Gumball: Well, then I guess it's whoever gets to the remote first!
The Wattersons prepare for a night of television watching, but with only one TV, they begin fighting over who gets to watch their favorite show — and are sent on a mission to find another remote after Anais breaks it.
This episode won a BAFTA Award for writing in 2013.
Tropes:
- Addictive Foreign Soap Opera: The show Richard wants to watch is "La Casa de las Lagrimas" (The House of Tears), and while talking about it he'll suddenly speak in Gratuitous Spanish.
- Appointment Television: Everyone fights over the remote because everything they want to watch is on at the same time, the house only has one TV, and presumably no DVR (though they do have a VCR): Darwin and Gumball want to see themselves on a show about cute pets, Nicole needs to phone in to participate in a live game show, Richard wants to see the season finale of an Addictive Foreign Soap Opera, and Anais wants to watch Daisy the Donkey.
- Batman Gambit: Anais gives Nicole a fake remote brand name, hides the remote in her Daisy doll, destroys a fake one, and tells everyone else about mom going to buy a new one so she can lock them all out of the house.
- Big "NO!": Gumball, Darwin, and Richard do a slowed down, overly long "No" when Anais (seemingly) breaks the remote. They stay that way until Anais (not slowed down) tells them how to get a new remote.
- Bowdlerise: Some versions of this episode cut the part where Nicole quickly drinks her coffee and fans her mouth after burning it. The U.S. airing did have it cut when it premiered, but it has since aired uncensored.
- Breast Attack: Nicole forces Richard to drop the remote by giving him a titty-twister.
- Chase Fight: The tussle over the (fake) remote alternates between the family members trying to take it by force (though mostly nonviolently) and whoever has the remote running away.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:
- During direct conflict with Nicole, Richard puts up quite the fight against her. He really wants to watch his show.
- Gumball actually wins the Chase Fight, demonstrating the skill to keep up with Nicole, steal her car keys without her noticing, and ultimately outsmart her.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Nicole was willing to ground Anais for six months if she didn’t tell her over the phone what brand of TV remote they have.
- The Door Slams You: Nicole intentionally knocks Richard back by opening the car door on him.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:Gumball: Why would Anais tell you to buy the wrong...remote? She planned this whole thing from the start.
- Five-Finger Discount: Gumball steals Nicole's keys off her so she can't drive away with the remote.
- Flashback-Montage Realization: As Gumball realizes Anais kept the remote and broke a fake one, we flash back to her actions with her deceptions highlighted.
- Food as Bribe: Gumball gets Richard to tell him where the remote is by taunting him with a candy bar after he'd been camping out on the couch all night.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- By pausing at just the right point, you can see that Anais smashed a calculator, not a remote, before it's revealed proper in the climax.
- Right before everyone but Anais gets in a fight over the remote, a sign in the background says "Strictly no Kung-Fu in this car park." There is another sign to the left of that in red which is somewhat blurry and says "How come you're reading this? This is like 50 pixels on the picture? Seriously, even I have trouble reading myself while writing this text. You have very good eyes. I strongly suggest you to apply for a plane pilot position, or a small animal spotter for a nature TV show. Bye."
- Homage: The episode ends with Gumball flashing back as he realizes how they were all falling for Anais's plan to get the TV in homage to the ending of The Usual Suspects. It even includes making up a name from a brand on a random object.
- Kevlard: At one point, Gumball and Darwin run off with the remote, but Richard appears in front of them and they bounce off his stomach instead.
- Lost the TV Remote: The remote is treated as the only way to change the channel. The only time anyone tried to change the channel manually resulted in a complete failure from laziness.
- Mundane Made Awesome: A failed attempt to change the TV manually is shown like an astronaut exploring the surface of an unknown planet.
- Remote Control Ruckus: The Watterson family have a fight over who gets the TV remote when they end up wanting to watch their own shows. It breaks out into a fight because all of their shows are scheduled at the same time. However, due to an elaborate trick by Anais, she gets the remote in the end.
- Rules Lawyer: Gumball keeps Nicole from leaving the parking garage with the (fake) remote by telling her she'll be setting a bad example if she leaves without paying.
- Skewed Priorities: Nicole tells Anais she'll ground her for six months if she doesn't tell her what brand of remote to buy. Anais gives a fake one anyway just to watch one episode of her TV show.
- So Proud of You: At the end of the episode, Nicole says she's proud of Anais "yet really scared at the same time".
- Smuggling with Dolls: Anais hid the real TV remote in her Daisy the Donkey doll.
- Try and Follow: As Nicole is being chased in the parking garage by Gumball, Darwin, and Richard, she gains a lead by jumping between two buildings. Gumball and Darwin were smart enough not to try jumping. Richard was not.
- Visual Pun: Richard says the remote is in "the valley betwixt two hills. Its name begins with a "B", ends with two "T"'s, and has "U" in the middle." Darwin says he knows where it is, and goes to a large hill shaped like two buttocks. They Face Palm for a while after they realize what he meant.
