Review: Corner Gas Animated “Bush League”

There is going to be a lot of darts to the face

Overview:

Brent and Hank are disputing over what they buried in the woods when they were children.  The only way to settle the debate is to go out to the woods and dig it back up.  Though, when they make it out there, they quickly end up lost.  Adamite to prove he is a real outdoorsmen Hank makes multiple sacrifices to make sure Brent doesn’t call for help.

Meanwhile, Wanda is commissioning the local darts league.  With a bet on the line between Karen and Davis, Wanda begins to abuse her power.  Unfortunately, it ends up working against her, so obviously she tries to get her revenge.

Our Take:

It is kind of strange that this episode was released along with the previous episode “Pioneer and Deer”.  Hank’s plot is nearly identical in both of these episodes, including setting.  Both feature Hank as he is trying to prove he’s more masculine capabilities in the great outdoors.  They also show how he is trying to impress his oldest friend, Brent, and at the end of each, he hasn’t proven anything.  This happens a lot in sitcom television, though it is extremely noticeable when you release two episodes back-to-back that has an identical plotline.

On the other hand, this is another excellent episode at showcasing Brent’s unique style of humour.  Brent is the type of character that likes to push his friends as far as they’ll go for the sake of his own entertainment.  If he can cash in on a night of camping when it means his friend will sacrifice his clothes to make him a hammock, you can be sure Brent is going to capitalize on that for all it’s worth.  Any plot that allows him to play this out the most makes for a stronger Corner Gas episode.

Another character that received clever writing was Oscar.  Spending most of the darts tournament stewing over what he calls “the incident”, he is searching for anyone to share his story with.  When he finally gets to recap the events of “the incident” it is humorous in its minimalism.  This is an excellent use of this character who truly just craves attention.  Oscar would be the type to grumble over something for twenty years just waiting for somebody to ask him about what happened.

There has been some inconsistency throughout this season of Corner Gas Animated.  Where some episodes are written with multiple intersecting plotlines, there are some like this one, where two plots that have nothing to do with another are taking place completely separate from each other.  And, as well-done as it was to have the remainder of characters at the darts tournament, it did feel like some of them were injected to receive screen time.  If this darts tournament was so significant for this group of friends, then why were Brent and Hank not involved?

As great as it is to receive two episodes back-to-back each week, it does present the issue of comparing them to one another.  It becomes more significant when an episode has to follow one as strong as “Pioneer and Deer”.  At no point do I want to say that this was an undesirable episode because it holds up on its own and is entertaining enough.  Though, compared to what it followed, and the strength that the series has shown thus far this season, it just does not hold up.