The Amazing World of Gumball Review: The Rival

"I really wish mom didn't raise me so well, because this deserves a better cuss word than FIDDLESTIIIIICKS!"

Whether or not "The Rival" was the deliberate official start of Season 6 (disregarding "The Cage"), you can't say it doesn't kill as an opener. Taking the (I assume) long-awaited flashback to Anais' birth, instead of doubling down on sentimentality, the show feels like just another TAWOG episode, albeit with the timeframe realigned - and I say that in the best way possible. Don't get me wrong, episodes like "The Origins" and "The Choices" play our emotions like the greatest fiddler to ever fiddle, but "The Rival" doesn't relish in the moment, and it works all the better because of it.

After all, this is Anais we're talking about. Sweet, condescending, too-intelligent-for-her-own-good Anais. Using her in any way other than how the episode does, casting her as a devious scamp bent on performing heinous acts on her poor brothers, just wouldn't work.

The episode, above all else, serves to use Anais' infancy as a fun exercise in character interactions. Gumball and Darwin, while initially excited about having a new baby sister, find themselves instantly in a world of hurt when it doesn't quite pan out as they'd wish. From the moment they get kicked out of the car into a patch of wet concrete, it's pretty obvious that Anais isn't going to be the sister they want to play Knights & Princesses with. No, she's the sister that throws them on a highway for a game of hide-and-seek, frames them for ripping up her toys, and works out long-term plans to clog their arteries.

Try as they might to get her over to their side and address the situation sensibly, Anais isn't budging, and a few too many assassination attempts later, they decide the best course of action is to trap her in a box and leave her outside until she reconsiders her ways. (There is, however, their lapse in judgement in not realizing that Anais slipped out of the box at the start of their plan, but we'll get to that soon enough.) Their little plan, however, goes awry when the box gets thrown into a garbage truck and sent to the junkyard, putting the box and its implied contents in jeopardy.

Gumball and Darwin snap to it immediately (or at least individually while alternating passing out), unfolding the final act of the episode, with Gumball risking his own life to save his sister (but not really). The whole sequence is a spectacle in animation and writing; even with its brooding intensity, Gumball has just enough time to deliver all of the right quips and have all of the right revelations. (For instance, his near-death being squished isn't a near-death at all thanks to his being a 2D character; your fourth wall seems a bit wobbly, guys.) Thankfully, though, right as Gumball is on the verge of falling to a fiery death, Darwin swoops in and saves the day.

Oh yeah, and then they find out that Anais wasn't in the box and that their brief dance with death was a pointless affair, but when Anais sneaks up on them and very narrowly almost kills them again, they couldn't care less: she's safe, even if she ultimately rats them out in the end to Nicole and Richard.

There's only one issue with the episode, and it's not a massive one, though it frustratingly affects the viewing experience: us knowing that Anais was never trapped in the box throughout the final act frustratingly deflates a lot of the tension. Our suspension of disbelief is never utilized, and the result is that Gumball nearly gets himself killed trying to save his sister who's not even in any danger - not a great situation, by any means, and still intense, but it's all for naught. (It's also worth pointing out that on my first watch, because I was viciously taking notes, I missed that aspect entirely, and it actually benefited the episode greatly.)

Here's a quick solution. Instead of showing Anais slipping out of the box, simply show the boys walking off with it, leaving the audience unaware that she slipped out altogether. Then, in the final moments of the episode, have them lift up the box, causing the bottom to fall open, and have Gumball say, "Huh, the bottom of the box wasn't taped up. Which means..." Cue Anais.

But ultimately, I digress: it's a minor issue, after all, and it doesn't magically stop "The Rival" from being the well-crafted gem that it is.

Notes and Quotes:
-Happy New Years! I'll keep working as tirelessly as always.
-"You SAID you read the baby books this time!" "I did read them! But there was nothing about handling this level of stress in The Ugly Duckling!"
-"You're going rrright back to where you came from!"
-Anais rehearsing her cry before framing Gumball and Darwin was gold. Darwin's nearly-drowning-but-oh wait-not-actually-because-he's-a-fish and subsequent shrug is a close second.
-"Just because there's a new baby in the house doesn't mean I'll love you any less." "So you mean love multiplies?" "No, but I'll take the difference from your dad's portion and hope our marriage survives until it goes to college."
-Hello, general Gumball Discord server, tell me if I posted this on the wrong channel. Thx.

Final Grade: A-. What more is there to say? "The Rival" is sweet, silly, and everything you could possibly want under a deliciously fresh new coat of paint.* Sure, I might have had a slight issue, but that's not something to hold the rest of the episode against if it did everything else right, and by God, it nailed it.
*do not eat paint

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