Middlemost Post is a Walk of Sunshine (season 1 review)
Intro
Once upon a time, there was a serious dude, his name is John Trabbic III. He used to be an alcoholic until he sobered up. And thus, it inspired for him to create a new Nicktoon called Middlemost Post. The show was in the works since February 2020, but it wasn’t until June that we finally heard words about the show being picked up for a full series. This marks the third time Nick has greenlit a cartoon created by a SpongeBob artist.
Premise
The show’s promise is best described during the theme song. During a stormy voyage sailing the seas, Angus got shipwrecked and his boat ended up at a mountain. One day, a raincloud named Parker J Cloud joined the postage service, the Middlemost Post, and joins Angus and Russell on delivering mail. You know the premise sounds so cool that I was immediately interested in checking out the show. Even better, it was an original Nicktoon, in a sea of corporately produced Nicktoons that were either spin-offs or revivals of beloved shows, which wasn’t a good outlook.
Recapping the Episodes
First Delivery: The very first episode of the show, it revolves on the Middlemost Post gang delivering a letter to someone who just wants to be left alone. Pilot episodes tend to make or break a show and Middlemost Post did not disappoint me when I first sat down and watched the premiere of it. We got to see a little of bit of other Mt Middlemost’s locations in the beginning before the rest of the episode is set at Yellow Springs, a desert full of cacti. A show like this can make a mundane job of mailman look cool - The MMP gang are delivering a letter without getting trapped. However, Angus is the one that keeps getting trapped while Parker still tries his best to deliver the letter. The character they’re trying to deliver is fittingly named Levi Alone, who doesn’t like to be around people and set up booby traps (or they’re called booty traps). While MMP is a gag driven show, this episode focused more on the story, the character interaction and the action sequences. The MacGuffin of the episode is the letter. Angus and Parker (as well as Russell) are very cooperative together, which is a good thing. When the show was first announced, people feared that they wouldn’t cooperate due to their clashing personalities, but this episode highlighted their teamwork. Midway through the episode, Angus and Parker finally decide to get serious after their repeated failures. We are then treated an amazing sequence of Angus doing stunts while trying to avoid traps as much as possible. It was such a fun scene to watch even if he failed once again. So now it’s up to Parker to deliver the letter himself. When Levi finally shows up, he read the letter. It turns out Parker was the writer of the letter the whole time, as he wanted to make Levi happy. As he slammed the door on Parker’s face, he is left in tears, thinking all the trouble of getting there was all for nothing. However, a few seconds later, Levi responded back to Parker and he thinks they’re pen pals now. All in all, it was a great start to a great show. Pilots are normally below average, but this one sets up the premise of the show very well. (9/10)
Chore or Less: In this episode, Parker tried doing chores, but he ended up hating them, leaving the ship a mess. Somehow, this episode got a little better upon rewatch. I gave it a lower score on day one due to its more laid-back plot, but the episode actually had more jokes than the previous one. The character chemistry is still strong although here Parker doesn’t get the concept of chores so he and Angus had a little disagreement on what to do. The episode saw the official debut of Lily (not counting shorts), Mayor Peeve and Ryan. They are established quite well - Lily is just doing her job while giving Parker some advice, Mayor Peeve has an one sided rivalry with Angus because his ship keeps blocking the sunlight on the city hall, and Ryan is the mayor’s assistant. Anyways, I think the reason why I’m more kind to this episode now is that it’s a relatable story. We all hate doing chores, and the characters in the show make it clear that it’s a boring thing to do since it takes away our free time. Parker wanted to enjoy them, but the progress of doing them bores him. So eventually, due to his lack of understanding Angus’ sarcastic remarks, he ended up not doing chores and the whole ship is covered in filth. This caused the whole town to notice. Everyone is nervous, but Peeve would rather see the ship gone, in which he anticipated for its demolition. Angus is holding the ship, entrusting Parker and Russell to do the right thing by cleaning up the mess. And so they did, as the town watched Angus’ butt get exposed. The mayor laughed at this but no laughed at his funny. Balance is brought back to the Middlemost Post. So the moral of the day: always do your chores on time or else your place will be a mess. (8/10)
Burt! the Musical: Aired as part of Nick’s Musical weekend, this episode revolves on Burt, the box, being used as a mascot for a recycling factory. If Chore or Less can be better through rewatch, then I think this episode isn’t as good through rewatch either. I still enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but I somehow liked the chore episode slightly better than this. During a meeting, Parker noticed the absence of Burt and Angus revealed that he accidentally threw the box away. So they went to the one environment friendly place and that is called Greenwood, the main setting for this episode. The recycling factory is home to the Recycling King who is the first character to be voiced by a guest star (Billy Porter). As you expect, due to his actor’s musical nature, he often break into song, much to Angus’ annoyance, who rather want Burt back. There is a musical number exploring why Burt is the mascot of the factory. When you put it that way, this episode is like a modernized version of the Rocko’s Modern Life episode about recycling where it featured a lot of singing. After putting up with the recycle king, it was time for the MMP gang to rescue Burt. However, he already knew the plan because one of the Reggies was fluent in gibberish, which was kinda funny to know. Overall, the episode itself isn’t really the most memorable, but it still had that MMP charm and Billy Porter’s performance was delightful. (8/10)
Saturday No Funday: After Angus kicked Parker and Russell out of the ship for bothering him, Parker thinks they’re permanently out of the ship. Well, this is such an interesting episode. A lot of stuff going on - Parker and Russell bothering Angus, Mayor Peeve in a tight jacket, and everyone getting ready for the eruption of Ned (that’s the name of the volcano). The whole episode is a such a mood whiplash and you’ll find out. It started off funny with Parker and Russell bothering Angus on his day off. But he just want to be alone. So, he kicked them out of the ship, which lead to Parker thinking he’s out of the MMP forever. Now I gotta admit, it did dragged on after while because of how disinterested Angus was and I felt like it start to get a little bland for the next couple minutes. Angus was way too hard on them, but thankfully he will regret it later in the episode. Thinking he’s jobless, he search for new places to work at, and he was hired to work for Lily, but it turns out he just packed his bags to the store, thinking it was his new home. As everyone was prepared for Ned, Parker decided it was time to live there (in which we got to see a look of Red Ridge, a place full of rocks). Russell then warned Angus about the situation and told Parker that his new “home” is an active volcano. However, before Angus could save Parker, it was too late. From the look of it, Angus thought Parker was killed off by Ned, which was a heartbreaking moment. But luckily, Parker is still alive thanks to ability to shapeshift into different things. The last couple minutes of the episode is full of wholesome moments, with Angus feeling apologetic for what he said earlier and giving Parker a small beanie. The last scene with the MMP gang watching the volcano together is arguably my favorite moment of the entire episode, especially due to the fact that Angus is now willing to spend time with Parker and Russell every Sunday. The usage of stop motion of Ned’s eruption is a major plus as well. I originally gave it an 8/10 score but it’s too low of a rating for an episode with so many nice moments, so it’ll be bumped up this time. Rewatching stuff can make a difference. (9/10)
POSTBOT 3000: After getting a deliver from the Middlemost Post, Mayor Peeve get a robot that could deliver mail as fast as possible, so he bets Angus on a mail-off and the winner gets to run the MMP. This was the first episode to be written by Rocco Pucillo, who would later become story editor for the show. He only wrote for two shows and they’re both action-packed. So, unsurprisingly, we’ll be seeing quite a bit of actiony episodes from Pucillo for the show. Anyway, this is the first episode where Mayor Peeve and Ryan play a major role to a plot. We all know Peeve desperately want to get rid of the Middlemost Post so his city hall can finally have some light. His scheme is building a robot who looks exactly like Angus (its name is POST 3000) and challenging him to a mail-off. It started off well for the Middlemost Post until Peeve decided to cheat. Ryan is actually guarding the POST 3000, but during the middle of the mailoff, the robot kicked Ryan out at a Stinkhole in Yellow Springs. It then ends up doing a dance off with a resident while Peeve took a look of it and thinks it’s stuck. Meanwhile, the MMP has decided to split down in order to deliver mail quicker. By the time they’re all caught up, they realized that Ryan is in the stinkhole. While POST 3000 has already won the race, the MMP had no choice but to rescue Ryan instead. Angus is declared a hero according to Ryan and the POST 3000, despite winning the race, is a big jerk. So in default, the Middlemost Post won and get to keep their ship, much to Peeve’s disgust. Not top 5 material, but pretty exciting to watch. The concept of having a race of to see who delivers the most amount of mail was cool. When the mail off started, it was done like a video game before abandoning it after a minute. I forgot to mention this but the drone Parker was killed off during the race and it won’t be the last we’ll see of it. And it’s not without its sweet moment like what Angus did with Ryan. The episode was great, but in 20 episodes from now, we’re going to have an even better followup.
(9/10)
Boom Goes the Cloud: Parker keeps making thunder noises at night, which disrupts everyone’s sleep. This is the first episode of the show I can fully give a perfect score because it got all the good qualities in a Middlemost Post episode: comedy, nightmare fuel, heart, and tearjerker. And the characters were fun as usual. This episode portrayed Angus as a protective dad towards Parker. We got to see Parker’s former dark side as a raincloud who would always ruin people’s lives, which only happened during his night booms. The episode can provide you a little bit of foreshadowing when you rewatch it and I’ll reveal the twist in a little bit. So, the night booms occurred three times throughout the episode, and they all involved a painting, a wedding, and a sewer. This disrupted everyone at the mountain that they became sleepy. Viewers can relate to this situation as loud noises can ruin your sleep (like me every time I have to put up with barking dogs every night). After almost losing hope, Angus asked Lily for help. She offered him an underwear that would help Parker not get night booms anymore. However, it failed as he still end up having another nightmare and it got to the point that he almost left Mt. Middlemost forever. This is one of the most sympathetic moments of Parker in the entire show. However, thanks to Angus’ motivation, he was able to stay. In the end, it was revealed that Parker was eating a new dessert from the Middlemost Toast which makes the consumer pass gas. Of course, this being a Nickelodeon show doesn’t surprise you as they love their fart jokes. Angus prevented Parker from eating more and their nights have gotten better without the thunderclaps. Originally my favorite episode, I’ve found a few more episodes superior to this, but my rankings won’t be revealed until the very end of this journal.
(10/10)
I Named It Whiskers: Parker and Lily try to get rid of one of her inventions gone wrong - a robotic rat. A few members from the Middlemost Post Discord server consider this one of the weakest episodes of the show, but I don’t think it wasn’t forgettable or anything. I mean, come on, how could you not like this episode when it got some great action? And its smart humor is still present and it’s just as funny as most episodes of the show. So, when Parker finds out the Somewhere Store is a mess, Lily tells a flashback story of how it happened. She invented a rat-like robot to clean up the store, but instead it ends up going haywire. And she named it Whiskers (in which she dropped the episode title after the end of flashback). Parker and Lily try to find a way to destroy it without making the store a mess, to no avail. Lily then built a caterpillar robot to take care of Whiskers herself and you’ll notice it resembled like Caterpie. While this is all happening, Parker is in charge of Somewhere Store, and we treated to this hilarious sequence where a customer asked him for a few things and keeps questioning what’s going on with the store. However, the Caterpie lookalike robot is destroyed and now Whiskers is running around town. Luckily, Parker can shapeshift so Lily uses him as a weapon. And so, they finally destroyed Whiskers with Parker’s icy powers. Unfortunately, the store is still a mess so Lily tries to invent another device but it ends up chasing them away instead. Overall, this was a great episode that showcases Parker and Lily’s friendship/teamwork. Oh, and did I forget that Angus and Russell were completely absent in this episode? Yeah, it definitely felt a tad different.
(9/10)
How Angus Got His Groove Back: When Angus cannot find his lucky beanie, he ends up like a child, so Parker must go on a search to get him a new beanie. This was a rather interesting episode to say the least. My opinion on it has changed somewhat on rewatch, but let’s recap the story first before I can give you my final thoughts. Angus ends acting like a manchild when he doesn’t find his lucky beanie that was passed down from his family. So while Parker and Russell look for the perfect way to make a beanie, the now babyish Angus is left at the Middlemost Toast where he is being babysat by Ms. Pam. Once they do create a beanie, they finally gave it to Angus, but then his face melted off. In the end, the whole event for 80% of the episode turned out be a dream and Angus’ beanie was in the toilet the whole time. This used to be my least favorite episode of the entire show, but I felt like I was too harsh on it as the first half of the episode was funnier than the rest which kinda felt a bit dull. I’ve found a few episodes worse than this now and you’ll find out later. I liked the main plot better as it had Parker and Russell looking for the perfect beanie but the subplot with Ms. Pam babysitting Angus didn’t provided that many good moments (although there’s one interesting moment during storytelling where she wanted to be a movie star but is stuck running a restaurant). I think what soured me was the “all just a dream” twist meaning most of the episode’s events were pointless. This was script coordinator Mo Moffet’s writing debut and while it’s not their greatest start, all writers have to start slow before finding their magnum opus in the long run.
(7/10)
The Tooth Hurts
Parker accidentally knocked out Russell’s tooth, so they hide from Angus so he won’t find out, but Angus fears Parker doesn’t want to spend time with him after planning a day with the little nimbus. The first episode written by AJ Marchisello, who is known for writing action cartoons. Though, this show is an odd man out as it’s zanier than the other shows he worked on. So, most of his episodes have a sitcom feel to it, similar to Katie Chilson’s episodes. One day, Parker was playing ball with Russell until he accidentally knocked out a tooth of Russell. As a result, Russell keeps barfing out delivery mail. Parker asks Lily for help and they unsuccessfully try to find a replacement tooth. While this is all happening, Angus plans the perfect day to hang out with Parker, but he suspects that he’s busy due to what happened with Russell. Later on, Parker finally confessed what happens and cried a whole river at the Middlemost Toast. Despite all the trouble, Angus laughed it off because Russell always keeps a spare tooth in her trunks, thus solving the episode’s problem. It may have been have a copout ending, but it was still a funny episode. I liked how Russell acts out of control when she only have one tooth, which is why Parker needed to find a replacement tooth in the first place. The subplot was also funny, as it revolves on Angus trying to spend a perfect day with Parker, but he makes a big deal about being left out when he tries to hang out with other people in town. There’s not too much to say about the episode (not that it’s forgettable or anything, it was still worth watching). On another note, this is the first episode to have an The End card.
(8/10)
The Middlemost Toast
Angus, Parker, and Russell are ready to spend the day on getting free toast, but they must endure a long waiting line. The Middlemost Post gang are prepared to get free toast, but everyone in the mountain is getting their hands on it. As Angus missed out on free toast the previous year, Parker and Russell try to find a way to cut in line without the line goers noticing. As they finally got to the last piece of free toast of the year, the angry mob stops them from having a good ending, but Parker saves the day. This is such a great episode. Granted, it’s not perfect as there’s one major flaw with the story - cutting in line so you can have a piece of toasted bread for yourself can comes off as selfish to some viewers. Either way, the episode contained some of the show’s most hilarious moments such as Parker dying from impatience, Mayor Peeve dropping the toast, Ryan getting hit by a raccoon, Angus doing a potty dance as he couldn’t hold it in, and getting the other people to get out of the line. The last minute of the episode is my favorite scene as it had Parker doing the right thing by sharing the last crumb of bread by toasting it with his thunder powers. Everyone gets a satisfying ending and that’s the type of episode I loved seeing. (Well, except for Ryan)
(9/10)
My Buddy, Buddy
Parker befriends a leprechaun named Buddy, but it turns out he’s not an actual buddy. I’ll be honest with you, this was a pretty forgettable episode. The plot kinda went nowhere and it could be predictable with how the leprechauns were portrayed. It begins with Parker introducing Angus and Russell his new buddy named Buddy (fitting name, am I right? More like ironic as the episode progresses) and his father. Angus is fine with this at first until Russell noticed that the leprechauns were only using Parker for gold. With the help of Lily, Angus and Russell search for Parker so they can stop the leprechauns for exploiting the little nimbus. While this is happening, Parker is oblivious to this until Russell saved the day. Ok, so what I just described to you is the plot of the episode. It doesn't sound bad at first, but the episode starts to the drag once the leprechauns become evil. Parker was too clueless to even notice that Buddy and his father were using them as an object rather than being actual buddies. The subplot was better since you had Angus being overprotective for Parker, Russell getting ready to attack, and Lily with an invention. The episode starts to pick up during the last few minutes and it was satisfying to see Parker getting saved from those leprechauns. The ending is just great to watch as well as we see Buddy and his father flown away. But this won't be the last we'll see of them. Despite my beef with the green creatures, Ian James Corlett did a great job pulling off Irish accents. I wish the episode was executed better, but not every show's episode is going to hit.
(6/10)
Love Letters
Parker desperately wants to know who is Angus’ lover. Another not too strong episode, but its humorous moments made up for it. The episode starts off with Angus having a bad hair day and he's embarrassed about it. While he fixes his beard, Parker finds a love letter and believes Angus has a love interest. So they want to reveal the whole mountain about Angus' secret admirer. When Angus finds out, he is embarrassed at the situation and soon everyone at Mt Middlemost suddenly becomes lovestruck. Once Angus finally tells his own love interest, everyone aren't impressed who he really loved and they finally leave him alone. When it comes to secret admirer episodes, they are hit or miss. When it hits, it can allow for a character to successfully express their romantic feelings. When it misses, it just becomes one big awkward mess. Luckily, this episode, while a tad weak at times, hits more than misses, and doesn’t come off as cringeworthy. Even the climax was done in a unique way, as you have every in the mountain falling for Angus. It was just funny to watch the guys fall for Angus. But all of this chaos ends once Angus finally told the truth: his true lover is, believe or not, the ocean. This caused everyone to leave in disgust. And the episode ended with the funniest moment, with Angus’ beard coming out, which scares Parker and Russell away.
(7/10)
Darker Parker
While serving everyone snowcones during a heat wave, Parker uses so much of his colors that he becomes a goth. When Angus notices a change of the little nimbus’ personality, he decides to take them to the doctor. Parker continues to act like a goth until they realize that saying no is the solution and eventually he would turn back to normal again. Meanwhile, Mayor Peeve wants to enjoy his day as he’s the only one with shade, but soon his building will get invaded by unwanted guests. What can I say? Darker Parker easily one of my favorite episodes of the show, it’s top 10 or even top 5 material for me. Episodes where characters change their personality for the sake of a plot tend to be my favorite (see Patrick SmartPants). When I first heard about it, I knew I was going to be treated with a genuine hilarious episode and I was not disappointed. Darker Parker led to some of the finest performance from Becky Robinson, who pulled off the emo side of the little nimbus. Their trash talking is just priceless, and at one point, there was even a your mom joke. Worth noting during the doctor scene, there was a subtle reference to SpongeBob as it featured a pineapple. I really like the moral of the episode: you have to say no no matter how much you want to say yes. It’s been done before, sure, but the show’s execution of it worked because it was required for Parker to return back to normal. That’s not all - the subplot with the mayor trying to find shade is just as funny as the main plot. And it works as well because for once he isn’t plotting to destroy the Middlemost Post and his plans still fail because people want to get some cool air. So yeah, this is worthy of a top 5 episode, and although the show’s fandom is small, I can see Parker’s emo self being a fan favorite.
(10/10)
Lady of the Tree
The Middlemost Post gang goes to the forest to deliver a package to an old lady tree, but she may or may not be an evil witch. This episode is not bad, but the perfect word to describe it: mediocre. The storyline follows the Middlemost Post as they head to a forest and deliver mail to a home inhabited by an old lady. But they have an unfortunate encounter with her, as they’re unsure if she’s evil. And she ends up almost killing the gang, but when the day gets saved, Parker invited her to the Middlemost Post. You can easily tell it’s one of MMP’s weakest episodes because I was feeling it with a predictable plot. Not a lot of shows done this plot, but when it does, it always the same story every time. The first half was harmless, even with the episode still being low on laugh worthy moments. But once the witch starts to express evil intentions, that’s went the episode lost me. I was like “I saw it coming” when I first saw it. The climax was very contrived as you get the gang in peril as they’re about to be killed by the witch. But it gets solved in a half baked way: Parker wants to make amends with the titular character after a sob story and the episode just ends abruptly. This won’t be the last we’ll see if her, but surely her next appearance won’t be as much as a letdown as this. I love the show, but even great shows aren’t immune from duds, and this is a rare dud.
(5/10)
The Sleepover
Parker has a sleepover with Lily, but doesn’t know to plan one, so the little nimbus asks Angus for help. So they plan a whole night of doing many activities at once, but this still doesn’t win Lily over, much to Parker’s disappointment. When Parker and Angus goes over to Lily’s store, Parker confessed that they never have a sleepover before which is why they had a hard time planning one. Turns out both Lily and Angus also never had sleepovers in their lives before. The episode ends as Angus prepares to join Parker and Lily on their first sleepover, as they laugh at the word “jam jams.” Middlemost Post doesn’t focus too much on its premise of delivering mail, but I can forgive the writers because they do a great job at making episodes with a simple story. The episode’s biggest strength is chemistry between the characters. We have Parker trying to bond with Lily, but they struggle to plan a sleepover, so with the help of Angus, they try to make it a good sleepover. Angus served as the co-organizer of the sleepover, making sure it goes smoothly. The activities they did were pretty fun scenes, even if it went by pretty fast. This is a contrast to the beginning, where it was a tad slow. So yeah, the pacing was the only issue with the episode and it takes a while for Lily to feel truly excited for the sleepover. But the last few minutes make it worth it and shows you that the show’s biggest strength is character interaction.
(8/10)
The “B” Word
Russell smells, and the only way to clean her is to take a bath, but she is terrified at the thought of hearing that word. One utterance of the word bath and she will go berserk. So Parker and Angus try to find a way to clean her without saying the “B” word. But when all their plans fail, Russell’s odor spreads all over the mountain. And the angry mob form, chasing the Middlemost Post everywhere they go. The situation is solved once Russell dived into a lake and had a great time taking a bath. Well, this was an interesting episode to watch. If the ending of the episode made it obvious, Angus and the residents plan to do a chase sequence every 6 months whenever Russell doesn’t take a bath. Russell functions like a cat and the sight of water freaks her out, which makes sense. All of the attempts of keeping her clean were funny to watch, especially when the air plugs ran away. The chase scene was an exciting sequence especially in one shot where was a bowling pin knocked over in live-action, once again making good usage of mixed media. Pretty much everyone appears in this episode due to Russell’s odor affecting the mountain. The last scene was just nice to watch seeing the plot get resolved even if it was all an attempt to get Russell to be clean. So when you come across this episode, the B word means bath not another word for female dog. And I know people will take Parker’s “you say the b word” line out of context.
(9/10)
Dog’s Best Friend
Angus is a dog magnet, but he finds out the only dog in the mountain that hates him is Ms. Pam’s pet pug Jelly after unintentionally hurting her feeling one day. So he try to find ways to get her to like him. All of his attempts to win her over failed, and this includes kissing Jelly while in a dog costume. In the end, Jelly still remains the only dog to hold a grunge with Amgus, making the whole thing pointless. This is an episode that somehow got worse on second viewing. Maybe it’s because I’m not a dog person, but while the plot isn’t bad, it just went nowhere. It’s also surprisingly light in comedy. The only moments that got laughs/chuckles out of me was the sandwich debate (which is why Jelly hates Angus in the first place) and Angus in a dog costume. While I do like the attempts of winning Jelly over, they all had a predictable punchline: she continues to hate Angus. And the ending pretty much sums my feelings on the episode: all those attempts were for nothing, and the episode just abruptly finished. And of course, it ended with a pee joke. I don’t expect gems after gems, but this is one of the show’s most forgettable episodes.
(6/10)
Out of Shape
After earning day off from work, Parker becomes out of shape and enlists Lily to help them get back into shape. She then takes a science experiment about the four matters. Parker becomes a group of ice, a flat surface, a nucleus, and a fart cloud. In the end, it doesn’t even matter (the fifth matter), as Parker is back in shape again. The episode ends with a photograph montage. It’s a surprisingly relatable episode. Viewers can relate to Parker here - you can be a workaholic and then one day off, you’re suddenly out of shape. Parker is sympathetic as usual as you feel for their unhealthy shape. All the scenes of Lily trying to convert Parker back to normal were exciting and not to mention, educational for the young ones. The target demographic will learn a thing about the state of matters in addition to taking science lessons. The last couple minutes was very sweet, and it showcases why I love this show. This episode doesn’t get a perfect score though due to the beginning dragging on a bit (like Parker struggling to get out of the couch), but it’s not too frustrating where I give it a lower score.
(9/10)
Premium Parker
The Middlemost Post go on vacation to celebrate rate the anniversary they met each other, but once Parker saved a man, they started hanging out with him and his wife more than with Angus and Russell just to join a premium club membership. Despite this, Parker still tries to make time to hang with Angus and Russell, only to be invited to an VIP dinner. However, once they get there, the couple were about to leave after a meal, much to Parker’s sadness. Once they came crawling back to Angus and Russell, Parker confessed they got ditched. Angus reassured them and promised they can have a great time together, and so the episode ends with a montage. It’s one of the few lesser episodes, but thankfully the good outweighs the bad. Parker isn’t a smug jerk in the episode but seeing the little nimbus ditch their friends/co-workers to hang out with a couple just feels out of character for someone like Parker. It just doesn’t feel right to do this during the middle of a vacation. But they were able to learn from their mistake in the o. The ending montage is sweet and even in the episodes where there’s nothing noteworthy to talk about, can still contain such moments. Though, the comedy is rather light as well, putting a bigger emphasis on character interactions.
(7/10)
Toast of the Town
Ms. Pam hosts a reality show about toast where people of Mt. Middlemost compete against each other on to have the best toast. Plenty of people competed for the show, but they had a lot of flaws with their toast such as making their foods hard as a rock, so they were disqualified. The final three are down to Angus and Russell, Mayor Peeve and Ryan, Vs Russell and Jelly. What can I say about this? I love this episode, it’s among one of the greatest of the whole show. I’m no reality show fan, but as long as you’re watching a competition show, you’ll be interested to know who’ll be the winner. Every minute of this episode is full of laughs and you’ll be amused all the way through the every end. I think the funniest moment was that Mayor Peeve and Ryan were finally able to win, but got disqualified at the last minute because of the mayor’s ring being on their toast. I was rooting for all of them obviously, but Jelly and Russell stole the show. So no surprise there seeing the victory goes to pets who actually excellent chefs. The interview scenes were interesting and showcases how they were able to cooperate at making their toast. I’m unsure how to rank this episode, so we’ll find out at the end of the journal to see where it would end up on.
(10/10)
Ariel Force One
A hot air balloonist crashed into the Steadfast, much to Angus’ horror. The person introduces her as Ariel. She travels all over the world and the Middlemost Post follows along with her for an adventure. Angus isn't thrilled to spend time with the person who destroyed her ship, so he is determined to prove he can be adventurous, but with disastrous results. Oh boy, was I really excited for this episode. It introduces a fan favorite character named Ariel who is voiced by Michaela Dietz, which is her first Nickelodeon role. And she totally nailed her performance, which is as radically as it sounds (she says dude quite a bit). The rewatch made me enjoy the episode a lot more and my score was only lower because of Angus, but I understand where he was coming from. His jealously got the better of him because he wanted to have an exciting job like Ariel’s rather than being stuck as a mailman. The episode was full of laughs and most of it were at his expanse as he tried to be adventurous. During the scene where Parker tried to console Angus for having a good job, we are treated a few flashbacks (from the show itself and a couple events that didn’t happened). And in the final scene, we bid farewell to Ariel but reassured that we haven’t seen the last of her. And indeed, we won’t, we would have one more appearance of her again. I won’t review every single season 2 episode as I feel like I’m getting burned out longer reviews, but I will definitely do an analysis review of Mayor Ariel, which is arguably one of the best episodes of the show.
(10/10)
Itsy Bitsy
During a cold snap, Parker brought home a spider who they called it James. However, Angus is terrified of spiders and doesn’t want them in his ship. Parker attempts to hide the spider as much as they can, but things get worse when James started hatching baby spiders. Angus is disgusted and advised Parker to get the spiders off his ship immediately. And so they did, but much to Parker's sadness, the spiders are freezing themselves to death. So Angus let Parker keep the spiders for a little while. While I had a fun time watching Ariel Force One, this episode is just a step down, and it’s a shame considering it’s sandwiched between some amazing episodes. It plays out like your typical pet bug/spider episode except that it’s more focused on the fact Angus is terrified of spiders. So of course, the episode is going to feel repetitive when most of it is just Angus being nervous or running away from James the spider. Despite this, it’s not that gross of an episode and it doesn’t even reach my bottom 5 of the show, since it’s harmless. John DiMaggio actually pulled off an outstanding performance here especially when Angus yelled at Parker to get the spiders off his ship immediately. Not to mention, there were a lot of great drawings courtesy of Gabe Del Valle. It’s a pretty slapstick heavy episode if I say so myself, despite being revolved on a phobia. Angus might have been a bit harsh commanding Parker to get rid of the spiders, but even the ending shows you that he’s still kind enough to keep them at the ship.
(6/10)
They’re All Named Reggie
While delivering the mail at Purpleton, the Middlemost Post gang all get separated from each other during an escort mission to bring a baby home. So they must find each other and escape from the weirdness that is Purpleton. Steve Borst sure knows how to write bizarre episodes for the show. But unlike Lady of the Tree, I was interested in the story all the way through the very end and it didn’t had a contrived twist that already soured my opinions. It’s pretty much on the same quality as his previous effort, The ‘B’ Word. The whole episode showcased how out of this world Purpleton is because as the title states, they’re all named Reggie (even the newborns). You have Parker and Russell minding their own business with a Reggie and have no problem with them despite Angus’ warning. Angus, on the other hand, struggled to be seen or adapted to the lifestyle of Purpleton, but he learned to embrace it and went on his way to reunite with Parker and Russell after entrusting a Reggie (despite what he said earlier). I really liked that one gag where Angus became John DiMaggio for a couple seconds (I can’t find the trope name for it). Russell was a pretty good mother figure for the Baby Reggie, and all the moments with it was just nice to watch. It’s not a perfect episode though as they really didn’t found out whose owner for the baby, and the problem wasn’t resolved. Even then, the ending of the episode just felt a bit random meaning that Russell actually brought the baby home with crystals. But yeah, this is definitely season 1’s weirdest episode yet. But a couple a season 2 episode will out weird it even more.
(9/10)
Same Ol’ Same
A beloved rapped named Old Skool visits Mt. Middlemost. Everyone is excited to see him perform his hit song The Same Ol' Same, but the rapper himself has grew tired of performing the song. Parker tries to reassure Old Skool that trying new things is better than doing the same thing over and over. So, he has decided to record a brand new song, which wins over the mountain. I wasn’t expecting much with this episode at this first, but when I heard that an old school rapper was literally going to voice a fictional old school rapper (whose stage name is literally Old Skool), my exceptions went higher because I am a huge rap enthusiast especially before it went downhill sometimes in the 2010s. Old Skool is a fitting way to name a guest character because his voice actor is an actual old school rapper named Del the Funky Homosapien whose debut album was in the 90s when rap was at its peak. And I can proudly say this is in my top 10 for various reasons. The main reason of why I loved this episode so much (besides being a huge fan of classic rap music) is simple: it brought in an amazing message of how doing the same thing over and over again gets tiring and trying new things is the way to go. Seeing Parker convince Old Skool to try new things is your usual wholesomeness for the show as all of the adventures led to Old Skool coming up with a new school. It's understandable why he originally didn't want to do the concert. One hit wonder artists don't have much of a successful career outside of that one song they want to listen to. So it's not surprising the residents just wanted him to rap The Same Ol' Same, but he decided to prove them wrong by performing a kickass rap that recapped the events of the episode. The storyboard artist stated it was presented similarly to the song sequences in Disney movies, but with a hip hop fare. And it is well done because it takes a lot of skill to do that. I loved Angus in this installment, acting like a fangirl towards Old Skool, as well as the beatboxing competition against the mayor. Yeah, he was easily the funniest part of this episode. So yeah, even if you aren't rap fans, I do think this episode is still worth a watch. Old school rap fans will definitely dig this one if they ever check out this show.
(10/10)
Cloud of the Month
Angus rewards Parker Employee of the Month (or in this case, Cloud of the Month). However, Parker lets his success get to their head (literally) that they make unnecessary changes to Middlemost Post. Angus has had enough of their antics, but regret it when Parker gets depressed. So, he tried to make it up to them. It’s an interesting story where employee of the month award is the main focus. Nicktoons seem to be very fond of that plot. I do like how the episode acknowledged one thing that the rest of the show hasn’t done: the Middlemost Post don’t wear uniforms, which has always surprised me that they never do while on duty. Parker’s growing narcissism was amusing to watch especially where they keep changing the MMP’s policy. Of course, this eventually gets out of hand to point Angus gets fired.
(8/10)
A. Plumber
During a shower, Parker accidentally clogs the bath with a watermelon, so Angus calls a plumber. Unknowingly to them, the plumber is actually Ryan in disguise, all part of Mayor Peeve's plan to destroy the Middlemost Post. Ryan as a plumber is named Rocco and spends more of his time with Angus that Peeve decided to take of the situation himself.
(9/10)
Scary Stories to Tell Your Cloud
Parker, Angus, Russell, and Lily tells scary stories. The first story is called.
(10/10)
I Know What You Did Last Mail Off
The Parker drone from Postbot 3000 returns from the dead and it's out for revenge. Parker must team up with Mayor Peeve to get rid of it.
(10/10)
The Pumpkin Pageant
The Middlemost Post enters a pumpkin pageant in an attempt to beat the mayor's pumpkin. I'm going to stop describing the plots with greater details so I can go straight to the episode's strengths and weaknesses.
(8/10)
Dolores Moody
Parker finds out that one of the rock resident is really grumpy and attempts to make her happy, but to no avail.
(4/10)
P.I.R.A.T.E.
The Steadfast has been stolen by a pirate, so Parker, Angus, and Russell challenged him to various games in order to keep it.
(8/10)
Inside Russell
Angus and Parker go inside Russell
(9/10)
The Stinkhole Chronicles
In order to save Angus, Parker and Lily go on a gaming simulation, where a bunch of a familiar video games are featured throughout the experience.
(10/10)
Parker Saves Christmas
Santa Claus comes to Mt. Middlemost. But when he gets injured, Parker and Angus must take over to save Christmas.
(9/10)
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Parker thinks they're all grown up when they gain a bit of hair, but it turns out to be something else.
(8/10)
Dentist Trip
Russell is due to a dentist appointment, and Parker hides inside her and experienced a trippy sequence. This is when we know about the origins of the show.
(10/10)
Ranch on the Side
After a ketchup shortage, Parker is treated with ranch sauce and grew addicted to it that they started to fall in love with the dressing.
(7/10)
King Cloud vs Smogzilla
A dangerous smog cloud has spread over the mountain and Parker must save the day.
(10/10)
Conclusion
