Review: We Bare Bears “Bro Brawl”

Do you even brawl, bro?

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

The episode begins as the Bears partake in a Gameshow called “Bro Brawl” hosted by a purple-haired Jersey Shore reject by the name of Brody Brogan who pits the Bears against a rival team of three roommates whose personalities and interactions comedically mirror the Bears themselves including Panda’s former friend Tom from the Season 2 episode Panda’s Friend which makes this a little awkward for the both of them since the grand prize is a high tech “Smart Apartment”. As the challenges begin, most of the running time is spent on a series of comedic setpieces & scenarios with one of them being a parody of Iron Chef, to a fashion-themed challenge that Panda wins using his quick wits which makes the Bears evenly matched in points against Tom’s rival team.

We get to the third act when Panda notices Tom crying in the restroom who explains that the reason him and his roommates entered the contest is because they can’t afford their current home and saw the prize as a chance to fix that which puts Panda in a quandary with this new information and in subtle ways, it does a good job expressing Panda’s inner-turmoil during the proceedings. When the final challenge begins, it feels like an obvious parody of the classic game show Double Dare in terms of messy oversized objects as each team member has to find their team-colored flag and pass it down to their respective teammates until they reach the final round which is a race through dirty laundry between Panda & Tom, but the episode ends on a predictable yet positive note when Panda does something incredibly selfless while Grizz & Ice Bear compliment Panda for his actions and Brodie gives a funny preview to the next episode of his bizarre game show.

Our Take

Despite this being a clever parody of reality & game shows, It was a nice way to bring Tom back without it feeling as creepy & awkward as the “Panda’s Friend” episode. While the host was kinda weird in a Jersey Shore/Fratboy kinda way, the episode managed to move at a good pace and it never got boring. I also liked what Panda did in the third act as he never held any ill-will towards Tom long after what he previously did, but I guess a lot can happen when people go their separate ways.