The Mirror

"The Mirror" is the twenty-third episode of Season 3 of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the ninety-ninth episode overall.

Synopsis
Against Darwin's advice, Gumball refuses to forward a scary email, bringing down a curse on the whole family.

Plot
The episode starts with Gumball bragging about Penny at the dinner table at home, much to Darwin's annoyance. Then Gumball gets an e-mail, hoping it will be Penny and he rushes upstairs. But discovers it is a chain letter from someone named The Snatcher which says if he doesn't forward that e-mail to ten people he will be cursed. First he will lose his money than his friends and then his family. Then that night, he will show his face in the mirror and with his long, cold claws he will rip his spirit away from him. Gumball then wants to delete it but Darwin tells him to forward it. Gumball doesn't listen to him and deletes it anyway.

The next day at the school bus Gumball and Darwin debate about various legendary things such as Bigfoot, horoscopes and telepathy. In the cafeteria, Gumball appears to have no money on him. Darwin asks if he lost all his money but Gumball denies it while digging into his pockets, only to pull out his underwear. Rocky then says that they can't eat the food if they can't pay. The brothers sit at the table and eat his underwear. Darwin says that it is the curse and that The Snatcher took all of his money. The skeptical Gumball asks Carrie to disprove Darwin of the Snatcher's existence. Carrie is shocked and teleports away after taking a close look at Gumball. The frightened Darwin tells Gumball that even Carrie is afraid of the curse. But Gumball says she is merely shocked by the fact that they're eating underwear. In Miss Simian's class, Gumball and Penny flirt with each other with gestures. Then Gumball whispers to Darwin to tell her a romantic compliment. Darwin passes the message to a Leslie, who passes it to Banana Joe, who then passes it to Carmen, who finally delivers the message to Penny. But the message is delivered as a statement that Penny is fat, to which the enraged Penny responds by throwing her school supplies at Gumball.

Gumball and Darwin walk home dejectedly. Gumball admits to Darwin that he was right about the curse. Gumball then hopes that they're family is still there. They then walk into the house only to find it empty. In desperation, they go to Mrs. Jötunheim for help. She agrees to make them a potion to defend them against The Snatcher's curse but says that she'll also need assistance and sends Gumball to get the required ingridients. Darwin then asks her who The Snatcher is. She tells him the story that the Snatcher was once a mortal man who fell in love with a ghost. Through the use of a forbidden book, he was able to touch her physically. However, the price for this was a cursed life. He now floats in Limbo, trapped behind mirrors. Becoming more lonely each day.

As Gumball returns with the ingridients, Mrs. Jötunheim mixes it into her cauldron and gives them a mug with a potion in it. She tells them to throw it at The Snatcher when he appears to them. Back at their house, they move in cautiously. Then they hear the door open, and Anais, Richard and Nicole come in with food. In surprise, Gumball splashes the potion on Richard's face. Seeing that their family is still there, Darwin and Gumball are relieved and are convinced that The Snatcher is not real. But then The Snatcher reveals himself when he takes Anais, Nicole and Richard with him, emerging through mirrors/mirror-like surfaces. Carrie teleports to them with the Forbidden Book to help, and says that the book has the solution to stop The Snatcher. She reveals that The Snatcher is her father. Gumball tries to escape but The Snatcher tries to take him and attacks them. They take cover behind a couch where Carrie says that they need to summon him, expose him to the first light of dawn, and then smash the forbidden book at him to break the spell.

After Darwin suggests using the Forbidden Book to defend themselves, Gumball takes the book and unwittingly sacrifices his youth to cast a spell to fast-forward to dawn. Darwin tries to make Gumball eternally beautiful but ends up losing his life. After this, Gumball sacrifices his body to resurrect Darwin. Then they head to the attic to summon The Snatcher in a big mirror there. Gumball conjures up The Snatcher, and they expose him to the dawn's light, forcing him back into the mirror. Then Carrie smashes the Forbidden Book at the mirror which frees Anais, Richard, Nicole and her dad.

Now free of the curse, Carrie's father (Vladus Lovus Lokowitchki) reunites with his daughter. He and Carrie attempt to hug with each other, but her dad (being a mortal) goes through her and falls out of the indoor, killing himself. But then this makes Carrie's father a ghost, and they at last give each other a long embrace. The rest of the Wattersons arrive, and watch Carrie's reunion with her father with happiness. Then Gumball starts bragging about his relationship with Penny, much to the chagrin of his family.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Vladus
 * Carrie

Supporting Characters

 * Anais
 * Nicole
 * Richard
 * Penny

Minor Characters

 * Mrs. Jötunheim
 * Rocky
 * Juke
 * Sarah
 * Tobias
 * 8-Bit Dog
 * Mushroom
 * Green Bear
 * William
 * Alan
 * Banana Joe
 * Idaho
 * Jamie
 * Leslie
 * Carmen
 * Teri
 * Masami
 * Anton

Trivia

 * This is the second episode that revolves around curses, the first one being "The Curse."
 * This episode aired on the same day as "The Man."
 * This episode reveals that the Snatcher is Carrie's father.
 * It is revealed that ghosts can be summoned by saying their name five times.

Continuity

 * This is the second time Carrie possesses Gumball's body, the first being "The Ghost."
 * Darwin shatters to pieces again, like he did in "The Bros."
 * The same (or similar) footage of the shopping channel from "The Laziest" is shown when Darwin switches on the TV.
 * Gumball makes the same face he made in "The Sweaters," "The Shell," and "The Burden."
 * This is the second time Penny transforms into a Medusa look-alike form; the first time was in "The Bros."
 * This is the second time Gumball's eyes turn into dots.
 * This is the second time death is shown on-screen. The first one was in "The Virus".
 * This is the second time Darwin eats himself, the first time was in "The Procrastinators."
 * This is the second time Gumball turns into an old man; the first time was in "The Job."
 * When Gumball dances around Darwin, he makes the same (or a similar) face that he did while tapping Sussie's head in "The Voice."
 * This is the third time that Gumball and Darwin are shown older. The first two were "The Gi" and "The Job."

Cultural References

 * The Wattersons being cursed by a scary email is a reference to a chain letter.
 * Carrie's book is bound in human flesh, a reference to the Necronomicon.
 * The Snatcher manifesting through the TV set is a reference to Samara from the film The Ring.
 * Gumball's wizard outfit resembles that of Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Rings.

Goofs/Errors

 * Tobias' walking animation is recycled from Season 1 in the lunch room.
 * In one scene, on the bus, Penny is seen with her shell on.
 * When Richard gets released from the curse, his whiskers are missing.
 * Mic Graves was responsible for writing this episode according to the script, but the production team forgot to credit him. This marks as the second time this error happened since "Halloween."
 * When Nicole first appears as she, Anais, and Richard say "Fried chicken day!", if you look closely, her whiskers are labeled incorrectly for a split second.
 * When Vladus hugs Carrie, he has four eyelids instead of two.