C&C - Moral Orel - "Love" [11/19]

[The Landstander]

The previes for this looked great

[Kitschensyngk]

"With all that love spread everywhere, that dog is dangerous."

It ended exactly how I thought it would.

[Ahiru-kun]

For some reason this was my favorite episode. Maybe is because this one doesn't completly rely on shock humor.

[The Myst]

... They... they killed his dog...

That was the most depressing thing I've seen since the Christmas Special.

Why do people think this show is funny again?

[Humble]

They just messed up the second coming of Christ. :p

-Humble

[KuwabaraTheMan]

What a great episode of Moral Orel. Enjoyable scenes, especially as Orel read from Scripture and then saw people doing the exact opposite of it.

[Happy]

... They... they killed his dog...

That was the most depressing thing I've seen since the Christmas Special.

Why do people think this show is funny again?It wasn't killing the dog that made it funny (or atleast tried to,) it was the reason for killing the dog.

[The Myst]

It wasn't killing the dog that made it funny (or atleast tried to,) it was the reason for killing the dog.

But... whatever the reason... they killed his dog... and then told him it had no soul and wouldn't go to Heaven or Hell...

[The Landstander]

But... whatever the reason... they killed his dog... and then told him it had no soul and wouldn't go to Heaven or Hell...I agree, hilarious episode.

[JTurner954]

Every time I catch this show, I laugh at the priest and wish he was the center of this series.

Everything else is just unfunny and mean-spirited. I haven't felt this way about an AS show since The Oblongs.

[Grenzer]

I have to agree that this episode went over the line. If they made it funny I could maybe forgive them, but this season they have made the citizens of Moraltan so hateful and stupid I just have to groan at their antics. A hint to the writers, you have to make the characters at least a little likable (and relatable) in order to make the comedy work. Deathklok is an excellent example of how this principle works, it's funny because while the main characters are flawed, we can still like them on a certain level.

Besides that I have come to the conclusion that Moral is about the worst protaganist for a comedy show I have ever seen. He's boring, there is just no other way to put it. His interaction with the other characters just bore the hell out of me. Even Tom Peters had more constantly character develpment on his show, and that was one of the reasons why it became good.

D+ for this week, I hope this trend does not continue.

[Classic Speedy]

This one left me indifferent, aside from the preacher's sermon and his autographed portraits of himself, that is. And I guess dad in his study had some funny moments, too, like comparing photographs and his "left alone" remark.

[Duke]

I know I shouldn't be, but I was surprised they killed the dog. I figured there would be some kind of weird twist ending (like the town burning down last week), but it didn't happen...

[Master Moron]

I have to agree that this episode went over the line. If they made it funny I could maybe forgive them, but this season they have made the citizens of Moraltan so hateful and stupid I just have to groan at their antics. A hint to the writers, you have to make the characters at least a little likable (and relatable) in order to make the comedy work. Deathklok is an excellent example of how this principle works, it's funny because while the main characters are flawed, we can still like them on a certain level.


I agree. I mean, except for the Deathklok praise. That show sucks. But, you know, I knew the dog would die from watching the commercials. I was worried Orel might snap it's neck or something on the townfolks demand, but while I suppose showing the death offscreen is somewhat less cruel, it was still pretty damn cruel. I mean, this is coming from a guy who likes Drawn Together, a show where they'll kill anything for a laugh. They just really made you care about the dog and it really made you feel for Orel and then at the end the townsfolk kill the dog and Orel doesn't have a say in the matter. I sometimes wish Orel wasn't so calm all the time. It would be really cool if eventually he just flipped out or something like a normal kid would do if someone killed his dog.

[Aaron_bhkk]

Fun fact: The premise of this episode was given to Dino by none other than Charlie Kaufman, friend and co-writer from The Dana Carvey Show.

Great episode, as always.

[Schwarzwald]

I have to agree that this episode went over the line. If they made it funny I could maybe forgive them, but this season they have made the citizens of Moraltan so hateful and stupid I just have to groan at their antics. A hint to the writers, you have to make the characters at least a little likable (and relatable) in order to make the comedy work. Deathklok is an excellent example of how this principle works, it's funny because while the main characters are flawed, we can still like them on a certain level.
Maybe it will get better in that respect. Clay and even the preacher always struck me as honestly well-meaning guys who were both a little warped from their situations (the preacher feeling generally lonely and ostracized but still trying to do his best, Clay jaded and in a job he hates and a bad marriage but still wanting to be a good father.) In fact, I think the latter still comes across as fairly sympathetic, even if the others don't. The mother in particular - I think even Orel didn't flinch when he was asked to love God more than her, even though he hesitated on his father.

I think the show is relying too much on good-person, bad-person archetypes though. Having some out and out jackasses is fine (Joey comes to mind), but I'd love it if the show had more Figerelli moments - there was a whole episode that showed them as generally being hard-working, nice people, despite past flaws (Father muttering something anti-semitical, past shot of him screaming at his wife, etc.)

...And even if the dog did die, it still didn't approach the depression of the Christmas episode, for me. Even knowing how things have so far turned out afterwards, the darkness of that won't be forgotten.

[Happy]

I agree. I mean, except for the Deathklok praise. That show sucks. But, you know, I knew the dog would die from watching the commercials. I was worried Orel might snap it's neck or something on the townfolks demand, but while I suppose showing the death offscreen is somewhat less cruel, it was still pretty damn cruel.Honestly when the commercials start talking about loving the dog I thought they were going to have Orel well, love it. Off-screen ofcourse.

[li_mangaman]

Am I the only one that considered this to possibly be a parody of movies where dogs die at the end?

[The Myst]

Am I the only one that considered this to possibly be a satire of movies where dogs die at the end?

... Yeah, it was nothing like one of those. Like Old Yeller? No, nothing like that.

[Gobias]

I thought it was a great episode. In "Jurassic Bark", (Futurama Season 4) I was sad when Seymour died. In an episode of Moral Orel however, it's just funny, especially considering the dog might've been the second incarnation of Jesus. You guys should go into the show expecting deeply dark comedy. As dark as stuff like "Scott Tenorman Must Die" or "Stanley's Cup", both from South Park. I do, and I find it consistently funny.


But... whatever the reason... they killed his dog... and then told him it had no soul and wouldn't go to Heaven or Hell...
But that's what a lot of people (especially fanatics) believe. It'd be out of character for his mom to lie and say his dog would be alright, because she doesn't believe that.

[The Myst]

But that's what a lot of people (especially fanatics) believe. It'd be out of character for his mom to lie and say his dog would be alright, because she doesn't believe that.
It's like rubbing salt in the wound though. For Orel and the viewer.

[Happy]

Its Moral Orel, bad things happen to the characters. This episode really is par for the course.

[Gobias]

It's like rubbing salt in the wound though. For Orel and the viewer.
That's why it's dark comedy. Honestly, that remark was kind of mild for Moral Orel.

[gleepglop]

It's like rubbing salt in the wound though. For Orel and the viewer.

I think you missed the point of the episode. The puppy was a parrallel of Jesus. He ended up being the embodiment of Love for the kids in the town. He healed a cripple girl with his love when the stern doctor could do nothing; he stole attention from the town's reverend.

When Orel was reading bible quotes about Jesus, we saw the puppy "living" those quotes while the rest of the town was contradicting them. In the end, the town rallied against the puppy the way Jesus was mobbed and crucified. The puppy was even thrown a cross-shaped stick to fetch up the hill to the "Calvary Pain Institute" before he was "destroyed!"

And all these parrallels came together in an unobtrusive way. It played like a seemless story. I had to watch it several times to bet all the subtleties, but it definitely hit me as a good satiric episode the first time I saw it. You really should rewatch it. It's amazingly detailed and can easily be misinterpreted as "shock humor."

[Gobias]

A few miscellaneous, funny things:

-What was the deal with the Arti-Fishery joke? Was it an enviromental joke, satarizing over fishing?
-Shapey called the fire his friend. I wonder if he was going to hug it...
-Orel's mom referred to Shapey as Orel's pet.
-Shapey called the fish-head cake, and then licked it. I think that's more disturbing than killing the dog.
-The townspeople acted more like dogs, than Bartholomew did: The reverend saying "Rough, rough, rough." as the dog was saying "Ruff!". Also, they growled to show disapproval.
-The reverend's answer for how to apply love to your faith is kind of disturbing when you think about it. Not once does he say to love the people around you, he just tells you to love Jesus.
-In response to gleepglop's interesting post: Ironically, Bartholomew, who was probably the second incarnation was killed right after the reverend said to love Jesus, more than anything else. This kind of reverts back to one of Orel's themes of blind faith.
-There was a bit of a Mr. Show kind of joke in this episode as well. The secretary fakes out the audience by holding her nostrils, to imply she's using an intercom.
-There was further evidence in this episode that Orel's parents both are in love with the same man (the coach).
-Orel's mom saying that not even God can go against the bible is an omnipotence paradox reference. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnipotence_paradox)

Upon a second viewing, this episode was absolutely fantastic. It was lots of fun to analyze.

[The Myst]

-What was the deal with the Arti-Fishery joke? Was it an enviromental joke, satarizing over fishing?

Either they've killed all the fish in Orel's world through relentless fishing or Orel's dad just wanted to make it easy by having tons of fake fish dumped into a small pond where he could catch any number of them.

[Gobias]

Either they've killed all the fish in Orel's world through relentless fishing or Orel's dad just wanted to make it easy by having tons of fake fish dumped into a small pond where he could catch any number of them.
I'm guessing it's a little bit of both. They obviously aren't very enviromentally friendly in that town.

[gleepglop]

Also the artifishery symbol was the fish-Christian symbol!