User blog:Mattalamode/A Second Opinion: The Parking / The Vase

Introduction
I've never tackled two episodes at the same time, but in the spirit of trying new things to maintain my own interest in what I'm writing, let's see what happens.

I decided to bunch together "The Parking" and "The Vase" for one main reason: central to both is the idea of heightening some mundane activity to an insane degree. It's classic cartoon fodder, and certainly not a new idea, but Gumball is the kind of show that's able to re-invigorate it and push it to victory. In exploring this general concept, however, both episodes take different directions, so we can look at how the two differentiate themselves and find success by their own virtue.

First of all, "The Parking."

"The Parking"
"The Parking" is an episode that doesn't try to be revolutionary by any means; if anything, the episode embraces the structure set by years of predecessors. It's all an endless game of trying to get into a parking spot - there's no legitimate climax to the madness beyond an increasing rapidity with which the gags are delivered (and, I suppose, the anticlimactic showdown at the end), but it doesn't need some fancy structure. It's just a cavalcade of comedic eye candy.



At the same time, though, it works to display the Wattersons' family dynamic exceptionally well, but more importantly, the episode shows their principal traits as simultaneously their Achilles heel: disregarding them at full force, nothing short of luck will land them a parking spot. No, Anais can't analyze the situation to her advantage, neither can Darwin's optimism prevail nor Richard show any legitimate ingenuity - with every attempt comes an inevitable failure, and as that frustration piles up, the episode grows more and more intense.

Even outside of the heightening, every little beat of the episode gave the characters proper room to shine. Arguably me favorite moment, for instance, is when Nicole angrily defaces a car with lipstick or stealing their spot, only to launch an unconvincing cover-up - selling it as a thoughtful commentary on diversity - when she realizes that she was in the wrong. It helps demonstrate what's so great about Nicole's character: though quick to act immoral, she almost always tries to sell herself as the better person regardless to be a good role model to her kids (which, generally speaking, she can't inherently be). That's not to forget Gumball's enjoyably failed effort to secure a spot that ultimately ends in him impaling a poor toll gate operator to near-death. I'm always impressed with how dark the show is able to get with its humor without coming across as too forced - every grim sprinkle always feels firmly rooted in the show, never excessive and unnecessary. Certainly, the scene has no value in context towards the rest of the episode, but it doesn't feel stuck-on either, which is impressive to say the least. It's something that other shows struggle with so frequently, but Gumball makes it look like a freaking cakewalk.

Take that dark sense of humor, multiply it a ton, and we have "The Vase."

"The Vase"
While both episodes offer up a montage of sorts, running through as many ideas as possible, "The Vase" takes a different approach in creating a story with a discernible start, middle, and end. "The Parking" is essentially just a non-stop, endless nightmare, but this episode, on the other hand, provides ample room for more pronounced escalation to the point of actually having an extended climax.

Admittedly, I don't feel like the climax was the most enjoyable aspect of the episode (if anything, it feels like it exists out of the obligation for it, though by no means is it tacked-on), but it certainly helps the episode heighten above the fear of reaching some sort of lull. At the very least, the episode was able to recognize that it had to elevate itself - as delightful as the failed vase-smashing attempts were, there's not as much material to work with as trying to find somewhere to park.

There are two reasons I think that "The Vase" was so successful beyond the whole "heightening mundanity" approach. First of all, it paints Nicole at her most deviously delightful to date. There's not even some sort of internal conflict between trying to act as a role model while acting out her inhibitions (as we just discussed in "The Parking") - the vase is so horrendous that Nicole can't pretend to be a better person for a second. Sure, she warns not to break the vase, but there's not even the slightest bit of effort to reinforce that idea, with her blatantly hinting at approval of its destruction (even reenacting it a la pantomiming). Sure, she's acted more transgressively in, say, "The Limit," but never in such an enjoyable spectacle as here - it's all very playful and lighthearted for once, which is a nice change for Nicole.

There's also the fact that "The Vase," in a shocking turn of events, ended up being arguably the darkest episode to date. I get that there's plenty to be said of "The Disaster" and "The Rerun," but those episodes use grim themes in a dramatic fashion, whereas "The Vase" is solely driven by humor, and at its most macabre, no less. It's not like the darkness is integral to the episode, either; it's all smartly deployed with admirable precision to up the ante at the greatest possible extremes, and most importantly, it all creeps in at the most unexpected times. That the writers could take even the most innocuous event - asking Richard to hold the vase, hoping he would drop it (he doesn't) - and instantly spin it into something so twisted - Gumball comments on how Richard couldn't have managed such a task when he was a baby - is a testament to how perfect the show can be. If anything, I'd like to hope that "The Vase" was a testing ground for that style of humor and that we'll see it grow and develop more overtime, because it's a refreshing change of pace.

Dual Analysis


The greatest success of both episodes is, again, that they can take such a mundane activity and transform it into an action-packed adventure. They take something as mindless as finding a parking spot or something as simple as breaking a vase and push towards Sisyphean extremes. There's an exciting sense of not knowing what could happen next in spite of their straightforward, predictable premises - the writers are aware that we know where the joke is heading, and the effort is thus shifted towards the art of crafting the joke itself. (See also: "Brain Surgeon," and no, I will not shut up about it.)

We know that the revelation of the Wattersons finding a parking spot will all be a mirage, just as we know that the vase will never be broken in spite of every possible effort, but the exciting thing is how the episode adds with creative, intelligent twists and turns. It's not a comedy of errors - it's being trapped in a single, mind-numbing situation for near-eternity, leaving the writers plenty of time to explore their premises to their fullest extents.

Next week we'll be looking at "The Oracle" and the show's struggle with figuring out naked humor, so, uh, that'll be interesting. Until then, I suppose.