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The Introduction

Hello! For the six that care, yes, I have yet another article to throw into the stack.

So, a little over a year ago, I wrote a piece criticizing Gumball for its seeming inability to commit to major shakeups it wants to impose on the status quo. When I originally wrote it, the show was approximately half a year away from its end and had fourteen episodes left at its disposal. At the time of this writing, the show has been over for a few months now, with all 240 episodes open to the public. In light of this, I had some time to reflect on some of my thoughts, and given that my piece did subtly suggest they are open to change with that last batch of episodes, I thought it would be appropriate to write an addendum with said batch in mind. After all, the nature of this opinion requires a holistic look at the entire series; why not?

I should warn that this piece is going to be fairly critical. This does not come from a place of contempt or disrespect, but rather of genuine admiration for what Mr. Bocquelet and his team have done. I have a lot of respect for Gumball as a show, and I genuinely believe that the show is a true gem for which everybody on staff should be proud. I do not claim to know better than any of the writers, nor do I want to mindlessly bash the series. I enjoy discussing various facets of this cartoon quite a bit, and my critical eye is only really born from that legitimate enjoyment. I just wanted to clarify that in case it comes across as if I have a fight to pick with the staff; nothing but respect here!

Unlike a lot of the other things I have written for this blog, this piece is not self-contained and operates under the impression that you read my original essay. The link can be found here if that is not the case and you are interested. I will probably summarize my thoughts from that piece as needed, but you are best off having seen that if you have not and want to read this.

One last thing: this is fairly lengthy. If you are not prepared to sit down for a bit, I understand, and I recommend you turn away and find something else to do. Thank you for still giving me part of your time, however.

That should take care of all the introductory stuff. Let us begin.





The Analysis

The Amazing World of Gumball is great at a lot of things. Commitment is not one of them. It is alright at best at it, and disappointingly poor at worst.

Yeah, yeah, it is a comedy show where a continuous storyline is second to being hilarious, but when it signed up to do these huge episodes that challenged the status quo, it also signed up for following through with them. This is not a case of misplaced expectations; the show brought this onto itself. I already discussed the main counterarguments in the previous post, so I imagine we are all on the same page here.

The Penny, Carwin, and Rob storylines have been the three big poster children of this issue. All of them, in some shape or form, have been victims to the show’s flaky attitude towards grandiose subversions of the status quo. With the show now supposedly over, the effects of this mentality are unfortunately now more apparent than ever.

The Penny Problem: Progressively Puny Pickings

I previously established that the show’s tapering off with Penny has been unsatisfactory. Episodes such as “The Bros” and “The Burden” were appreciated in their strive to really bring meaning to the changes “The Shell” brought, but the show soon neglected the character for the most part and ignored a lot of the implications that came with an episode as striking as “The Shell.” The last batch of episodes has unfortunately accomplished little to really shift this perspective, and time has really only left me more jaded towards this aspect of the show.

“The Transformation” in particular is something I have come to view more harshly. Do not misunderstand me, I still think in isolation it is a pretty effortful episode, but given its subject matter (a debate about the Fitzgeralds’ shells), looking at it in isolation really is not looking at the full picture. I already mentioned that it feels oddly paced and not properly built up, but the episode’s actual content and how it connects to the rest of the series is pretty off. The reason Penny being out of her shell was such a cause for concern in the first place was because of how her shapeshifting abilities were linked to her emotional state and how the fragility that came with her insecurities made her dangerous. This crucial plot point gets absolutely zero mention in “The Transformation.” There was a chance to finally expand on “The Shell” and its aftermath once more, but even in an episode that sold itself for that purpose, such was still neglected. Even the few episodes she gets this late in the show’s run are not doing the greatest job at suggesting “The Shell” or the character shifts that happened with it matter.

“The Mess” is a really fun episode I like a lot; it is definitely one of Season 6’s most memorable entries, and I could talk about its unique plot structure or creative and fun scenarios. This is an episode I would prefer to lavishly praise rather than put down, but given it is Penny’s final major role in the series, it would be remiss of me to not at least allude to it here. While the episode itself is actually pretty great and deserves any credit it can get, there is a certain glumness to how the last real glimpse of Gumball and Penny’s relationship is Penny yelling in an enraged fit for another bout of Gumball’s incompetency. There has not been an episode really dedicated to giving an actual look at their relationship and dynamic since Season 4’s “The Romantic.” This thought does not really cross my mind whenever I am watching “The Mess,” because again, it is loads of fun, but it does speak for the state of Penny’s place in the show.

To end this section, I would like to highlight some numbers. There was a total of 144 episodes between “The Shell” and “The Inquisition.” Out of those 144, only four made an actual attempt to do anything meaningful with Penny as a character or her relationship with Gumball (“The Burden,” “The Bros,” “The Romantic, “The Transformation”). Less than 3% for somebody who is the protagonist’s girlfriend. I do not want the show to become the Gumball and Penny show or for the relationships to get as overbearing as they did in Star vs. the Forces of Evil. (That is another problem all on its own.) The creative and experimental core of the show is something I do not wish to sacrifice, but if the show really wanted to go through with “The Shell,” would it have really hurt it that much for there to be at least two to three episodes a season doing something meaningful? Eight to twelve episodes in total. Less than 9%. Numbers are not everything, I know, but when they are this low, something might be wrong.

(Not completely related, but to end things here on an optimistic note, I do like seeing Penny in smaller roles like “The Love,” “The Blame,” and “The Petals.” Whether or not they are sufficient in number is not really the point here, but they are often the nicest interactions between Gumball and Penny).













The Carwin Complications Continue to Confound

In my previous article, I stated that the show’s lack of a drive to do anything of substance with Darwin and Carrie as a couple was disappointing and really confusing given the circumstances of how the pairing came to be. No episodes have come out to challenge that perspective since, and time has only amplified the bewilderment of the whole situation.

I discussed how the sudden reintroduction of any romantic chemistry between Darwin and Carrie in “The Scam” only to be immediately followed by “The Matchmaker” suggested that there was almost an eagerness to the staff with the pairing and that they had ambitious ideas for them. I want to append to that thought. Technically speaking, suddenly bringing back a romantic element like that after years of dormancy and coupling them together the next time it is mentioned is questionable in regards to pacing. Nothing crazy, but one or two episodes between “The Scam” and “The Matchmaker” would have gone a long way.

However, as I mentioned before, there is a certain eagerness to the sporadic nature of how everything occurred and had anything fruitful come out of Darwin and Carrie as a couple, I quite frankly would have overlooked this issue and probably not even have cared. It creates this weird double thought situation in that yes, the pacing of the get together is wonky, but no, I would not have cared had said get-together actually meant something. Ideas to justify enthusiasm.

This only makes the neglect of the couple following “The Matchmaker” and the eventual “The Drama” look worse in hindsight. All this excitement for naught.

On the topic of “The Drama,” there is something frustrating about an episode that feels the only way to make Darwin and Carrie as a couple interesting is to introduce an arbitrary ex-boyfriend character never before mentioned and to actively change elements of Carrie’s backstory as established in “Halloween” and “The Mirror” just to ensure this arbitrary ex-boyfriend can exist in the first place. Gumball is an absolute riot in “The Drama,” and his hamminess injects a level of fun to the episode, but it does little to change the fact the episode really only hammers how pointless it was to go through the theatrics of getting Darwin and Carrie together as a couple.

It is not as if there is a shortage of ideas for episodes, either. Darwin is somebody who has a fear of being left alone. Carrie is somebody who has known only solitude for a lot of her life. What does this do for their relationship? In general, how does their relationship affect the dynamic Darwin shares with his brother? How does Vlad feel about the whole ordeal given his past? That right there is enough for two episodes at least.

68 is the magical number here. 68 episodes between “The Matchmaker” and “The Inquisition.” Only one actually touched upon Darwin and Carrie as a couple, and even then it is debatable as to how well it did that. If the show does not want to be bogged down by messing around with Darwin’s relationships or being serialized, that is fine given it is a comedy cartoon, but if that is what it wanted, why did it bother with the whole thing in the first place?

Two to three episodes actually showing what Darwin and Carrie contribute as a couple to the show as a couple between “The Matchmaker” and “The Inquisition” is all it would have taken. Less than 5% here.

(I guess to end this section on a more optimistic note here, “The Matchmaker” is still one of the strongest episodes to come out of Season 5, even if what it did set up ultimately faltered in the end. A really great episode in regards to Carrie’s character.)

The Nemesis Neglect is Negated Noticeably

Whereas the Penny and Carwin storylines ultimately proved to be pretty frustrating in the end, I found that the fourteen episodes since I last wrote about this core issue have been fairly kind to Rob as a character and have actually improved my opinion on his arc. It is not perfect, but both “The Future” and “The Inquisition” did a lot in restoring a character who had a serious fall from grace since “The Ex.”

The previous article touched on how the show seemed to be at a loss for what to do with Rob after “The Disaster” and “The Rerun.” “The Ex” ultimately proved to be a farce of what the show had built up with the character up to that point, and “The Spinoffs,” while one of the highlights of Season 6 for just how good it was, seemed complacent with the direction “The Ex” set up for him. “The Future” then comes in and places him back on course. He is back with a purpose; the show repurposes him as a cryptic anti-villain who in the end was actually preparing for something greater than himself. He is not after arbitrary characters for the sake of comic fodder; he has a genuine motive and it feels as if there has been some actual progression since “The Disaster” and “The Rerun.”

“The Inquisition” further doubles down on his anti-villain role. Disguised as Superintendent Evil, Rob has a clear vision in mind when he practically takes over the school and forces everybody to become live-action human beings. The episode is a little divisive, but as a final role for Rob, it makes for a pretty solid sendoff. It feels as if everything has come together for the character; the person who was once angry and bitter towards the world for the unjust way he has been treated learned to grow past it through the kindness and empathy he has been shown, and he ultimately steps up as its savior, even if it is a fruitless effort in the end. Even if going against the Void is a losing battle, he just wants to do what he can and prevent the others from suffering the fate he did. Everything comes full circle, and it feels as if his arc meant something.



Now, could there have been some episodes between “The Future” and “The Inquisition” that maybe clarifies some things about how he learned about the inevitable fate of Elmore or how he came up with the idea of making everybody live-action humans? Of course. The arc had its pacing issues in that last chunk. However, despite the setbacks that may have come to his arc due to “The Ex” and “The Spinoffs,” “The Future quickly invalidated their existences, and it was an arc that ultimately constituted for something meaningful.

I think this is a pretty optimistic note to end the piece on. A flawed but ultimately satisfactory arc.





The Conclusion

Gumball is a comedy show first and foremost. That much is true. At the end of the day, continuous storylines are second to being a strong comedic piece. Furthermore, the show values its ability to be experimental, weird, and jump around with its storylines. I take no issue with that.

However, the show chose to introduce these grandiose storylines, and it should be held accountable for them. “Only start what you can finish,” as they say.

If the show never wanted to deal with the baggage that the Penny and Carwin storylines brought onto it, then it should have never introduced them in the first place. If it did not want to work to salvage what it could from the tainted Rob storyline, it should have never introduced it in the first place. If it wanted to be continuity-free and not be held for its inability to commit, it should have never introduced these storylines in the first place.

Like I said last year, all I wanted was the show to finish what it started.

The Closing Notes

So, what did you think? Agree? Disagree? Think I'm completely off-base? Please, let me know in the comments. I'll most likely be more than happy to talk!

If you stuck through and read the whole thing, thank you! It means a lot that you checked out this corner of the internet and listened to what this random nobody had to say!

I would like to thank both my younger sister and fellow Gumball writer Mattalamode (whose website can be seen here; he's officially endorsed by Mr. Bocquelet himself) for reading over this before publication. (I should probably clarify that my sister and Matt are not the same person even though it would be an amazing plot twist)

I guess if you actually care, I'll go ahead and say that I do have an article on Tobias and how he's a great character I want to do before the year ends. I'm not making any promises, but hopefully, I do follow through with it.

For the five of you that care, last week marked three years of me writing articles for this show on this website! I missed the anniversary this time, but what can you do? Life calls.

[Insert tired joke about a Nicole article]

Anyways, that's all I have for now! Take care! :)