The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Faith

"See? He's physically incapable of saying anything remotely positive about me!"

Unsurprisingly, to just jump straight to the meat of this review, "The Faith" was incredible. While it may not have been the most uproariously hilarious episode the show's ever done, that's not what it's going for; "The Faith" uses a more understated approach to comedy to address relative tragedy with a clever, optimistic spin. 

What I find so great about "The Faith" especially, and what I think sets it so far apart from other outings, is how it's written: more than anything else, it plays out like a sort of short story more than just another episode. There's a fascinating sense of ingenuity to how everything unfolds. First, the episode starts on an ominous foot as the world turns to black and white; we don't really know what's happening, and the episode uses this relative, brooding ambiguity to set the tone of the episode. It also uses that opportunity to play around with striking visuals and delightful concepts as far as the comedy is concerned. There's something delightfully surreal, for instance, about Gumball and Darwin stumbling across a graffiti-covered building to a point of being disoriented, and it uses that strand of visual cleverness to make some great jokes (in the form of Hobo and his useless directions).

It's through these little moments, too, that we can piece together what's actually going on. Don't get me wrong, the ultimate revelation that Alan is the culprit should be pretty obvious to any seasoned watchers of the show (Oh yeah, and the synopsis ruined the entire episode, but more on that later), but it's interesting to see how everything clicks, and it masterfully demonstrates how important Alan is in his altruistic tendencies to the point of being a tenet holding the entirety of Elmore down. When he gives up, so too does the world. Beyond just being an aesthetic choice or a gimmick, the monochromatic palette the show uses to contextualize this is powerful.

Alan ultimately confesses that he's lost hope in humanity because it never seems to change, and it's a particularly potent remark, doubly so when it gets pinned on Gumball, his repeated, unsolicited antagonist. That, too, is quietly one of the episode's greatest assets; "The Faith" is another Season 6 hatchet-barrier, as I'm going to start calling them, so seeing this issue being tackled head-on, and making Alan self-aware of this fact, is a great way to actually point towards finality. (Especially accounting for "The Vision" and how much it built outwards, albeit remarkably so, it's nice to see "The Faith" digging back into the core.)

We get this in the form of a song–"Life Ain't Perfect"–and it's one of the best one's that the show's pulled off. There's a certain rawness to it that I really appreciated, especially considering the song starts out briefing pretty much everything wrong with the world. But instead of just diving deeper and deeper into the cynicism of it all (like in "Your Life Doesn't Count," which is this song's closest mirror), it uses this to reinforce a more realist, pragmatic moral: even when things are bad, there's something that can pull you through. Gumball's as harsh of a show as ever, and it's never above depriving its characters or itself of any victories, and that just makes the sentiments echoed here all the stronger; instead of coming across as disingenuous, "The Faith" earns its sweet note, and it'll be an enduring one for the years to come.

"The Faith," simply put, is heartfelt and flawless.

Quotes and Notes:
-This is Darwin's new VA, Christian J. Simon's, first episode. Good job, kiddo! We love you already.
-Regarding the plot synopsis... it was horrible. The issue is that it got straight to the point of the two things that the episode surprised us with: (a) Alan is the one causing Elmore to turn black-and-white, and (b) Gumball and Darwin save the day with a song. You want a better synopsis, CN? How about this: "When the color starts to fade from Elmore, Gumball and Darwin set out to find the culprit." What we got, instead, destroys all of the meticulous work the show does leading up to the reveal, and it's rough.
-"It literally says 'non-clumping' on the box." "Uh, I assumed that meant it was full of fiber."
-Rocky continuing to never find love remains a delightful but sympathetic gag. You'll get there soon, buddy.

-If you needed further proof that Ben Locket is quietly one of the show's greatest assets, take a listen to the score when Gumball and Darwin try to navigate the graffiti. 

-"AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE NICE, BUILD BIRDHOUSES, AND PLAY THE BUGLE AND JUNK?"

-For the record, it's nice to see Alan's VA, Hugo Harold-Harrison, having his musical theatre (he's British, it's called that there) background pulling through, even behind all the voice modulation.
-Dude, it's late, make up your own Quotes and Notes. Nobody reads this anyway.

FINAL GRADE: A+. "The Faith" is just an episode that does so much right, but I've gone over that to death already. Where I find the episode's message particularly affecting, though, is that it rings true with a touching sense of universality: the world isn't a perfect place, and it'll never be a perfect place. And there's always going to be something that drags you down, and it's always going to feel like something is out to get you. But you have to remember that everything will be alright.

Gumball, after all, in its own strange little way, is a celebration of life and the world we live in and all of its ups and downs. And I can't think of many other episodes that have been able to wield it as strongly as here.

For the last Gumball review of "The Cringe," CLICK HERE.