop, in which Emil Antonowsky suffers a similar and equally gruesome fate.
 * Gumball using a bow and an arrow with the love potion on it is a reference to Cupid.

Goofs/Errors

 * According to Carrie in "The Mirror," one can summon a ghost by saying its name five times, but in this episode Gumball only had to say Carrie's name three times to summon her.
 * In this episode, Darwin can kiss Carrie while in "Halloween" he claimed he had to be a ghost to kiss Carrie.
 * Carrie was even able to slap Gumball despite him not being a ghost.
 * Technically, Darwin never kissed Penny nor Sussie. It was only in Gumball's dream in the episode "The Dream."
 * The spray bottle Teri was holding disappears after the camera zooms into Darwin's lips and remains missing during the kissing scene. It then reappears after Darwin breaks the love potion's spell when Gumball shoots it with the arrow to make Teri fall in love with it.