“White Elephant Christmas Exchange”/ “Merry Christmas Mordecai”
C+ A-
Have yourselves a Merry Little Problem
Regular Show started out as this crude but still very funny series in its first season. Relying less on character development and more on visual humor for storytelling. Not bad but it was not the show that you had to tune it every week. Adventure Time was very similar in this format in the first season, just introducing characters and the world. When Cartoon Network ordered more seasons thats when these worlds got more developed and defined. These characters have grown and we want to see the journey they go through. “The White Elephant Christmas Exchange” seems more relevant of the previous seasons while “Merry Christmas Mordecai” is why I tune into this show every week.
The main problem I have with this first episode is the moral and humor seems a bit mean spirited even for this crowd. When the gang gets tired of crappy Muscle Man gifts on White Elephant Christmas Exchange they seek revenge on him. Buying the worst gifts possible to make Muscle Man feel the humiliation that he always sets on them. The plan backfires when a supposedly thoughtful gift is given by Mitch. A lecture by the white elephant himself makes them regret their actions but after the gift is not what it seems they unleash the terror upon him. What is funny about the episode is I am behind Muscle Man's actions but not the rest of the park employees. This is something that Muscle Man would do. He would totally take advantage of this holiday event and make people believe that he brought a heartfelt gift. I understand the park employees actions to want to get back him.
So why do I not love this episode? I think its because White Elephant logic does not work in the end, he summons them to temple to reflect on their actions but they let him open the gift anyway. Ending in a very violent prank and them laughing in happiness. It just seems so cruel! Not even Muscle Mans gifts never seems to physically hurt them to this extent. I also enjoy when the surreal moments of this show seems to metaphorically be an extension of character, but this seems like a blatant rip off of the big babies from the other seasons. Do not get me wrong I laughed several times in the episode but when I laughed at Muscle Man getting beaten mercilessly by the gifts I felt relatively bad about it. It is a far cry from what Regular Show has given us and seems to have pulled a White Elephant exchange on us. However, maybe this was to give us some black humor before laying on the quiet seriousness of the next one.
Episodes that drive into Mordecai's psyche our always my favorite and a treat to watch. My favorite episodes always involved his relationships with women or himself. His anxiety and insecureness of telling Margret how he feels, dealing with issues concerning his mother or confronting his own past on his artistic career are so fantastic because the surrealness and reality go hand in hand on relaying on what he is feeling and how he will react to it. This episode is another fine example of this and Quintels performance sells it brilliantly. Eileens christmas party seems like so much fun except the fact that Margaret will be there. Instead of confronting his past like a mature adult, he hides and run aways from his feelings like he always does. A very clever climatic scene involving the disco ball reflects Margarets in full brightness. He can't run, he can't hide, he has to no choice but to confront and deal with situations that sometimes you do not want to. Because he repressed these feelings instead of being honest with himself, it is too late to realize that when these feelings quickly return to the surface you might to have time to react appropriately. Which leaves a broken hearted CJ and a even bigger problem that Margaret is here to stay.
What I love most about this is actually the regression of character for Mordecai and the progression of maturity for Rigby. If this season has shown us anything is how Rigby is becoming the responsible and reasonable man from the rebellious slack he previously was. While Mordecai is by no means a slacker, his insecurities and relationships seem to be make him retreat on his emotions while Rigby has shown he has grown from his experiences. They have seem to reverse roles and I am excited to see how the show continues this pattern next year. This Christmas special seemed lukewarm at first but then Regular Show reminds me of the time, dedication, and respect it has for its main characters and I cannot wait to ring in the new year with them.
Cool Things Noticed:
- Glad to see the return of lollipop money
- I loved the ginger ale bar. Clearly suppose to symbolize beer but in a way that the Cartoon Network censors won't call them out on.
- I totally fangirled at Rigby and Eileens kiss. When she blushed I mean how could you not.
- “A party with CJ and Margaret?! Do you know what that means??..A party?”
- That was fantastic when Mordecai was scared he would run into Margaret at the post office much to the disbelief of everyone...oh irony
- “Awkward”
- What you guys think? This special or last years?
- Now that exams are over I will try to catch up on everything. I heard that Clarence had like five new episodes premiere last week *gulp
- What does this mean for the relationship of Cj and Mord? I get invested with relationships in this show as I did with the OC in high school.
You call that a kiss, Rigby? Go big or go home, dude.
ReplyDeleteI'm mostly in agreement with you on "White Elephant", though I enjoyed seeing Muscle Man getting counter-pranked up until the baseballs started flying. That did seem a bit excessive, and more in line with earlier seasons when the park group wasn't as close. "White Elephant" seemed like a warmup episode, something to bring some humor before the 20 megaton drama bomb of "Merry Christmas Mordecai".
I'll admit that I was hoping for a cleaner confrontation than this, if only because I don't want to see bad blood between these characters. That being said, this does present a lot more storytelling potential that couldn't necessarily be contained within 15 minutes. Mordecai may say that he doesn't feel anything for Margaret anymore, but the gulf between words and truth can be deep and wide. CJ could very well feel intimidated by Margaret, given how CJ's introductory episode went. Also, up until now CJ's been pretty much the ideal girlfriend for Mordecai. Their Venn diagram of interests is practically a circle and they get along effortlessly. It's very sweet to see, but adding complications can add realism to their interactions. I'm hoping Mordecai realizes that he's got a really good thing with CJ and that he probably can't recapture the same relationship he had with Margaret. CJ and Mordecai make up, no hard feelings between them and Margaret.
The last Christmas special had Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Pops wrestling a bear. Nothing can really compete against that.
ReplyDeleteI kind of saw the ending of "White Elephant" coming, though I thought maybe one of the other park workers would end up taking the hit. You don't just build up three mysterious, horrible presents - and have a hilarious mad-with-power Benson commanding the others to combine them - and then not show them. Muscle Man's little speech kind of referenced the character development everyone at the park's gone through, but of course it was a fake-out. If the episode was ignoring how much stronger the gang's relationships have gotten since the beginning, well, so was he. Throw in another excellent use of licensed music on this show and, for me, it was funny enough to undercut any mean-spiritedness. Also, I love the idea of an actual White Elephant overseeing the tradition and chastising those who misuse it.
ReplyDelete"Merry Christmas Mordecai" reminded me of "I Like You Hi", in that Mordecai just makes more trouble for himself when he refuses to face his feelings head-on - and boy is he in trouble now! I was bummed when he and Margaret first broke up, but I didn't want this! Hopefully he and CJ can reconnect, but he'll have to do more of that dreaded soul-searching first. CJ's going to want to know what that was all about, and he'll need a better answer than "It just sorta happened."
Thank goodness Rigby keeps things simple. I feel like his old flaws have been turned into strengths. He used to be a slacker and kind of tactless, but now that means he's direct with people and doesn't overthink things, unlike a certain blue jay.
Also, Celia and Hi-Five Ghost were cute together. As, of course, were Rigby and Eileen. As were everybody's sweaters. Too bad Benson didn't save his from last time.
These were both good episodes, and showcased the comedy and character work this show is good at, but I think last year's works better as a special. It's got Ed Asner as Santa and all the park employees working together and...I dunno, it feels more like an "event". In comparison, these were more like stories (or part of an overarching story, in the case of "Merry Christmas, Mordecai") that happened to take place at Christmas. It'd be easier to imagine them replaying throughout the year and not feel out of place.
Okay, essay over : )
Mordecai relationship episodes are usually the best Regular Show has to offer and "Merry Christmas Mordecai" is no different. I'm worried the show may be running out of story though and I hope they don't drag the love triangle arc too long and find something less generic to do with Margaret (who i'm quite surprised is back for good).
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