Review: The Amazing World of Gumball ‘The World’

Spoilers Below

When you have an episode titled ‘The World’, there are a lot of possible plots that come to mind, right? Well, I wouldn’t have predicted this one in a million years.

You see, I decided to try a new method for writing these reviews. Seeing as I never watch these episodes as they air, the plan was to watch half of the episode, and then type up a quick summary of what I’d seen so far. Then, I was going to watch the second half and, again, whip up a quick summary. Those summaries would become a fleshed out first draft, the first draft would become a final draft, and – in the end – I’d slap a score on there for all of you. It sounds like a solid plan, right? Well, it didn’t really work out as I expected. At the eight minute mark, all I’d seen was a bunch of different scenes involving all of the inanimate objects in Gumball’s amazing world. I guess the fact that they can all talk is how the show got its name.

This wasn’t an episode about Gumball, Darwin, Anais, Mom, Dad, Hector, Banana Joe, or any of the other main characters. This episode was all about all of the things that make up the world. It was about the mailbox, the table, the fish, the video game characters, the light switch, the light bulb, the computer cables, the bicycle seat, the food, the germs, the writing utensils, and all of the things that Gumball and company encounter on a daily basis. It was an episode about their trials, tribulations, failures, triumphs, strengths, weaknesses, and dreams. There wasn’t necessarily a plot, besides a soda can’s revenge against Darwin, but there was a lesson to be learned. Don’t take the world, and all of the things in it, for granted.

As I watched the episode, I was completely and utterly confused. Don’t get me wrong, I was amused throughout, but I was waiting for something to happen. I had no idea that the something I was waiting for was already happening. There were a lot of funny scenes here, and I’m sure the writers and animators had a blast coming up with all of these characters and their micro-plots. I think a big test for cartoons like The Amazing World of Gumball, Regular Show, Uncle Grandpa, and the like is to come up with an episode that fans will want to watch again and again, and I think they aced that test with this one. It was a clever episode with plenty of .gif-able scenes that kept me snickering, smirking, and shaking my head, and for that it gets: