The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Copycats

"Gumball, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "No, Chi-Chi's thinking what I'm thinking."
Well, it's been a long time coming. "The Copycats" seems to have been dangling over us for eternity as we waited ever-so patiently for its release, enduring the great episode drought of 2016-2017. (Granted, I'm not too excited about CN blowing a solid third of the season over the course of one month instead of extending the show's run, but I digress.) Was the wait worth it?

How is that even a question? Of course it was. Even if the episode was a complete botch, it would've succeeded due to the sheer brilliance of the idea alone. It's Gumball and family meeting their Chinese knock-off counterparts. That's the pinnacle of meta comedy that's never been attempted in the slightest by anybody else in any shape or form, and to see that idea knocked completely out of the park is simply a wonder to behold.

The episode starts off innocently enough, with a simple enough exchange, before Gumball and Darwin walk off-screen, paving the way for Chi-Chi (fake Gumball) and Ribbit (fake Darwin), who reenact the exact same exchange, but are busted by the real guys, leading to some confusion and a couple of gags (no, like literal choking-type gags). On the ride back from the store, the two tell their parents and Anais of their strange encounter, who dismiss it immediately until they see the fake family right across from them.

Seeking to get to the bottom of the problem, the Wattersons dig up the website, getting a good laugh from the faulty English translations before delivering the ultimate kicker: the lack of an Anais character due with the explanation of "Woman no right to celebrate in republic of people," from which I'll make a slight tangent. There have been a lot of brilliant adult jokes throughout the series, but none have been as gutsy as to go beyond explicit innuendo. Comparatively, that's all fun and games- this particular joke gets political, serving as a mockery of China's child policies and the whole attitude of the Chinese patriarchy. Further, it doesn't serve as a cheap throwaway joke, instead becoming an integral piece of the episode's storyline and progression.

Back to the episode, though, as after watching a few stolen clips, the Wattersons find their faux-family copying everything they're saying from outside their window and chase them down, engaging in a smart fight sequence that utilizes the characters exceptionally. The two are undeniably trapped in a stalemate, with both Darwins slapping each other repeatedly with interspersed moments of cluctching their slapped cheeks, the two Richards giving up and collapsing to the ground while sucking on the others' thumbs, and the two Nicoles failing to exert enough power over one another. Eventually, Anais suggests an alternate solution, and the gang seeks to change the doppelgangers into new selves to eliminate the problem which, of course, fails miserably. Cute song as it was, it was best simply for the build-up of them seeing the same clip replicated.

As such, they decide to push life into Larry levels of insanity: Gumball diffuses a bomb to turn off his alarm clock, Richard goes off to have a random organ removed, etc. and etc. The outcome? Further failure, with the hilarious if slightly underplayed revelation of Richard's removed kidney being transferred to his copycat just to show his character having his kidney removed. That's some intermediate writing you got there and I love it.

So they push further, driving an oil truck spilling oil while being chased by flames, but soon find that their attempts to eliminate their doppelgangers might be at the expense of their own lives, and this is when the show becomes even more brilliant. Poor Anais, ignored throughout the whole episode, gets to save the day by squeezing below the oil tank and unscrewing it right before the fire reached the tank, causing a massive explosion. Without an Anais of their own, the copycats drive off a bridge (seriously, it's been five years. Please fix that bridge.) and are gone for good. Whether or not Anais' necessity in being there can be considered a criticism of Chinese child policies is up to you, the viewer.

We then return home, where Gumball and Darwin talk about how they could never be replaced before some signal picks up, and just like that, new voice actors, a fitting ending as to make fun of the entire conceit already established throughout the episode. The Hopkins/Ransom Jr. reign is no more. Please, remain indoors. (For more on the voice shift, read "Takeaway.")

Takeaway:
-When "The Ollie" was leaked, I already talked extensively of the Hopkins to Cantu transition, so you can read that HERE.
-The Amazing World of Gumball replicated a scene from Miracle Star, itself directly ripped from "The DVD." Jesus Christ, this is almost as good as when they had a British actor do an impression of an American person impersonating a British accent. ("I will destroy ye and all ye have loaved!")
-Going back to the ending, while it was undeniably a stealthy way to integrate the new voice actors, I think the episode would be more effective if Jacob Hopkins with his slightly-off voice acted out solely Chi-Chi and the new guy, Nicolas Cantu, taking over Gumball duties. At the very least, the notion of the knock-offs being fake would be furthered instead of having both characters voiced by the same person.
-"Seriously, it's like looking in a mirror made of meat!" "Mmm, mirror..."
-I noticed that the exchange between Anais and Gumball in the leaked storyboards ("EAT MY SHORTS!") was cut, which is disappointing because it was, in my opinion, a well-crafted joke. Basically, Anais accuses Gumball of not being original in the first place after being offended by the copycats' video, to which he retorts in the most generically juvenile way possible, showing the predicability of Gumball as a character. It's a nice shot at, in my opinion, Gumball's more generic undertones. (It's a shared issue for a lot of shows to have the main character be the most interesting simply out of being a platform for the things around them more often than not, so I can't blame the writers too much.)
-Much love for the Simpsons couch gag by the way, which was done subtly enough that it didn't need an understanding of the source material to be appreciated. That's the glory of the show- they can make references to things like The Last of Us or Monty Python and still be inherently funny, which is shockingly difficult to execute.
-Hello, Gumball Wiki! Nice to see you guys here. I'll be contributing some fun stuff to y'all soon enough.

Final Grade: A+. The coveted A+. It's rare for an episode that has been so heavily anticipated to actually exceed expectations, but Gumball is just the show to be able to do that. A well-conceived plot and some smart jokes allow for the episode to be a true classic in a currently shaky season. This is the only time that an episode's been worth a three-month wait. I don't even care if the rest of the episodes are terrible in this month-long extravaganza because this was just sublime.

For the last Gumball review of The Loophole, CLICK HERE.