“Gumball is distraught when every member of his family belongs to a club except for him, but while attempting to find a club to join, he rejects an invitation from the Rejects Club and insults them. Now, they want to get even with him.”
I have often requested more time for the various members of Gumball’s family. In fact, my favorite episode so far, “The Painting”, is primarily my favorite episode because it did just that; it was an episode that got all five characters involved. Well, this episode is another one that did it and I loved it. We got to learn more about Anais, Darwin, Nicole and Richard because this episode showed what clubs they were members of, but what made it special was when they all rallied together to stop the Rejects Club and save Gumball’s reputation. Now, there are some elements of the fandom that dislike the oftentimes depressing nature of Gumball’s life, and this episode came dangerously close to being depressing, but thankfully it ended on a happy note and no further damage was done. All of the family members were portrayed positively, even if Richard taping over his wedding video was a bit much, and seeing more of Nicole’s rage is always welcome. The only gripe that I have with this episode is a very minor one – I didn’t like how it tried to claim that Gumball didn’t know how to swim when he actually does. I would normally brush this off as plot convenience, but the variation in Gumball’s level of intelligence between episodes is bothersome and I’d like it to level off and stick to one static point.
Sadly, this is the last new episode of 2011. There are still eight season one episodes remaining after this one, but I am worried that these lengthy hiatuses will do some damage to the ratings over time. This is the third lengthy hiatus in the past few months, but because season two is still in development and probably won’t be ready to premiere until next spring, Cartoon Network doesn’t really have a choice in the matter. I’m glad, then, that the year ends on such a positive note for Gumball. The Wattersons are not a perfect family by any stretch of the imagination, but they are a lot of fun and they have a lot of heart. The ending to this episode really demonstrated why I like them so much and why I enjoy this show so much. I still recommend that season two use Richard less often, having him be him be more of a goofy father instead of a total idiot. That complaint aside though, I sincerely hope that people will continue to watch the show going into the new year and beyond. It’s one of the best shows on Cartoon Network and it’s already won several awards, so hopefully we’ll hear news about a third season by this time next year.
