- [Alpha] Hey Ho, what is up everyone? It is the Alpha Jay of the Alpha Jay Show, and today we're gonna be talking about The Amazing World of Gumball. I think the last time I talked
about an episode in hole was my first Versus which
came out over two years ago, time has passed. I've been very critical
of season five of Gumball a lot in my public discord. I think not a lot of time is spent on the comedy and it's more
about making it more meta, more deep, more focused, on things outside of the core values that made Gumball work. And while this works for
episodes like The Choices, it doesn't really strike gold
in episodes such as The Ex. However with this added layer of layer, the episode The Matchmaker
has been created, given that this is not the first time the the show has made an episode
about two people in love, The Matchmaker is a lot
more surprising than The Shell in that regard. You see anybody who watched Gumball, knows that the roots for Gumball and Penny were planted
quite early and quite heavy. Darwin on the other hand
has had seeds planted for Tobias's sister Rachel, Masami, Jamie and Carrie, so he was much more of a
wildcard in that regard. Ever since Halloween, the episode where Carrie and Darwin had an out of nowhere kiss, the question has always been tossed up, Why, why has he always wanted to do that, are the writers ever
going to expand on that? They did, they really did hear. Now I know I'm giving a lot of praise to The Matchmaker early on, I know that The Shell is a
great episode in its own regard, but my point is The
Shell was a good episode, The Matchmaker was a good surprise. So let's go into both episodes
so I can show you why. Now since The Shell came out first, I'm gonna start off with that. (techno music) Before I begin I want to
shout out these comments here, I've been getting a lot
of good comments recently, and a lot of people have been contributing to the conversation in
a very productive way, so let's get into it, this episode starts off with a play that Gumball exaggerates his role in. We see that multiple families
came out to see the show, however the episode clearly shows the two main families that
we will be focusing on. Darwin has stage fright, which for a fish I totally understand, and we do get a few jokes along the way. Richard does this running
gag where he explains the obvious for comedic effect, or non-comedic comedic effect, comedy is weird. Penny improvises and decides to kiss onstage in front of her family, his family, many other families, just people of Elmore in general. - Is this really happening, there was no kissing in rehearsals? - I kind of improvised. - Then how come we're not exploding, we're in space, why are we always in
space when you gonna kiss? - [Alpha] There was always an
element of slight awareness in Gumball, I never really
understood the space aspect, but you won't hear me
complaining about it, he goes for a kiss and rams her head with enough power to get a
triple in Wii sports baseball, in fact the kiss between these two had been teased in episodes
back in season one, such as The Party, however of course you don't
immediately give it away Gumball and Penny have a real
chance of being together, you tease it, and this could clearly
have been another tease, now Gumball is showing tons of remorse, crying in a somewhat jarring melted face, now I hope this is simple to spot, Gumball being in remorse, while Penny is treating
the situation lightly and forgiving him is what makes
Gumball and Penny likable, reversing the reactions, you can clearly see that
if Penny was crying, and Gumball was treating
the situation lightly, then the scene would have had
a dramatic change in tone, and Gumball would most
likely look unlikable, and that how Choirboys fails, that's Petsitter Pat fails, this is how The Sweater fails so we see a crack in Penny's shell, which shows a snippet of what's inside, now I've heard some people
think that there was a deer or doe inside of her shell, and to that I say
broaden your imagination, this is Elmore we're talking about, The Amazing World of Gumball, this stuff in Elmore isn't
always what it appears to be, Gumball asks what is in The Shell, and of course we don't know, at least not yet. So Penny wants home
with Gumball and Darwin, I guess when you get hit in the face your parents don't drive you home, at night we get more poking game we get more prodding at what's inside The Shell, Penny says it's the real her. What that means we'll find out later. They do argument warm-ups, which of course looks
like another way when her father opens the door, I know there's another
element and another layer in this episode, but I won't be discussing it here, let's just say that it's out of my range. But let's not slow down and
let's move into The Matchmaker, so before I go into this episode, I want to point out two things, number one, the opening title cards music. (gentle harp music) The harp being the choice of Cupid, Cupid being love, setting up the inherent problem
and theme of the episode, number two this opening scene, originally I was gonna plan to go over this scene as something not important, but then I thought to myself, why would an open window be
chosen for the beginning scene, why not just go into
this scene with Darwin and the computer? Well I decided to take a shot at this. Ever since the episode Halloween, we saw Darwin and Carrie share a kiss, but after that nothing more, with each and every episode
with Carrie and Darwin were in the same frame, nothing was shown, nothing was shared, heck, nothing was even implied, it left a question, what the heck was that scene
in Halloween all about? And this is the open window, because that question
has never been answered, the question is the open window, and in this episode it will be shut. Then we get this song, which I wish I could play in its entirety, but fair use, and you can find it on YouTube, I'll let someone else deal with that, Darwin has the pipes in order to give this over-the-top sad song, or is it the right amount, I don't know, but it's perfect, the chorus is always what gets me anyway. (heavy rock music) ♪ Without you ♪ ♪ I can't breathe ♪ ♪ Without you ♪ ♪ I can't breathe ♪ - Why have you stopped
playing that wonderful music? - [Alpha] The fact that the 3-D
water element fits perfectly with the fact that Darwin is a fish, and is also crying, makes this scene just spectacular, the fact that the chorus
actually perfectly contradicts the fact that he's submerged in water, something he can live without and breathe, just wow. Also there is black
make-up which also adds to the over-the-top nature, anyway moving past that incredible song, so Gumball interrupts this song, that monster, and of course Darwin doesn't want to spill the beans to Gumball, before we get a reference
I'm pretty sure you know, we then get a scene with Gumball going on one of his signature tangents, however this time it's a lot
more bleak and depressing, which unfortunately lingers
its realistic leaked tail around this season, Gumball reveals to carry that
Darwin is in love with Teri, but doesn't know how to explain it. - I know weird right, I thought he was into you, but no it's definitely Teri, there's photographic evidence
if you want to see it, look, look, it's Teri, look at it, can you see? Look,, look, look, look, look. - [Alpha] Hey, I thought
my brother was into you, so did you, but he's not, he's not into you, he
doesn't like you Carrie, don't you feel rejected, want to die, guess what you can't, you're a ghost, my brother doesn't like you, my brother doesn't-- - Can kids buy potions? - What do you mean? - You know some kind of love potion that tricks you into thinking
everyone is beautiful? - That sounds more like a mistake potion, and it we need a fake ID to buy one. - [Alpha] Wow that went right
past the censors didn't? Alright if it's fine with
them is fine with me. Anyway Gumball does want to help out his brother when it comes
to this new-found love, we'll talk more about this
after going back to The Shell. As we come back over to The Shell, we get this. - What's going on here? Penny where were you we were worried sick? - [Alpha] Oh I don't know
maybe she was at school, it might have helped to
drive her home you nutcase, also if you were worried sick, why didn't you go I don't know looking for her instead of waiting at your front door, so Penny shows her father
to Scar and of course he reacts in a way that is very shocked, very angry, and very hostile, I mean that's his daughter, Gumball tries to stand up for Penny, probably only because of his curiosity, and wanting to be in the right, it leads to quite a lot of jokes, but also a convincing
argument that doesn't sacrifice too much wackiness
in order to achieve its desired effect. I like this scene here
were Gumball attempts to literally stand up to Patrick, Penny's father, with Darwin's help, but of course that doesn't
really work out well, we get this nice shot of
the family eating dinner, it almost looks like something out of a 3-D cartoon and probably is technically. - Nicole, Operation
Greener Grass has failed, the chain is compromised, we are losing calories, repeat we are losing calories. - [Alpha] Now Richard
is an interesting case, because in season ones The Party, another episode showing Gumball and Penny, at the end he appears to
know about Gumball and Penny, but just stays there, unlike Nicole in The Meddler, Richard is very laid-back
and really helps his case, but he actually is shown helping
in episodes like The Date, where an entire segment of the episode is dedicated to Gumball and Richard. Here Richard is only
shown to be a bystander, either doesn't know or doesn't
care about his son's love, so if we are counting continuity, we must count that against Richard. He ends up crying to
himself while Penny enters the house through a ladder, I guess we're not supposed to think about how all this works. - I came to, have you been crying? - No, I just have really sweaty ice, wait that's disgusting, yeah I was crying. - [Alpha] I really do want
to emphasize that this is not a soppy love story, this does have a healthy dose of comedy, so Gumball convinces Penny
to break out of her shell, and this actually does end up working, also because her parents
aren't naive and stupid, alright, not as naive and stupid as usual, they also know what's going on, everything about this
particular scene works, the lighting was very
good and every word used was necessary, this is your classic
misunderstanding plot mind you, because as soon as Penny
breaks out of her shell, Gumball cannot immediately
put into words how he feels, which ends up with Penny
assuming that this means that her coming out of The
Shell wasn't the best idea. Now I believe this was a
great move by the staff, because Gumball is not exactly Romeo, but at the same time you don't
want to water down this idea, so you don't focus on the
fact that Gumball is unlucky, you don't focus on the fact
that Gumball is arrogant, you don't focus on the fact
that Gumball can be annoying, you focus on the fact
that Gumball is a kid, and a kid who doesn't
know too much about what he's diving into. Penny on the other hand runs away, and Gumball finally finds the words, Richard does that running
gag I mentioned earlier, and let's switch over to The Matchmaker, so Gumball decides to use
a life-and-death situation to somewhat forge this maybe crush, Carrie on the other hand
out of jealousy wants to ruin Gumball's efforts. In the episode The Flower, we actually saw the jealousy can manifest itself inside anyone, including Carrie, I wonder why they didn't
reference it here, Gumball decides to tell Darwin that he should expose himself, and by expose himself,
he means being honest and sharing secrets to
show his insecurities. Now it's a really important
that Carrie is next to Teri for this to work, he goes over saying a lot of things, and blushing, I don't want to forget to mention this, but this episode has a lot of blushing, the show on the other hand not too much, if at all, then again in The Party,
Gumball turned fully red when his dad implied that
he knew about everything, he walks in kind of funny, and we see that although Teri thinks the situation was weird, Carrie is actually not
taking the news the best, and honestly can you blame her? In fact in the next scene, they address just that. - We secretly marry them online and hope that Teri's love will grow over time. - Great plan. - Thank you. - If C stands for seriously stupid. - That's not how you spell serious, so that doesn't even work, and we're not a plan as yet so, that starts with an S. - [Alpha] It's something about
this scene that's missing that early Gumball charm, I'm not too sure what it is, but I feel like if the told
the same joke in the style of an earlier episode it
would have hit home better, but anyway Carrie is
disappointed in herself because she has a morality in this episodes, and some episodes she does, and some episodes she doesn't, but she's a kid, and I think that's not the
worst thing in the world to be a wildcard, she is disappointed in herself
for obstructing true love, she wouldn't want someone
else to do that to her if she was in Teri's position, Gumball drops the act
that he had throughout a lot of this episode, and actually shows care
for this situation, this scene is like the
arguing seen in The Shell where it's really integral to the story, I really do enjoy the care they're putting into giving each character motivation, it really does make me
engrossed in the story, and wanting me to see more. Carrie shows that she actually does have a way to make them fall in love, glad to know that she had this
information this entire time, the way it's made is very symbolic, a part of him a part of her
in terms of Darwin and Teri, and a tear of someone who loves him, wow, did that pot of potion
make so that the woman has to cry for the man, this potion was created
by a man wasn't it? - What are you doing? - Well I thought it would be more romantic than putting it in their drinks
when they're not looking. - [Alpha] Wow first ectasy, now roofies, what's next, Viagra? That's pretty hard to do. So we get a few funny jokes, funnier than mine at least, and we learn something integral. - Oh that's not a photo of Teri, it's of Carrie, but she doesn't show up on film. - What? - Yeah she used to be
the girl of my dreams. - [Alpha] Yeah that was never
Teri in the first place, great twist, I know in this review it's been spoiled since the introduction, but watching this for the first time, this could really have
taken you by surprise, I mean Darwin and Teri, that could have been
girl number five for him, it's like the twist. Now let's go back over to
The Shell and finish it off. Coming back over to The Shell, we are in the final stretch, Gumball decides to chase after Penny, she turns into the emotion
she feels like whether it's embarrassment or anger
or anything in between really, Gumball gets another chance, but is out of breath, Penny takes out her
newly found frustrations out on this car, Jackie, this female here, tells Harold to do
something which is weird, he was never depicted to be brave, and I would think that she knows this, she pretty much insults Penny, but she won't be the only one, her own father comes into the picture, oh wow, so you do have a car, nice to know you have one. Next time you're worried sick
about your daughter at night, you might want to use it. But of course like Jackie he
does nothing but insults Penny, who in all fairness doesn't look her best, but that's only because
of her current emotion at the moment. Gumball does Stand up to Patrick again, but in a more serious way, and he takes it quite
well for a child scolding an adult for how he
parents his own daughter, but everything he says is right, despite it being uncomfortably brief, his intentions are also right, but I assume you know
that and that's obvious. Now the following is probably one of my favorite sequences of the series, I don't want to spoil too much of it, but I'm sure everyone here
probably want me to talk about, (knocking) is it pornography or is
it an orange being peeled for lack of a better word? Well liked my pizza baby scenes like this, this all depends on your
mainframe about the subject, I'm sure both answers
are technically correct, they get to a point where Gumball becomes a ball of weight on Penny, and she really can't fly up, so Gumball really has to
make her small by making her feel small and
insignificant in the process, Gumball manages to not get killed, but Penny goes into the forest where she believes she belongs, her dad tells Gumball to go get her, because if he went to
get her, He'd drive home, wait at the front door, waiting for her for her to come back, and I'm not letting that go. Also ha ha the bug's an exterminator, insert crappy Nickelodeon live action, Dan Snyder laugh track here, Gumball goes looking for Penny, and I have to give the
sound design huge props, it's well due. - You know I was trying
to protect you back there. - Yes I know. - And you know why? - Yes I know why, but just look at me, what would you think
when people laugh at us? - No offense but you kind of look like a big coconut with holes in it before. - [Alpha] It does its job by
keeping it in the background, but if you listen to it
throughout this entire show, it's been one of the kind, and truly elevates this
episode to new heights. Penny shows more for insecurity, which in other episodes was much more of a Gumball thing to do, whether insecurity or ignorance, Gumball quite often didn't
sync with Penny until now, I do like how it took Penny
coming out of her shell, for Gumball to actually have the guts to come out of his shell metaphorically, I like how Gumball handles
the situation perfectly, I'm also going to contradict a tiny bit, but I also like how the writers drop the comedy from the beginning to the end, in the beginning we get a lot of comedy, there's a lot of jokes being thrown, and we get less and less
as the story progresses, until the end, and here towards the
end we get less comedy but the story really
wouldn't benefit from it and it's not as important, all of this is the true essence
of why the amazing world of Gumball is one of my
favorite series of all time. - But do you really think
you could love this? - That's not what you are, it's just how you feel, and this is how I feel. (romantic music) - [Alpha] I can't do it justice, everything from the space
element coming back, to suddenly having the
blessings of both families, the showing all the other
emotions in this metaphoric rush of different emotions, everything about this has
been done masterfully, the only pick I have is
not towards the scene, but Richard, like I said, it doesn't
really do too much, except play the role of
explaining the obvious. I think the writers
should have put more faith in the audience by not having
a slightly comedic ending, we get that two main characters kiss, I know this is not a comedic ending, but nonetheless this is The Shell, a wonder full episode, Now let's go back over to The Matchmaker, we have Gumball call
Carrie in a way that she was called in a previous episode, which then brings the question of how come that continuity is brought
over but not many other things, Gumball let's Carrie know that
Darwin was really into her, not Teri, and that love potion was
never really meant to be, this is explained by how Carrie
never shows up in photos, that same photo Gumball jammed
into Carrie's face earlier if she only looked, and looked closely, maybe all this would have been solved, as you can see this is also
a misunderstanding plot, so they go into montages
to break the potion, apparently this potion can't
be broken with another potion. Good thing Gumball had
good luck in this episode, or this would have been a lot darker. So they try marriage and cheating, and whatever they can think of to split the two magically bound lovebirds, and nothing works, because I think Carrie forgot that this is a magic spell, not a regular relationship, but since this episode
was already so good, I went ahead and passed this, they have a really, really funny joke with Richard before
Teri approaches Darwin, apparently she has kudos, which, okay. - Gumball, Gumball, Gumball, okay what's up with you guys? Penny, Sissy? Christmas? I've had enough. - [Alpha] He's also being with Jamie, and nearly kissed Masami, it's those little things
like that that really reward you of being a fan of the show, we get a shot of Darwin's teeth, but then Teri, surprise,
surprise, doesn't care, and we actually see the potion
through her perspective. It doesn't change her neural pathways so she's in love with Darwin
as if it was a natural thing, it actually shows Darwin in a
portrayal that she would want, I think that's also very
important to think about, because it shows that Teri is most likely not in love with Darwin, it also leads you to speculate
what Darwin could be seeing, for all we know Teri could be a ghost, Teri could have Emo hair, Teri could be Carrie. I fully stand by that, but no more stalling, time to show you what you've
all been patiently waiting for. (gentle music) - Hey so would you like to
go out somewhere sometime and do something? Or we could go somewhere else some time and do some other thing? - They both sound great. - [Alpha] And that's
why a lot of people love The Matchmaker, Darwin
and Carrie get their long, long, long, long, long,
long, awaited time together, although this is not for everyone, and it does seem like it
falls dangerously close to the fan service side of things, I do appreciate that the
show would take that risk, because a lot of fans like
myself do love this episode, if I may make a comparison, take a look at Mystery Girl, when Clarence and Bella met, they were very shy but
they hit it off great, I guess that's just my soft
spot for scenes like this, they cleverly save this scene for the end, which makes all of the
buildup so worth it, and unlike in The Shell, they do end on a joke here
but it isn't so invasive, both of these episodes are fantastic and deal with the concept of love in a way that can be entertained by
kids and people that are older, just like with guns, romance is a touchy subject for me, yes I would love more than that, but I'm also a 19-year-old, I'm sure my siblings couldn't care less, I'm sure Anime is a goldmine
for stuff like this, overall if I had to choose
it would be very hard, on the one hand The Shell
was a lot more comedic, and the comedy really hit home, the climax was very entertaining, showed better character dynamic, had funnier adult humor, and great visuals, but on the other hand The Matchmaker was a lot more deep, cut out unnecessary side characters, had a great opening,
and a fantastic closing, and I was waiting for
this for a long long time, so if I think I had to choose, I would go for The Matchmaker
but by a small sliver, only because of my Darwin and Carrie bias, but both episodes are
good in their own right, I really hope you enjoy
these double Versus, because my next big project
will be coming out very soon, let's just say it was long overdue. But tell me what you guys think of this in the comments below, do you like one episode but not the other, do you like both, do you like none, do you think it was too sappy, and also make sure to follow
me at the Alpha Jay Show, I have tons of interactive content, memes and channel updates, so you'll feel like a
part of the community. Also if you have enjoyed my discord, make sure to, a lot of it is just taking
about episodes like this, tons of my fellow reviewing buddies, are there as well. It's shows like Gumball
after all that made me want to review animation, it's shows like Gumball the give me a reason to watch animation still, so thank you for hearing
me out on the last Versus, and thank you for hearing me out on this, because now I want to go back
and retell my first review, going back to where it all began, and also make it less
of a chore to listen to, consider these next extra discussions my retake on said material, in a more condensed way. If you really like this video, I highly suggest my first Versus, which I'm glad got so much love, or or the playlist in general, binge away, make sure to subscribe and feel free to consider like Patreon. As always I hope your time was well spent, and Alpha out.
