Gumball: But he's got a serious job now with a suit, and tie. They even call him Mr. Robinson.
Mr. Robinson: Really? How's he doing?
Gumball: Overworked...underpaid...downtrodden...kinda soulless, actually.
Mr. Robinson: Really? How's he doing?
Gumball: Overworked...underpaid...downtrodden...kinda soulless, actually.
After Mr. Robinson suffers a loss of stuffing (which plays out like someone popping a blood vessel) from a bad lawn, he needs a transplant from a relative. However, he refuses to let Rocky, his slacker son who works at Elmore Junior High, do it without getting a more respectable job. Gumball and Darwin get him one, but the office that hires Rocky is out to literally steal his soul.
Tropes:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
- Rocky says that his father hates him because he's "...an immature deadbeat who never left school, refuses to get a decent job, and dresses like a Canadian."
- He later states that Chanax pollutes, cuts down rainforests, and their boss invented boy bands (though that last item could be a legitimate complaint as Rocky is established to be more of a rocker than a fan of boy band music).
- Billy Needs an Organ: Mr. Robinson needs a stuffing transplant from a blood relative, but won't accept it from his son because he thinks he's too much of a failure. But once he does get a "respectable" job, he doesn't have time for the surgery.
- Catch-22 Dilemma: Mr. Robinson refuses to accept a transplant from his son Rocky, because he is ashamed of him. When Rocky wins his dad's respect by getting a good job, he's too busy working to go through with the surgery. Gumball and Darwin solve the problem in the end by ripping up Rocky's contract, then getting him to the hospital before anyone can object.
- Continuity Nod: Chanax Incorporated was the place Richard tried to get a job at in "The Painting."
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mr. Chanax is a sadistic and cruel boss who steals the souls (which, in turn, only creates a jar full of air) of his employees to hold them captive at Chanax forever.
- End-of-Episode Silliness: Darwin and Gumball managed to get Rocky to the hospital to give his father the stuffing transplant he needs. Then Mr. Robinson finds out Rocky quit his new job, the episode ends as his anger causes him to explode, and he's fine next time we see him.
- Evil, Inc.: Chanax, Inc. feeds off the souls of their employees and one of their chair members is some sort of demon or goblin. Rocky, however, considers them Necessarily Evil because they also invented cheese puffs.
- Face Palm: The Rule of Three is put onto this. After hearing Rocky whistle with his butt through the door, Gumball facepalms in frustration three times, with the final one getting his hand to go through his face.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Mr. Robinson claims he is fine with Rocky going back to his old life while the life support machine he's hooked up to goes crazy. He explodes a few seconds later.
- Magically-Binding Contract: The CEO of Chanax has control over his employees through their contracts, and makes Rocky move to his pleasure at the climax. His mistake is not realizing that Gumball and Darwin aren't his employees, freeing them to rip up Rocky's contract, which not only destroy the CEO of Chanax but also frees all his other employees (at least, from his direct control, they're still basically enslaved by mundane means to the company).
- Our Demons Are Different: Chanax and some of his employees appear to be some sort of demons, including a goblin-like board member and scorpion-lady secretary.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The moment Mr. Robinson is laid up in the hospital, Mrs. Robinson high-tails it to an island resort, where she stays until he gets better.
- Shout-Out: The head of Chanax being a sinister, second face behind the front of an innocuous man is like Professor Quirrel and Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Part of Rocky's employment contract was to breathe his "spirit" into a jar that the company keeps. Subverted when it turns out this didn't really do anything but create a jar full of air.
