iCarly: iCupid

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Feeling as though she has held back Spencer, played by Jerry Trainor, from finding love Carly, played by Miranda Cosgrove, decides to try and set him up.

I will give this episode praise for calling out several things that needed to be. Firstly it points out how weirdly close Spencer and Carly are and then secondly it has Freddie, played by Nathan Kress, standing up to the women in his life and stop being a doormat who is easily pushed around by other people.

Within the a plot I liked that Spencer and Carly’s relationship was front and centre and that they developed it in a meaningful way, with Carly saying that Spencer was like a father to her. Rachel Bloom as Mckenna the matchmaker was okay, but bordered on the side of annoying, also I thought some of the ideas put forward by her character in the episode as to what constitutes a red flag were problematic and sent a bad message. Labelling being short as a red flag seems inherently discriminatory and is clearly example of heightism.

Within the b plot Freddie had to stand up to his mother, played by Mary Scheer, and his adoptive daughter, played by Jaidyn Triplett, and tell them they don’t get a say in his dating life. I found this to be a very cathartic character moment for Freddie as for a while he has done whatever those around him tell him to do and it is nice to see him asserting himself.

Overall, some good character, only made slightly worse by an annoying matchmaker and some questionable morals.

Pros.

Good character work

Carly acknowledging Spencer as a stand-in father

Freddie finally standing up for himself

Cons.

The heightism

Bloom’s whole character

If you enjoyed this review, then please head over to my Patreon to support me, I offer personalized shoutouts, the ability for you to pick what I review next and full access to my Patreon exclusive game reviews. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

iCarly: iHire A New Assistant

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Carly’s grandfather, played by Greg Mullavey, shows up for a visit and becomes Carly’s new assistant.

I think a lot of this new season of iCarly has the same issue, either a really good a story and a terrible b plot or a terrible a story and a good b plot, this episode was no different.

I disliked almost everything about the Grandad Shay character, I thought he was annoying and used to make the same lame predictable jokes you would expect from an old meets young storyline. Moreover, through this introduction Spencer, played by Jerry Trainor, becomes even worse as a character- this season really hasn’t been kind. Throughout the a story of this episode Spencer debases himself to try and get his grandfather’s love and then begrudgingly gets it at the end, this could have worked on some level, however, the ending of the episode doesn’t feel earned and instead feels written for convenience.

The saving grace of this episode comes from the Freddie, played by Nathan Kress, and Harper, played by Laci Mosley, side story wherein it seems like Freddie and Harper might be soulmates based on their birth charts. I thought this b plot was genuinely quite funny and the characters worked well within it, I thought that Freddie and Harper made for a good pairing and I would like to see more of them having their own adventures in the coming episodes.

Overall, the b plot manages to stop the episode from being bad and does provide some shielding, however, the whole Grandad Shay narrative was trite and I hope the show does not bring him back again.

Pros.

Freddie and Harper

A few good jokes

Cons.

Grandad Shay

The old man jokes were super obvious and lame

They made Spencer even worse

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

iCarly: i’M Wild And Crazy

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Carly, played by Miranda Cosgrove, realises she is the boring one of the friend group and so asks Harper, played by Laci Mosley, to take her on a wild night out.

This was a nice episode for the most part. I enjoyed seeing more of Harper and Carly’s friendship on screen and have them both get some much needed character development. I thought it was nice to see the series reference back to Harper’s breakup and her processing period rather than just move immediately past it and act like it never happened. I thought both Cosgrove and Mosley were on top form here as well.

However, the b-plot about Freddie, played by Nathan Kress, and Spencer, played by Jerry Trainor, coming to blows over there business partnership was not only dull but it also brought out the worst in Spencer as a character. I have written before in other reviews about how I dislike that the show treats Spencer as a constant get out of jail free card, with his undetermined wealth allowing him to do practically anything, it feels like lazy writing and it is on perfect display in this episode. The conflict between Spencer and Freddie comes about as Spencer buys them an old smoothie bar as an office location for their business and then slowly loses interest in their start-up and instead wants to restore the old smoothie bar. Within this conflict not only do we get yet another lazy set up paid for by Spencer’s magical wealth, but also Spencer being his most childish and ridiculous. These last few episodes have really gone out of their way to show that as an adult Spencer is a failure, he can barely function in the adult world and just throws money at things to make them go away, and though I never thought he was the most efficient character ever, I did think he was more competent than this. It is sad to see the character reduced so much.

Overall, a better episode than the last but the show needs to decide what it want to do with Spencer as a character.

Pros.

Carly and Harper’s friendship explored in more depth

Cosgrove

Mosley

The references to Harper’s break-up and the character growth

Cons.

Spencer is being reduced to a poor cliché

The b-plot serves no purpose

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

iCarly: iObject Lewbert

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Several old faces from Carly’s past return in an effort to end her web show.

My, my how do you go from a first episode that by all accounts was very good and pushed the show as a whole forward to this? Quite frankly, this second episode might be one of the worst of the revival.

The most egregious thing is just how badly this episode wants to milk nostalgia, bringing back all of these old familiar faces to try and sue Carly, played by Miranda Cosgrove, thereby forcing in member berries in a way that couldn’t be more blatant. The court trial simply serves as a means to be like oh remember this person from this episode? Remember?

Moreover, this is only added to by the worst ending of an episode of iCarly possibly ever, whereby when it looks like Carly might have to face some consequences for her past misdeeds Spencer, played by Jerry Trainor, just buys her way out. The reason why this sucks is because it could have been an actual emotional moment which could have led to some character development for Carly or at the very least a shift in perspective, but no.

Additionally, this episode forces in a Harper, played by Laci Mosley, and Millicent, played by Jaidyn Triplett, side-plot that is the definition of time wasting. It goes nowhere and undoes a lot of the great Harper work the first episode does, reducing her back into the loud, obnoxious stereotype.

Overall, a sorry state of an episode made worse by the fact it followed such a good one.

Pros.

A few funny jokes

It is watchable

Cons.

The nostalgia baiting

The terrible ending and message of it

Reducing Harper back into a stereotype

Seemingly doing it best to stop any kind of character development

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer

iCarly: iGuess Everyone Just Hates Me Now

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

After the events of the first season’s finale Carly, played by Miranda Cosgrove, is facing an ice queen image online and so in order to combat it decides to fake date Freddy, played by Nathan Kress, to show that she can indeed love.

I thought that this was a strong start to the second season, it was an episode that was firing on all cylinders and that advanced the Carly/ Freddie will they won’t they romance sub-plot somewhat. Admittedly, in the latter regard it is all just a tease and those of us who want to see Carly and Freddie get together for real will have to wait a while longer, though they do share some sweet scenes here.

I also enjoyed that this episode humanised Harper, played by Laci Mosely, and gave her more of a dramatic arc, which was a nice change of pace from the very over the top, loud and brash way she is often presented. I thought her brief scene with Double Dutch, played by Poppy Liu was both sad as well as a little touching, it got me a little misty I won’t lie.

The only reason I haven’t given this episode full marks is because I found the humour a little dumb at times, such as when asked to throw a grown up mature party Spencer, played by Jerry Trainor, puts together a funeral- albeit unknowingly. This joke bothered me because Spencer is supposed to be a grown man, who moves in the art world so him being unknowing and unable to put together a sophisticated party seems stupid and the visual joke doesn’t land.

Overall, a strong return for the series only let down by a few iffy jokes.

Pros.

Carly and Freddy

Giving Harper an emotional arc

It follows on nicely from last season

The ice queen recurring segment

Cons.

Spenser was really quite dumbed-down here

https://www.patreon.com/AnotherMillennialReviewer