Final Space Review: The Lost Spy

"Why must you damage property every time I accidentally poison a step-mother?"

Hot off of the most intense episode of the series, it would be unfair to judge "The Lost Spy" too harshly for being a far more low-key affair. A cool-down episode was necessary, offering Final Space a chance to reflect on its previous events and return to form, which it largely succeeds at, but sadly, I don't think it's anywhere near the series at its finest. For all the good things it manages to accomplish, it can be frustrating in equal amounts.

A lot of that comes down to how "The Lost Spy" allocates its time. There's three different plots going on: Gary tries to find Lil Cato, who has left the Crimson Light following the events of last episode, Clarence attempts to pull off another con with the help of Ash and Fox, and last but certainly not least, Todd captures Sheryl in an attempt to track down Gary. If you're thinking that two of those three are going to make up the meat of the episode, you're wrong—while Gary and Sheryl's arcs are far heavier, a surprising amount of time is invested in Clarence's scheme, and it seriously throws "The Lost Spy" off its balance.

A Definitive Ranking of Every Episode of The Amazing World of Gumball, Part III: 179-150

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

Final Space Review: The Closer You Get

"You shouldn't have come here. I tried to warn you."

Alright, Final Space, damn.

When I was writing my last review, I was very torn about whether or not I should simply scrap what I had and make a double-feature review for it and "The Closer You Get"; it's billed as a two-parter, after all. But I decided to simply put my thoughts down there to encapsulate that moment in time, and I stressed heavily that its merit rested largely on this. "The Remembered" had a lot to justify in my mind, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I'm an idiot for underestimating Final Space.

Spoiler warning! Like, seriously, this is a monumental episode and I don't want this ruined for you. Alright.

A Definitive Ranking of Every Episode of The Amazing World of Gumball, Part II: 209-180

This is Part II of my definitive ranking of every episode of The Amazing World of Gumball. For Part I, and an explanation of what any of this is, CLICK HERE.

A Definitive Ranking of Every Episode of The Amazing World of Gumball, Part I: The Introduction + 240-210

Yes. I did it. I ranked all 240 episodes of The Amazing World of Gumball, from May 3rd, 2011 to June 24th, 2019.

(IF YOU WANT TO SKIP TO THE START OF THE LIST, SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE!)

I expect this to be sent to every person you know with the caption, "The fucking madman actually did it," regardless of if they know who I am, or if they've seen the show, or if they respond with "We haven't talked in a year, and I feel like we've been further apart than we used to, yet however much that initially hurt me, however much I had to step away from everything and learn to grow on my own... I'd like to keep it that way. Please delete my number." This is important.

Enough of the dramatics, though. I've been a fan of Gumball for several years now, and it's a very important, personal show to me. Since 2016, I've been writing about the series, episode to episode, meeting like-minded people and discovering things about myself. It's taught me almost everything I know about comedy; it even set forth my career trajectory and my aspirations of becoming a comedy writer, which I can only really liken to an enthusiastic but moderately-flammable ship. Basically, it's no understatement to say that a lot of my life decisions are indebted to the show.

With that all said, I decided that the best way to reaffirm my love for the show was this... I don't know either. But I wrote it! Since January, I've rewatched the entire series and carefully assembled my definitive ranking of every single episode of the show, from worst to best. But before we get started, here's a few things to keep in mind:

Final Space Review: The Remembered

"This is so serious."

Well, I feel like some parts of my last review didn't age too well. I knew that something particularly shocking was coming up, and the fact that Olan considers "The Remembered" to be the first piece of a two-parter means that we're only halfway across the journey... but what an interesting ride. (Massive spoilers here, by the way, So keep that in mind, and watch the episode before reading this if you haven't already.)

Final Space Review: The First Times They Met

"Here. It. Comes."

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There's been a fair amount of hype surrounding this episode; after all, it's a network favorite, and an episode that Olan himself has sung his praises of in as vague a way as one can manage. It's always hard to predict what could come next from Final Space, a show always ready to nail you with a curveball without a moment's notice, and "The First Times They Met" does exactly that, allocating half of its time to one of the series' silliest subplots yet and the other half to one of its most intimate narratives yet, a delightful and heart-breaking showcase for Nightfall.

Season 2 has been a mixed bag in regards to its subplots, but this episode manages to find a great sweet spot between adrenaline-packed drama and lovable insanity in the form of a K.V.N. uprising. Apparently, Clarence, being the unscrupulous businessman he is, bought a surplus of K.V.N.s on discount because they had a derangement virus, and deeming them collector's items, locked them in the Crimson Light for decades, and once our K.V.N. breaks them out, they all conspire to murder Clarence and take over the ship. It's a hay-wire idea that turns its portion of the episode into a thriller of ungodly proportions.