Review: Milo Murphy’s Law “Rooting for the Enemy; Sunny Side Up”

I don’t want to jinx it, but this show is looking like a winner!

Note: The first episode that was provided and reviewed was before the TV premier and contained episode 1a (“Going the Extra Milo”) and 2b (“The Undergrounders”) in a 30 minute block. The second episode to air on TV contained 2a (“Rooting for the Enemy”) and 2b (“The Undergrounders”). This review encompasses 2a and 1b, in an attempt to get back on schedule with the weekly airings.

Wow, the first episode worked as a great introduction the characters and the tone of the show and left me wondering if it was going to be the same story rehashed every week with the omnipresent misfortune motif to guide the plot. While that still partially holds true because, after all, it is the concept of the show, the creators and writers have already found ways to change it up and not just have the same copy-paste episode week after week of “Milo does something and calamity follows him.”

“Rooting for the Enemy” uses the show’s concept in a semi-meta way by using Milo’s frequent disaster for their [the school’s sport’s team] benefit. The point is brought up sarcastically that Milo should root for the opponents, once it was apparent that the home team was losing by a mile. In that moment of sarcasm, the protagonists realize that it is a legitimate strategy. After Milo changes to the Tiger’s mascot (a reference to Clemson? possibly) and with the help of an original music number, the Geckos overturn the Tigers and win the game.

The episode could have just been set up to where Milo attends the game, roots for the home team [the Geckos] and they lose because a bunch of crazy stuff happens, because Milo is there; but they would have been no a predictable no-punches-pulled scenario. Instead they took the road less traveled and threw a  monkey wrench into the system, which is greatly appreciated by myself and I’m assuming, a portion of the audience.

Unfortunately, “Sunny Side Up” wasn’t as creative and imaginative with it’s story. The following statement can be said for many different episodes of many different shows, but here goes: South Park did it many years ago, and did it better. “Sunny Side Up” was essentially a family friendly version of the South Park episode entitled, “Follow that Egg.” The class is given the assignment to watch over egg and make sure it stands up to various tasks. In Milo, it’s physics related assessments, and in SP, its just an assignment paralleling raising a child on everyday tasks. In both episodes, it seems like when the group gets to class, the egg is broken and the assignment is failed; however on both shows the lead character pulls out an egg that they hidden earlier in the episode and it remains in tact. South Park has done it all, so I’m not going to dock the episode because of the similarities.  I’m docking the episode, because it just wasn’t special or memorable and played more to the standard episode structure that I mentioned earlier.

With one episode that used Milo’s “gift” to their advantage and one pretty standard episode, the show seems to already have found its footing of a show, that depending on the episode, may either be the standard kids’ show with humor that actually is funny and witty, or an unorthodox kids’ show that is funny because of the said humor and wit.

Hopefully, as the show continues, it continues taking more chances to show that it’s not just Phineas and Ferb with misfortune and frequent destructive coincidences. If it doesn’t take chances, than it’s still an above average show with Weird Al in it. If it does take chances, than it’s a unique show that has excellent improved potential with Weird Al in it. Did I mention that Weird Al is in it?