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paix-trop-moignon · 1 year

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Every Kaeloo Season 1 Episodes RANKED

Disclaimer: I am so terribly sorry that I put this out so late than I intended. Outside stuff is making things busy for me and in turn had made projects like this overdue. I won't make a complete schedule for the other rankings as a result, so make sure to check back to the blog for any updates on the next one.

Also, if you wish to rank episodes of Season 1, I have a link here to form your own tier list, but only if you have watched the season in it's entirety. I will mention how to watch the show during the beginning of my review, so look out for that. But until then:

Season 1 Tier List (made by me!): https://tiermaker.com/create/kaeloo-season-1-episode-tier-list-15328649

What if you have The Backyardigans, with the slapstick of Ed Edd n Eddy and Tex Avery cartoons. The zany comedy of Spongebob. And the social satire of South Park and Gumball.

Combined with an art and animation style of Rayman and…Fanboy and Chum Chum…?

That is what I would describe Kaeloo!

The 2010 CG French cartoon by Remi Chapotot and Jean-François Henry, that was formed from a pilot short back in 2007.

I discovered this wonderful, wacky, sometimes weird show from TV Tropes back in 2017, and then 5 years later in December 2021, I immediately became obsessed with it. That same year, I was obsessed with Rise of the TMNT since April and would not stop getting hyped up until I calmed down months later. And then the cycle continued with Kaeloo, and now here we are lmao.

I have been wanting to do something to commemorate this series for a while, until I decided on an idea. To celebrate Season 5 coming perhaps this year, maybe? I came up with a plan to form my thoughts on each season by ranking their respective episodes from worst to best. I will do a little season overview to lay out the quality of how they handle the characters, writing, and animation. And then the episode rankings will be where I will sum up my thoughts.

Now I have done this episode ranking format before. Back in 2020, I posted a Mao Mao Season 1 ranking on my respective Mao Mao fanblog. It’s still decent, but the problem was that, aside from my favorite episodes, the other tiers have the episodes ranked by episode airdate order rather than personal taste. And that I could have laid out my reasons as to why they were in the tiers I placed them. One day, when I get back into Mao Mao, I will properly fix that tier list.

But back to Kaeloo, this is going to be the most fun and most exhausting ranking series I ever have to do. The fun part is rewatching every single episode again, almost like a sense of nostalgia from watching them the first time. But the exhausting part is getting through the episodes that were just plain boring or drive me up the wall.

Regardless, I know that despite the hardships that will appear, this will still be the most interesting project I will ever do.

IMPORTANT NOTE: this ranking/review will contain some spoilers, so please read this if you have watched Season 1 and all of Kaeloo in its entirety. You can watch the show available on Canal Plus to support the series legally. Make sure that your VPN is strong enough to access, because if not, I recommend getting a stronger one. For Season 1, the English Dub is available on Dailymotion along with the original French Dub being fansubbed by fellow Kaeloo fan, RandomnessUnlimited. However, as of writing this, there’s only 15 episodes posted so far. So it’s either sticking to the original or English Dub. If you stick to the English Dub, prepare for your ears and your soul to shrivel up the moment you hear some obxnoxious, annoying voices. But if you can stomach that kind of torture, then you’re all set!

So of course, we are starting with Season 1! But first, a little overview:

Quick Skim

Kaeloo Season 1 was interesting to say the least. If you have been into a long-running show, and go back into the first season, you’ll notice how many changes that happened from the past to the present. Season 1 is sort of like this. Like the characters and plot have still stayed as the show moved on, but the format and writing style had changed.

This season goes for a more formulaic plot, like shows like Phineas and Ferb. Where Kae wants to play a game, Cat doesn’t wanna play a game but changes his mind to cheat and beat up Quack-Quack, Stumpy tries to win but fails, Cat beats up Quack, Kae turns into Bad Kaeloo and beats him up, and then epilogue.

Boom, rinse and repeat!

That may get kind of tiresome, but thankfully, they do manage to work around the formula and have a couple of episodes play out differently while keeping the main plot around.

The setup for this season and the show in general is just neat. Kaeloo is basically a parody of one of those preschool shows you’ve seen as a kid, think of Dora the Explorer and The Backyardigans. Where “the cast are best friends, explore new worlds, and learn morals along the way, and have fun uwu~!”. Kaeloo slaps that in the face and warps that concept with a twisted edge to it.

Instead, the main cast, while friends, would sometimes bite each other in the back and throw each other off with insults or violence. There’s a character who gets whacked with a mallet to being blown to bits with a goddamn bazooka. And it has some absurd adult jokes and actual—mind you—actual swearing that would make your eyes wide hard. And I love it! I understand that those examples, along with the mean-spirited tone might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s understandable. But I, like other people, truly appreciate Kaeloo for what it is. Being a rather morbid show joking off shows like Dora, that also doubles as a goofy slapstick comedy.

I see the humor of the show divided into 5 core elements. Its character driven, with some black comedy, surrealism, social commentary, and slapstick. These are what makes the comedy of Kaeloo so great. Of course not every joke hits, but the ones that do truly hit. It mostly works off of the characters and how they would act around the situation they’re in. There’s a saying that when you make such interesting characters, you can put them into any scenario and it would just work. And thankfully that applies to the cast of Kaeloo, specifically the main four. Speaking of which…

In this season, there’s no other characters, no talking sheep, no talking objects! Just four wacky characters, living in an equally wacky world.

Kaeloo, Stumpy, Quack-Quack, and Mr. Cat are an all-around neat set of characters. If you were to watch any episode from this season alone, you’d pretty much get the gist of them. They all bring their cards out to the table about who they are, what they’re like, and how they play off against each other. Most of the time in the wrong ways (looking at you, Cat). Now this season doesn’t have any strong character development. There are bits of backstory revelations involving characters like Cat and Quack for example, but that’s about it. And that’s perfectly fine, as while I do dig that a ton, I don’t mind it when the story gives that a back seat and let’s the characters just vibe in their own way.

For my opinions of the quadruple this season? Hmm… I don’t want to make this section too long since the ranking will be longer and I will continue to share my thoughts on them during that time. So I’ll try and keep this brief!

Kae and Quack are both okay. For being the title character, Kaeloo’s not so bad. I like how even when she seems to be generally nice, there are moments where her faults come to light, mostly comes from her bring bossy to the buddies. She has a few shining moments here, a handful of which are great, and I’ll discuss them when we get to it! But overall, especially from rewatch, it wasn’t enough to make me fully invest in her. I do prefer how she is handled in the later seasons, where despite her being more irritating at times, I love how there’s some moments where she tries to improve herself. But here, she’s decent, but not my favorite. The same can be said for Quack-Quack, providing some funny visual gags with the way his body functions, his obsession with yogurt, and being just a straight-up god in general. He’s a bit better than Kae this season but didn’t really leave any major impact on me.

However, on the other hand, Cat and Stumpy carried this season for me! Mr. Cat is just probably one of the best characters in the entire series, can we all just admit it? Well okay, I guess this was a given already. Yes, he’s a complete jerk who’s grumpy and also a sadistic schemer, but I also love him. There’s more to him than just him being “the sadistic bully”, since he’s revealed to be a very intelligent guy and also have rare occurrences of caring for Kae and the buddies. Both of these qualities are expanded on in the later seasons and to great effect that helps his character as well, but that comes way soon. As for Stumps, I also love him. He may be my number two, but he’s still amazing! Stumpy makes me laugh with whatever action he does. Constantly having his bad luck affect his chances of winning a game while constantly raving on for his love for video games and comic books. I relate to this guy somewhat since we share similar hobbies, and that’s one of the reasons why I adore this funky lil’ dude.

As for other stuff, the animation’s pretty good. While it being a CG cartoon during the early 2010s is nothing new, the fact that it emulated squash and stretch into this form was something special. It’s a reason why I said that this show was like Fanboy and Chum Chum at the beginning, since that show and Kaeloo were the early forms of using this sort of animation technique, especially in television. It wasn’t until we had movies like Hotel Translyvania that fully kicked off this trend, and I’m rather happy for that. For Season 1, the animation is still impressive. I did spotted a few errors, but it’s too be expected, and thankfully it’s shown only rarely. There’s some neat character expressions and some surprising action sequences here that still holds up. Of course, the later seasons did improve these two points, but I want to give this season some credit where credit is do.

Oh yeah, and the music’s a banger, Franck Marchal really nailed it. Many of the OSTs in this show are so memorable, a few of them got stuck in my head. Really do hope the series gets an official soundtrack one day.

Alright, so the overview is done! I didn’t want this to be long since the ranking itself will be, so hopefully I will shorten them a bit for the rest of the seasons.

So, let us finally get the ranking over with to determine my complete thoughts on Season 1!

We’re going from “JUST AWFUL” to “JUST AWESOME” rather than going from F-S Tier. I just like it that way. Case you’re wondering, “JUST AWFUL” is where an episode is just so bad, I consider it to be my least favorite. Period. Will not watch ever again. “JUST AWESOME” is of course the episodes that are my absolute favorite and will continue to watch them whenever I can. And the other tiers, Bad, Okay, Good, and Great, are exactly what it says in the tin.

Now that’s settled, let us properly begin! Starting with…

Bad Tier

Okay so thankfully, there’s only two bad episodes in this season, which is good for me at least. They aren’t awful per say, but are still badly written overall. So, with that said, my least favorite episode this season is:

52. Justice Masters

Mr. Cat Gets Relaxation Challenge: impossible

This sucked butt.

Now Cat had done some pretty heinous stuff before, but here, he hadn’t, at all. Okay maybe he did lied about jumping off a cliff to garner sympathy from the quote-on-quote “Justice Masters” but that’s about it. All he wanted was to just relax from all the stress he’d been having, but the Legion of Superdoops decided to make things worse!

Kae and the buddies being these superheroes to keep Mr. Cat relaxed seemed interesting at first, but just became unbearable as the story continued. They finally seem to get the memo and created a beautiful spa to make Cat happy, only for it to fumble hard when it became a freaking death spa on the poor cat. Again, if Cat did something ruthless in this episode, then it would be kind of funny? But he didn’t so, it wasn’t!

I did like the hero references, one or two gags, and Kae’s gratuitous Spanish. But that’s it.

It sucked, moving on.

51. Goodbye Mr. Cat

I too would be like the narrator sobbing over Cat’s farewell…well supposed farewell to be exact.

This episode had a rather interesting concept that would have been so perfect, not only for a sweet emotional payoff, but a nice character moment for Cat!

But however, the biggest problem was the way how it was handled.

The tension of getting Cat to stay wasn’t really there for me. It seemed so from the first part but then it fumbled over by the second half. The twist was creative, I’ll give it that, but it came in too early and was just there to be yet another “Cat gets boo-boos from Badka moment”. Speaking of which, Mr. Cat beating up the buddies after everything they done to try and help him was not great either. I know that he’s a jerk and all, but still. We have seen that he does care for them, but in a subtle way at least.

Honestly, I think Grown Ups and Bye Bye Yogurt handled this similar premise better, especially the former because of the aforementioned detail of Cat showing signs of caring for his friends.

Overall, not an awful episode, but the execution could have been so much more.

Okay that’s it for the bad episodes, and now for the mediocre ones!

Okay Tier

Yeah, there was a surprising amount of mid in this season. The bottom half are the ones that are boring, while the top half are decent at best. So we’re starting with…

50. Peace Man/Peace

This episode started off with Cat smelling his stinky armpits and ends with him getting violated with kisses from Badka…..w-what…?

Yeah, that’s like the only two highlights from this episode that I actually remembered, and not in a good way. This one was just boring. I pretty much have nothing else to say about it, aside from those two moments that are the most cursed of all of Kaeloo!

Oh, and Cat swearing, goated moment.

Overall, just skip it, moving on.

49. Hopscotch

A game of hopscotch and religious symbolism sounds kind of intriguing, but it wasn’t to me at least. It’s boring.

A few jokes were decent, and I liked Quack’s evolution from angel to demon.

That’s all I put in from my notes, it’s just fine.

48. Teachers

Teachers is a little better, but still mid.

It’s just not really that funny, but the character moments were neat. Cat’s odd diagnosis involving Kae and Badka’s internal conflict was weird. I know it was meant for laughs, but I dunno.

Eh, it’s also alright, I guess.

47. Magicians

I thought this episode was boring the first time I watched it, and it’s still boring upon rewatch, wow, surprising!

The suicide scene, for starters, was not great.

Stumpy’s “what doesn’t exist” thing was admittingly funny, but it didn’t go anywhere. Cat’s magician drip was neat, and I liked the dance scene but that’s it.

Just Stumps in denial and magician shenanigans, alright.

46. Circus

Yet another episode that was boring from first time and rewatch, but slightly better.

I like a few of the performances, and the jokes, but yeah, that’s about it.

45. Catch the Mailman

Okay, you know the drill, boring before, boring again. When Cat showed up, things got a little better. I also liked the mailmain strike scene, that got a laugh out of me. I also liked Badka attempted to be funny, that was cute. Either way, it’s a’ight.

44. Ecologists

I thought this ep was super boring when I first watched it, but now? Eh, you know, it’s kinda decent. Some of the jokes, mostly on protecting the environment did made me laugh, and yeah it’s not bad. Still might not go back to watching it, but I’m at least glad I have it another shot!

43. Cops and Robbers

Okay, this one is mid, but kind of high?

I thought the twist of what happened to Quack’s yogurt was confusing at first, but I rewatched the episode again for any clues that made some sense. And alright, it was fine at least, but could have been better. Also Cat using the “serious case” as a means to screw over Quack is kind of odd? Like he wasn’t involved in the crime at all, and instead ended up getting arrested anyway for another crime, bruh.

I will admit, the car chase scene was the highlight, it’s a lot of fun and funny too! Though I find it weird that Stumpy can drive here, and then many episodes later come Driver’s Ed, where he doesn’t know how to drive. Either this ep came after that one for there’s some continuity errors!

Uh, what’s else, what else? Umm, I like Cat’s scream when the banana got shot up his nose, it made me laugh hard due to how ridiculous it was. I dunno, Cat screaming would make me laugh sometimes lmao.

So yeah, my thoughts for this episode are all over the place, so to sum it up, it’s still decent.

42. Golf!

This is one is okay, but I do have an issue with it due to the character inconsistencies. The biggest one being Kae cheating, and Cat being dumb enough to believe her while Stumpy managed to not fall for her lie. Huh? I can kind of see it from a detail of Kaeloo having faults of her own and not liking when she’s wrong when she actually is. I don’t mind if that was the point, but it was still odd to watch.

Aside from a few visual gags and jokes, this one’s still mid.

41. Tennis

Okay this one is a bit of fun. I like how Cat becomes Kae and Stumpy’s coach and then later favoring them as a part of him cheating. I can see why since Quack-Quack’s pretty much a god in this game, and this little detail would be brought up again somewhat in Season 2’s Baseball. The only difference here is that Kaeloo refused to cheat to win. Also, a few visual gags and the slow-motion jokes were funny.

Overall, not bad ep.

40. Figurines

It’s insane how this went from playing with figurines to an incident where you sign a contract from the Devil to gain voodoo powers, amazing. Cat being Quack’s servant from the voodoo fiasco was the highlight, hilarious stuff. Also, Kaeloo making her and Cat’s figurines kiss…think of that as you will 😉.

But yeah, it’s still decent, but entertaining at least.

39. Treasure Hunt

Yeah, this one isn’t that bad either. Cat’s various traps made for some intense moments and fun gags. Also Kae, no offense, but I kind of agree with Stumpy here. A picture of your face as the surprise is kind of lame. Overall, not bad of an episode!

38. The Thing From Outer Space

I can’t believe that Quack-Quack would throw away his adopted child/pet for some yogurt. Man…

This episode’s strength is the quote-on-quote “thing from outer space”, and it got intriguing as to what this thing really is, and the twist of it’s revelation was a good one, won’t spoil it here. Also the music choice for this one is nice.

Wish it could have been a lot funnier, but this one is still not bad of a watch.

37. …

Okay, I have a confession to make. I know you will not like this, but I have to say it upfront. This is my opinion, and it’s alright if you disagree with me and my thoughts. So read this clear when I say that the episode I put in this tier is…

37. Courtroom Drama

Yeah, that’s right. Courtoom Drama is mid.

Now, I know some of you guys are looking at me and saying: “House, have you been smoking candyweed? You cannot be serious!” Don’t worry, I am completely serious.

I knew about how much this episode is hated by some fans of the show, and I was in sort of the bandwagon at first. But the more I rewatched it, the more I began to realize that it’s kind of okay. But why do people hate it so much? Simple: the ending itself. Where Kaeloo turned out to be faking her sadness of leaving Smileyland to trick Mr. Cat into confessing his crime, who in turn attempted to be genuine.

I can see why this can be angering to some, but upon realizing it, I didn’t think it was that awful of an ending. To be fair, while Mr. Cat did try his best to make it up to Kaeloo, he did bait her and the court into making her guilty using Bad Kaeloo as an example. So while the punishment he got was really harsh, I will admit, I still think he kind of deserved it.

Aside from that, the rest of the episode was surprisingly fun. There were some gags I laughed hard at, like Stumpy as the judge and Cat’s fake as hell flashback to the crime scene which I’m sure was meant to emulate Kae’s daily life.

So to add it up, it’s a decent episode. I can greatly understand why you guys hate it, and that’s okay! I am fine with your opinions on this one as long as you’re fine with mine’s. Plus, there are episodes of the series that I consider to be waaaay worse than this one, especially an episode that I despise the most. Also there’s another episode later down the line that has somewhat of a similar ending to this one, but not great. We will get to those two points eventually, I’ll let you know. So again, I think Courtroom Drama is alright, but if you hate it, more power to you.

36. Doctors and Nurses/Doctors

Oh my lord is that title card nasty, ewww! Like I understand that it’s meant to represent the episode about a character being sick, but STILL, IT’S SO GROSS!

*takes a deep breath* Okay, I’m cool.

The hospital jokes were admittingly funny and strangely accurate. Cat was entertaining, as always. And poor Stumpy, my boy dead and nobody even cares, man…

Not a bad episode, overall!

35. Detectives

This was a kind of a fun time. I liked how it made fun of detective movies and did a take on how old school and modern advanced detectives handled cases. The revelation of the mystery is admittedly odd and doesn’t really make any sense, but I’m sure it’s meant not to be taken seriously, and I can accept that. Also props to Kae’s VA man, he really nailed that deep voice, bruh. Once again, decent, but not bad.

Okay, so that was rather lengthy, but let’s finally get to the good stuff!

Good Tier

34. Simon Says!

Now this one ain’t so bad. This is probably one of the eps in the show where Cat is at his cruelest, robbing Kae of her money to forcing Quack to strip, jeez my dude.

A few jokes were decent, the one with Kae’s lisp comes to mind. And the opening short at the beginning was pretty cute.

That’s it, good stuff!

33. Super Powers

This is the most anime the show has ever been.

I thought that the buddies would get their own powers, hence the title, but instead they get it from these training cards. So, this whole episode feels more like a Yu-Gi-Oh parody if anything, with some notable references to boot, which are neat.

Major F to Stumpy, Quack’s just too unbeatable. Oh, and Cat too, he suffered a lot here.

So yeah, it’s not bad.

32. Art Class

As an art lover myself, I was impressed with the jokes surrounding how art is treated in the critical viewpoint and in the topic of currency. I digged it. Also, I actually was amused as Kae whenever she said that Stump’s art is trash and I said out loud “Yo, just look at your art!”, haha!

Good episode, wished it was more funnier though.

31. Hide N’ Hunt

This is one of the few episodes that proves that this show is an early form of Squid Game.

The problem with this episode for me is the clone thing. A few moments, they seemingly have a mind of their own, like with Stumpy’s clones for example. But most of the time they’re like holograms or something where they just repeat whatever their original host is saying. Having all three of them talk at times can be a bit confusing and annoying, kind of wish they handled them a bit better.

Aside from that, it’s still good, not much else to say.

30. Baby-Sitting

Oh boy oh boy, it’s the episode where we get some full on Kaelat, finally!

I thought this episode was okay first time, but upon rewatch, heh you know, it’s kinda funny! So this is I assume the first episode of the series to have 2 plots of sorts, and the results are rather mixed. Okay, the Kaelat First Date Fling was boring. It didn’t really add much in my opinion, aside from some interesting character lore, and for Kae and Cat to have a moment together at least. Also Cat attempting to uh…do that certain thing was kind of amusing at first watch, but nowadays it’s really awkward and I don’t like it.

Although, Stumpy attempting to “practice babysit” Quack was funny though, and the highlight for me. And it also had a rather funny ending.

So a weak B-plot with the Kaelat “date”, but the A-plot made up for it, so it’s not a bad outing!

29. House/Papa-Maman

Oh my gosh I’m in a Kaeloo episode, dreams do some true!

Joking aside, what I really like about this episode is not only the jokes involving this not-so-perfect family, but also an analysis involving the group dynamics between them. Kaeloo gets some harsh truths when she realizes how far she had gone into the game, forcing Stumpy and Quack-Quack into the roles they didn’t even want to, which causes them to leave. Mr. Cat’s actions as the father didn’t help either, which many fans including me speculated that it’s in turn due to how he was treated by his own family. And less said about the certain couch scene between Cat and Kae, the better.

This leads into me saying that I’m not a fan of Kae and Cat’s “romance” in Season 1. I assume the intention was that they aren’t as close as expected. This in turn causes one of them to make the other annoyed or uncomfortable. And scenes like the kiss scene in Peace Man and this episode’s couch scene really made things awkward. A similar conflict resides in the buddies’ relationships with each other, where the broken family seems to reflect on the fact that there’s some issues within them.

But then, there’s the ending. Kaeloo realizes what she’s done and goes to apologize to Stumpy and Quack-Quack for her behavior. They then forgive her, and Stumpy even offers Kae his game controller when she asks him for it. It made me say “aww” aloud whenever I rewatch this moment. It makes me appreciate the series for the fact that while it is mean-spirited at times, and that the buddies due tend to get into disputes, they still do care for each other. The later seasons greatly exemplify this, especially Kae and Cat’s relationship, but that discussion will be saved at a later date.

Overall, while it’s not my favorite Kaeloo episode, I still think it’s special to me because of these aforementioned reasons. Still has some nice jokes, and that sweet ending that puts this higher on my list.

…Also, what in the hell was up with that title card in the French dub?

28. Hot-Cold

Aside from the suicidal visuals which I did not like, this was rather fun!

It was sweet of the buddies helping out Stumpy with his first date with Ursula, even when their attempts where kind of disastrous, but again, their hearts were in the right place and thankfully things seem to turn out well.

Also, I got a major vibe from Season 4’s All Alone. Mainly because of the details from the beginning of this ep, like Kae playing by herself, Cat mentioning the alley cat parties. Interesting stuff, unsure if this was some crazy ass foreshadowing or not.

Overall, neat stuff!

Great Tier

Alright, now we finally reached the episodes I thought were great! Not my all-time favorites, but still a close second.

27. Reading Books

This one was pretty funny! I know some people would be mixed over the scenes involving the porno mags, but I think they aren’t that bad. I think they go well with the little humorous feud between Cat and Quack over them. It reminded me of those old school 40s/50s cartoons such as Tex Avery. And as a massive fan of his stuff plus the fact that cartoons like this were an inspiration to Kaeloo, I am greatly impressed!

What I am not impressed with is the ending where Kae checked out Cat’s “goods” when he turned into a book at the end. I did get the intention of the joke they were making so I can understand. But bro, this was considered the first Kaelat moment? Wow.

Also, poor Stumps man, the earlier eps didn’t treat him so kindly, but it’s a given really.

Overall, I liked it a lot, not bad.

26. Trap-Trap

A simple one, but still neat. Quack-Quack’s yogurt withdraw was the highlight, which made for some funny jokes and admittedly creepy moments, especially that ending, oof.

Also the Kaelat “hug” was cute and funny, nothing else to say, it’s great.

25. TV News!

I personally relate to Kae when it comes to heavy topics on the news. And while it’s tough seeing reports on something so tragic, it’s still what I and other people have to take into consideration. Regardless, I still feel bad for her.

For some levity, there were some good jokes, Cat is amazing as always, Stumps as well.

So yeah, great ep!

24. Astronauts

This was a really fun episode. Okay, I had a few problems like that certain slur Alt!Stumps said, and of course the ending where the buddies prank Stumpy over that nightmare he had.. Should have ended with him during his therapy session, tbh.

Other than those problemas, I still liked it!

The concept of the main cast meeting their other selves in another dimension is a concept I like, and it has been brought up more in future episodes, and even a story in the official comic. A few fans had also got into making ideas for it, and I do wanna get into it too one day.

So it’s still great, despite the cruel twist ending.

23. Spies

Spies isn’t the strongest of the roleplaying episodes, nor is it my personal favorite (Season 2 Ranking for more info), but I still digged it!

The highlight was obviously the truth serum scene. I am sure that this scene was just crumbs of character lore, headcanons, and theories for the fans, including me, to tear into. Pretty sad stuff, though Stumpy’s truths were treated as comedic though.

I loved the jokes, including Stumpy’s attempts of being the traitor and constantly failing.

Still great, overall!

22. Para-Normal/Paranormal Stuff

Ghostbusters references, I see what you did there, Kaeloo crew!

This is kind of an underrated episode, in my opinion. I admired the supernatural shenanigans, and the boss battles, being an obvious nod to Ghostbusters. It also has a few concepts that I’m sure was brought up again in Season 3’s The Door, like the journeying to a world within one’s head or something like that. Maybe that’s just me, but whatever, fun romp.

21. Guess Who

Really funny stuff! Fun gags, a neat game concept, and of course, Stumpy and Quack’s emotional and compelling breakup arc. Truly a breathtaking experience.

20. Danger Survivor Island

I thought this episode was good, and nothing else the first time I watched it. But overtime, I grew to like it a lot more, and I see why other fans too!

The selling point here was Kae, where her selfishness on how the “Danger Island” should be from her way by making it cutesy, rather than how it’s intended. This causes her to be voted out of the game in the end, which feels like a nice change of pace since this time around she’s in the wrong.

I loved the gags, especially the voting drawings! Quack-Quack could draw so well, amazing stuff.

Not a personal favorite, but I still love it!

19. Gangster Poker

Now this was neat! Cat was a nice antagonist, very ruthless though regarding him pulling a ransom on Kae and he got a well-deserved punishment.

Stumpy being Cat’s sidekick was neat, along with the funny gags of him constantly nicknaming him. And then he pulls the betrayal plan to become the boss only for that to fail badly. I love it. Also, I love the scene of Kae and Cat yelling at each other’s names, kind of adorable.

Side note, I feel like this episode gives out a hint towards Cat’s backstory, but maybe that’s just me.

All in all, great ep.

18. Happy Rotter

Not a Harry Potter fan, but even then, I still think the parody of the series is not bad!

Though, a problem I have is Quack-Quack’s trauma, as his backstory along with the death of his parents were introduced here. The way they handled it was mixed to me, since they used it as a running gag and eventually a Chekhov’s Gun at the end to defeat Cat. It’s a fine use of black comedy but I don’t know, I’m just not a fan of it.

On the plus side, the gags were funny, the spells were pretty creative, and of course, Mr. Cat’s goth outfit! Peak drip right there.

17. Me-No-Nopoly

I got nothing much to say about Me-No-Nopoly, other than it’s a banger. The jokes are neat, and Quack realizing that he wants his friends back rather than being a corrupt king was sweet. Also, episodes like this and Season 4’s Your Rubber I’m Glue should be a reminder to never make Mr. Cat play God/king. Keyword: never.

16. Quest for the Wholly Gruel

I would love to place Wholly Gruel in my Awesome tier, if not for one thing: Nazi Cat. *sigh*

Now I do get what they were doing here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Indiana Jones, which is what the episode is obviously parodying, but the first and third movies had nazis as the villains. So, the concept of having Cat being a villainous nazi is the intention I can understand, but still, it can be hard to stomach. Especially when he has the red band, and the symbol that resembles the swastika, and the book burning joke. That’s fine if you’re alright with it, but I can really understand why others don’t love it.

But thankfully, that’s like the only big problem I have with the episode. Everything else is really good!

The gags here make me laugh hard. Stumpy was the highlight, as he is unaware that he is putting his friends in real danger while he’s using the Gruel in wanting the prehistoric people drawings to die. Amazing. It is kind of cathartic, considering Kae locked him in the cavern earlier without him giving her a second thought.

Also the animation is really neat, aside from this weird lighting issue, the facial expressions and the action sequences are just awesome!

Fun Fact: this episode was featured at the Annecy Festival from 2011, in 3-D. Yeah, you heard me, 3-FLIPPING-D. Those lucky dudes! Also the Very Special Episode was also shown in Annecy in 2017, but not in 3-D. Kind of wished it did, since the animation from that ep was also great, but story for another day. Man I cannot wait to talk about Season 3, aargh!

Anyway, if not for Nazi Cat, then this would have been an easy S-tier. But hey, it’s placed at a high A, so it’s more of an honorable mention at least.

Alright, now we can finally get to the episodes that I really loved, the Just Awesome tier, AKA the placement for my favorite episodes, period.

So let’s get it rollin’!

JUST AWESOME

15. Streetball

Streetball is great because Mr. Cat raps and it’s epic, that’s it!

Okay but for real, the songs in this one is just great, easily top tier. Cat’s rap like I mentioned is again, epic. And the rap number with the main four is neat too, they didn’t need to make it, but they did and I love it.

I really loved the jokes here, Cat once again doing whatever he can to cheat his way though and Stumpy attempting to be this hip basketball player. I do relate to him when it comes to playing the game, it’s nice to watch, but man can it be hard sometimes.

So yeah, it’s a banger, especially because the songs are bangers.

14. Once Upon a Time

This was a total riot. Not only are the shades of fairy tales being graphic nice, but Stumpy’s own fairy tale story was just great. It’s exactly what imaginative 10 year olds would think of and I love it. It’s so goofy, and nonsensical, but it’s Stumpy, so you should know what you’re expecting.

It’s hard to believe that this episode got a sequel episode from Season 3, and while I loved that one too, I gotta give props to the OG.

13. Musical Chairs

Okay so funny story. When I first watched this episode, I considered it to be decent, with a few gags I loved.

But now? Upon rewatch, this is one of the couple of episodes in the whole show to make me laugh hard. That’s probably a me thing, but damn it, this one was just a riot!

We have Cat being freaking extra over cheating his way to beat Quack-Quack. One example has Stumpy tripping Kae with his foot, and then you have Quack-Quack getting chased by Mr. Cat, who’s driving a car while attempting to slice him with a chainsaw. The moment I saw this scene, I just lost it. The fact that my dude decided to use a car, as opposed to just running was just incredible.

And then it gets wilder. Stumpy bonds with the leftover chairs, to the point where some almighty force grants him his wish to make them alive, which evolves into a full on revolution for their rights! And then this causes Cat and Quack to team up to take them down, but they’re defeated anyway.

This episode was just a straight up wacky experience, but hey, that’s Kaeloo for ya, and I love it so much. I’m so happy I gave this episode another shot, definitely will rewatch this again sometime!

12. Grown Ups

Weird to place this one on this specific tier, but I ended up loving it more than I thought. This is where we see that Cat cares for the buddies, and they do it in a subtle way where even if he acts like his usual self, the goal of him trying to bring them back to their old selves is surprisingly sweet.

The different bad futures each of the buddies partake lead into were interesting and had a few funny gags. I mean Quack becomes a literal god, not surprising to be honest, haha.

So yeah, really loved this one, even if others might not see it, which is perfectly fine.

11. Time Travel

Hands down, one of the most underrated episodes of Kaeloo. I just love this episode for the character interactions. I mentioned before that this type of comedy is what makes the show neat, and I just loved the buddies just vibing along in their time travel shenanigans. The Bob the Duck Skewer plot does die down early, but that’s a small complaint.

Also Kaeloo’s future is kind of horrifying, I ain’t gonna spend my time there, no thanks!

This episode has a special place in my heart overall, don’t mind rewatching it when there’s a pretty sunset like what happens in this episode. Dunno, whenever I look at the sun setting from my window, I just think of this episode.

10. Driver’s Ed

The DMV sucks, and everyone knows it. I’ve seen a few shows do their own roast on how horrible that place is, so far The Looney Tunes Show. I’ve yet to watch Megas XLR, but that one clip of Coop destroying the DMV repeatedly is just hysterical. And I think Kaeloo’s take on it is also great.

You have jokes on how driver’s ed would be like to some people, from the anxiety to those kinds of teachers. Good lord was Cat ruthless to Quack this way, jeez. You root for Stumpy here, and it was nice seeing him get somewhat of a win, even if he still crashed. And again, it’s weird that he needed driving lessons here, where in the early episodes, he can learn how to drive! How does that make sense!?

Whatever, it’s a banger, really funny and enjoyable.

9. Prison Ball

Ah yes, the very first episode of Kaeloo! I can see this as a classic episode and for a good reason. It’s a great introduction to the characters and how their quirks play off here. Cat doing his usual trickery against Quack, Kae trying to keep the peace while vibing, and Stumpy thinking the prison ball game is an actual prison.

I think Red Light, Green Light is stronger, but this is still a nice first impression to start off with.

8. 1, 2, 3 Soleil!/Red Light, Green Light

Ah yes, the original Squid Game!

But yeah, I love Prison Ball, but this to me is the real introduction to this show and the characters. I find it really neat how this was a remake of the OG pilot, just improved the animation along with adding a few new jokes to add in time, like that hilarious opener with Stumpy, and Quack-Quack being happy that he’s flying for a few seconds. So far, I’ve seen shows like Regular Show played this straight, and Phineas and Ferb doing this with a unique spin by making their pilot episode a musical. That’s something I really like about this concept, letting us know that these shows have evolved over time.

Okay I’m just rambling, it’s overall a great one.

7. Market Vendors

Market Vendors is on the list of Kaeloo episodes that make me lose my mind of laughter. In case you’re wondering, that has yet to be done since most of them are too hard to rank.

So for this one, it’s just funny all around. Well, aside from the ending, which still is funny, specifically that once certain light switch gag. But in hindsight, I feel like it’s kind of awkward to laugh at sometimes regarding recent news events over related incidents.

Although, the rest of the gags are neat! Stumpy’s attempts to bring in customers was cute. And I love how Cat evolved from customer to security guard to robber, insane growth level.

6. Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys and India—wait. COWBOYS YOU SAY!?!? Okay okay, story for another time, aka Season 2 Ranking.

Okay, going in, I heard that this episode was racist. And while watching it, I was sort of confused until it got to the scenes with Stumpy as the Indian. And yeah, it was not great. But thankfully, unlike Nazi Cat, it’s not for too long and is thankfully overshadowed by the main plot.

Which, in my opinion—IS FREAKING AWESOME!

Cat is an incredible antagonist, major kudos to his VA for bringing in the menacing and badass vibes. Plus the action here is nice, and aside from the Indian scenes, the rest of the jokes are neat too.

Not sure if the Stumpy Indian scenes were like the only racist parts in the episodes, let me know if there were some I missed. But aside from those scenes, it’s goated, really loved it.

5. Prince Charming

Okay, so I’m going to put plenty of all-caps here and also a bit of swearing, so if that’s alarming to you then I am sorry but this episode and my number one spot had moments that were so incredible, that I must put my words in uppercase. Okay, here I go…

*deep breath*

HOLY FUCK IS THE FIGHT SCENE SO FUCKING GOOD WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK

WE HAVE CAT USING A BAZOOKA AND A CHAINSAW WHILE FIGHTING QUACK-QUACK, WHO ONLY USES A SWORD AND HIS BARE FISTS.

THE WAY HOW THE FIGHT WAS CHOREOGRAPHS, IT’S SIMPLE DYNAMICS YET SO DAMN COOL.

WHY ARE THE FIGHTS THIS SEASON SO GOOD, WHAT THE HELL.

AAAAAAAAHHHHH I LOVE FIGHT SCENES SO MUCCCCCCCHHHH.

*clears throat* Okay I’m good.

Anyway yeah, it’s goated. It also has simple stuff like Stump’s misadventures within Fakebook which is also hilarious. I liked Kae as Quack’s squire and the Sphinx scenes, and Mr. Cat’s “oh yeah” face.

BUT THAT FIGHT SCENE MAN, HOLY HELL.

4. Air Pockets

Okay I have no idea why this is called Air Pockets, kind of a weird title. But with that aside, this is also a funny as hell episode. I loved the jokes regarding what’s like being in an airplane, along with some dark humor that’s shocking (like the terrorist scene for example, oof) but also admittingly hysterical, mostly with Cat being the sadistic, entertaining pilot.

And wow, first Stumpy managed to drive a car by learning from video games, and now a plane? I guess the moral is that video games can make you learn to control transportation!

(Warning: do not attempt unless it’s proven true)

3. Tea Party

Tea Party is just funny. I mean really, really, really funny.

The character-based comedy is strong here with neat conversations and running gags. You feel sorry for Kaeloo here, but also fear her the moment she finally snaps. Lesson learned: never disrupt Kae’s tea party. There shall be mighty consequences for all who oppose…

But yeah, excellent stuff!

2. Bye Bye Yogurt

I can’t believe that this episode made me feel sorry for an expired yogurt. I don’t know how it managed to do that, but here we are.

I gotta say, a few of the sequences here animated so well. From the buddies doing their typical fun, to Stumpy’s creative way of getting in danger, to the ending where Quack-Quack says goodbye to Yogo’s spirit. It was a little emotional, and how it was handled without any dialogue as the music swells was a nice touch.

Also, Mr. Cat being nice during the funeral? To cheering up Stumpy about his grandmother’s funeral to giving Quack-Quack a gift? Now that’s good stuff.

Definitely a great one. And while this one was top tier, my number one pick is even better…

NUMBER ONE!!

1. Scaredy Cat

Okay so warning, I will once again use all-caps and excessive swearing so be warned…

*deep breath*

THIS. EPISODE. ROCKS!!!!

BEST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE DAMN SHOW, FULL STOP, NO LIE.

THE ANIMATION, HOLY FUCK, THE ANIMATION.

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS SERIES STARTED OUT IN 2010, THAT IS SO IMPRESSIVE. I’M NOT A SUPER ANIMATION ANALYST BUT IT’S STILL COOL TO SEE THIS SORT OF STYLE EMMULATED SO NICELY. WHY DOES SEASON 1 HAVE SUCH GOATED ACTION AND FIGHT SCENES. I MEAN SEASON 4 PEAKED WITH THE ANIMATION, BUT THIS EPISODE? THIS WAS JUST TOP TIER.

ALSO STUMPY DANCING WITH THE ZOMBIES TO THE THRILLER PARODY, TO THE ENDING REFERENCING THE MUSIC VIDEO.

AND MR. CAT. OH MY FUCKING GOD, MR. GODDAMN CAT WAS IN HIS PEAK. HE WAS JUST AN ABSOLUTE BADASS. LIKE WE KNOW HE CAN MANAGE USING LETHAL WEAPONS, BUT IT’S MOSTLY ON QUACK-QUACK. HERE?? WE SEE HIM TAKE DOWN A HORDE OF ZOMBIE YOGURTS AND TRY TO MANHANDLE A ZOMBIFIED QUACK AND BADKA. YEAH YOU HEARD ME. BAD KAELOO. I WANNA SEE CAT FIGHT LIKE THIS AGAIN, IT’S BEEN 13 YEARS BRO, I WANNA SEE HIM DO THIS STUFF AGAIN.

IT'S JUST PEAK. SIMPLY PEAK. BEST EPISODE OF SEASON ONE BY FAR, I LOVE IT SO MUCH AAAAAAHHHH.

……okay that was a lot of uppercasing.

Final Thoughts

Kaeloo Season 1 isn’t my favorite season of the show. It’s by no means a bad season, far from it! It’s still a good season overall, but it’s one where I don’t have complete hype for compared to the other seasons.

Season 1 had some really good humor, character moments, and some impressive animation. But I thought it suffered a bit from having a couple of plots that didn’t invested me, some jokes that I didn’t laughed at or didn’t aged well, or not every character bit winning me over. That’s probably in part due to the number of episodes that were just mediocre. Only 2 episodes were bad and only 16 episodes where mid. That may seem a bit disappointing, but I’m completely fine with it! I’m thankful things didn’t end up worse. I much rather have a sea of mid than a sea of garbage. And at least said sea of mid is still tolerable to watch!

On the bright side, the episodes that I thought were great, are still great. It honestly wasn’t annoying to try and yearn for the best parts when watching Season 1 in order. Maybe slightly boring, I will admit, but the binge was still worth it.

So to conclude, Kaeloo Season 1 may be a bit rocky, but I still think this season is really darn good. Bunch of classic episodes to be rewatched here, won’t mind doing so sometime.

SCORECARD:

BAD EPISODES: 2

OKAY EPISODES: 16

GOOD EPISODES: 7

GREAT EPISODES: 12

AWESOME EPISODES: 15

EPISODES RANGED FROM BAD-OKAY: 18

EPISODES RANGED FROM GOOD-AWESOME: 34

ALL EPISODES IN TOTAL: 52

SEASON 1 RANKING: 8/10

Now here's the tier list in it's entirety!

Well would you look at that, lots of okay ones but lots of favorable ones! What a good way to start this ranking marathon!

Now join me sometime in March where I shall get through…Season 2…oh boy, this season…

#kaeloo #my review #season review #episode ranking #mod house #christ this was long again so sorry for the delay!#i will hope to improve my rankings by season 2 i loved this but man it's almost sloppy oof #i really like reviewing but sometimes putting my thoughts together critically can be hard ack

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