6.9/10. Doing a show within a show, and on top of that, one that exists as a cruder recapitulation of stories you've told in the same, albeit more rudimentary version of the medium you work in (in this case stop motion) is kind of bold. The results, however, are mixed. The show does a good job at capturing the strange energy of plays and other art projects put on by elementary school, and the Season 1 Orel stories repeated here take on an interesting newness when infused with Orel's innocent-yet-revealing perspective on these events and the authority figures in his life. There's a certain "from the mouths of babes" quality to that stands out. And the scene of his avatar being surrounded and suffocated by Clay's belt in particular was kind of striking.
But once Joe jumped in and started crapping all over it wasn't as funny or interesting as what came before. Plus, with a two parter coming up after this, the episode almost feels like the folks behind the show phoning it in a bit on this one so that they can devote their full attentions to an episode that is, by the standards of this cult series, considered a landmark. Still an interesting experiment though.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-07-30T21:45:33Z
6.9/10. Doing a show within a show, and on top of that, one that exists as a cruder recapitulation of stories you've told in the same, albeit more rudimentary version of the medium you work in (in this case stop motion) is kind of bold. The results, however, are mixed. The show does a good job at capturing the strange energy of plays and other art projects put on by elementary school, and the Season 1 Orel stories repeated here take on an interesting newness when infused with Orel's innocent-yet-revealing perspective on these events and the authority figures in his life. There's a certain "from the mouths of babes" quality to that stands out. And the scene of his avatar being surrounded and suffocated by Clay's belt in particular was kind of striking.
But once Joe jumped in and started crapping all over it wasn't as funny or interesting as what came before. Plus, with a two parter coming up after this, the episode almost feels like the folks behind the show phoning it in a bit on this one so that they can devote their full attentions to an episode that is, by the standards of this cult series, considered a landmark. Still an interesting experiment though.