Frankie

[Medikor]

I don't think "Blooooo" was meant to give Frankie a hard time intentionaly. It was just to parody the horror genre as others have said. I found her moments in that episode to be the funnyest of them all. If anything, it shows how loveing she is to Mac and everyone else. And it certainly dosent make Wilt look too bright. Who would throw keys OUTSIDE the house after locking it?

[Mr. Marshmallow]

I understand, Frankie didn't really do anything deserving to get that rotten day but then again, neither did Mac when everyone came over for the slumber party for "Infernal Slumber". Or Mac ignoring Bloo in "Challenge of the superfriends".

But then again, we have to remember that this is all part of the show. As much as I like Frankie, I can't always have her being perfect and never have a rotten day even when she didn't deserve to have one, the fact of the matter is, things have to happen.

Just because she didn't deserve it doesn't mean it's a form of picking on her, Mac doesn't deserve to be picked on by Terrence but we need it as a form of balance. If you ask me, I'd rather have Frankie getting scared witless by her fake stalker then not having her involved at all.

I also don't think the episode could have worked her into the plot in any other way. The episode needed Wilt, Coco, and Ed alone to chase around Bloo and having Frankie inside wouldn't be that fun because she would have recognized Bloo on the spot.

In the end I think it's just a matter of variety that puts our characters in good and bad situations. For example, I hated how they picked on Ben in Ben10 half the time and treated him like an idiot. But at times they need to do that to make conflict, and to make things interesting for the situation.

Frankie doesn't get appreciated as much as she should, we all know that, and we all know Bloo has goodness in him though it is buried deep, deep, deep, DEEP underneath. But sometimes we need to see them go through a nightmare or two just to have variety.

I didn't feel bad for Frankie because in honesty, she did overeact. As scary as things looked she freaked out before she thought things out. Plus, I know Frankie is a sweet person at heart and even when she gets screwed like in "Imposter's", she rolls with the punches.

I imagine if they showed her afterwards she would have laughed at seeing how she wigged out over nothing, much as she admitted her mistake in "Imposter's" and apologized to Goofball. That's mainly why I also like Frankie, she doesn't hold grudges or dwell on things for long and she's mostly pretty positive.

[Cassini90125]

"Bloooo" wasn't my favorite episode, but the whole "Frankie scared witless" thing didn't really bother me much. The episode was just a spoof of the horror movie genre, that's all. I left it at that.

[billytheskink]

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

I understand, Frankie didn't really do anything deserving to get that rotten day but then again, neither did Mac when everyone came over for the slumber party for "Infernal Slumber". Or Mac ignoring Bloo in "Challenge of the superfriends".

True, but we aren't talking about those episodes.
Frankie getting treated undeservingly wasn't my beef with "Blooooo", its lack of humor in the situation was.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

But then again, we have to remember that this is all part of the show. As much as I like Frankie, I can't always have her being perfect and never have a rotten day even when she didn't deserve to have one, the fact of the matter is, things have to happen.

I'm not saying her life should be perfect, I'm saying it should be entertaining. Frankie simply screaming and falling in the mud is not. It's what frames that situation that can make it entertaining. Of course, entertainment value is subjective, but do you see where I'm coming from with this?

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

Just because she didn't deserve it doesn't mean it's a form of picking on her, Mac doesn't deserve to be picked on by Terrence but we need it as a form of balance.

It is a form of "picking on" her, per se, used to drive the plot and create entertainment. The writers do it all the time, and it works most of the time. They didn't do so well in "Blooooo's" case.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

I also don't think the episode could have worked her into the plot in any other way. The episode needed Wilt, Coco, and Ed alone to chase around Bloo and having Frankie inside wouldn't be that fun because she would have recognized Bloo on the spot.

If they can't entertainingly work her into a plot, then they don't need to include her in the episode. It is not as if she has to have a role in every episode.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

But at times they need to do that to make conflict, and to make things interesting for the situation.

Agree, I'm not sure where I've said any different.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

But sometimes we need to see them go through a nightmare or two just to have variety.

Variety is pointless unless it can be enjoyed.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

I didn't feel bad for Frankie because in honesty, she did overeact. As scary as things looked she freaked out before she thought things out.

Fair enough; but her overreaction wasn't entertaining (and it darn well could have been) largely because there was no indication that she didn't have every right to be scared until the end.
Wilt, Coco, and Ed getting scared by a sick Bloo was funny because you knew they shouldn't have been scared.
You do find out that Frankie shouldn't have been scared at the show's end, and that too could be funny. Problem is, there is too much of Frankie getting scared in the episode to pull that off. The ending joke would have been pretty funny if it involved Frankie getting scared for a much shorter amount of time, say a 3 minute scene, and being able to react to her misconception.
Similarly, I think the running gag in "Imposter's" would be funny if it was shorter. That way Goofball's behavior wouldn't have worn out it's short welcome.
Of course, you can't build episodes around shorter gags like that.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

I imagine if they showed her afterwards she would have laughed at seeing how she wigged out over nothing

and that would have made the episode much, much better. Her reacting to how wrong her presumptions were and interacting with other characters about it would have been great.
Imagine if "Imposter's" ended with Goofball revealing he was an imaginary friend and without Frankie's reaction to it. I think that would make the episode considerably worse. Frankie simply being wrong is not funny all by itself.

[billytheskink]

And really, what irritated me about "Imposter's" more than anything else was that I figured out the ending long before it happened.
The writers tried too hard to convince the audience that Goofball was a human. They just kept reinforcing the idea so much that I thought "there's no way Goofball is what he seems to be."
Once I had figured out what was going to ultimately happen, Goofball stressing out Frankie became boring and annoying.

Also irritating was the loose end they never tied up, Goofball's homework. They explained how he wound up at Fosters, why he had a football jersey, even vaugely why he had human friends. But why would an imaginary friend have homework? Another instance of the writers trying too hard...

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Well again just to wrap up most of the things you said, everything is in perspectives and some things don't need to be funny. How you feel is how you feel, and same to me.

I felt Frankie wasn't really picked on that badly and I do feel she was necessary be it funny or unfunny, I liked the balance of watching what was happening to Frankie and the others.

Not every episode will be super funny either. And that has to do with a person's tastes, the type of humor being used, and of course the writer's effort into making the joke worth wild. Variety can be entertaining, it's just a matter of what you find enteraining or not.

One man's trash and all that jazz. But I don't want to turn this into a fight and I don't wanna pick apart your words, nor do I think you want to pick apart mine. So in the end I think "Blooo" may not have been the funniest moment in Frankie's life, I still stand by my belief that it was picking on her.

But that's my opinion and I don't mean it disrespectfully to you billy or anyone else.

[billytheskink]

I understand you meant no disrespect. I hope you don't think I had any intent of turning the discussion into a fight (I have no intentions of disrespect, either). I've enjoyed the discussion and seeing your perspective on the episode. I only want you to understand why I view the episode as I do, and I hope I understand why you feel differently (if you don't think I do, then please explain further). That's what message boards are for, in theory.

Now, I'm not saying that every moment of the episode has to be funny, but ideally, every moment of an episode should be entertaining. I just want to enjoy what I'm watching, whether I enjoy the show because of a joke, a facial expression, a character that looks cool, an interesting situation, or whatever.

"Blooooo" was difficult to enjoy, and if I don't enjoy watching it, then why am I watching it?

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Well then don't watch it, I mean it's usually as simple as that but you know what i mean. I guess the reason i don't find it difficult to watch even though I love Frankie is the fact that i have this habit of trying to find the good in everything I do.

Even when I see movies I know I disliked or was upset over, I always end up trying to find the good things about it rather then the bad things. Very rarely do I ever come up to an episode or movie that I have actual difficulty watching such in the case of Foster's.

The only episode I REALLY can't stand to watch is "Duchess of Wails" because I hate how it treats Mac towards the end. "Imposters" I can take with a grain of salt, but not many times mind you. Other then that, I'm usually easy going and acceptable of almost anything I see. So maybe that's why I feel this way about "Bloooo".

[billytheskink]

Now that's a good thought. I can see where you are coming from, or at least I think I can.

I certainly didn't let my disatisfaction with much of "Blooooo" keep me from laughing at the funny parts ("cannonball ghost" hehehehehehe). I'll applaud the Foster's crew for the good parts of any episode, but I see no reason not to express my dissatisfaction with other parts.

Foster's a great show, and when I see a Foster's episode that isn't very entertaining I feel compelled to say so. I'll give them credit for the things they did well in such an episode, but I'll also comment on what they could have done better. They can do and have done much better than they did with "Blooooo"; when they come up short I want them to do better. I don't want to stop watching the show when I know that the folks who make it are capable of making it something I'd watch over anything else.

Now, you mention "Duchess of Wails" and how you didn't like the way Mac was treated toward the end. Are you refering to him getting pelted with fruits and vegetables or him having to wake up Duchess every morning?
I think that episode can provoke some very interesting discussion.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Primarily at the end when he was being pelted.

Waking up with Duchess is more like a comic gag idea, where I found the ending to be well...depressing.

It's just hard to watch someone go through with that. With Frankie in "Bloooo" she could have saved her self a world of grief if she calmed down and looked at things rationally.