>>150253387
It's different with Darwin because he's the right hand man to the main character. Out of all the Wattersons, Darwin's the closet to Gumball for the majority of the episodes, and Darwin disappearing when he's generally the middle ground between Gumball and whatever or whoever he's dealing with shows the decaying use of Darwin as a character because having some sort of voice of reasonableness is becoming less needed as the show ramps up its antics.
The Ex is a prime example because Darwin's just freaking out about a hat for the majority of the episode while Gumball looks like a homosexual when trying to win back Rob.
It happens in all three times for Hot Dog Guy.
He's on-and-off in The Uncle too. Another episode that makes Gumball look like a queer.
