1x17 Love's Slimy Embrace

[7.1/10] A bit milder of an episode, but still has its moments. I like Derek getting a little focus, and the show building out his relationship with Bean. There’s something compelling about him being lonely given his pressures and isolation and general unsuitedness to be heir to the throne juxtaposed with Bean being subject to the usual gender essentialism and sense of being usurped in her own family. Sure, it’s a little corny that at the end of the day, she proves how much she cares about Derek by risking her life to save him from a monster, but it’s also a little sweet (and the show nicely adds in that trademark Groening dose of cynicism to take the edge off).

I was less enamored with Zog’s “I wish I had gout” B-story. Luci helping people make bad decisions is always a good tack on this show, but the jokes from Zog eating terrible organ foods didn’t have much mileage in them (beyond rampant grossness, which isn't really my thing) and, aside from the Duke of Twinkletown getting attacked by the octopus, didn’t really go anywhere.

But while Derek’s story underwhelmed a bit, his boyish playing and slapstick with Elfo was cute. Really, the only major weakspot in this one was the giant squid, who seemed like a pretty random obstacle whose presence felt contrived. Even there, I got a kick out of the party barge captain coming back for some humor of the mundane amid the fantastical.

Overall, this is a middle-of-the-road episode at best, but one that’s mostly inoffensive, and has a good premise in terms of the main character relationship it explores.