Moral Orel Essay - Things Sure Have Changed, part 2
So, um, here we go. Part 2 of this, which focuses on season 1.
Part 1.
DISCLAIMER: THIS SHOW IS RATED TV MA. THEREFORE, THIS ESSAY IS ALSO RATED TV MA. I SWEAR QUITE A BIT AND DESCRIBE SOME ADULT THEMES, MOSTLY SEXUAL. JUST A WARNING. IF YOU DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ, AND DON'T WATCH. NOT THE SHOW FOR YOU. The show also belongs to Dino Stamatopolous and all the people at [adult swim], including Mike Lazzo, who canceled it. Jerk.
Moral Orel, for the majority of the first season, was a pleasant, pondering little show that derived most of its humor from a formulaic setting: Orel listens to a sermon or to his father, Orel misinterprets something from that sermon or lecture, Orel does something that he thinks is utterly righteous but in reality is silly and/or harmful, Orel gets caught, Orel gets lectured by Clay and spanked. Clay's pants fall down.
Within the first season, he manages to bring to life a hoard of zombies ("The Lord's Greatest Gift"), impregnate most of the women in Moralton ("God's Chef"), get addicted to crack ("Charity"), get the whole town to believe that his urine is an energy drink ("Waste"), pierces his "Johnston" in order to "make his wife happy" ("Blessed Union"), break all the ten commandments in one day ("God-Fearing"), gay-bash ("Loyalty"), and get very, very drunk ("Maturity").
If new to the show, it would probably be good idea to watch a couple of the episodes just as a reference to who the characters are. This season was more about introducing the characters and ideas instead of actual plot...up until the season finale, "The Best Christmas Ever". I'll detail on that in a second, but let me finish this part first.
The characters in this season are much more exaggerated than they are in the other two seasons. Or at least, they seem more exaggerated. They might actually not be, but because they have grown so much as characters since then, it is hard to compare season 1 Bloberta to season 3 Bloberta. Or even season 1 Doughy to season 3 Doughy. His character didn't change much, but because you learn more about him, you feel much more sympathy for him by the end of the show.
Honestly, if you're new to the show and have just read what I wrote, a quick way to get acquainted with the show is to watch the season 2 episode "Orel's Movie Premiere". It's a crappily-animated version of "The Lord's Greatest Gift", "God's Chef", and "Charity" that references "Waste" that Orel made, and he shows it to the town. It's hilarious for somebody who is a regular of the show and reads a lot of Dino's interviews (quite a few inside jokes thrown in), but it could also be informative to somebody who hasn't seen the show before.
And, now that I've summarized most of the first season, let's talk about the first episode ever aired, although it was meant to be the season finale...The Best Christmas Ever.
This episode had people talking. It was a very bold, and arguably stupid, move on [adult swim]'s part to air this first. If anything, it grabbed people's attention, both positively and negatively. It is a polarizing episode, and an episode that in my opinion shows if you really do like the show or are in it for the pee humor. If you're in it for the pee humor, you won't enjoy most of the second and third seasons. It's pretty much that simple.
The episode starts off on a high note as all the Puppingtons are singing a Christmas jingle in their car on their way to church. It sounds like an actual song at first, but soon you realize that the song that they're singing so joyfully is an advertisement. Already, not 30 seconds into the show, there is a blatant stab at consumerism, and there is way more in this episode that could be considered offensive to religion and just the whole Christmas spirit in general.
The episode is focused on the fact that Shapey, Orel's brother, is really Orel's half-brother and is illegitimate. This is pretty obvious visually, because Shapey looks a lot like Coach Stopframe, and nothing at all like Clay, but this is the first time in the show where this has been explicitly addressed. Reverend Putty has a sermon about embracing "mistake" children like Mary and Joseph embraced Jesus, and Bloberta yells at Clay later that night about how the sermon was obviously about them. There is an intense argument, which Orel accidentally eavesdrops on, and he comes to the conclusion that Shapey is the second coming. Clay leaves. Orel has a crappy Christmas. This is the most basic summary.
That's not to say that this episode doesn't have funny moments. The beginning scene, for instance, I thought was hilarious. Like all season 1 episodes, the general formulaic setting is followed until the argument that Clay and Bloberta have. But this argument really set something up for the rest of the show - the show's heart and soul, in my opinion. For the first time, there is a real conversation (or nonconversation, as it is,) with real people about something that is sensitive. It is interesting to note that, unlike a lot of later episodes, Clay is more introverted and withdrawn throughout most of the argument until the end, although it is clear how unstable he is, especially during this exchange:
BLOBERTA: miming drinking When do you ever remember?
CLAY: All I do is try to forget.
This is probably the saddest misinterpretation that Orel ever has. He truly thinks that Shapey is Jesus, and that this is the greatest thing to ever happen to him, when in reality his father has just left and he is going to spend the majority of this Christmas by himself. This episode, unlike most of the season 1 episodes and more like the season 3 episodes, has a light tone on the very surface but it doesn't take a lot of digging to get to raw emotion and bleakness. The voice acting in this episode is subtle and smart, especially during the argument scene.
The most controversial thing about this episode, for sure, was the ending. Orel stands outside the bar, watching Coach Stopframe hit on Clay while Clay is getting drunk...again. He then stares up at the sky and says that he has faith that God can still make this the best Christmas ever, even though there are only two minutes left. Then, there is a slow zoom out while Orel stares up at the sky hopefully, praying. And the episode is over. No credits, because there were credits in the beginning. Nothing. Nothing at all.
This angered a lot of people. I loved it; I thought that the emotion that was placed behind these characters made everything plausible and worthwhile. I don't think it was a good move to have this as the first episode because it alienated a lot of people automatically, while the other nine episodes in the season might not have so much.
It's interesting to see, now that the show is over, how different the "series premiere" and the "series finale" are, although they are both Christmas episodes. I love both of these episodes a lot, and I think they are both on the top five episodes of the show, but I think I'll wait to go into the details of this when I get to season 3.
In short, this season was, for the most part, the most lighthearted, and the most stupid. I'd still say that The Best Christmas Ever is one of the most heavy episodes of the series, even after the downer that is season three, and it totally redeems the jokes in season one that get old. This is the first episode that starts the continuity of the storyline and plot - the events in this episode drive other events in season two, no matter how minor compared to the links in season three.
Part 1.
DISCLAIMER: THIS SHOW IS RATED TV MA. THEREFORE, THIS ESSAY IS ALSO RATED TV MA. I SWEAR QUITE A BIT AND DESCRIBE SOME ADULT THEMES, MOSTLY SEXUAL. JUST A WARNING. IF YOU DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ, AND DON'T WATCH. NOT THE SHOW FOR YOU. The show also belongs to Dino Stamatopolous and all the people at [adult swim], including Mike Lazzo, who canceled it. Jerk.
Moral Orel, for the majority of the first season, was a pleasant, pondering little show that derived most of its humor from a formulaic setting: Orel listens to a sermon or to his father, Orel misinterprets something from that sermon or lecture, Orel does something that he thinks is utterly righteous but in reality is silly and/or harmful, Orel gets caught, Orel gets lectured by Clay and spanked. Clay's pants fall down.
Within the first season, he manages to bring to life a hoard of zombies ("The Lord's Greatest Gift"), impregnate most of the women in Moralton ("God's Chef"), get addicted to crack ("Charity"), get the whole town to believe that his urine is an energy drink ("Waste"), pierces his "Johnston" in order to "make his wife happy" ("Blessed Union"), break all the ten commandments in one day ("God-Fearing"), gay-bash ("Loyalty"), and get very, very drunk ("Maturity").
If new to the show, it would probably be good idea to watch a couple of the episodes just as a reference to who the characters are. This season was more about introducing the characters and ideas instead of actual plot...up until the season finale, "The Best Christmas Ever". I'll detail on that in a second, but let me finish this part first.
The characters in this season are much more exaggerated than they are in the other two seasons. Or at least, they seem more exaggerated. They might actually not be, but because they have grown so much as characters since then, it is hard to compare season 1 Bloberta to season 3 Bloberta. Or even season 1 Doughy to season 3 Doughy. His character didn't change much, but because you learn more about him, you feel much more sympathy for him by the end of the show.
Honestly, if you're new to the show and have just read what I wrote, a quick way to get acquainted with the show is to watch the season 2 episode "Orel's Movie Premiere". It's a crappily-animated version of "The Lord's Greatest Gift", "God's Chef", and "Charity" that references "Waste" that Orel made, and he shows it to the town. It's hilarious for somebody who is a regular of the show and reads a lot of Dino's interviews (quite a few inside jokes thrown in), but it could also be informative to somebody who hasn't seen the show before.
And, now that I've summarized most of the first season, let's talk about the first episode ever aired, although it was meant to be the season finale...The Best Christmas Ever.
This episode had people talking. It was a very bold, and arguably stupid, move on [adult swim]'s part to air this first. If anything, it grabbed people's attention, both positively and negatively. It is a polarizing episode, and an episode that in my opinion shows if you really do like the show or are in it for the pee humor. If you're in it for the pee humor, you won't enjoy most of the second and third seasons. It's pretty much that simple.
The episode starts off on a high note as all the Puppingtons are singing a Christmas jingle in their car on their way to church. It sounds like an actual song at first, but soon you realize that the song that they're singing so joyfully is an advertisement. Already, not 30 seconds into the show, there is a blatant stab at consumerism, and there is way more in this episode that could be considered offensive to religion and just the whole Christmas spirit in general.
The episode is focused on the fact that Shapey, Orel's brother, is really Orel's half-brother and is illegitimate. This is pretty obvious visually, because Shapey looks a lot like Coach Stopframe, and nothing at all like Clay, but this is the first time in the show where this has been explicitly addressed. Reverend Putty has a sermon about embracing "mistake" children like Mary and Joseph embraced Jesus, and Bloberta yells at Clay later that night about how the sermon was obviously about them. There is an intense argument, which Orel accidentally eavesdrops on, and he comes to the conclusion that Shapey is the second coming. Clay leaves. Orel has a crappy Christmas. This is the most basic summary.
That's not to say that this episode doesn't have funny moments. The beginning scene, for instance, I thought was hilarious. Like all season 1 episodes, the general formulaic setting is followed until the argument that Clay and Bloberta have. But this argument really set something up for the rest of the show - the show's heart and soul, in my opinion. For the first time, there is a real conversation (or nonconversation, as it is,) with real people about something that is sensitive. It is interesting to note that, unlike a lot of later episodes, Clay is more introverted and withdrawn throughout most of the argument until the end, although it is clear how unstable he is, especially during this exchange:
BLOBERTA: miming drinking When do you ever remember?
CLAY: All I do is try to forget.
This is probably the saddest misinterpretation that Orel ever has. He truly thinks that Shapey is Jesus, and that this is the greatest thing to ever happen to him, when in reality his father has just left and he is going to spend the majority of this Christmas by himself. This episode, unlike most of the season 1 episodes and more like the season 3 episodes, has a light tone on the very surface but it doesn't take a lot of digging to get to raw emotion and bleakness. The voice acting in this episode is subtle and smart, especially during the argument scene.
The most controversial thing about this episode, for sure, was the ending. Orel stands outside the bar, watching Coach Stopframe hit on Clay while Clay is getting drunk...again. He then stares up at the sky and says that he has faith that God can still make this the best Christmas ever, even though there are only two minutes left. Then, there is a slow zoom out while Orel stares up at the sky hopefully, praying. And the episode is over. No credits, because there were credits in the beginning. Nothing. Nothing at all.
This angered a lot of people. I loved it; I thought that the emotion that was placed behind these characters made everything plausible and worthwhile. I don't think it was a good move to have this as the first episode because it alienated a lot of people automatically, while the other nine episodes in the season might not have so much.
It's interesting to see, now that the show is over, how different the "series premiere" and the "series finale" are, although they are both Christmas episodes. I love both of these episodes a lot, and I think they are both on the top five episodes of the show, but I think I'll wait to go into the details of this when I get to season 3.
In short, this season was, for the most part, the most lighthearted, and the most stupid. I'd still say that The Best Christmas Ever is one of the most heavy episodes of the series, even after the downer that is season three, and it totally redeems the jokes in season one that get old. This is the first episode that starts the continuity of the storyline and plot - the events in this episode drive other events in season two, no matter how minor compared to the links in season three.