Review: Corner Gas Animated “Putt Putt Go”

 

 

Overview:

Davis is recovering from a recurring thumb wrestling injury making Karen the only candidate to help the mayor with a particular project. While away, someone must collect gems in the mayor’s mobile game. Although if Karen is hoping to receive a favour in return, she will have to beat the best player in town, Lacey.

Meanwhile, with Lacey taking a personal day, Emma is watching over The Ruby. That is until an indoor mini-putt accident injures her shoulder. So, while she and Davis experiment with confiscated pain killers, Brent is left to watch over The Ruby. A position that would be easier if he could get Wanda and Hank to stop golfing throughout the restaurant.

 

Our Take:

Sad to say, we are reaching the final few episodes of Corner Gas Animated. A fact that is even harder to swallow, considering the series has been enjoying its most fantastic season yet. And as things begin to wind down for the show, the entertainment level only seems to be increasing, especially after last week’s guest appearance from Rick Mercer.

Without any flashy cameos, this latest episode manages to bring things back to the basics. For Corner Gas, that means putting the ensemble cast through some healthy competitions. Whether it is an online phone game or a round of gas station golf, competitiveness is a core conflict to get the best out of many of these characters.

A main competition throughout this episode is a mobile game titled Gemmy Blitz. The app meant to be an amalgamation of Pokemon Go and every other most popular game in the virtual store causes half of Dog River to show up on Oscar’s lawn. Surprisingly, the biggest hitter in this made-up game is Lacey. But they are all in the way of Karen attempting to make good with the mayor.

The high stakes round of mini-putt that Wanda and Hank share around Corner Gas was much more entertaining to watch on screen. A situational comedic game that would have been amazing to see during the live-action run of the franchise. Regardless, the impressive putting will make anyone want to set up an indoor mini-golf after the episode ends.

Still, the major gem of this episode comes from seeing Emma, as we have never seen her. High out of her mind on pain killers. Davis does his best to cover up his mistake of double dosing the ageing woman, but her antics are over-the-top. Emma, known for her spiteful edge, manages to become the hit of the episode with her finger guns and self-portraits.

A lot was going on through this episode.  Corner Gas typically has multiple turning cogs, though they rarely work as symbiotically as this story. It seems after all these years, the writing team was ready to take more chances with their scripts. It is too bad that we won’t see just how far they can go with this gas station in the middle of rural Saskatchewan.