History Recap / TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS4E22TheOrigins

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In this, the series' first half-hour length episode, Nicole and Richard -- young, married, and trying to care for their hyperactive toddler son, Gumball -- buy a goldfish named Darwin[[note]]after going through several that have died[[/note]] to keep young Gumball occupied, but when Darwin gets flushed down the toilet, Darwin must brave a scary new world (and go through years of evolution in a short amount of time) in order to return to his brother.
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!!Tropes
* ADayInTheLimelight: The second half is focused on how Darwin returns to Elmore and how he becomes a fish with legs and lungs.
* BlackComedyBurst:
** Richard and Nicole [[AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering think they have the same plan to deal with Gumball's hyperactivity]], but while Nicole wanted to get him a pet, Richard starts to say they should go back in time and [[OffingTheOffspring prevent Gumball from being conceived]]. Richard suddenly cuts himself off before he can complete the sentence and [[VerbalBackpedaling nervously claims his idea was also to get a pet]].
** The many goldfish before Darwin die in sequence, punctuated by Richard singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in a falsetto voice and flushing the toilet -- until Larry the clerk tells Richard he can't sell him anymore because [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere the last two escaped]].
** Darwin startles Sussie's parents into dropping her, which turns her from a brainy, talkative child with dreams of being a lawyer to a barely coherent idiot.
* CallForward:
** Richard buys Darwin from the same shady red van he would later buy the killer turtle in "The Puppy".
** We see Nicole get the idea to get her job at the Rainbow Factory (which, in this episode, is under construction).
** We also find out where Darwin got his shoes. Gumball gives him his own.
** The dog catcher who tranquilizes Darwin is the cockroach pest control worker called to take down Penny when she freaked out over her new form on "The Shell".
* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Sussie is shown as a [[BrainyBaby verbose and intelligent infant]], until Darwin bumps into her parents and they accidentally drop her. When they pick her up, she's making the bizarre noises she typically makes in the present.
* {{Determinator}}: Darwin stops at nothing to get back to Gumball and Gumball has faith that Darwin will come back.
* DeathMontage: A goldfish dies, Richard flushes it in the toilet while singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", and buys a new one without Gumball seeing it. This repeats up until the last two goldfish literally escape from his sight.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Gumball did not realize his command for Darwin made him look dead, and thus in danger of being flushed down the toilet.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: The shop owner first claims Darwin isn't for sale, but admits that was just a starting line for negotiating a price. Richard talks to the owner to lower the price from $100 to $10. When the owner acquiesces, [[WontTakeYesForAnAnswer Richard raises the price to $50]]. When the owner expresses confusion, Richard decides to pay him the $100 originally asked for.
* FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter: When Darwin first gets legs, he quickly concludes that it's easiest to move around on all four limbs. Once in the dog catcher's van, Darwin standing up lets him reach the keys to the cages and he walks upright from then on.
* FurryReminder: Some of Gumball and Darwin's future classmates have appearances reflecting their non-human nature:
** In the short scene of Gumball and Richard swimming in the lake, Banana Joe is still green because he hasn't ripened yet.
** Leslie's hasn't bloomed yet, so his petals cover his face and blind him, causing him to kill one of the Darwins by kicking its bowl.
** Teri's face is drawn like a child's scribbles.
* HowIsThatEvenPossible:
-->'''Nicole:''' Gumball, how did you manage to bring both sand ''and'' snow in the the house?\\
''(Nicole follows the trail of shoeprints across the floor, up the wall, and into a crack in the ceiling)''\\
'''Nicole''': I'm not even going to ''ask'' about that.
* TheJinx: The Wattersons have such bad luck with goldfish that the last two fish jump out of the tank when they see Richard coming.
* MultiPartEpisode: Consists of two quarter-hour episodes. This is the first one for the series, as the staff held off in earlier seasons out of fear that the episodes would air out of order.
* MusicalisInterruptus: Darwin's song is interrupted when an eagle suddenly snatches him up. When she tries to feed him to her chick, Darwin slaps the chick in the face and continues walking on while singing.
* NarrativeShapeshifting: Darwin is able to change shape and even color to imitate others for the sake of communicating. He makes himself look like Richard when asked to look dumb, and makes himself to look like Gumball when asking around for him.
* NoCartoonFish: While Darwin looked just as stylized before growing legs as after, the earlier Darwins were nearly photorealistic. The fish Darwin meets at the ocean are somewhere in between, being realistically-shaped but simple while having a largely human range of expressions.
* OriginsEpisode: As indicated by the title, this episode shows how Darwin became a member of the Watterson family.
* PreviouslyOn: Parodied, as most of the clips used are from episodes that came before this one and have nothing to do with the actual episode.
* PuffOfLogic: Darwin starts running around in panic when he gains legs, but then realizes he doesn't know how to run and flops to the ground.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Darwin was originally meant to be this, but quickly becomes a treasured member of the family instead.
* SeriesContinuityError: In this episode, there were at least six goldfish before Darwin was chosen as Gumball's pet and all of them were flushed down the toilet. In "The Party" Darwin's full name ("Darwin Radlin Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson III") implied he was the third goldfish and in "The Game" Nicole finds the skeleton of the first Darwin under Gumball's bed.
* SleepCute: The episode ends with Gumball and Darwin reunited and falling asleep together in the back of the family car.
* SmashCut: Richard realizes the third replacement goldfish he bought [[WellIntentionedReplacement was the wrong color, so he tries to paint it orange]]. Just as the brush is about to reach the water, there's an abrupt cut to a shot of orange water being flushed down the toilet and Richard singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The show's first two-part episode and a WholeEpisodeFlashback showing what Gumball was like when he was four, what Nicole and Richard were like when they first became parents, and how Darwin became Gumball's brother.
* SomewhereSong: Darwin sings "I'm On My Way" once he gets lungs, about how nothing will stop him from getting home to Gumball, getting slower and more desperate as Darwin begins to tire and dry out.
* ThePowerOfLove: Darwin's connection with Gumball is what made him able to survive on dry land and grow legs.
* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: Darwin was bought from a mysterious van store, the same one from "The Puppy", with the owner even saying Darwin was more then he appears.
* TravelMontage: Spoofed with Darwin actually walking over a map someone dropped on the forest and mistaking it for the actual destination.
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The entire episode takes place about eight years ago, with no present-day framing device.

* SmashCut: Richard realizes the second replacement goldfish he bought [[WellIntentionedReplacement was the wrong color, so he tries to paint it orange]]. Just as the brush is about to reach the water, there's an abrupt cut to a shot of orange water being flushed down the toilet and Richard singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".

-->'''Nicole:''' Gumball, how did you manage to both sand ''and'' snow in the the house?\\

* TheJinx: The Pattersons have such bad luck with goldfish that the last two fish jump out of the tank when they see Richard coming.

* SeriesContinuityError: In this episode, there were at least six goldfish before Darwin was chosen as Gumball's pet and all of them were flushed down the toilet. In "The Party" the Darwin's full name ("Darwin Radlin Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson III") implied he was the third goldfish and in "The Game" Nicole finds the skeleton of the first Darwin under Gumball's bed.

** The sequence of the many goldfish before Darwin dying, punctuated by Richard singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in a falsetto voice and flushing the toilet -- until Larry the clerk tells Richard he can't sell him anymore because [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere the last two escaped]].
** Darwin startling Sussie's parents and dropping her, which turns her from a brainy, talkative child with dreams of being a lawyer to a barely coherent idiot.
* {{CallBack}}: The dog catcher who tranquilizes Darwin was the cockroach pest control worker who accidentally shot Nicole (and who was called to take down Penny when she freaked out over her new form) on "The Shell".

* NarrativeShapeshifting: Darwin shows a skill for it. He makes himself look like Richard when asked to look dumb, and makes himself to look like Gumball when asking around for him.
* NoCartoonFish: While averted with Darwin, this trope is played straight with the earlier Darwins. The fish Darwin meets at the ocean are somewhere in between.

* SeriesContinuityError: In this episode, it's implied that there were at least six goldfish before Darwin was chosen as Gumball's pet and all of them were flushed down the toilet, which contradicts the part in "The Party" where Darwin gives his full name ("Darwin Radlin Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson III"), which implies that he's the third goldfish and "The Game", where Nicole finds a goldfish skeleton under Gumball's bed and gasps "Oh no! Darwin the first!"

* SmashCut: Richard realizes the second replacement goldfish he bought [[WellIntentionedReplacement was the wrong color, so he tries to paint it orange]]. Just as the brush is about to reach the water, there's an abrupt cut to Richard singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and a shot of orange water being flushed down the toilet.
* SomewhereSong: "I'm On My Way"

* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: Darwin was bought from a mysterious van store, the same one from "The Puppy" (with the owner even saying Darwin was more then he appears)
* TravelMontage: Spoofed with Darwin actually walking over a map someone dropped on the forest.

* MultiPartEpisode: Consists of two quarter-hour episodes. This is the first one for the series, as the staff held off in earlier seasons out of fear that the episodes would air out of order. and the fact that most of the early episodes had little to no continuity.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The show's first two-part episode and a WholeEpisodeFlashback (one with no present-day framing device, which is rare in these kind of episodes) showing what Gumball was like when he was four, what Nicole and Richard were like when they first became parents, and how Darwin became Gumball's brother.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback

* SeriesContinuityError: In this episode, it's implied that there were at least six goldfish before Darwin was chosen as Gumball's pet and all of them were flushed down the toilet, which contradicts the part in "The Party" where Darwin gives his full name ("Darwin Radlin Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson III"), which implies that he's the third goldfish[[note]]though it could also mean that he's the third male fish in his family who has that name[[/note]] and "The Game", where Nicole finds a goldfish skeleton under Gumball's bed and gasps "Oh no! Darwin the first!"