My guess as to why this episode is so hated is that it came out during the heydays of Steven Universe where every episode was about relationships, boundaries, consent, and having morals at the end of every episode. Most of the complaints I've seen about this episode seem to represent it as something that it isn't and I feel like a lot of people missed the point and had expectations of a message and moral, which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what TAWOG stands for. TAWOG is always about anarchy and having ironic lessons.
Almost EVERY episode of TAWOG has extreme acts of violence. Banana Joe get killed frequently, the toast kid literally has an episode where we learn that he gets brutally murdered everyday, Sarah gets melted on a regular basis, Nicole should be charged with child abuse, there is even an several episodes dedicated to all of damages and evils the Wattersons have done to the community. I find it odd that THIS is the episode where people start to find the violence too extreme or uncomfortable.
The basic premise is essentially this: What is a horror movie villain tried to date you. That's it. It's not trying to say anything deep or profound, it's merely a comedic set-up that is the equivalent to "What if someone dated a T-800 from Terminator".
The second main joke of the episode is that Darwin's strategy is terrible. This is made very clear by the fact that Darwin is the one who gets beat up at the end and Gumball mockingly tells him "You shouldn't have said anything" due to how much everyone else has had to put up with Jamie's incredibly violent behavior. This point is made clear even earlier in the episode where Gumball compares Jamie to a charging gorilla, which Darwin says is nonsense, only for Jamie to start acting like a gorilla later on in the episode. The episode is VERY CLEARLY trying to show that Darwin's strategy is dangerous and not recommended.
The other point that people make is that Darwin is being violently abused by Jamie, when there aren't any instances of Darwin being attacked or hurt in the episode. The only people Jamie attacks are Darwin's friends who try to help him, which Darwin seems to think is okay for the sake of getting Jamie to learn, only for Darwin to get his comeuppance at the end for not doing anything sooner. I understand that Jamie is still being abusive by being controlling, but the focus of the episode isn't on the morality of abusive relationships, but more on Darwin's stupid "non-confrontational approach" to getting out of a dilemma.
I vaguely understand some of the hate this episode gets, but the way it is shot and told makes it very clear that the episode isn't trying to have a moral of any sort, but is supposed to be interpreted as comedic hijinks where Darwin's inability to be confrontational leads him to be dating the cartoon equivalent of a serial killer.
Almost EVERY episode of TAWOG has extreme acts of violence. Banana Joe get killed frequently, the toast kid literally has an episode where we learn that he gets brutally murdered everyday, Sarah gets melted on a regular basis, Nicole should be charged with child abuse, there is even an several episodes dedicated to all of damages and evils the Wattersons have done to the community. I find it odd that THIS is the episode where people start to find the violence too extreme or uncomfortable.
The basic premise is essentially this: What is a horror movie villain tried to date you. That's it. It's not trying to say anything deep or profound, it's merely a comedic set-up that is the equivalent to "What if someone dated a T-800 from Terminator".
The second main joke of the episode is that Darwin's strategy is terrible. This is made very clear by the fact that Darwin is the one who gets beat up at the end and Gumball mockingly tells him "You shouldn't have said anything" due to how much everyone else has had to put up with Jamie's incredibly violent behavior. This point is made clear even earlier in the episode where Gumball compares Jamie to a charging gorilla, which Darwin says is nonsense, only for Jamie to start acting like a gorilla later on in the episode. The episode is VERY CLEARLY trying to show that Darwin's strategy is dangerous and not recommended.
The other point that people make is that Darwin is being violently abused by Jamie, when there aren't any instances of Darwin being attacked or hurt in the episode. The only people Jamie attacks are Darwin's friends who try to help him, which Darwin seems to think is okay for the sake of getting Jamie to learn, only for Darwin to get his comeuppance at the end for not doing anything sooner. I understand that Jamie is still being abusive by being controlling, but the focus of the episode isn't on the morality of abusive relationships, but more on Darwin's stupid "non-confrontational approach" to getting out of a dilemma.
I vaguely understand some of the hate this episode gets, but the way it is shot and told makes it very clear that the episode isn't trying to have a moral of any sort, but is supposed to be interpreted as comedic hijinks where Darwin's inability to be confrontational leads him to be dating the cartoon equivalent of a serial killer.