Ah, sweet relief. It's always good to see a show return to what it does best. In the case of Bored to Death, that means putting its three main characters in a wild, goofy misadventure full of effete dialog and noir references. Last week's Season 3 premiere kept Jonathan, George and Ray in separate stories for the majority of its run time and I wrote in my review of it that, at best, that was a way to give each of them a starting point for the rest of the season. Well, that's exactly what happened. "Gumball" keeps the boys together and benefits greatly from their converging stories.

Most of the night's action focuses on Jonathan's attempt to clear his name after being framed for murder last week, but George and Ray's concerns dovetail with the main story nicely. After rescuing Jonathan from his precarious position on the clock tower, Ray ushers him to George's apartment where they all indulge in what Ray calls "a BLT for stoners" (humidifier weed, Valium and a sip of Prosecco). That's just the first of several smart giggles that dot the episode. Really, "Gumball" has some of the best dialog of the entire series and a lot of great physical comedy to boot. It's the little touches that make madcap shows like this work. For example, Ray and Jonathan don't have to scramble for Ray's roller case when it gets away from them later in the episode and they don't have to be wearing pilot uniforms in a misguided attempt at disguises, but the fact that they do means that every available bit of real estate in the episode is played for laughs.

"Gumball" also doesn't forget that George and Ray have their own problems. George has another run-in with Bernard, the man who intends to marry his daughter, and they have a pretty funny exchange while George struggles to run to Jonathan's rescue. Though he's only in one scene, Bernard remains in spirit through his fancy bicycle that George borrows on his way to the carousel where Jonathan and George are waiting to pounce on the alleged architect of the frame job. All the while, Ray keeps calling back to his new, quasi-fatherhood in a series of non-sequiturs about responsibility and nurturing.

Though I think the murder plot wrapped up a bit too quickly (having it around for another episode would have been nice), I can't argue with the comic escalation that leads to its resolution. The carousel scene is perfect and the way it all culminates in a callback to just about every joke in the episode is a grand work of comic engineering.

Best Moment: The police questioning Jonathan's parents. It was wall-to-wall funny lines.

Notes: The police sketch of Jonathan was rather cartoonish, wasn't it?

Episode Rating: 4.9/5- Again, the murder plot was rushed, but the whole episode was so damn funny it's hard to fault it for being so brisk. Also, lots of great guest stars pulled from Season 2.