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Some
of the show’s plots can get relatively absurd, but that’s part of what makes it
so fun to watch. Working in its favor is
how in addition to being funny occurrences, they also make for legitimately
compelling stories. This cartoon fits
that category right from how the absurdity comes to be.
It’s all a result from a freak event of a
mosquito that happens to suck blood from Filburt while he apparently has some
sort of disease. Like common legit
diseases, it’s transported like a blood transplant as Bev Bighead, as frogs
tend to do, eats that very mosquito.
Since it contracted that disease and she ate it, Bev ends up looking
absolutely revolting and diseased the next day, and it’s so bad she has to be
taken to the hospital. With charming
interactions between the legitimately worried Bigheads with the cheerful doctor
in charge of the operation Dr. Hutchison leading the way, things get
humorous.
Due to a mix-up, Bev is not
just cured of her illness; she also ends up with a fully functional nose which
plays to the tendency for shows to make fun of their own character design. I bet that when the Bigheads were originally
designed, no one really thought that not having noses would be meaningful and
that it was coincidental that they weren’t seen. With so many works behind the series now, it
makes sense that the way the characters look is given more consideration. Now an entire plot is built around a
character lacking a nose by choice suddenly getting one, and running with what
this means. It’s actually funny that Bev
makes such a big deal over being able to smell, something she apparently could
never do before. While there’s humor
from that angle, it also feels very rewarding to see her do something she was
never able to do before.
However, her
blessing turns out to be a curse when she goes to see her husband Ed. She’s alarmed that unlike everything else
she’s smelled, he smells terrible. From
here, there’s actual legit drama as she tries to make him smell better behind
his back, and when he finds out, they’re both full of sorrow over the
circumstances. That’s pretty impressive
when you’d go in expecting them to be mad and unaccepting of the problems. The Bigheads’ love for each other turns out
to be purely legitimate. As a result, in
addition to being built around something fairly ridiculous for funny, it’s also
easy to sympathize with the main players.
This continues into Bev’s attempts to cope with things. It’s humorous that there’s a support group
dedicated to something as wild as nose problems run by Filburt no less. However, when Bev explains her nose’s
benefits and pain happening at once, it feels from the heart. While this is a good relatable step in
overcoming things, she never really gets a chance to do that. The founder of the support group ends up
sneezing on her, getting her sick again.
She loses her nose as a result, though she and Ed have happily
reconciled. Still, with how legit the
drama of the story was, I think it would have been stronger if Bev learned to
live with her husband’s odor and still keep the nose she enjoys. Instead we’re just back with the status
quo.
Regardless, I am grateful that this
cartoon works well as a crazy concept brought to life.
A
I
may not know what it feels like to go through a midlife crisis, but the media
does give a believable look at such a thing.
I’d say that this cartoon is one of the best depictions.
It starts with a flashback of Ed Bighead’s
typical life in the 1960s and then contrasts it with what it’s like in present
day. Instead of starting the day all
cheerful, loving, and good looking, he’s incredibly grimy, lethargic, and
grumpy. His car is also not as good as
it used to look, probably because it was the same one from the 60s all beaten
up, and he isn’t even on as good terms with his boss. The thing that makes the latter aspect known
is how he’s told about a great new position in a hot tub department, but it’s
given to the mail boy because Ed seems too old for it. Along with how far off from his glory days
the opening showed him to be, this is understandably enough to make Ed feel
old.
As a result, he spends the rest of
the cartoon desperate to try and feel young again. The best way he can think of is hanging out
with Rocko and his friends who are always having fun he admonishes on a regular
basis. The contrast in Ed’s behavior is
especially felt when Rocko and the others lose their baseball in the Bigheads’
yard. Since there’s at least one actual past example of Ed destroying what lands in his yard, they’re sneaky when
retrieving it. To them, it’s therefore a
surprise when Ed shows up to want to play with them, undersized baseball uniform
and all. The thing is, Ed is clearly
trying too hard when it comes to acting young and hip like his neighbor and his
friends which make having fun difficult for them all. His attempts at baseball destroy Rocko’s
house. When they go to the comic book
store, he just laughs at the same panel, showing absolutely no knowledge in how
to actually read a comic book. Then when
he and Rocko play a board game at the end of the day, he acts far too over
excited for even Rocko to handle it.
As
believable to real midlife crises as Ed displays, he does seem just as
overbearing to the audience as he is to Rocko. This is mostly because he’s
following youthful standards instead of doing the youthful activities he’s sure
he’d like. Still, it’s easy to feel for
him when Rocko snaps and tells him to just hang out with other old people. Technically this puts Ed back to where he
started giving little point to trying to fit in with Rocko, but he’s far more
extreme than before as he won’t even get out of bed. Since this is like being on a deathbed, his
wife, Rocko and his friends decide to snap him out of the funk by acting like
this is actually the case. Ed’s
‘funeral’ is hilariously staged with a trashcan for a coffin, Heffer and
Filburt treating this sad event like a wedding, and half-hearted eulogies. When threatened with a cement truck, Ed
immediately stops being ridiculous and is all set to go back to life without
worrying about his age.
However, it’s
pretty unfair that the next person permitted to the hot tub department is an
old man, and Ed is told that he acts too young for the position. It’s brings the impression that even when
he’s portrayed well, Ed can never win because of who he is, which is hardly
fair. At least I’ve seen worse examples
of this.
Thanks to its relatable
conflict and humor ways of getting around things, this cartoon still works as
an interesting look into certain phases of life.
A-
The Ranking
1. Camera Shy
2. The Emperor’s New Joe
3. Ed is Dead: A Thriller
4. Bye Bye Birdie
5. Sugar Frosted Frights
6. Nothing to Sneeze At
7. Schnit-Heads
8. Belch of Destiny
9. Old Fogey Frog
10. Fish-N-Chumps
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode with creative takes on Rocko's car dying, and how bugs feel about being snacks for the Bigheads.
If you would like to check out other Rocko's Modern Life reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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