I know we're all very dissapointed about the way TAWOG ended and some of you might be trying to forget about it, maybe you've already moved on, but I still want to talk about it to try and help us all cheer up about it nonetheless, if people can still bare to.
Let's look at the evidence we have, I'm sure us die hard fans who have followed the show through throroughly will know that Ben Boquelet didn't intend to leave us on a cliff hanger as he has said so himself on Twitter, the show was his crreation, yet somehow he was over powered, there's some real corruption for us right there, or maybe maybe this cliff hanger is just a metaphor for said corruption, which would imply that really it is in control, that's a theory I've just thought of as I write this here. But bottom line, it's Bens creation, a bad ending was never meant to have been, we know that much.
As we also know, there had been mentions of a "possible" movie in the past, key word, possible, that was mostly spoken about over a year ago. Since the final episode broadcasted, Ben has also said "if we do do the movie, it will end in a pretty cool way". Key word "if". So all we really have for evidence is hints. What I don't believe exists yet is anybody saying "no" to the movie going ahead one day. People on YouTube have been talking about this, giving some really heartening things to think about, like that they're not confirming anything yet because they're not obliged to, they're saving up some surprises. Yet they may want to keep our interests and for us to believe the show will end in a big way.
People may also think that if there were to be a movie, it would be confirmed by now, well, look at Ed, Edd n' Eddy's Big Picture Show, that didn't come out until over a year since the last episode came out. I hope all of this together makes sense for why we shouldn't give up yet.
What show are we really trying to salvage for a good, or at least better ending?[]
My top 5 worst and best episodes blogs told the story of what I went through watching the show, really being affected by a lot of bad episodes, really, bad episodes like 'The Curse' are most often plot hole spawn, so, Gumball used up all his luck setting the table and it showed that Gumball was carrying all the plates and Darwin, only a flower. Darwin wouldn't be this unhelpful, it's just out of character, Darwin would carry the other half, and when Gumball slipped on the rollerskate, that half would be shattered, regardless of whether the rest of it set by magic or not, that contradicts the luckiness, so no drastic amount of luck would be used up. At least, that's good enough for me.
But this all matters because it's our escapism, good TV shows in general that is, and TAWOG is a show that really has something speical in terms of good episodes, so it's a shame to have to have so many negative points of view to it.
People have often said that Season 1 "didn't know what it was doing", that's a bit harsh, it's mainly a case of holding back being the first season. The main problem people have spoken about is the level of dumbness, case and point, 'The Goons', an episode all about pride in dumbness, it being a compliment. I have said before that people should judge based on what happens following the dumbness, sometimes it's heroic acts, like in 'The Spoon', that's a brilliant episode. In addition, perhaps I'm wrong but I think maybe these people, be it you or not, have just been taking the dumbness too seriously, in TV shows, dumbness should be percieved as funny, we don't complain about Homer Simpson, maybe that was the point of 'The Goons' and why dumbness is a good thing in cartoon worlds even if not in real life...
I will be mentioning some more badly recieved episodes along the way.
My Season 4 Top 5 Best[]
This actually starts at season 6, where some great episodes did something allowing me to see for sure that previous bad episodes are pure plot hole spawn and nothing to worry about, namingly, 'The Transformation' and 'The Intelligence'. The latter specifically about the character of The Internet, the harm he would cause, but he is controllable regardless, even as a sentient being. He appears in the first skit of 'The Love' which put me off a bit, reminding me of the episode 'The Internet' and the bleak way it made the world of Elmore appear. Since I saw 'The Intelligence', the problem and my perspective of it was fixed. With that, I can no longer think of 'The Love' any less than I do my other most favourites, 'The Love' is now fully recognised as my #2 Best.
Previously, my #5 Best was 'The Pest', but that still stands, it's high points, like its moral, that nobody has everything, and Billy, being really funny and becoming Gumballs new friend, they're enough to make it #2 Best second only to 'The Bus', but it's at #5 Best because those things don't come into play until quite late in, that sets it back, but the above points keep in the top 5. So it's my previous #4 Best, 'The Points', is the one that is actually pushed off of the list. So my top 5 Best season 4 episodes now looks like this:
- 5 Best: The Pest
- 4 Best: The Disaster
- 3 Best: The Signature
- 2 Best: The Love
- 1 Best: The Bus
For what I would say about 'The Love'; I think the title says it all, in the time of the show where Gumball is being badly depicted, it opens with him wanting to help Bobert understand love, everybody coming together singing about love, and that warm feeling holds up over all the skits. The only skit that wasn't really good was Sussies parents' one, which was a bit disgusting, but apart from that, theyre all either funny, all in their own ways, like the Robinsons one, or sweet.
Not well recieved episodes which I liked regardless and why[]
Case and point, 'The Ex', I have this in my honourable mentions for my season 5 best episodes, I explained why I liked it, but this doesn't cover why the problems other people have had with it don't affect me.
So, it appears that Gumball is going so far out of his way to get Rob to hate him again while ignoring Penny. The fact is, everybody needs a nemisis, it gave Gumballs life action and adventure, so of course he wants him to be his nemesis again, and Rob was the best part off the best part of the show, post 'The Shell', so I know I'd want more of such, at least when the show was still running. Phantom Strider described the episode as "Gumball terrorising an innocent person", and by that he meant attempting murderer...
I think most others you can just dismiss as long as the don't affect how you see the series. Like 'The Society', it opens with Gumball apparently failing at being an actor, despite that he is very good at it in 'The Shell', and this episode very clearly has more power, shifting the status quo and all.
There are also some episodes I realised the point of some time after as well though, like 'The Spoiler', that it's really just poking fun at a real life modern day problem, it still comes off as unpleasent to me, but that doesn't mean I don't understand it now.
To summarise[]
Writing this now, it seems much smaller than when I initially planned it, which was quite a long time ago, of course, Gumball is a show which has something unique and different to say about every episode as I brought out in my previous blog posts. By the end of the show though, I had learnt to just role with it and not look too deeply in to it, I saw it so positively from the beginning, things in it like Gumball as a character really satisfied me, things may come to contradict that sometimes but it doesn't have to really mean anything, it's bound to anyway with all the different things this show did. Season 6 displeased me a lot but by then I didn't really care since this happens a lot to shows that run a long time, I was just easgerly waiting to see how it would end.
So all of this, I think, is why it's such a shame it ended the way it did. I think the trouble is that there were 2 different great ideas that 12 minutes wasn't enough time for them to be squeezed in together. Said 2 being, the superintendents view that such cartoonish character traits is unnacceptable behaviour for a school, the other being their cartoonish world in threat and the mystery and that now Rob is trying to save everybody. This is also why they need a movie, because there is so much this show has done that should, or at least could, be wrapped up.
Maybe the evidence I stated at the beginning is enough for you, maybe it isn't, but I don't think there is any point in worrying that this might be it and there might never be a movie, not yet anyway.
Possible further countdowns[]
People might not still be interested but I'm thinking, why should countdowns end here? The show may not be over quite yet so the fun doesn't need to stop here. Like I said, we should cheer ourselves up about the situation and we could do so with so more countdowns.
I want to know that at least someone is interested and if so, what in, so you may have to give me some sign, so countdowns that may be coming:
- Top 10 best episodes for Gumball and Penny interractions (Posters favourite)
- Top 5 worst and bet episodes about Richards incompetencies and character flaws, so a bad one would be 'The Laziest', a good one would be 'The Job'.
- Worst to best skit package episodes.
- The Highs and lows of episodes about the Wattersons financial situations
Is there also any other episode you think is worth mentioning here in the meantime? Do let me know if so please.