Thoughts on this episode.
1 Walk the Swine, reference to a Johnny Cash line, and the Hollywoodized biopick of the singer which played a role in the actual episode. This was clever and good planning since Piggy's guest was Rees Witherspoon.
2 Loved Uncle Deadly at the beginning getting his coffee order and dishing gossip with Kermit. Uncle D may be head of wardrobe on Up Late but I really like how he's becoming a main source on backstage happenings.
3 True Colors apparently makes Fozzie very emotional... And I chuckled at
![Cool :cool: :cool:](/forum/styles/muppetcentral/smilies/cool.gif)
getting in on the act, which makes Fozzie say that song's even more hauntingly beautiful on sax.
4 This exchange.
Becky: "So says the shrimp who's dressed in a turtleneck and gold pants, you look like you belong in a BoysIIMen video."
![Roll Eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](/forum/styles/muppetcentral/smilies/rolleyes.gif)
"Hey, ju dress for the job ju really want."
Now that's good snarky banter.
5 The running plot about
![Wink :wink: :wink:](/forum/styles/muppetcentral/smilies/wink.gif)
going to different relatives of
![Shifty :shifty: :shifty:](/forum/styles/muppetcentral/smilies/shifty.gif)
after his car troubles... Did that get a proper resolution other than Scooter huffing at Rizzo that he'd take care of it himself with his own insurance company?
*Hopes he got that insurance from Flo.
Unfortunately, the rest of the episode makes me re-evaluate the current direction, it kind of returned to "mean Muppets".
Fozzie seems to have indulged his inner Don Rickles aiming new material at Becky's personal habits, which led to her retaliating with the True Colors bit. Although I did like Pepe's line of how Fozzie was being romantic by making an entire room of peoples miserable just for her when the bear went back to his regular material, but that entire outcome was predictable. Including the stinger at the end of the episode where he goes on about her big feet. This might probably the beginning crack for the eventual split between them, probable outcome of the writers not knowing what to do with Becky as a character.
The feud between Rees and Piggy. Typical divaness. Piggy telling Kermit she'd join Habitat for Humanity just to show up Rees was the perfect reason to join the charity organization, and then how she basically spoke for Kermit when he was trying to make her see reason, just pure pettiness which I didn't like. Continue that on to filming at the construction site... This was a missed opportunity where they could have harkened back to some TMTM referencial humor. Piggy dropping her voice just to promote herself and make Rees look bad is more of that pettiness.
Yes, there was the one moment where Piggy secluded herself in her dressing room and we got a true admission of self-disgust over her actions causing the construction site to fall down... But what did that get us? A big musical production where even in saying "I'm Sorry" Piggy treats it as a petty competition.
As far as I'm concerned, this episode gets a 3 out of 5 frogs, middle of the pack plot, "mean Muppets", and not much true laughs from me.