The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Heart

"What seemed sweet has turned out to be lethally toxic, like feeding a chocolate cake to a puppy, next to the tailpipe of a 4x4, in the middle of an oil spill, while reading it Elmore Stream comments."

It's surprising how many recent episodes have made efforts to be legitimately sweet or optimistic in one way or another. "The Heart" is the latest installment to take that direction, serving to bury the hatchet between Mr. Robinson and his toxic relationship with Gumball and Darwin by reaching into the emotional core, or rather the lack thereof, of his character.

It's an exciting development considering how repetitive and nonsensical the Watterson brothers' infatuation with him is. It feels like one of the few major elements from the show's first season that's really survived this far into the program, with episodes centered around him often going in the same direction: Gumball and Darwin give him nothing but love, but he isn't having any of it. "The Heart" reaches an interesting fork in the road, though, by forcing them to realize that Mr. Robinson has never loved them, and it crushes their souls. Not only does that freeze up the normal route these sorts of episodes like to take, but it pushes Mr. Robinson into the spotlight as an unlikely protagonist, and the new angle does wonders.

It certainly helps that Mr. Robinson is a critically-unexplored character. His occasional appearances are often flanked by arguments with his wife, but with her being curiously absent (aside from a silly voice cameo and text message gag), we get to watch what happens when he's left to himself to try to approach his own problems. The end results border on disastrous, with several arrests for committing criminal acts against the kids in sincere albeit horrifyingly-wrong ways of trying to curry their favor, and the recurring gag of jump-cuts to his imprisonment score some of the episode's biggest laughs.

It also allows for some involvement from Rocky, which is strangely exciting: although he's Mr. Robinson's son, it's rare to see them ever interact, let alone be on the same side. Rocky's attempts to support his father while failing to mask complete disappointment in him—at one point, he lets out a blunt, "Dad. Please. Stop."—are as hilarious as they are weirdly sweet. It's good, too, to know that they're on relatively good terms, however minuscule of a detail, and even if he only gets a few scenes, Rocky's comedic chemistry with his father is perfect.

After attempting to brain-wash the kids, predatory stalking, breaking UN violations, and giving Gumball and Darwin accidentally-insensitive compliments, the shoe drops: even if Mr. Robinson wants to feel bad, his heart refuses to let him. It's a startling realization that poor Mr. Robinson can't even do right if he wants to, nor is he able to present his own emotions to himself, and it allows "The Heart" to continue onto its final act, with a colorful song about compassion. Swapping the series' usual aesthetic for one made entirely of felt, "Never Beat The Feeling" is a catchy, cute earworm with the perpetually-great visual of Gumball and Darwin, donned in medieval torture uniforms, subjecting Mr. Robinson's heart to affection, and the end result, with Mr. Robinson ultimately deciding that he loathes them a little bit less, is somehow as blunt as it is heart-warming.

I feel like some people might be disappointed by the ending, but it works, and instead of destroying all of the episode's good intentions, it feels true to Mr. Robinson's character, and knowing that, the mere implication that he doesn't vehemently hate Gumball and Darwin is a pretty decent paradigm shift. It's all a matter of putting things in perspective, and even if "The Heart" doesn't verbalize much, sometimes actions speak better than words. Run free, Mr. Robinson's tear, run free.

Notes and Quotes:
-After Mr. Robinson insults Gumball and Darwin, they develop literal storm clouds over their heads: "I think we need therapists." "And a meteorologist."
-I couldn't fit it anywhere into the review, but the nostalgic montage of Mr. Robinson recalling all the ways he's taunted the Wattersons in the past was a silly way to subvert how those sorts of cutesy flashback montages always go! I especially liked the incredibly short and bleak Snow White knock-off that begins and ends with its protagonist being poisoned to death.
-"Just keep it casual and don't go too far, okay? Just play it millennial!" "You mean dye my hair rainbow colors, dress like a fake lumberjack, feed off avocados, and inherit a world in ruins?" "Eh, I guess."
-"I know I'm not cut out for prison. There were some real tough cookies in there, and they didn't even give us any milk to dunk 'em in."
-Gen Z Reality Check: None of us know how to close window blinds. High marks.

FINAL GRADE: A. "The Heart" is an episode that lives up to its name, joining the leagues of other like-minded recent entries like "The Master" and "The Possession" in managing to find a surprisingly adorable way to bring Mr. Robinson together with Gumball and Darwin, all with a keen sense of humor. I can't think of a more perfect send-off for his character, and that's a testament to how sharply Gumball's written and conceived: when all is right, they sure know how to make an episode fly.

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

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