The Origins

"The Origins" is the twentieth episode of Season 4 episode of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the 136th episode overall.

Synopsis
The story of Darwin's arrival with The Wattersons is told.

Plot
The episode starts from Nicole's point of view, being forced to deal with a hyperactive 4-year-old Gumball who does all sorts of mischievious things such as catapulting oranges, putting objects in the washing machine, breaking the ceiling and is somehow able to bring both sand and snow into the house. She goes upstairs to find Richard in a bath of grape soda. She then finds Gumball in his room, acting so cute his mother can't even stay mad at him. Tired of their son's behavior and in desperate need for sleep, the parents decide to get him a pet fish. Gumball is fascinated with his new pet and decides to call it Darwin. Despite Darwin being unable to respond to his owner, Gumball enjoys playing with him very much. However, one early morning, Darwin doesn't wake up and Nicole and Richard realize he's dead. Not wanting to upset Gumball, Richard buys a new fish to replace the dead one without telling his son that his first fish died.

After many fish end up dying because of Gumball's or Richard's irresponsibility, Richard goes to the pet store to buy yet another fish, interrupted by Larry, who said that the last two fish jumped out of the tank when they saw Richard coming. As he walks home wondering how he's going to explain this to Gumball, Richard is offered a fish by a man from a mysterious van. As Richard purchases the fish, the man tells him that this fish is very special and must be treated with good care.

The new Darwin is placed as Gumball's new pet fish. Later on, Gumball is seen playing with Darwin under the kitchen table. However, he notices that Darwin is unusually intelligent for a goldfish as he is able to understand everything he says and is able to mimic facial expressions. Out of curiosity, they both reach their hands out for each other and unknowingly establish a strong bond between them which they can feel in their hearts. Then Darwin demonstrates his ability to talk. The amazed Gumball wants to surprise his parents and tells Darwin to look as dumb as possible and to goes to tell Nicole. Richard walks into the kitchen and sees Darwin floating motionless in his bowl and thinks he's dead. Richard goes and almost flushes him down the toilet, but Gumball stops him at the last second. Nicole then decides to take a family picture. When she tells everybody to say "Cheese", Darwin jumps out of his bowl to say it. Nicole and Richard are startled by this and accidentally throw him out of the bowl. He lands on the lever and then into the toilet and gets flushed, much to Gumball's horror. A title card saying "To Be Continued..." then comes up on the screen.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Nicole
 * Richard
 * Darwin

Minor Characters

 * Darwin the First
 * Pet Fishes
 * Larry
 * Banana Bob
 * Banana Joe
 * Leslie
 * Van Shopkeeper

Trivia

 * This episode aired on the same day in the U.K. and the U.S.
 * This episode was originally going to be titled "The Roots."
 * This episode was the first in the series to be a 2-parter.
 * This episode was mentioned at the Paris Comic Con during Ben's panel.
 * The house next to The Wattersons was sold to The Robinsons before they moved at that time.
 * This episode reveals that Darwin's shoes used to belong to Gumball.
 * It also reveals that Gumball had a normal bed, instead of bunk beds.
 * This episode contradicts "The Game" where Darwin the First was originally under Gumball's bed instead of being flushed to the toilet.
 * This episode breaks the fourth wall when the camera bumps into Gumball when trying to warn him about Darwin.
 * Banana Joe was a green young banana as an infant.
 * Leslie, as an infant, was originally a flower bud before he blooms at the time.
 * It is revealed that Gumball is 4 years old in the episode.
 * All Gumball's fish (excluding the last one - current Darwin) belonged to the Ryukin species.
 * ​Running gag​: Every time a pet fish dies, Richard sings "Swing Low" six times, followed by the flushing toilet and buying a new fish from the pet store five times,

Continuity

 * The mysterious van resembles the one where Richard purchased Evil Turtle in "The Puppy."
 * Gumball's question, "If I ate myself, would I grow twice as big, or would I completely disappear," is answered in "The Procrastinators."
 * Richard's "grunge" outfit reappears in this episode and the next. It previously appeared in "The Treasure" and "The Hero."

Cultural References

 * The mysterious van shopkeeper's warnings about Darwin is a reference to the 1984 fantasy/horror film Gremlins.
 * The episode aired in Italy on February 12, which was chosen due to it being Charles Darwin's birthday.
 * This episode is similar to the Studio Ghibli movie Ponyo, in which the main character, a fish, gains magic powers and transforms into a human to find her owner, Sosuke.
 * In the episode, before Richard flushes Darwin The First down the toilet, he actually is singing lyrics from an American negro spirital, called "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."
 * The shirt with the logo that Richard is wearing is a reference to the American rock band, Nirvana.
 * The scene where Gumball makes fire cereal for his parents is a possible reference to an infamous fire cereal scene from an episode of The Simpsons "Homer the Smithers".
 * The scene where Gumball moves at super fast speed while everything around him moves super slow is similar to Clock-Up from the Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series, Kamen Rider Kabuto.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Nicole is trying to find Gumball in his room, Gumball is without shoes, but in the next scene he has shoes.
 * When Richard sees Darwin in the kitchen and thinks he is dead, his stubble disappears.