My Favorite TV Episodes of 2018

It's almost 2019, and it's been, in my opinion, a pretty darn good year for television. Unfortunately, there were a lot of shows I would've loved to talk about more that sadly never got written about on my part, either because I was too busy, or because my ability to write about them was far outside of my normal range of "shows at steady moderation of intensity." However, I thought I would just make a short list of the episodes of television, and their respective shows, that really stood out to me. There are, of course, plenty of shows that I missed that would've probably made it on here if I had more time, and this list is far from definitive (especially since it only really consists of comedies by some definition of the term), but I just want to pin them down here as recommendations.

The shows will be listed chronologically in regards to their air date instead of ranked by some hierarchy of my enjoyment, because that would make all of this far too difficult (aside from a very clear #1 and #2). Further, I'm only writing about one episode per show, even if there are multiple episodes of one that are far better than those of another. Without further ado, here are the episodes that made my year.

"The Vegging" - The Amazing World of Gumball 
Air Date: January 15th, 2018 - Cartoon Network

Look, it was inevitable that Gumball would come up at some point, and anyone who follows my reviews would probably be able to very easily figure out which episode would be my favorite of the year. This past season has been an interesting one, starting out stronger than ever but quickly falling into a midseason slump which, while conceptually daring, often struggled to truly elevate the premises making up each episode, and while there was plenty of charm, it often felt like the writing was on autopilot. "The Vegging," though, is an episode that takes a simple premise, and proves that Gumball—when its heart is in the right place—can make anything magical.

In this case, the entire episode is pretty much about Gumball and Darwin's struggle to do absolutely nothing, and a day that refuses to let them. Every minute of the episode is comedy gold, including perhaps one of the funniest gags that the show has ever produced, with Gumball and Darwin repeatedly tuning their brains out for so long that the post-apocalypse happens around them, then they save the universe, then Gumball gets married to an alien... all in the span of less than a minute. "The Vegging," as a whole, is relentlessly rapid-fire.

All of this culminates in Gumball and Darwin having to get out of their house and rescue their family, who is dangling near-death off the edge of a bridge in the family car. Even then, though, our protagonist's vegetation knows no bounds, and they do everything they can to ensure that their lethargy remain uncompromised, all the way down to mailing themselves to their family in swivel chairs. Even at the point when the car is about to go off the edge, Gumball prioritizes his veg, and his ability to ultimately save the day just goes to show that his apathy knows no bounds.

Other highlights: "The Faith," "The Founder," "The Spinoffs."

"Tips" - Apple & Onion
Air Date: March 2nd, 2018 - Cartoon Network

It's somewhat hard to describe what makes Apple & Onion so appealing. It's the sort of show that elicits reactions ranging from "surprisingly charming" to "excruciatingly unemotive," but I think the easiest way to describe the show is just that it's different, in a very simple and sweet way. Never overly-saccharine, it's a show that rides on an incredibly deadpan sort of optimism, with each episode monitoring the day-to-day life of two dudes who live in an apartment together, Apple (show creator George Gendi) and Onion (Richard Ayoade), in a city inhabited by talking food. Nothing is overly complex nor narratively-charged, instead serving as a thoughtful, slice-of-life sort of show with visual panache and musical sensibilities. It's basically an animated Flight of the Conchords, to those familiar.

"Tips" is a perfect example of the show's tone and overall vibe, involving Apple and Onion trying to get money to go on a hot air balloon ride, eventually getting a job at their friend's pizza restaurant and chasing after tips. The pair go through an expected level of trial and error due to their eclecticism and varied idiosyncrasies (one attempt to get tips has them hanging over and whispering into customers' ears repeatedly to ensure they're dutifully taken care of), but the show finds its identity in its witty visual presentation and songs. The episode's main musical number is all about tips, and that's where my ability to describe it begins and ends. Elsewhere, "Tips" finds fun ways of making every shot enjoyable, featuring a number of silly sequences, establishing shots, and montages. If Apple & Onion isn't overly-funny, it's a show with a voice that lets it find an admirable little niche.

Other highlights: "Block Party," "Bottle Catch," "Hot Dog's Movie Premiere."

The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Silence

"You know how we can't keep up a conversa..."

"The Silence" is an interesting episode. Seeing the show get meta with its storylines shouldn't come as a complete shock to anyone at this point, but what makes this episode so different is how it funnels that into an episode with so much sincerity. It's a route that Gumball routinely bypasses in favor of wringing laughs out of its generally nihilistic and cynical perspective, and being able to see the show just doing a cute and sweet character study of Gumball and Darwin was legitimately surprising, and that's not a knock against the episode. If anything, it makes "The Silence" feel almost special, like an episode that, if not trying to become the next "The Choices," wants to break up the pace of the show and distribute some warm, fuzzy feelings.

Unfortunately, as a critic, while I felt that "The Silence" wrapped itself up perfectly, it was an episode which, in my opinion, meandered its way to the finish line as a whole. There's a point that it wants to make with its central concept–Gumball and Darwin seem to have run out of things to say to each other and feel that their friendship (brothership?) is quickly expiring–but everything about the episode leading up to its turning point feels indifferent.