A Definitive Ranking of Every Episode of The Amazing World of Gumball, Part VIII: 49-25

This is Part VIII of my definitive ranking of every episode of The Amazing World of Gumball. For Part VII, CLICK HERE.

Just a quick thing before we start up again: sorry for the list coming to a screeching halt over the past two months! I've been busy with college and this blog is a one-man operation, let alone one that I haven't made a cent off of. Hopefully the list will be complete before 2020, but I don't want to make any promises I can't 100% keep.

Now let's keep this enterprise rollin'.

49. S03E19 - “The Procrastinators” (10/02/14)

What Happens?: Gumball and Darwin spend a day procrastinating instead of taking out the trash.

Why Is It on the List Here?: As the mellow lead-up to one of the series’ most cherished episodes, there’s a lot riding on “The Procrastinators,” and by its very nature, it’ll always look worse in comparison... but that does the episode a great disservice considering how solid it is. Instead of trying to tell a complex narrative, it’s all about watching the various things Gumball and Darwin do around the house to appease their boredom instead of taking out the trash (as Nicole told them to), turning “The Procrastinators” into something of a vignette episode. I’m always down for Gumball showing its characters during quieter moments just messing around; it’s a testament to the fact that Gumball and Darwin are so inherently funny that all they really need to strike comedic gold is themselves, and this makes for an excellent showcase.

“The Procrastinators” is really just a thinly-veiled opportunity to put Gumball and Darwin into a ton of different, silly little scenarios, even when they’re as simple as seeing who can throw a piece of candy in the air the highest while catching it in their mouth or showing off their questionable, biology-breaking flexibility. The show doesn’t have some overarching plot to stick fun moments into as in other episodes like “The Allergy” or “The Bet”; “The Procrastinators” is simply a massive collage of fun moments, and because of that, nothing holds the show back or narrows the context of its jokes. It’s the sort of episode that has a scene of Gumball and Darwin literally eating themselves whole, followed by them exploding/melting from eating hot sauce, followed by Gumball relapsing into his feline tendencies when Darwin pulls a laser pointer out. There’s no rules.

Perhaps most handily, though, “The Procrastinators” still has a sense of progression as its backbone. Everything happens over the course of an afternoon, with each scene broken up by shots of their kitchen clock and increasingly frantic music, and once that time is up, a fantastic button closes everything off in classic Gumball fashion: Gumball and Darwin race to throw out the trash after Nicole arrives back home only to accidentally throw out her newly-bought groceries, leaving them to eat literal garbage for dinner. It doesn’t sound like much, and it’s not even that effortful in practice, but it imbues the episode with a sense of pacing that lets everything end on a hilarious note.

So sure, this isn’t “The Shell,” but it’s a darned good time.

Best Moment: Gumball and Darwin’s musical montage towards the end of the episode. Turning everything into a Stomp-esque number is such an energetic way to bring everything together before the episode’s triumphant resolution, and it goes to show how excellent Gumball’s sound designers are.

48. S04E10 - “The Parking” (9/04/15)
What Happens?: The Wattersons struggle to find a parking space at the mall.

Why Is It on the List Here?: “The Parking” is by no means a ground-breaking episode, but it’s the perfect refinement of Gumball’s comedy, taking a one-joke premise—the Wattersons’ struggle to find a parking space—and transforming it into an admirable, solid 11 minutes. This isn’t some magnificent journey like “The Routine,” which attempts to shock some otherworldly thrills into its mundane subject matter, either, with “The Parking” just doubling down on its mundanity in making the Wattersons’ task as difficult, but grounded, as possible.

Most successfully, “The Parking” manages to reflect each of the characters perfectly (a theme that you’ll see a lot in my choices towards this portion of the list) in how none of them, even when functioning at full power, can land the family a parking spot. Anais’ observational skills and hyper-analysis fails her, as does Darwin’s belief in goodwill (an old lady tricks them into dropping her off at a bus stop) or Gumball doing… whatever he thinks is the best course of action, making a power-play that ends in him causing a toll-gate operator to bleed out to near-death. Perhaps the most well-represented characters here, though, are Richard (whose attempts at ingenuity fail as expected) and Nicole, who ultimately loses her mind half-way through the episode and defaces an elderly man’s car only to pathetically sell it as a message of appreciation for diversity after Darwin calls her out, her attempts to maintain a higher ground falling apart at their seams. No amount of trying to outsmart the game is gonna change anything.

The goal of “The Parking,” ultimately, isn’t to surprise us. We know how it’s going to end, and that the Wattersons are gonna end up coming full circle in some way, and the episode doesn’t deny us that destiny. The fun, though, is all about getting to that point, with its core cast firing at all cylinders, fantastic writing, and a cavalcade of hilarious sight gags. In that respect, “The Parking” knocks it out of the park...ing. (Sorry.)

Best Moment: Nicole defacing Marvin’s car.

47. S02E24 - “The Sidekick” (7/03/13)

What Happens?: Darwin is fed up with being Gumball’s sidekick and decides to lead the pair’s newest adventure, to disastrous results.

Why Is It on the List Here?: Season 2 episodes so often get lost in the shuffle of show discussion. For every obvious highlight, there’s a strange little episode that’s a little too cynical for most people’s tastes, and that leads to so many gems going undiscussed. “The Sidekick” suffers that casualty, perhaps a consequence of its understated nature; it’s far from “required viewing,” but there’s a sneakily great amount of incisive character work packed into it that keeps me coming back and makes it stand out so much to me, if not a lot of other people.

All of that rests squarely on how it explores Gumball and Darwin’s relationship. You’d think that with them being dual protagonists, more episodes would dissect how they operate as a team, but “The Sidekick” stands as perhaps the only entry into the show’s catalog that really deconstructs it. The entirety of the episode is a self-aware meditation on how the characters were conceived and the consequences that come with shuffling their key attributes around. While it may not dissect the series at its core with as many dramatics as some of Gumball’s more like-minded and beloved entries, it’s just as masterful and deserves just as much credit for its astute observations.

A lot of that comes from making Darwin actually give a damn. His status as a mere tool for Gumball to use, or occasionally not use at all, is well-documented, and the series is guilty of falling back into that sensibility far later in the series, but “The Sidekick’s” strengths are in turning that dismissal into untapped fury. Darwin’s at his last straw and decides to put Gumball in his shoes for a day, a thought experiment that goes as horribly as one would expect—Darwin decides to solve the problem of Tobias not returning their video game by kidnapping his mom, turning the rest of the episode into a mission to bring her back without being noticed as a corrective measure—but what really makes everything work in the end is the surprisingly sweet resolution the episode is able to find. Gumball reveals that Darwin isn’t just a sidekick; he’s his guardian angel, and he wouldn’t be able to do any of the things he does without Darwin having his back. 

It’s a well-earned moment of self-realization that allows “The Sidekick” to end on a sweet note and send across the sort of low-key but deeply felt message that Season 2 was so great at… even if Mrs. Wilson is still tied up to a swivel chair.

Best Moment: Darwin’s impression of Gumball: “DUHH! Hi, I’m Gumball! DUHH, I’m too busy to look where I’m going because I’m in love with Penny or something.”

46. S04E28 - “The Nest” (5/26/16)

What Happens?: Elmore is taken over by Evil Turtle and her babies.

Why Is It on the List Here?: “The Nest” is an incredible show-stopper of an episode. Taking cues from suspense-filled narrative episodes like “The Treasure,” it’s a mystery involving a mysterious creature slowly whittling away at Elmore’s local population before revealing the culprit to be Evil Turtle, at which point all hell breaks loose. Not only is “The Nest” one of the series’ most gorgeously animated episodes, with stunning cinematography all around and a gorgeous color palette, but its character work is equally fantastic, finding great roles for all of the Wattersons (especially Nicole, who gets to take the lead on a lot of the action) with a distinct comedic edge throughout all the insanity. (Anais, for instance, cracks lonely jokes to herself, and Richard presents surrendering to the turtles and accepting a life of servitude to them as a potential solution.)

So why is it, with all of that praise, not any higher? Well… it’s complicated. I’ve always been incredibly on-the-fence about Evil Turtle as a character, and while “The Nest” is, no doubt, a massive highlight for the show, I don’t know if it’s enough of a reward for the character’s existence in the first place. Heck, part of why “The Nest” works so well is that we pretty much forgot about Evil Turtle entirely by the time the episode aired, which just doesn’t fare well for the her. I can get that the series was making an investment with her, and that investment paid off, but I don’t know if that’s enough of an excuse for how unwarranted and otherwise unexplored she was.

Ultimately, though, we got a phenomenal episode out of it, so I’m willing to partially overlook those complaints and enjoy “The Nest” for what it is… not that enjoying “The Nest” is, in any way, a difficult thing to do.

Best Moment: The baby turtles taking over town.

45. S06E08 - “The Cage” (2/09/18) 

What Happens?: Gumball and Darwin help Mr. Corneille prepare for the fight of his life.

Why Is It on the List Here?: Despite only having a notable role in one prior episode, “The Cage” cements Mr. Corneille as one of the show’s greatest and most tragically-underutilized supporting characters. He’s such a laid-back guy, so sure, why not have him trip and fall into the MMMMA, taking on an opponent whose entire body is made of fists attached to a massive rack of abs? Why not have a B plot involving the school being so short on funds that Principal Brown literally rents out half of it to a prison? And why not turn the perpetually-sarcastic School Nurse into a cliched ingenue clinging to every silky-smooth word out of Corneille’s mouth?

There’s so much weird stuff at play, but it works because of how much “The Cage” devotes to each of its individual components, and how every absurd little detail falls into place. Jokes that seem like one-off conversational blurbs—Gumball and Darwin sustaining injuries trying to lick their elbows—circle back around: Mr. Corneille did the same thing, but he tried to sell it off as him getting in a fight to romance the School Nurse. Perhaps most impressively is the hilariously weird B plot, which both contributes to moments of throwaway brilliance (even the establishing shot of Elmore Junior High suddenly surrounded by security and barbed wire kills me in how little attention it draws to itself) and plays a heavy role in the episode itself to a degree that I don’t really want to spoil, since I know most people haven’t given “The Cage” a rewatch.

Throughout it all, Mr. Corneille gets cast as hilariously inept, and the thing is, we know what’s gonna happen on some basic level: he’s not actually a wrestler, and he’s gonna get pummeled. But there’s so much creativity oozing out of “The Cage” in how we get to that point that it’s massively enjoyable, striking every beat perfectly along the way.

Best Moment: For all of the elaborate and brilliant gags littering the episode—it really is a treasure trove of underrated bits—nothing is as funny as Darwin’s string of terrible wrestler names, concluding with “Look out, it’s Christmas Person!”

44. S03E07 - “The Name” (7/10/14)

What Happens?: Gumball discovers his real name is Zach, and it starts to transform his mind.

Why Is It on the List Here?: It’s always been kind of weird that Gumball’s name was Gumball; why he even has that as a nickname hasn’t really been explained too much. “The Name,” though, proves that being “Gumball” plays a major role in defining who Gumball even is, with the discovery of his true name, Zach, slowly destroying the character’s way of life and turning him into a massive prick.

It’s a fun opportunity for the series. On one level, it allows Season 3’s newly-appointed Gumball, Jacob Hopkins, to demonstrate some acting versatility, pulling off a genuinely funny Cali douche-bro accent to match Zach’s shenanigans. “The Name” as a whole, though, uses the opportunity to demonstrate how drastically doing something as simple as swapping a label interrupts the status quo; whereas Gumball is cheerful and optimistic at this point in the show, Zach is too cool for school (quite literally), acting out entirely for self-gain even when that means degrading his own family. It’s almost like the duality of Gumball/Zach is a sly commentary on how much he’s changed since Season 2 and about the softening of the show’s heart that continues through the rest of the series… but that might just me being an analytical headass. 

“The Name” also gives ample screentime to the rest of the Wattersons. As usual, Darwin plays the crucial role of making sure Zach doesn’t get himself in too much trouble, and the earnestness of his attempts to reel the guy in the right direction allow for some funny moments (even if he proves susceptible to Zach’s roguish charm). Anais functions as an extension of that, too, though she lands some fantastic jokes too, especially in her merciless excitement at being able to pull a bat out on Gumball. Richard gets to have the most fun here, though; after Zach emasculates him as “man of the house,” he goes into an existential crisis that finds him increasingly in drag, questioning his manhood.

Simply put, there’s a lot going on with “The Name,” but all of it pays off wonderfully.

Best Moment: “Zach, listen to me.” “Zach doesn't listen. He hears.” “That's the same thing!” “Oh, wait. What was that? I'm afraid I can't listen you.”

43. S06E17 - “The Founder” (6/18/18) 

What Happens?: Richard is mistaken for the CEO of Chanax, using his newly-gained powers to catastrophic effect.

Why Is It on the List Here?: Against all odds, Season 6 was truly the season of Richard. He’s been a difficult character for the show to use in the past because of how much of his personality is based off a sense of stupidity and laziness, but Season 6 worked hard to emphasize another facet that goes far too unrecognized: his sincerity. Whereas previous efforts like “The Diet” and “The Menu” have made a show out of his more reckless habits, “The Founder” drops him in the middle of a ridiculous situation, crowning him as the CEO of Chanax due to an off-handed remark he makes to sneak some snacks out of a vending machine. Sure, Richard is arguably more destructive here than ever, ruining the workplace in pursuit of so-called “Funfunctionality” that eventually causes the building to straight-up sink into the ground, but he’s just a guy trying his best, and there’s something weirdly endearing about everything he does here.

It helps, too, that the rest of the episode is remarkably smooth. Removing the Watterson kids from the equation means that Richard and Nicole don’t have to fight for screentime, and they make the most out of every moment they get, the former, obviously, in his efforts to fix up Chanax, and the latter in more of a supporting role that grounds the episode in her increasingly-complicated quest to pay for their cable bill. Both characters, too, get paired up with wonderful foils to bounce off of: Richard hangs out with the comically-elitist and snobbish CEO of the company, allowing for some fantastic satirical jabs at the corporate world, while Nicole is stuck with Phil, a straitlaced accountant who discovers his intense passion for DDR.

I get that nobody else is really as crazy over “The Founder” as I am, but it just checks every box. Its humor is on-point, its satire is biting, its characters are lovable, and its plot is filled with hilarious twists—if that’s not Gumball at full force, then what is?

Best Moment: I love the episode’s song, “He’s Back!” Instead of trying to make a broader, more accessible song for fans to eat up (e.g. “Goodbye,” “Nobody’s a Nobody”), it’s entirely circumstantial, playing out like a Broadway musical number filled with sharp writing and clever rhymes (“I’m nervous, apprehensive! / Quick, which tie looks more expensive?” / “I’ve heard he’s a giant among giants / six foot six of raw defiance!”) while allowing for a bigger ensemble of minor characters to get some time in the spotlight. (Special shout-out also goes to the episode’s fantastic hallucination gag, where Richard’s hunger turns a hot dog cop into… a hot dog.)

42. S04E12 - “The Upgrade” (10/06/15)

What Happens?: Gumball and Darwin update Bobert’s OS.

Why Is It on the List Here?: It’s a testament to Gumball’s niche specificity that it managed to pull off an entire episode that just makes fun of Apple as a company this well. There’s so many playful gags at the company’s expense that shine with wonderful ingenuity, whether it’s Bobert’s unremovable knock-off U2 album, incredibly flawed map navigation, or the Bobert Store employee’s accidental admittance that they make deliberately flawed products so you have to buy frequent replacements. There’s no pulled punches here, but it’s not like “The Upgrade” merely uses that as an excuse to make an easy, silly episode: filtering the idea through Bobert is the perfect way to get an interesting story out of a character that otherwise struggles to bring new things to the table, with this go-around being, I’d argue, his greatest showcase.

“The Upgrade,” too, manages to go through several long gags without ever feeling strangely-paced in the same way as comparable efforts like “The Best.” Jokes like Gumball, Darwin, and Bobert going across the ends of the earth just to locate the Bobert store, or Bobert’s repeated malfunctioning throughout the school day work because of how rapid-fire and surprising they are, and the episode’s most dramatic segment, the awesome skydiving sequence, is a cinematic delight that manages to blend both humor and action into a jaw-dropping treat. To put it simply, there’s not a second where you’re not laughing along with “The Upgrade,” and that’s the show’s number one goal.

Best Moment: Cody’s accidental confession of the Bobert Store’s business plan.

41. S05E31 - “The Singing” (9/01/17) 

What Happens?: The town of Elmore sings for eleven straight minutes!

Why Is It on the List Here?: “The Singing” isn’t an episode I’ve ever had much of a chance to actually write about critically considering the review I wrote for it back in the day was written as a terrible song which I have no intent to revisit, but let me phrase it like this: there’s a lot of ways that an episode centered entirely around singing could go wrong. Miraculously, though, “The Singing” is pretty darn spotless, indebted to the uniform strength of each of its songs, which keep you on your feet at every second.

Part of what’s exciting about the structure is that there’s no set path, instead just panning across several residents of Elmore going through their day with strange musical numbers, book-ended by Nicole attempting to throw out an obnoxious singing showerhead. While there are a few unsurprising but appreciated character appearances, what with Richard delivering a soulful song about his love of fried food, “The Singing’s” greatest benefit is how many surprises it has in who gets utilized. Truly, this is the only episode where you would be able to find Billy Parham delivering a hard-hitting rap about etiquette, or Teri bursting out into J-pop about germ prevalence, or Pluto belting out her best Adele impression to contemplate her loneliness; that free-for-all nature imbues its premise with life and unpredictability.

Sure, towards the end there’s a little less cohesiveness to how everything comes together, but that allows “The Singing” to veer into, surprisingly, its most inspired sequence, taking the form of a commercial for a highly-experimental album by Mr. Small. It’s such a weird and perfect display for the character, with him singing songs whose entire lyricism consists of repeating the word “hit single,” while another scraps words altogether for terrifying screams. “The Singing” simply manages to squeeze the best out of every character it can get its hands on, and the end result is a perfect, memorable gem. 

Best Moment: Teri’s J-pop outburst leads to her being escorted to an ambulance. “Is it contagious?” one of the EMTs asks; “Absolutely not,” says the other, in head-to-toe anime clothing. Cut to the ambulance being completely blinged out in Japanese swag. It’s a masterful five seconds.

40. S02E29 - “The Game” (8/21/13) 

What Happens?: The Wattersons indulge in a game of Dodj or Daar.

Why Is It on the List Here?: Remember Dodj or Daar (Dodge or Dare)? It was a recurring board game that Darwin and Gumball played at several points during Season 1—in “The Car,” “The Third,” and “The Ape”—where the basic premise was that they were supplied ridiculous, cartoony challenges; either you accept the “daar” and do something stupid, or endure the punishments of a “dodj.” That premise resurfaces in “The Game,” and true to how the show changed from Season 1 to Season 2, Dodj or Daar was turned into an imaginative nightmare.

Nicole ends up finding the game underneath Gumball and Darwin’s bed, and in a poorly-made decision, decides to break it out with the entire family, and it’s a masterful slow burn on every character involved (excluding Gumball and Darwin, both aware of the horrors yet to unfold), with their fun slowly morphing into horror and frustration. The daars start out silly and continue to be exactly that, such as making prank pizza delivery phone calls and framing yourself as a crime suspect, but the dodjs (is that the correct plural form?) are forces of destruction, ripping through the physical and mental states of every person involved through their willingness to believe in the effects of the game—Gumball, for instance, becomes afflicted with Compulsive Singing Disorder, causing him to sing at random points in time, while Anais gets caught in a real-life game of the floor being lava.

The entirety of the action in “The Game” is just watching the Wattersons suffer at the hands of their cruel fate, and it’s hilarious beyond words. It’s basically Gumball playing a game of absurd scenario Mad Libs, sticking in as many creative ailments and challenges as possible, and they all work. “The Game” is filled to the brim of creativity, and it’s an unrelenting force. 

Best Moment: I liked the Wattersons’ brief intermission wherein they tried to live their daily lives suffering from the conditions of the game; it was a perfect way of showing just how evil Dodj or Daar is, somehow possessing the powers to completely ruin their lives.

39. S03E31 - “The Oracle” (1/29/15)

What Happens?: Gumball sees a painting by Banana Barbara that seems to be predicting the future and tries as hard as he can not to let her vision of him coming true.

Why Is It on the List Here?: If there’s one gag which, in my opinion, has consistently worked itself into the humor of the show across all periods of its existence, it’s Gumball being naked. There’s something about not just cutting off where his clothes end and instead pixelating his nards which just works. Whereas other episodes have used Gumball’s dirty bits for a quick gag, though, “The Oracle” is entirely built around Gumball’s nudity being a crucial part of its narrative, turning it into an unavoidable fate which he tries, desperately, to escape. It’s a risky move for Gumball to make, but the episode actually makes it work.

I think a big part of why “The Oracle” is so successful is that it’s aware of what it is. We know that Gumball’s gonna end up naked in the mall in front of the biggest televised audience ever, so the show focuses all of its energy on sealing Gumball’s fate instead of the hilarity of the premise itself. Seeing how everything gets progressively worse and how all of the poor guy’s attempts to protect himself from the inevitable backfire spectacularly gives everything a fantastic narrative hook, focusing less on the event happening so much as how it does. At no point does Elmore do so much as blur its intentions, either; the blatancy of how nailed Gumball’s coffin is makes for fantastic overkill.

But perhaps the greatest twist here—yes, even greater than the episode’s closing nod to the series finale (well… maybe not)—is that it shows Gumball at a point of character development and growth. Gumball’s the sort of character who perpetually seems to run away from responsibility, but the moment that he decides not to let the world win against him by accepting his destiny on his own terms is a surprisingly awesome moment for him; for however smug and jerkish he’s acted in episodes prior, “The Oracle” is the first that shows that he has legitimate integrity. You go, Gumball.

Best Moment: Banana Barbara’s canvas at the end of the episode was, perhaps, one of the series’ greatest narrative mysteries, provoking wide speculation for the four years that followed (even if those questions remain, to some extent, unanswered).

38. S04E05 - “The Signature” (8/27/15)

What Happens?: Richard freaks out when he learns that Granny Jojo wants to marry Louie and decides to adopt him to prevent their marriage, setting forth a series of events that pulls Richard’s father in.

Why Is It on the List Here?: After “The Authority” explored how Granny Jojo’s sole parenting method affected Richard’s lifestyle, and “The Man” addressed his lack of a father figure and delusions about his departure, “The Signature” finally reveals Richard’s father, Frankie Watterson. He’s a literal rat, a skeevy figure and conman with little long-standing regret for his actions, and he only reemerges into the show’s narrative because of drama within the extended Watterson household (which takes the form of several convoluted adoptions) summoning him in hopes of restoring peace. 

There’s a lot of good to come out of his debut. For one thing, Rich Fulcher is such an excellent fit for his role, and it’s always fun to see him find a way to pop up in practically every television project I’ve watched. As an actual character, though, Frankie has both a fun and shady comedic edge and, as “The Signature” eventually reveals, striking pathos. He’s not a character that we sympathize with, but the episode manages to redeem him (at least somewhat) by the episode’s end, when he discovers that he’s been out of line his entire life, and Richard ultimately forgives him. It’s a tear-jerking moment, but “The Signature” lets itself resolve with a nice laugh as the family dances around.

Basically, combine strong comedic moments (the episode manages to get some good jokes out of the concept of being in a town hall, for God’s sake) with emotional appeal, and you end up with a fantastic episode. This is what “The Hero” was trying to be all those years back.

Best Moment: “It’s not about tradition. It’s about the power.”

37. S03E29 - “The Saint” (1/15/15)

What Happens?: Gumball tries to find Alan’s breaking point because he can’t fathom how nice Alan is.

Why Is It on the List Here?: While “The Photo” set the precedent for Alan being the poster child of doing good things, “The Saint” kicks it into second gear in the greatest way possible and, in the process, sets up one of the series’ greatest ongoing story arcs. 

There’s just something brilliant about putting someone like him, practically transformed into the broadest and most altruistic caricature of himself, at odds with someone as destructive and cynical as Gumball. Even though Gumball is doing so, so many messed up things throughout the episode—including posting a 2D-ist diatribe on his social media and selling his parents—Alan always manages to spin some self-actualizing conclusion out of every scenario, and it only makes Gumball look even worse and drive him crazier. For however much torture gets brought about on Alan, the only person really getting hurt here is Gumball, and it’s why “The Saint” works so well. 

It also manages to do even more extensive exploration of Gumball’s character in the second half of the episode where, after reaching the conclusion that Alan is unbreakable, he accepts the character’s philosophy of “saying yes to life.” You’d expect that to set “The Saint” on the course of showing how severely Gumball and Darwin attempting to live by those words could backfire (and it does happen for a little bit), but the fact that Gumball and Darwin literally live out the best possible outcome of their efforts—living in a house made of crystals in white tiger skin clothing, eating unobtainium—only for it to be unfathomably boring for both characters, is the perfect sort of one-two punch that you never see coming which Gumball executes so well. Alan and Gumball are just two diametrically-opposed characters, and Gumball, ultimately, has to come to terms with it.

Best Moment: Gumball views eating Alan’s last meatball as his greatest offense in ruining the poor guy’s life.

36. S03E12 - “The Void” (8/14/14)

What Happens?: Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small discover where all of the universe’s mistakes go.

Why Is It on the List Here?: It’s sort of hard to imagine a time when the Void wasn’t looming over the series, but its namesake episode was a shock to the system, bringing one of the series’ most interesting narrative arcs to the forefront. The idea of the Void is just fantastic, and a perfect extension of the show’s meta-comedic attitudes: it’s a place where every mistake mankind has ever made goes, a writers’ dumping ground made of television static and all of your least favorite CGI characters and ‘80s fads. The moment that Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small regain consciousness in the Void, and Ben Locket’s orchestral score starts swelling in the background is a moment that still gives me goosebumps.

Everything else about “The Void” is great too, obviously. It’s fun to see Mr. Small in a supporting role, for instance, getting the kids in the mood for some grand conspiracies and recruiting their help in retrieving Janice, his beloved van, from the Void. He’s an eclectic character, no doubt, but it’s fun to see him in the right for once and on the same footing as everyone else. Molly, too, gets to have a little story of her own, being the catalyst for Gumball and Darwin’s suspicions once they discover that she’s been erased from existence for being too boring (an idea that the show perfects in “The Stories”).

Honestly, “The Void” is an episode that you experience through watching, and there’s not much about it I can really say, especially considering that we know what its purpose was now: introducing the location and giving hints about Rob’s reentry into the narrative. This is just a really solid, captivating episode with fun character interplay, great little referential jabs, and phenomenal cinematography, all while setting the table for greater things.

Best Moment: Ben Locket’s orchestral arrangements were an amazing, breathtaking compliment to “The Void.” The dude deserves all the credit he can get for the work he puts in.

35. S06E21 - “The Spinoffs” (7/16/18) 

What Happens?: Rob introduces some exciting new alternatives to The Amazing World of Gumball.

Why Is It on the List Here?: One of the series’ last vignette episodes was also one of its most realized, all indebted to its incredibly simple premise: Rob hijacks regular programming of Gumball to market some new shows he’s produced as his next best chance to off Gumball as a protagonist. The idea basically allows “The Spinoffs” to go in as many ridiculous directions as it wants to without being too restrained, and that thematic freedom means that it’s perhaps one of the most ambitious episodes of its kind, chasing after the most high-concept ideas it can think of.

All of them work, too! Some are massive, beautifully-realized jokes with a single punchline, like the episode’s gorgeous recreation of Cowboy Bebop’s opening, “Barcode Cowboy,” showing Larry doing stereotypically Larry things in epic fashion before cutting to the content of the show: him, boringly, working his shift as a cashier. Some just take advantage of the humor inherent to the show’s weird cast, whether that means having Bobert host a cooking show where he demonstrates a complete disregard, health-wise, for his assistant Felicity, or watching William slowly melt Tobias’ brain with telekinetically-delivered sitcom lines.

The best vignettes, though, are often the ones that aim to satirize television and television genres altogether, as in “Reality Toddlers,” a tasteless reality show all about watching literal toddlers be unable to perform basic tasks and becoming emotionally distraught over that fact, or “Everyday Heroes,” a vulnerable, overly-sentimental documentary about Ocho’s struggles having three butts. The best bit of the entire episode, though, is “Techno Power Teenage Warriors,” a take on the trend of ‘80s cartoons using Carlton and Troy that seems to be more devoted to aggressively hocking merchandise instead of making an actual show, reaching the point in its abrupt commercial breaks of just straight-up selling credit cards.

Everything about “The Spinoffs” is Gumball unleashed, chasing after every ridiculous idea it can think of. There’s not a lot of episodes I’d consider harder to hate.

Best Moment: Techno Power Teenage Warriors!

34. S03E04 - “The Joy “ (6/19/14)

What Happens?: Elmore Junior High experiences an outbreak of joy on a Monday.

Why Is It on the List Here?: While there were some other episodes before it that sought to mess around with varying levels of genre parody—“The Lesson,” most notably—“The Joy” was the first to truly embrace the show’s ability to play with different genres (and, of course, the leeway with the status quo that episodic television offers) by turning an average Monday at school into a zombie outbreak. Perhaps most interestingly, too, “The Joy” pushed Gumball and Darwin aside as nothing more than the catalysts for the school’s contamination, allowing Miss Simian to step up to the plate as the episode’s sole protagonist, and she does a stellar job.

It’s sort of perfect for Miss Simian, a character who hates joy, to be the one person trying to survive when joy manifests itself as a legitimate disease. She never compromises her personality until her last moments on-screen, and it’s a fantastic turn for the series, especially considering she’s a character that Gumball tends to struggle with implementing; more than being a wet blanket, she’s a certified badass trying to survive the apocalypse, and “The Joy” lets her do a ton of really fun, inventive stuff that, best of all, is entirely in-character. Her attempting to “blend in” by forcing herself to smile and walk down a hallway is brilliant, for instance (she greets everyone she walks past and gives Sussie a confused “AHH” noise for good measure), as is her snapping when she sees Banana Joe failing to abide by dress code.

Honestly, everything about “The Joy” is a delight, and even if there’s not a lot for me to say, it’s a testament to what Gumball is capable of. That it can take what otherwise seems like a throwaway character like Miss Simian and construct an entire episode around her is impressive; turning it into something as grandiose as “The Joy,” though, is insane, and that’s how confident the writers are in their own visions. And why shouldn’t they be? “The Joy” is practically a one-joke premise, but they turned it into a gripping narrative, all from a show whose first episode involved two characters trying to return a DVD. 

Best Moment: The moment that Gumball and Darwin’s heartbeat flatlines, then turns into a rainbow that turns their pulse into a little chiptune, was fantastic; it was the moment that the narrative shifts, turning into not just another episode where Ms. Simian is acting crazy (“The Apology”), but an episode where she’s the only person in the right.

33. S04E30 - “The Bus” (6/09/16)

What Happens?: Richard, Principal Brown, Harold, and Dexter try to teach the kids a lesson for trying to skip school.

Why Is It on the List Here?: “The Bus” is a really interesting episode because it has two radically different halves that work together to make an all-around fantastic experience. The first half is the most comedic, with Richard, Principal Brown, and co. staging a takeover of Rocky’s school bus when the kids try to skip class in hopes of teaching them some sort of far-fetched lesson. It’s about as convincing as you’d expect, though delightfully, nobody aside from Gumball is able to see through their facade, even considering that they fumble all of their lines and with Mr. Brown not even changing his name. The fact that they’re pulling off what seems like an increasingly real heist is an unexpected turn, but the show expertly shows what’s going on from their perspective; they’re shocked that the police are treating their hostage situation as an actual crisis.

That lays the groundwork for one of the series’ biggest episode twists, with the whole operation having been spearheaded by Rob. It’s a great notch under his belt and the first episode that demonstrates that he’s capable of being an actual threat, turning the once-comedic “The Bus” into something of an action movie. Gumball, of course, gets to save the day in the end, if not through lucky circumstances, but Rob gets to establish his malicious tendencies here better than ever, and it’s a great way to prepare for his greatest plan only a few episodes away.

“The Bus” manages to strike the balance between a more conventional episode of the show and a more intense narrative, and I think that really enhances how approachable and easy to appreciate it is. Whereas some of the show’s more dramatic, revered entries can be difficult to revisit (in my opinion), there’s something welcoming about “The Bus” and its mix of silliness and seriousness that always pays off.

Best Moment: Mr. Brown is hilarious here, delivering a perfectly cheesy line—“My tragic story starts on the right side of the tracks, but boy, it sure doesn't stay there.”—that Gumball immediately cuts off, and his disappointment is palpable.

32. S03E35 - “The Countdown” (2/26/15)

What Happens?: Gumball and Darwin race against the clock to get to class on-time when they wake up late. 

Why Is It on the List Here?: Every show’s done an episode that involves people trying to rush somewhere and episodes with time travel, but combining those two ideas together into one really puts “The Countdown” leagues ahead, becoming yet another episode to keep up Season 3’s meta streak.

It’s not just that the episode is intensely meta, either; everything else about “The Countdown” is brilliantly written, especially the interplay between Gumball and Darwin. While the eponymous countdown clock hovering over them is the episode’s greatest innovation, it’s still deeply rooted in watching the Watterson boys try to find the quickest way to get to class, a trip that ultimately ends with them going from the public bus to a dump site in the desert in a matter of only a few seconds. (That Gumball calls out the time discrepancy, only for the clock to shred off a minute, is a great touch.) Shortly afterwards, “The Countdown” reaches an abrupt halt when Gumball slams into the TV screen and breaks the timer, effectively freezing time, a terrifying predicament that they quickly interpret as an excuse to run around town and screw with everyone and everything in their path.

It’s all fun and games until they decide that they have to restart the clock, kick-starting the episode’s coolest segment: Gumball and Darwin messing with the countdown to try to reset everything. Gumball takes that as an excuse just to throw out as many alternate timeline jokes as possible, from Gumball and Darwin interfering with evolution to somehow landing in a universe where the Nazis win and Germans take over Elmore, and it’s a rapid-fire approach that scores some of the episode’s biggest laughs. In the spirit of the show, too, the ending isn’t ideal—Gumball and Darwin land in a world where everyone blinks vertically—but it’s good enough.

“The Countdown” is, simply put, an intensely-likable, clever episode that never takes its premise as an excuse to not try, turning some fun with time and time travel into a fantastic adventure with great character work from Gumball and Darwin. Other shows should take notes.

Best Moment: The countdown compensating for its time-keeping errors after Gumball points them out.

31/30. S04E20 / S04E21 - “The Origins” (2/15/16)

What Happens?: A young cat gets a new pet fish.

Why Is It on the List Here?: An origin story was sort of inevitable from a show like Gumball, with Darwin’s legs being something of a persistent curiosity, and in that regard, as well as a lot of other regards, “The Origins” delivers. This is a really nice, legitimately touching opportunity for the show to look into its characters’ pasts, wringing some fun out of its early 2000’s feel and the idea of seeing the cast of the show at a younger age.

Unsurprisingly, Gumball is as hyperactive and erratic as always, though driven here by youthful naivete. It’s great seeing how he handles all of the series’ curveballs without the level of casual experience Gumball usually has, like having the cinematography trying to coax him into making a dramatic realization for a solid 20 seconds; it gives him more of a unique charm than just being a smaller, wisecracking version of his twelve year-old self.

Darwin, though, gets the most development in every way, starting out as a strangely charismatic fish that Richard buys from the Awesome Store and ending up, through the power of his connection to Gumball’s heart, with lungs, legs, and determination. His accompanying journey, too, is nothing short of a delight, granting both him and Gumball an ample amount of time to really develop and register. (Bless double-length episodes, right?) The show could’ve just said “He has legs because” and been done with it, but having his powers come directly from Gumball and Darwin’s mutual care in one another is a really inspired, adorable touch. 

That’s, honestly, the best way to describe “The Origins”: it’s inspired, and adorable, with some fantastic humor and an astounding level of emotional depth that would remain, for quite a while, unparalleled. This one’s special.

Best Moment: Although completely (albeit deliberately) unrelated to the entire episode, the “Previously on The Amazing World of Gumball” gag, which just shows a series of dramatic clips from the past three seasons, was inspired.

29. S04E06 - “The Check” (8/31/15)

What Happens?: Gumball, Darwin, and Anais try to figure out what to do with a $5000 check from Louie. 

Why Is It on the List Here?: Hot off the heels of “The Signature,” “The Check” dives straight into Louie’s place in the family, and while he plays a small role here, it’s still crucial to the plot, presenting the kids with a check as a present to do with as they please. From there, the episode gets to play around with the ingenious idea of seeing how each kid would imagine using the money, allowing Gumball to pull off some intricate character portraits while being fun as hell.

Darwin, for instance, imagines creating a charity out of the goodness of his heart, though it backfires hilariously as the corporation becomes unequivocally corrupt. (Its name, when turned into an acronym, is straight-up C.O.R.R.U.P.T., one of the episode’s best visual gags.) Anais’ idea similarly falls apart, using the check to eventually gather all the money in the world, which she’d then destroy to create a Marxist utopia and return to nature… which ends in nature taking over. Gumball, lastly, gets to show off his generally ill-conceived idea of how the world works, using the money to buy a suit and put out a video which ultimately leads to him becoming president of the United States, unleashing a robot apocalypse, and blowing up the universe. 

Every segment is so true to each of the characters while enabling the show to just go as crazy as it wants in its self-containment, and each of those scenes are among my favorite in the entire series. “The Check” even manages to find a way to keep the momentum going afterwards, bringing the whole family together for an imaginary car chase. It’s a really strange idea for the show to use, but the jokes that their premise brings about are fantastic.

These sorts of episodes are always dangerous territory for the show, which has a tendency to use them as an excuse to just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks, but “The Check” is uniformly fantastic, and one of those episodes that I’ll always be happy going back to.

Best Moment: Gumball’s trump card is playing music using his hands (which is called manualism, by the way. Thanks, Wikipedia!), which works because everyone finds it endearing… but the best part is a brief cutaway to a sheep who announces that he’ll vote because everyone else is. You’re very on-the-nose there, guys.

28. S02E10 - “The Treasure” (10/25/12) 

What Happens?: Gumball, Darwin, and Anais set out to find out why the Wattersons can never afford what they want and end up going on a quest to dig up their family’s biggest secret.

Why Is It on the List Here?: Nobody gives “The Treasure” enough love, and it’s a darn shame considering how strong and ambitious it is. It’s a straight-up adventure with a legitimate story it wants to tell all in the confines of 11 minutes, and it does so with complete ease, and unlike its precursors (“The Quest” and “The Mystery”), it never lets that ambition cramp on its style. For however sequential and eventful “The Treasure” is, there’s always room to breathe for some great moments, including a prerequisite hypnosis scene and some delightfully horrifying baby photos.

First of all, it manages to get all of the Watterson kids together in a really fun way, which we haven’t really seen to such a capacity before. Other episodes have had them transiently going in and out of Gumball’s stories, but Darwin and Anais are here to stay, both contributing on their own to enhance the narrative; Anais shines especially bright, getting the chance to take the lead, and she owns it. Rounding the episode’s cast off is Richard, who’s proven to become a far more respectable father figure than he was in Season 1. His attempts to dissuade the kids from investigating the family finances here come from a place of love and a fear that they would think less of him—it’s those quieter undertones in his development that helped him become so much more.

The subject matter, too, is great material that allows us to examine the family more in-depth. The Wattersons’ wealth and social class has come up quite a bit, and it’ll continue to come up in some of the show’s best entries, but “The Treasure” tackles it more head-on than ever, unveiling the family’s deepest secret to be Richard impulse-buying a star as a property investment for his children. It’s hilariously specific, but at the same time, it brings the family together in such an endearing way, the episode closing with them all staring at the star, likening it to a symbol of the Wattersons and their undying love...

Best Moment: ...at least until the star spontaneously flickers off forever. It’s such a stupid moment, but it’s metaphorically sound at the same time if you think about it: the Wattersons are never gonna be able to get everything right as a family, and they’re always a bit of a mess, but there’s nothing wrong with that. However you want to interpret it (or not interpret it entirely), it’s a perfect closer.

27. S06E04 - “The Vegging” (1/15/18)

What Happens?: Gumball and Darwin try their darndest to veg out on a day that demands they take action.

Why Is It on the List Here?: One of Season 6’s funniest episodes was also one of its first, with “The Vegging” being among Gumball’s funniest concoctions. It’s just an onslaught of some of the show’s most well-realized bits strung together under one plot by throwing Gumball and Darwin directly in front of one action-packed situation after another, all met with the same response: annoyance, and ultimately a pursuit of apathy-fueled workarounds. 

There’s no greater thesis statement to the episode than one of its first scenes, with Gumball and Darwin repeatedly tuning things out with their brains. It starts out simply enough, tuning out a ringing phone, but it quickly evolves into meteor strikes, alien invasions, and the post-apocalypse. It’s, for my money, one of the greatest bits that the show’s ever done, finding the perfect means of escalating a simple bit, and hilariously enough, everything that happens in the sequence could’ve made up the most epic, dramatic Gumball episode ever. But nope, tune it all out—today is not the day, and no amount of surprisingly-sympathetic horror movie creatures, burrito deliveries, or magical Japanese men in schoolgirl uniforms is gonna change that.

Eventually, though, the episode steps up its game for its climax, with Gumball and Darwin having to save Anais and their parents who, for some reason, are dangling off of that one unfinished bridge overpass in town. Being “The Vegging,” though, it’s more an effort on Gumball and Darwin’s part to save the day while doing as minimal effort as possible, and it’s such a hilarious twist on the formula that it just lands perfectly: if the world is really forcing them to do something, they’re at least doing it their way, and it’s the most brilliantly inefficient way possible. There’s not a single aspect of the episode that doesn’t own itself, and it’s just a joy to behold. 

Best Moment: The tuning-out sequence, obviously.

26. S04E24 - “The Signal” (4/28/16)

What Happens?: Gumball struggles through a series of strange glitches that strains his relationship with Darwin.

Why Is It on the List Here?: “The Signal” uses one of the most risky fourth-wall breaks the series could attempt to do, having Gumball’s speech inconveniently be interrupted by technical glitches repeatedly, but Gumball manages to keep the joke more funny than irritating, and it’s no small wonder that they did. Aside from the obvious fact that this episode has a really cool premise, there’s so many ways it could’ve ended up becoming incredibly grating, but there’s enough going on here outside of its conceptual nature that helps move everything along.

Perhaps most importantly, it’s just fun to see the argument that Gumball and Darwin get themselves into, and even more fun to see how much Gumball, by virtue of the glitches, digs his own grave in attempting to win Darwin back over. For all of the more obvious visual gags, there’s a nice layer of sincerity in Gumball’s attempts to rectify their relationship, even managing to squeeze in a great, almost entirely glitchless sequence where Gumball tries to write Darwin a letter, all while Darwin gets to turn the tables of their dynamic in his irritation with the poor guy. 

“The Signal,” though, will always be remembered for its insane climax, where after the two brothers finally make amends, they both become victims of the signal break’s powers, going on a driverless joyride across town and beyond, transitioning all over the place with every glitch. It’s nothing short of a visual delight, and one of the most memorable sequences that Gumball’s ever pulled off; that’s no small feat, but “The Signal” is that sort of all-in affair that makes the show feel like must-see television, even though there were never nearly enough eyes on it. 

Best Moment: For all of the visual insanity, I still love the grounded nature of that scene where Gumball can’t decide how to write a letter to Darwin.

25. S02E35 - “The Tape” (10/15/13) 

What Happens?: Gumball and Darwin make a television show within their own show.

Why Is It on the List Here?: “The Tape” is a classic episode, and if anyone is confused about why it’s ranked this high up, their taste is almost as questionable as mine is. 

This is the first episode of a kind that Gumball would do more and more frequently overtime: the humble vignette episode, or skit/sketch episode, or whatever you want to call them. Basically, “The Tape” is made up of several small scenes, all bound thematically by the idea that they’re different TV shows built around some silly premise or character. Some are completely fictional, like Gumball and Darwin’s Ninja George series, where the two play a legendary ninja taken out of retirement and a double-crossing colonel; others are painfully real, like Tobias’ attempt to look cool on-camera becoming a series of romantic foibles and botched pick-up lines. 

A large amount of them, though, are little home videos. Perhaps one of the better bits (in a near-perfect set) is them filming Ocho and discovering that he uses cheat codes in real life; after Gumball attempts to do the same, though, he glitches out drastically. There’s also several segments of Gumball and Darwin trying to make compelling television—Gumball subscribes to Bumfights laws of reason of getting attention through violence or, he eventually admits, cuteness, while Darwin has a taste for the avant-garde, which quickly spirals into conspiracy theory territory.

Oh, and there’s also a commercial break, featuring products nobody would ever want! It’s the perfect little intermission for the show to make without breaking up the steady pace of each sketch, most notably featuring Anais as Baby Anais, a baby doll, and after a bit of retconning, the ever-infamous Anai-hilator.

At the time, “The Tape” was a revelation, and to this day, it stands as a celebration of everything that the series had accomplished up to that point in the show, getting to flex its stellar supporting cast and show off as many silly ideas as it can contain. It’s silly, colorful, and occasionally campy, but unequivocally Gumball.

Best Moment: Every sketch works, so in spite of going in detail about certain ones (though my top picks are the episode’s intro credits, Tobias striking out, and Baby Anais/the Anai-hilator), I’ll just list some of the most quotable parts of the episode: “Let's get some muscles and score some girls.. From… like... Brussels!... or..something.”; “IT’S THE ANAI-HILATORRRRR!”; “CUTE COMBO ATTACK!”; “AHHH! COLONEL! IT WAS YOUU ALL ALONG?!” End quote.

For the last part of this list, from 74-50, CLICK HERE.

For more in-depth reviews of episodes starting with Season 5, you can read all of my previous reviews HERE. 

For updates whenever I post anything, follow me on Twitter @Matt_a_la_mode.

Stay tuned for Christmas.