The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Anybody

"Tell me again what he looked like?" "He's about yea tall with a hat, a green shirt, and an orange tie." "Okay buddy, I'm gonna give you a ten-second head start."

If there's any character I would've chalked down as "Most Unlikely to Make a Successful Comeback," Clayton would probably be near the top of the list. He's always been a very one-note character by design with one defined quirk: the compulsive need to consistently be lying in an attempt to make his boring life more interesting. As far as hooks go, he's got one of the weakest that the show's got to offer, so going into "The Anybody," I was fairly skeptical.

Then again, Season 6 truly is all about fun surprises, and against all odds, the episode was quite a treat. I suppose it makes sense; even though Clayton's kept a low profile for a while, the show's coming back with one final idea for him, and even if it doesn't have that same sense of closure as a lot of the other character-based episodes this season, it's closer in spirit with a concept to squeeze everything we can out of Clayton once and for all. And squeeze out they most certainly did.

I think what's interesting about "The Anybody" is that it acknowledges the limits of Clayton as a character; the full extent of who he is has already been explored in "The Move," where we, more than less, piece together why he's a pathological liar and bear witness to his internal struggles when that status is challenged, and this episode doesn't try to do anything new so much as hone in on what the show has.

I mean, the idea of Clayton deciding to take over other people's lives isn't a particularly new one; "The Skull" actually explored that quite a bit. But this episode succeeds beyond that because it's just fun to watch how quickly things spiral out of control. Granted, there's not the malice that the promos for the episode seemed to imply, with Clayton acting more oblivious to how much destruction he's causing, but that just works further to the show's favor: he's hopping around, having a blast, and he doesn't even realize the full extent of the consequences it has on other people. I mean, it gets to a point where Tobias tearfully promises to never be selfish again while bearing witness to Clayton robbing precious life moments from him; that's as pitiful on his part as it is hilarious. What all of those scenes do is add stakes to the episode, and it keeps piling up until eventually Gumball gets put in the position of victim and nearly gets himself eaten alive by an alligator.

The conclusion itself was actually a lot of fun, too! It's always fun when a seemingly-predictable romp hits you with some interesting curveball, and in this case, it's the reveal that the Gumball that Gumball and Darwin were pursuing was actually the real Gumball and not simply Clayton disguised as him, with the two pulling a switcharoo role-playing proposal at the theater. In the process, the episode shifts from a high-danger, dramatic situation to one that's somehow even more insane for a hot second, and it helps add a fun bit of extra definition to the otherwise straightforward route the episode takes.

Also helping to keep things fun were all of the side-details that Gumball always flourishes at using. The show has a gift for creating quick little character studies in a snap, and this episode's scene with Doctor Man and his twin brother was a delightful little cavalcade of fake-outs; considering the fact that we've never even seen these two characters before, they feel startlingly realized and make the most out of their brief bit of screentime to leave an impression. There's also those quiet touches too, like how Karen is shocked when Clayton, disguised as Larry, runs out of the mall without so much as waving at her; the show wields all of these fleeting bits of minutiae that don't even add to the episode a hand to its advantage, and it makes Elmore and all of its citizens feel all the more real, like things happen even when the camera's not on them.

I think what I'm trying to say is that "The Anybody" is a simple episode, but it knows what it fundamentally is and doesn't let that deter it from being a lot of fun.

Notes and Quotes:
-It's worth noting that this episode is our formal introduction to the new VA, Christian J. Simon, because CN doesn't understand what the concept of airing order actually is. To repeat what I said in my review of "The Faith": "Good job, kiddo! We love you already."
-Rocky confusing the sound of Gumball banging a scooter against the bus for his "Stamp" soundtrack will go down as a highly underrated joke. Who doesn't love a good Stomp joke?
-"3... 2... 1... And so begins my 10-second countdown."
-All of the flashbacks to Clayton's appearances in previous episodes were masterful and sent on of my friends into a temporary state of woeful disrepair over episode order, so that was fun to watch.
-"Excuse me, did you see a guy--" "Or a woman." "Old--" "Or young." "Tall--" "Or short?" "They all went in there."
-I like how Principal Brown's life becomes increasingly more mysterious, in this case with his cover being blown as he begs for Gumball not to tell anyone in Cantonese.
-Upon rewatch, you can actually hear the sound of clay being smushed when the real Gumball shoves Clayton Gumball into the theater seat, which is an awesome touch on re-watch! Try it.

FINAL GRADE: B+. Just because an episode doesn't try something new entirely doesn't mean it has to be held back by that notion, and "The Anybody" proves that if any show is able to breathe new life into an old premise, it's Gumball. And with Clayton having one final, ceremonious outing, I have to wonder what other long-discarded characters the show's priming for one final joyride, and I couldn't be more excited. Season 6, again, is unrelenting, and it's never been more fun to tune in every week.

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