The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Code

"I remember something! Something from a time long forgotten, a mystical repository of long-lost knowledge, which the ancient people called... a Byuek." "Are you trying to say book?" "Exactly! A Byuek..."
While unreasonably high expectations might have led to slight disappointment, this was no doubt a fine episode. While many people probably expected this to be an episode to fully commit to a singular theme (a la "The Signal") of Gumball and Darwin hacking into their neighbor's computer, it took a decidedly more standard approach. That's not to say that the episode would've been better had they simply extended the hacking segment, but I digress. We'll get to that.

The premise is that the Internet's not working and the gang finds out via their father that they've been using their neighbor's (Mr. Robinson's) Wifi for years. It then becomes something fairly standard for the show: a calvaclade of visual gags showing how well (or rather, how poorly) Gumball and Darwin function without that which they've been severed from. (The Hero comes to mind, showing the two trying to survive without their family's affection after shaming their father at school.) In this case, that means loudly announcing their presence when entering the school cafeteria and giving a "like" to friend talking about his ill mother (which they refuse to give an explanation for out of having to type too much).

The best joke is Gumball sending drawn photos of his hospitalized father to Darwin only to realize he accidentally attached his father to the email too (explained as him absent-mindedly taking a bus to the hospital to deliver a letter, which he completely forgot about). The jokes are really difficult to write in their execution, so trust me, they're good. Just a bit complex.

I think one of the most important qualities of a show of Gumball's caliber is that they can make topical, tech-savvy jokes without coming across as dated or blatantly jaded. I'll bring in SNL for example, more specifically their Net Neutrality sketch from the Dakota Johnson episode, which is (unsurprisingly considering my point) notoriously bad. Whereas SNL is only capable of being surface-level on their understanding, making jokes that were dated upon delivery, Gumball keeps it fresh by showing it in the grand scheme of things and exploiting certain corners of the Internet with a vague enough sense that the jokes still work at any time. (The only real crime was an Ice bucket Challenge joke, especially difficult considering the eight months it takes to animate the episode pushed the joke waaaay out of relevancy).

Ultimately, they end up begging on the street for money to pay for their own Wifi before their sister Anais interrupts and tells them to hack into Mr. Robinson's computer as their father, who gets parenting tips online, is completely unable to function without. This, naturally, launches the sequence everyone was waiting for, and it was well worth waiting.

It's honestly surprising how much Gumball is able to keep finding new art styles to incorporate into episodes. The show is already a mass hybrid, with cartoon characters living in the real world with characters stylized out of everything from claymation to red-and-blue 3D, so for them to find ways to keep pushing is astounding. And yes, this sequence is pretty mind-blowing, with Gumball and Darwin becoming viruses trying to infiltrate into their neighbor's domain, getting squashed by minimized windows, avoiding a firewall, and compressing themselves to hide from an antivirus. It's all very inspired, honestly.

Then the big reveal is a huge anticlimax, with Anais walking in to find that the whole situation was imagined: when they greeted an incognito hacker, they groped a man's butt (it's a kid's show. You have to expect it at some point); the minimized window was Gumball repeatedly slamming Robinson's house's window on Darwin; the firewall was them setting his grill on fire. Needless to say, the situation is fixed, and the Internet is back.

While I'm not that big of a fan of these huge fake-outs (like the ending of "The Downer"), it works to explain how they got into the situation and served as a way to get out of it, and it does a decent enough job of back-peddling. Plus, it's not totally against the inner workings of the characters: they are 12, so they're entitled to be imaginative, even if that means that they get lost in their own psyche sometimes. Even if their world is insane enough, their escapism cranks it up to 11, and the show's ability to repeatedly go further out is one of its greatest strengths.

Takeaway:
-Of the earlier episodes of Season 5, I have this to contribute:
The Rerun - A. Even though some of the gags felt weirdly contrived, it showed that the show was able to take a much darker side, which is important in distinguishing itself from the more hokey episodes that encompassed the entirety of Season 1.
The Stories - A. It's a simple premise, with the gang trying to help Molly tell better stories and, in spite of a simple premise, it works. The writing is on-point and, having been directed by one of the show's main artists, the animation is stellar, even compared to usual. Even the scenes leading up to the big reveal work due to their simplicity and how it feels like they actually build up to the end result.
The Guy - B-. This episode was absolutely fine albeit slightly below the standards of the show. It felt too similar to the much better "The Parasite", which succeeded because it got more and more surreal. This one fell flat because other than the wallet gag, nothing felt all that original about it. Plus, the Eastern European accent gag has been worn to death on every other show, so it brought nothing to the table, and while the ending worked as a cheap gag, it meant the whole episode didn't really amount to anything at all.
The Boredom - C+. While TAWOG usually faces minimal issues with pacing or making its episode fit together, this felt too mismatched. Perhaps it's because the format - stick a bunch of random ideas under a nonexistent plot to see what fits - has been worn to death. There are great ways to do this (see: The Tape, The Butterfly), but it felt even less lined up than normal, and while there were some good bits (Banana Joe's lightsabre scene and the Thénardier spoof), it was too unfocused.
The Vision - A-. This was a strong effort for attempting a new format, focusing on Alan's (an animated balloon) manifesto with a Nazi-like conviction for "happy camps" and warlike propaganda, taking the style of House of Cards. Even though it can feel kind of sluggish at points, you have to appreciate it for how much it demonstrates that 143 episodes in, the writers can find new material. There's a reason they've won a BAFTA, folks.
The Choices - A. This is one of those episodes that goes pretty hard for the jugular. Every once in a while, TAWOG likes to pursue more emotional episodes, and this one was pretty hard-hitting, even by the show's standards, serving almost as a companion piece to The Hero from Season 2. However, it also succeeds on a more comedic level, showing the multiple other futures that Nicole could've taken, including leading dystopian society and having a huge statue of her pummeled and her death multiple times through varying circumstances.
-Let us never see Dark Elf Richard again.
-The episode brings to mind this particular segment from "The Tape".
-Yes, this is incredibly rough, but it's hard to get a groove on a full-fledged show that utilizes a continuous storyline over isolated, brief sketches. It will take a really freakin' long time to nail this, so just let it slide for a while, K? Cool.

Final Grade: A-. It may have dragged in the grand scheme of things, but the show is incredibly capable of hiding it. The main issue was that the two main segments- that is, their days in the first half and the hacking in the second- seemed disconnected, though the fact it was imagined helped cover it, despite feeling slightly unnecessary. At the end of the day, all that matters is whether or not it was funny, which unsurprisingly, it was.