“I broke the show!”
By Matt Fowler
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
First off, I can’t resist “Rainbow Connection” (even when it’s split in half by a conical break). So I liked the way this episode concluded and its particular solution for Kermit’s personal zen-spot.
The fact that he’s so stressed out though, and needed to find a way to unwind and relax, is part of a larger lingering issue I have with the series regarding the perpetual grounding down and crushing of Kermit’s spirit. Even the way he somberly says “I guess it’s time to get things started” at the end of the opening credits is a bummer. So that, plus weeks of Kermit confessionals about stress, sleep screaming, and constant anxiety, have worked to suck the whatever joy there is to be had out of the premise.
And so to top it off, this week they actually had Kermit pass out after being bombarded with an avalanche of problems in the course of five minutes. “There’s butter on the breaks!” Sweetums screamed as he crashed a golf cart into the stage area. Right as Piggy got stuck in an elevator and Fozzie fell into the open shaft. So “Pig’s in a Blackout” sort of built largely off the already unfunny premise that Kermit is a hair’s breadth away from a nervous breakdown.
But I will say that I found Scooter’s mismanagement of the show to be pretty funny. Sure, it didn’t have much overall impact since the episode already showed us how bad things could get when the vey capable Kermit was in charge, but – hell – Big Man Carl makes me laugh. His voice is freakin’ funny. And hearing him say “I got Starbucks!” right as he slipped on melted butter, hurling hot coffee in Beaker’s face, was a delight. As did the Dr. Honeydew line of “My experiments with cryogenics cost me my chair at Berkeley.” So Scooter’s series of catastrophes were good for a laugh.
Less effective, aside from the “Rainbow Connection” finish, was Kermit’s time at the spa with Jason Bateman. Bateman, who was fine as smarmy stock Jason Bateman Character A. Fretting about a school production of Wicked and getting Kermit kicked out of Calm Camp for using a phone. It was okay, though the bigger problem here was that of Kermit’s exponentially growing stress. Hopefully, in the same way Piggy feud with Reese Witherspoon seemed close the door on her angry actress fights, this episode will close off some of Kermit’s pre-breakdown behavior.
“Pig’s in a Blackout” (containing that weird apostrophe because, I guess, there was only one pig when the lights went out) made good use of some side Muppets, like Carl, Beaker, Honeydew, and the like, but Kermit’s creeping angst and unease has become a bummer for the show.
