Review: The Amazing World of Gumball ‘The Internet’
Spoilers Below
Just as you may have been doing before reading this, the episode opens up with Gumball and Darwin browsing through all sorts of videos on the Internet. They go from someone breaking a limb, to adorable puppies. Then, Gumball makes the unfortunate mistake of clicking on a ghost video that turns out to be one of the ones where a monster pops out of nowhere and scares the bejesus out of you. Those were always fun, especially when someone sent it to you as a very misleading link. When the monster appears and lets out its bloodcurdling scream, Gumball proceeds to have a full blown panic attack; with no shortage of hideous faces and shameful noises. When he finally calms down, he tries to play it off and nonchalantly move onto the next video, and he’s flabbergasted to see himself on the screen. It turns out that he accidentally opened up his webcam, captured his meltdown, and uploaded it onto the Internet. We’ve all been there, am I right? He desperately tries to delete it, but it continues to reproduce. Before he knows it, there are “more views than there are people on Earth.” He once again gets hysterical, which prompts Darwin to pacify him by turning the screen around.
Cut to the school library. Gumball says that he’s enjoying his time away from the Internet, and that he’s excited to dive into the classics of literature. I doubt that “The Little Platypus Who Took the Wrong Bus” is a classic, but it definitely sounds more enjoyable than the books I was assigned for summer reading. Darwin mentions that the reading took his mind off of the video, and Gumball says that no one has even mentioned it. He then realizes that none of their friends are even around. When they go to investigate, they find a crowd gathered around a computer watching viral videos of Gumball’s horrified reaction edited into a wide variety of clips. Tobias tries to make him see the bright side by telling him that he’s famous, but Gumball isn’t having it, and says he’s going to the Cyber Police.
The Cyber Policeman, a not-so-wise old floppy disk, tries his best to help. Unfortunately for Gumball, his computer knowledge is pretty sparse. As a matter of fact, this old fella gives obsolete a whole new meaning. Talk about a bust. Darwin then tries his approach, which is to upload his own video, a ukulele ballad, in hopes that he can convince the Internet to not be so mean. All this does is produce another mocking viral video.
Gumball has had enough, and it’s time to take action. After a Terminator reference, and a not-so-PG joke involving a high definition scan of Gumball’s undercarriage, he decides that he’s better off just looking up the Internet’s address. When he does, he discovers that it lives just three blocks from his house. What luck…if they’re actually right about the Internet being a living thing.
Just as they were about to set off on their mission to find the Internet, they get distracted by a video titled 100 Funny Animals in Hats, and then another one titled 100 Greatest Fails of All Time. If the Internet does in fact live three blocks away, then it’s doing a great job of distracting them. Another video pops up, but it’s Gumball’s original clip, to which he says “Big mistake, Internet. That was a re-post.” They’re finally able to break away from the computer, but the Internet, who is shown watching them on a monitor in a scene very reminiscent of Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, found a way to control the traffic lights. After overcoming a series of obstacles, they very easily make their way into the Internet’s room; interrupting his monologue about being able to be a jerk to anyone because he’s “behind a screen in the safety and comfort of his own home.” It turns out that the Internet’s mother, who voice is the old dial up connection when you’d connect to AOL, let them in because she was under the impression that they were his friends. He promptly reminds her that he has no friends.
Gumball demands that the Internet delete his video, or else he’ll pull his plug. Then, as Gumball counts down from five, the Internet desperately reminds him to think about all the benefits he has. He reminds him about the educational content, the freedom of speech, and, in a last-ditch-effort, the kittens. Just before Gumball pulls the plug, Darwin stops him and tells him that the Internet is right; he should think about it. They both look up at the ceiling and start daydreaming up images of adorable kittens for fifteen minutes. When they come to, they decide to spare the Internet’s life, and even thank him. Gumball and Darwin both embrace him, tell him he’s beautiful, and encourage him to be a little nicer, but the Internet remains stubborn and rudely yells “Get back! This is the Internet you’re talking to!” They both laugh, and then realize that he’s right.
This episode was chock full of incredibly accurate depictions of the Internet, the effect that it has on people, and its nature. To be completely honest, I never really thought much of The Amazing World of Gumball, but this episode opened my eyes. I’m glad to see that they have their fair share of inappropriate humor, or at least humor that would go over kids’ heads. I really enjoyed my first full episode of this show. It’s no Regular Show, but this episode gets a solid…
