The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Neighbor

"People say you're supposed to mourn a relationship for half the amount of time you were together... I'm done."

Alright. So.

Today I learned that Gumball's creator, Ben Bocquelet, as well as the crew behind the show, reads my work. He even advertised it on Twitter (which, as far as my second shout-out goes, is a pretty massive step up)! To think that the people who work on my favorite shows have gone out of their way and shown an appreciation for my work is such a foreign concept to me that I don't even know what to think, so I'm just gonna stop thinking. But it's really humbling.

However, I won't take that to mean that I'm gonna treat the show any more lightly than before, because that's not why they like my stuff. That probably won't show too much today, though, because "The Neighbor" was a heck of a lot of fun.

While Season 6 has shown itself to be particularly daring and largely successful in trotting out the supporting cast for some delightful hatchet-buriers (i.e. episodes designed to finish off a character arc), "The Neighbor" brought along something even more interesting, giving the Wattersons' relatively unknown neighbor and mailman a shot in the spotlight. Sure, it's not a knock-out success by any means, but it succeeds most in its simplicity, going for a more writerly execution than one designed to stand out.

The idea itself is incredibly simple: Gumball and Darwin don't know their neighbor's name and go to desperate measures to try to figure out what it is. That's classic cartoon fodder, but as the show always does, it pushes that premise to the most insane degree possible. In this case, they end up uncovering his actual identity (Harry Gedges), a piece of information that was kept under witness protection, putting him on the run from a couple of aggressive Russian dog-thugs.

As a marginal side-note, what I loved about "The Neighbor" is that it combines two things Gumball particularly excels at: fast-paced visual humor and understated comedic slow burns. The former allows the show to explore its medium to its fullest extent, while the latter demonstrates the strength of the show's dialogue and how important that is to Gumball's identity.

For instance, perhaps the most well-executed scene from the episode was Gumball and Darwin's rushed date-to-marriage between Gary and Crocodile Woman. It's an incredibly basic idea that a lot of shows have messed around with, but "The Neighbor" executes it flawlessly, with breakneck timing and smart gags throughout. People talk about the show's talent at visual communication, and that's on full display here: the scene almost works as a silent film.

The latter—the show's attention to clever writing—is scattered throughout in equal part. My favorite example would be the amnesia punchline; the dialogue meanders for a bit, with Gumball and Darwin discussing getting amnesia as an excuse for forgetting Gary's name, before Darwin suggests they remember each others' names by writing them on their arms. Cue Gumball lifting his shirt sleeve and revealing his name written three times. It's those small, original touches that make a joke stand out, and Gumball has practically mastered it by this point.

Those beats throughout the episode help find an engaging way of rehashing the old storyline. Seeing Gary, Gumball, and Darwin flee from the dog-thugs is already fun enough, but filtering that through the framework of a Wes Anderson film (complete with a soundalike score!) is a phenomenal coat of fresh paint.

That's not to say the episode doesn't have a few issues; they merely stem out of minor complaints rather than legitimate issues that hinder the episode. For instance, a friend brought up that the characterizations of Gumball and Darwin are slightly off, and I feel somewhat obliged to agree: Gumball and Darwin are both a bit more ditzy here than usual. But it's a necessary adjustment to making the episode work, allowing the two to function as an effective foil to Gary, however unsophisticated his personality is. (What do you expect, though? It's hard to pull characters out of nowhere like this.) The ultimate ending felt like it was a bit rushed, too, leaning on Gumball's propensity for reversing the goodwill of the moment (see: "The Burden," "The Points," "The Apprentice"), but it remains an effective button to end the episode on.

What I'm saying is that "The Neighbor" is, simply put, a strong effort without much wrong to it, and I appreciate the efforts the show takes to create episodes like it that hone in on exactly what they want to do and just do it, even for something as low-key.

Notes and Quotes:
-"After the third time you've met someone, that window [of opportunity] closes. And every time you see them after that, the window gets another lock on it, another bolt, another shutter. At this point, our window with that guy would be harder to open than a ski shop in the Sahara."
-"I don't know that guy's name either. I've just been avoiding him by not leaving the house and getting everything delivered." "But isn't he the mailman?" "I didn't think it through."
-There's nothing funnier for me than the closed captions taking ages as Gumball tries and fails to approximate Gary's name. Remember that Cantonese joke from "The DVD?" It's basically that but unintentionally with Gumball saying "Mr. Smithbryanpetersaynbrwisestevensondavid."
-I will admit that I'm a bit biased towards "The Neighbor" because The Grand Budapest Hotel is my favorite movie and the episode makes explicit homage to it, but can I just talk about how well-executed the build-up to that was for a second? At the start of the chase sequence, there's no true indication that the show is going full-on Wes Anderson, though there's enough delicate touches to set that part of my brain off. And then it just goes and pulls directly from Budapest's cable car sequence, by which point I was just beaming. There's not even a real joke to it; it's just thrown in because why not? And I like that mentality.
-For whatever reason, "The Neighbor" got banged around in airing order, with Donielle voicing Darwin instead of Christian. Get yourself together, CN.

FINAL GRADE: B+. I suppose you could complain that "The Neighbor" never escalates its premise to a point of some sweeping memorability, but I don't think it needed that. This is just a solid episode that isn't trying to do anything too risky, though with the same quirky indulgence as always, and it's always nice to see the final season playing with new concepts.

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