The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Puppets

"Is it me or was that kinda... underwhelming?"
Here's a quick disclaimer: I'm not all that invested in the abstract ambiguity that "The Puppets" dwells in, and that's a huge issue considering the fact that the excitement of the episode lies squarely in that aspect. I do think, though, that the episode's reliance on chasing the ambiguity was at the cost of the episode's overall enjoyment. In trying to bridge the gap between Don't Hug Me I'm Scared's off-the-hinge, sinister tones and TAWOG's delicate subtleties and overall energy, both sides took a compromise.

And yes, I'm fully aware that taking that stance is a bit mean to the episode, considering TAWOG willingly gave itself up to the creative brain forces of DHMIS - Becky Sloan and Joe Pelling, who were credited as head writers - but for all the work they do, the episode never quite feels comfortable with itself, and putting the two creative forces together wasn't quite a match made in heaven, if I may be so bold. Just... ride along for a second.

Probably the most glaring instance of that lack of cohesion is the majority of the episode leading up to the whole puppet sequence - it never really gels. Sure, there's a few classic TAWOG moments here and there - the violating Bop-it and brief puppet fight in the bathroom, for instance - but, generally speaking, most of it was the show very awkwardly coasting along and filling up time. There wasn't any sense that the episode was really building up tension so much as repeating the same general joke over and over again with the hopes of it becoming funnier, which it can't without escalation.

I feel as if all of that's conceptually fine, trying to show that transitory stage of growing up, but Darwin comes out of it uncharacteristically naive, and Gumball operates solely in a reactionary manner without much distinct character. In that sense, both characters took a hit for the sake of the episode's second act when doing so wasn't even remotely necessary, and the outcome feels underbaked and lacking in the show's usual charm.

The problem arises in the fact that these concessions don't actually help the puppet segment that much, either. Is it gorgeous? Yes. Does it throw around a misty sense of vague to encourage the viewer to think critically of it? Without a doubt. But it still has its issues, all of which were outside of the creators' control.

The reason DHMIS works is because it gets to mock children's entertainment without restriction, allowing it to do as much warped surrealism as it can manage. That spirit just doesn't work as well when they're actually working within the confines of children's entertainment itself (however loose TAWOG fits that term, that's still what it fundamentally is) - when the series is based on being unrestricted, and is forced to adapt to restriction, it gets strained and compromised, too.

The sequence thus ends up feeling like the middle of a DHMIS episode in between vague unease and legitimate terror, but it's not allowed to elevate any further. As far as it pokes fun at the limitations of Darwin's mandatory fun, that's the entirety of what the show can demonstrate for us: a bleak plateau. Even pushing at the puppet's retaliation by committing very juvenile acts of sadism on Gumball and Darwin does nothing particularly macabre aside from maybe the line about bending the two until they snap - that would be where, in DHMIS, it piles on, but instead, that's the peak of their twistedness, and everything immediately fizzles out.

I'd almost like to think the ending to the whole sequence, with Darwin pulling a string and watching the puppets get slightly mutilated, was a tongue-in-cheek jab at how limited Becky and Joe's vision was forced to become, but as I'm sure I've said before, creating a deliberate anticlimax and calling it out as such is still frustratingly lazy and dull to watch. I can admire it from a writer's standpoint when executed right - watch this bit of anticlimactic gold - but it doesn't work here because of the lofty expectations against it.

There's the other huge issue with the episode - it suffers from being hyped up beyond belief. There wasn't that element of surprise that makes the greatest episodes work - like "The Money" - because we knew what the show was pulling at, but there's also that "The Puppets" couldn't possibly sustain all the excitement built up around it. Some episodes can, namely "The Copycats," because of the excitement of not knowing where the episode would go, but here, the episode played out precisely as any of us could've imagined, and the result was underwhelming and almost formulaic. Maybe the episode would've killed if it had a lower profile, because everything was stacked against its success.

Quotes and Notes:
-Poor Rocky will never find true love, it seems.
-I liked how much the show poked fun at the limitations of its medium, what with the green-suited puppeteers and Grady's very limited attempt at shushing Gumball by delicately rubbing his hand across his face.
-Also good was the depressing state of the objects of Gumball and Darwin's naive imagination. High Five Guy pitifully recoils after being hit; Sammy the Screaming Sun does exactly what you'd expect; and the Tree of Permanent Happiness hates its inability to feel any other emotions - at least in that department, both TAWOG and DHMIS fused rather nicely in their sensibilities.
-I actually did enjoy the ultimate ending of the episode, wherein Gumball and Darwin try to sell the puppets, one of which latches on to Billy and attacks him - their reign of terror shall live on.

FINAL GRADE: B. This is a difficult episode to look at. Like, insanely difficult. It relies on the audience interacting with it as the indicator of its success, and I applaud the episode in being able to do such a thing, seriously. Heck, the reason I type all of this is for the same reason: to spark conversation. But frustratingly enough, everything else about the episode, at face value, was only alright, an issue that the show tragically couldn't have prevented.

I don't hate the episode, by any means. I understand its appeal, and I understand the high prestige it holds. From a purely personal standpoint, though, I walked away from it with less than I came into it with, and if I don't necessarily think the episode should've never happened, I'm not drawn to really watching it again.

That's just me, though, and that's always how this stuff is gonna go.

For the last review of "The Petals," CLICK HERE.