Previously I talked about Back to School, one of two episodes CatDog fans deemed to be the worst. At least, that's how it seemed. Looking through the show's wiki, it dawned on me that it is in utter disrepair. Any pages with more details tend to throw in some worthless comparisons to other shows and reception based on... nothing by the looks of it.
Apparently most episodes were written with haste due to how many new ones needed to be made, and thus inconsistency is gonna play a factor. Looking back at Back to School, I had complained about it being inconsistent, and it was in many ways. Why is Lola a science teacher when she's a zoologist? I mean granted she is scientifically inclined but this is the first an only instance of her being shown as a teacher. The big one here being that Cat was apparently a graduate already, not just based on the opening, but a flashback in the episode Remain Seated, which shares the same writer. Also here we have two different characters named Sally. If the Sally here was meant to be the same one as It's a Jungle In Here's Sally, it's a lose lose situation basically. Seems like she would’ve been a loose bet as she always deemed him a loser, still question Dog’s smugness toward the end, I mean what’s up with that?
But these in mind elevate that episode to… meh. It works for a typical conclusion to a CatDog episode, and the fact that the a-segment was Kooky Prank Day helps balance things out quite nicely.
Trespassing is another episode fans deem to be the worst, allegedly. There're times where Cat doesn't deserve to go through hell, but the end kinda helps things where he isn't devastated, he just basically accepted it, like yea, things can only get worse, and I know it.
So with that out of the way, I've found two episodes that I'd consider to be the worst episodes of the show, at least in my opinion, one of which has just edged it out. Climb Every CatDog and Just Say CatDog Sent Ya, the former being a runner up.
Runner Up: Climb Every CatDog
Now, this episode was originally going to be my pick for the worst, and it was owed to its conclusion. While Cat managed to best the rival of the week, it all came crashing down when Dunglap managed to get first, and take what I said about Trespassing and do the opposite. What's the joke? Is Cat's sadness supposed to be our joy? What were they going for here?
It was an unpleasant end, but that was it, an end. The journey was fine enough and hey, the only thing that went wrong was someone else getting what Cat wanted at the end, I guess. It just felt kinda off, but oh well, it was etched out.
Just Say CatDog Sent Ya
This one hurt, especially since this is one of a few episodes I remember watching growing up, that always hits harder than it has any right to.
The defining factor against it was that it felt like Cat was poised to fail at the end. They had an idea to how things would be screwed up by the end, but it seems they ran out of time to do more. Dog eats all of Cat's stock, Winslow delivers a crushing blow by selling Burger Bones, and CatDog get chased off by the Greasers. It's the kind of episode that would confirm claims of mean-spiritedness.
I'm not saying this episode is mean however, it just felt disjointed and almost rushed even, and it wound up making characters come off in a worse way, well Dog kinda does that as he did what was particularly selfish. Just the fact that the next episode has Cat do something selfish and get punished at the end for it really shows how little balance there was between segments.
This episode, even Dog's Strange Condition just leave a bad taste in my mouth, like two dire experiences for the price of one, an episode that has a more fleshed out conclusion followed by an episode that leans in on the worst aspect of Cat, implication of favoritism, or I just didn't like it very much.
Final Thoughts
While Cat gets the worst outcome in most episodes, sometimes he deserves it, other times he achieves what he sets out to accomplish but the success turns out to be worse in the end. This and even the b-segment feel off, I mean even Back to School felt more in line even if the writers conveniently forgot Cat did graduate. I'm just saying if Dog had to get his degree and decided to bully Cat to relive his glory days then learn a lesson, and if you really want the classic Cat ending have Dog steal Sally be my guest.
But Just Say CatDog Sent Ya was not enjoyable, not even the jokes landed much, and Steven Banks can do way better. And that's the best way I can sum up the episode. It's a typical CatDog episode... but they can do better.
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