Man, I've not posted here in days...being busy sucks.
Anyway, I finally got a chance to see "Say It Isn't Sew", about a month later than everyone else, and I think I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Marshmallow on this one; this episode just seemed incredibly pedestrian to me. Conceptually, it was almost as thin as "Cheese A Go-Go" - you could write the plotlines for both of those episodes on the back of one postage stamp - but the earlier episode at least compensated for that with a certain lunatic energy and an unusually high gags-per-minute rate. This one, on the other hand, seemed to just coast along on the assumption that its central premise was inherently funnier than it actually was, resulting in an episode curiously lacking in narrative drive, character development or even actual jokes, particularly in the first half; a few visual gags hit the target (the
Psycho and
Powerpuff references, the rollercoaster miming, Bloo playing with the preschool toys), but outside of Wilt and Jackie's banter I don't actually remember any writing that came close to the normal
Foster's wit.
This episode for me also showcased the most trying aspects of both Bloo and Madame Foster. There's far more to Bloo's character than being a hyperactive spolied brat, but that's all we see of him here, and it didn't help that Keith Ferguson decided to either scream or whine 95% of his lines this time out. Madame Foster, meanwhile, demonstrated precisely why she's always been one of my least favourite characters; we're supposed to assume that she's a kindly and adorable old dear, but the show hardly ever seems to actually bother showing her as such, instead focusing far too heavily on her belligerently crazy moments, to the extent that she just seems loud, unhinged and unpleasant.
Foster's has a great and varied cast of multifaceted characters, but I feel that Season Five has thus far failed to take proper advantage of that, too often contenting itself with wacky scenarios and daft setpieces, and seeming all too happy to boil personalities down to their most basic (and often unappealing) elements.
...yikes, didn't mean that to come off as such a downer! I do like having
Foster's back, but "Say It Isn't Sew" still has to rate as one of my least favourite episodes so far, and another contributor to my feeling that this season is punching a little below its weight so far.
Still, there's another ten episodes to put things right, and the preview for "Something Old, Something Bloo" (which the rest of you will most likely have already seen!) does look quite encouraging...make us proud, guys!
