For those who read my previous blog post, you will know last month I provided wrong opinions about the best Season 4 episodes. Well, once again, I have taken some time to prepare this post to articulate on my favorite Season 3 episodes. If you haven't read my other blog post, I recommend reading this whenever you can. I also worked on it. Anyways, please do read (I spent 7 hours on this). It should also be noted that most of these aren't in a specific order because I'm indecisive.



SPOILER AHEAD!

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Honorable Mentions

Like my previous blog post (are you noticing a pattern yet?), this section is dedicated to episodes I still loved and found memorable, but I lost the willpower to write full-length sections ("The Recipe" and "The Oracle" would have made it had I not been so lazy).

"The Man" was an enjoyable experience that managed to give more insight into Ricahrd's childhood, which was first hinted at in "The Authority". The episode reveals that Richard's father got his "milk" from Granny Jojo, and then left for more. We also see Louie as fully-fledged character with a personality, and he is pretty entertaining. The children play off of eachother well again, and it's just a good episode.

"The Friend" is a very cute episode. This episode stars Anais and her new "imaginary" friend; the story is a very sweet one, and the climax in particular is very reminiscent of Home Alone. Seeing the children set up all the traps and all the chaos that ensues from them is entertaining, and the parents' reaction to the new friend is also funny. The ending is another one filled with emotion. Another fine episode.

Another fine episode. Once again, viewers are given another episode focusing on the dynamic between the Watterson siblings, and it's quite funny. From Gumball's paranoia, to Darwin's irrational fear, to Anais's stubborness. It's all entertaining; the jokes the crew tells with Gumball's paranoia especially entertaining. Anais getting scarred by the movie was also amazing.

This episode took a risk that I believe was worth it. "The Downer" stars a mentally deteriorating Gumball, and Gumball can suprisingly work off himself for 11 minutes. His song is amazing, Gumball's cooking segement is just perfect, and the battle between him and "the darkness" was well-done.





Gumball's take on finding "the meaning of life" is one of value. From start to finish, the episode takes on this serious question with lots of comedy and jokes that really emphasize the personalities oozing in Elmore. The two songs, Eat or Be Eaten and Your Life Doesn't Count are very catchy and morbidly funny. Sussie's legitmate answer to the question is one that really inspires and puts a new light on everyone's favorite fat idiot. A fine episode overall.





A fine episode; getting more insight on Carrie's backstory was quite the treat, and the climax involving the misuse of Carrie's spells was amazing. Seeing Mrs. Jötunheim, although breifly, was still a funny part of the episode. The part where Gumball was laughing at Darwin for having a different set of beliefs had me dead. There was a missed oppurtunity for a "Darwin/Carrie" moment, but this is still a really good episode.

Principal Brown is the star of this one, and he is a down-right hillarious one. All his antics to stop the Watterson brothers from exposing his fake diploma are so ridculous and hammy. Gumball and Darwin are also entertaining in their roles as staright man. Those last 3 minutes make for some quality entertainment as well.

"The Countdown" is one of the more experimental episodes of The Amazing World of Gumball, and it's an experiment that pays off well. What starts out as a simple "get to school on time" plot evolves into a time-traveling story, complete with time paradoxes and alternative timelines.

Gumball and Darwin have a relativley simple goal in mind: make it to school on time before Ms. Simian blows a fuse. However, it's the journey that counts! Throughout this episode, the Watterson brothers manage to interact with the show's fourth wall, freeze time, and even mess with a crucial stage of the evolution of humans (humanoids in this case?).

One of my personal favorite segments was the one involvinng the public bus; I have rode on such a bus a few times, and let me just say, the scene is definatley relatable. The segment involving time freezing and the shennaigains of the Watterson brothers was also enjoyable. I also liked the little callback to Captain Punch from "The Colossus". Messing with monkeys and their evolution was also pretty great. Overall, this episode is a very solid episode that not only pushes the creative boundaries, but also tells some clever jokes.





















This episode was the show's second attempt at a Christmas special, and it's a very intresting one to say the least. As opposed to showing all the hype and joy that comes with the Christmas season, this episode instead goes for a different route: showing all the sadness and withdrawl that comes with the aftermath of the holiday, and how to cope with such sadness. "The Lie" focuses on Gumball and Anais inventing a new holiday, Sluzze Tag, to cope with this newfound sadness.

Not only does the episode provides lots of jokes poking fun of tropes sterotypical in Christmas specials (with "Grinch" Ms. Simian being my favorite), but it also sheds more light ont he dynamic between Gumball and Anais. It was nice to see them working together during the climax, and seeing them just interacting in general with each other was also sweet.

From all the rhyming, to the "Christmasy" narrator (done by Sir Derek Jacobi), to the general joyous attitude in this episode, "The Lie" is a funny episode with a nice heart to it, and is definitley worthy of being one of the few episdoes Cartoon Network deems as "Christmas" special.









Now, I'm no horror-movie fan, but I even I have to appreciate the effort that went in to making this episode an amazing homage to the genre. "The Joy" is an episode that manages to turn an honestly disturbing concept into something hillariously adorable, and that deserves some serious compliments.

In addition to being a weird combination of cute and disturbing, this episode also marks Ms. Simian's first time as a protagonist, and she is a hillarious one. Her cartoonish desire to make everybody miserable as well as how far stuck up she is in her own beliefs makes her entertaining to watch.

Also, watching the students themselves devolve into mindless zombies made for some entertaining jokes, with Anais's jumpscare and Tina's stubby arms being my favorites. Tobias getting snubbed by all the girls because of his rainbow color scheme was also pretty godly.

To conclude, this is another episode that proves the writers know their stuff when it comes to making proper parody.









"The Safety" is another one of those experiemental episodes that sets up for something different from the norm and does that thing well. A scarring safety video motivates Darwin to protect everyone he loves, which eventaully leads to him taking over Elmore and making a police-state, with him as dictator.

"The Safety" tackles the debate of "when is there too much safety", and it manages to add plenty of humour to it. Darwin being able to take over the town because of his "cuteness" had me out for a while, and both the gags about Gumball having his crotch removed and being "censored" were executed well In addition, there was also a Looney Toons joke that brought a chuckle, and the first minute of the episode was just perfect.

This is another episode that shows the Watterson family interacting, and as usual, they are a lovable bunch who have their personalites excuted well, espically during the segment in which the other four Wattersons are trying to take down Darwin.

"The Safety" was one of the funnier episodes of the season, and arguably one of the funnier episodes in the whole series, and it's not hard to see why.

Now, personally, I think Jacob and Terrell Jr. are the best Gumball and Darwin, respectivley, but thst's besides the point. This episode was a way to welcome the new guys to their roles and say goodbye to the old ones, Logan and Kwesi, and it's quite the episode.

The episode itself is another one dedicated to exploring Gumball's fourth wall, specifically the concept of the floating timeline, a tatic employed in media that basically keeps characters from ever aging (seen in Animal Crossing, The Simpsons, and Bob's Burgers). The jokes the crew tells with this concept hits all the right notes for me.

Gumball and Darwin are experiencing "puberty" in this episode, so the crew decides to have lots of fun with the concept, specfically the idea of "cracking voices". The Watterson brothers' voices practically becoming sound mixers is just one of the greatest things this show has done.

The most memorable part of the episode, the rap, Make the Most of It!, is arguably one of the most memorable sequences in the entire show. It's Logan's and Kwesi's final performance, and it's an amazing one at that! You can tell in their voices that they're really having fun with the song, and the visuals that go with the song further cement this in the head.

"The Kids" is a memorable and funny episode, and an especially sweet one from a meta-sense (what other show would give its voice actors such respect?).

As of the time of this writing, I can assure that no other episode of Gumball has made me laugh harder than this. For me, "The Law", is the funniest episode. Mainly for one scene, but this episode has tons of jokes scattered throughout that are also pretty comedic.

"The Law" gives the officer some of the spotlight, and he is a riot. His psychotic and criminal rampage around Elmore is a riot, especially considering he's only doing it to prove to two middle schoolers he's still cool. The jokes they also tell with the officer's taser and how he misuses are also great.

However, the best part of the episode is Ms. Parham's ironic and pyschotic rampage around Elmore in an ice cream truck; upon my first viewing, those last three minutes had me dead because of how much I was laughing. The combination of her moral standings and just how unpredictable her actions were make that scene one of the funniest scenes in the entire show.

If you want a luagh, you'll prbably garner some enjoyment out of this one.





"The Name" is a great episode, and it's one that gives Gumball some development. Gumball's legal name being Zach is not the important part (considering that's reverted by the end of the episode), but the battle between Gumball's two personalites, Gumball and Zach, is what makes this episode great.

This episode makes use of the series's continuity, and it's used well. Throughout the climax of the episode, references to episodes from both the first and the second season are used to tell some amazing jokes and advance the story. These episodes are also used to show how far Gumball has come. Sure, he's still a loser, but he's become much wiser from his Season 1 days and kinder from his Season 2 days.

Once again, this episode makes full use of the Watterson family members; Anais and Darwin play off of Gumball well, Nicole is still as awesome as ever, and Richard as a man-mom is pretty funny. Heck, we even get to see a tiny bit of Evil Turtle.

Zach himself is also humerous; he's very much a shadow to Gumball, but with Gumball's kindness and sarcastic wit removed, and his already inflated ego even more inflated.

Did I mention the "POWER OF BUTTON MASHING"?

"The Void" is a new take on the "retcon" and another unique way in which this show deconstruct its fourth wall. Not only did it bring back the ever so lovable Molly, but it also raised some intresting questions about how this world exactly functions.

Now, this episode serves to give an in-universe explanation for why Molly vanished for an entire season. Not only does this episode reveal that the universe itself is sentient, but it also reveals that the universe is much like a troubled writer discarding poor ideas as seen fit.

The jokes this episode manages to crack are also quite decent. Mr. Small's hippie-like antics are funny as per usual, and all the hidden easter eggs found in the void dimenssion itself, such as the Titanic, Crazy Frog, Clippy, and even nods to the show's past such as Rob, early concept art, and How to Ratatwang Your Panda are also quite humerous and neat.

The mystery itself is done very well; upon my first watching back in 2014, I had no idea what to expect, and this episode gave a satisfying conclusion to a well-built up mystery. This episode also leads into a captivating story for character. Overall, this episode shows that Gumball is capable of surreal mysteries and quality fourth-wall breaks, and is worth a watch.





Now this is a truly wonderful episode; not only is the plot itself great on its own, but the masterful climax only enhances this already great episode. Once again, "The Money" is another episode that utilizes the fourth wall and utilizes it well.

The Wattersons are no strangers to financal difficulties, as seen in "The Treasure" and "The Choices"; however, this episode has the Wattersons reach a new financal low thanks to Richard's idiocy. Larry offers a quick way out with a degrading Joyful Burger commercial. From there, the episode becomes a story tackling a good theme: integrity vs. finances. Which is more important? Gumball is fairly optimistic in this episode, and believes that his family needs to keep their dignity in check. However, when times continue to get rougher, the Wattersons find the idea of selling out that much more enticing.

The other thing that makes the episode so great is the animation, or the de-animation to be more specific. Once the family has absolutley no money to their name, the show itself starts to fall apart. The audio quality decreases, the animation quality drops, and eventaully the processes of the show's production starts to reverse. It's very akin to that one scene in Chowder, except it's now taken to a new distrubing extreme.

Some of the other jokes sprinkled throughout are good as well, such as Nicole's rage, the song, and the commercial itself. A solid episode all throughout.





















Now, "The Shell" is something; it's one of the most beautiful episodes in this series to date, and is one of the best (if not, the best) episodes in Season 3, in my opinion, of course.

This entire episode is an allusioun to the works of Miyazaki, and it shows in the animation and the general atmosphere of the episode. From the way Penny flies in the air, to the music, there is certain "feeling" to this episode that just can't be found in other episodes.

"The Shell" was also the episode Penny really got to shine; for the first time, this episode gaves viewers a peak into her shell, a no, she wasn't one of those ugly deer designs you saw all over the net. Instead, the crew gave fans a unique creature capable of shape-shifting powers via her emotions.

Penny's ability to change form based on her emotional state proves to be a problem; "The Shell" reveals that Penny is auctully really insecure, and she simply never showed it prior because she was hiding behind the shell. Gumball also gets a boost in character development; he too sheds his shell of typical cowadly tendecies and laziness to help Penny overcome her insecurities and see the beauty in herself; calling out Mr. Fitzgerald is a true a god-tier scene.

The jokes here also pretty great; the Watterson family "fangirling" over Gumball's and Penny's dilema and calling out all the tropes is funny. The hammy play at the beginning was hillarious, and Banana Joe. That is all.

Once again, I thank you for taking out your time to read this blog post. Please, all comments are appreciated, whether you agree or disagree. I do enjoy having discussion about the show.

Thank you.