Yo, so apparently a lot of people really didn't care for this episode, and I'm just going to flat-out say that I had no problems with it at all. (Maybe a few issues with Penny, but we'll get to that.)
Think about it: we just had "The Disaster/Rerun." If the show were to just revert back to another standard episode of Rob trying to ruin Gumball's life, there would be no progression and it would just feel abrupt and pointless. This episode serves as a cooldown, and if the show wants to go back to more Rob episodes, this is really the only way to do so. The last episodes served to show some resolution, so the show, to pursue the concept further, had to undo that.
Personally, I think it would've been most ideal to just drop Rob after that as a villain because if the future installments fail to raise the bar, this episode will only look like an excuse to go back to the formula. However, if the show keeps pushing the extent of Rob's power from here, then we're all golden.
For what it was though, I did appreciate the episode in taking a different approach. I'm sure that the whole concept of a villain being 'over' the hero tends to be a bit overdone, but the show is smart by instead mixing in rom-com elements and failed attempts at comeradery. Gumball doesn't win back Rob by intentionally being malicious in return- he tries to befriend him while only worsening the situation.
Basically, the first of half of the episode is Gumball failing to win Rob back, who insists on instead becoming Banana Joe's nemesis. Honestly, I really liked this portion a lot because it showed that Gumball actually appreciated Rob's efforts with a giddy anticipation, making him all the more devastated when he's ultimately pushed aside. It's all the better through all the ways he tries to win Rob back, especially the whole Say Anything bit with Gumball holding up the boombox. The whole joke is the ridiculousness of the situation, but it really works because of how straight the whole thing plays off. The lines could've literally been ripped from a coming-of-age drama.The second half of the episode is more geared toward Gumball attempting to work with Rob as an equal. I think the main issue is just how predictable the episode becomes from this point forward- we know what's going to happen because we know how inept the show is going to make Gumball. The ending isn't really that surprising, but the execution is fine, and Rob throttling a smiling Gumball with fake Celine Dion music in the background was perfection. At the very least, I appreciated that he wasn't trying to intentionally sabotage Rob. Gumball's trying to be the better man and act rational; it's just that the show isn't really letting him do that.
I can only really put my finger on a few issues. The most glaring is Penny, who's just generally apathetic to Gumball's cause, though I didn't have as big an issue with it as a lot of other people. The flashbacks clearly show her bogged down by Gumball always circling back to Rob at inopportune times due to his sheer infatuation for his nemesis. Regardless, he still insists upon all of it, getting involved, dragging her in against her will, and basically ignoring everything she had to contribute. Whether or not that is particularly reflective of the health of the pair's relationship is another discussion altogether. (At the very least, he acknowledged how bad of a person he was and tried to make it up to her, to mixed results.)
In addition, for as much as I loved Darwin in this, with the show explicitly demonstrating how frequently sidelined he is (and showing Darwin's discontent in being fully aware of it), every bit that tried to extend upon the initial joke didn't work as well. The idea that he considered a hat as his nemesis was ill-conceived and out-of-line for Darwin, and circling back to it at the end didn't really have any effect either. It would be much stronger to only use him for the neglect joke, and by adding weightless, insignificant elements, it's almost like the writers are trying to hide how aware they are of it.Also, I definitely think that the first half of the episode was much stronger. I think the episode would work much better if they just wrote it entirely as if mocking a teen break-up movie instead of falling on Gumball's idiocy to lure Rob back in. There would be a much greater lack of predictability, because we pretty much know how those last few minutes are going to go down.
Still, minor complaints. I liked it!
Takeaway:
-"He seems to be buying a circular saw." "[squeals] Is that blade diamond-edged?!" "Mmm, no, just a regular blade." "That's okay. We're not there yet."
-"Apparently, making terrible jokes, jumping around, and replacing song lyrics with the word 'banana' is a breach of intellectual property rights. Ay, caramba!"
-I love that they kept the banana whistle from "The Banana" because that is definitely one of my favorite moments from the show.
Final Grade: A-. I just like it when the show takes a different angle for once. Regardless of if you liked the episode or not, it was entirely necessary that they created it to bridge past and future Rob episodes, and despite being cornered into the scenario, the writers did everything possible to make it a success. The only issue was some excess, though that should be expected- few episodes are truly perfect, but when unnecessary components are so noticeable, it harms the episode as a whole. Other then that, it's a solid episode.
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