Every season of any given show is bound to have its duds. These episodes may not necessarily be bad, or have anything majorly wrong with them to bring about your inner hatred towards the writers, but sometimes they’re just so unremarkable that they fail to leave any sort of impact on the viewer. This feels like where The Muppets‘ 13th episode “Got Silk?” falls into place. It’s not an unfunny episode by any means, but most audience members may agree with the resounding feeling that the writers could have done better.
This week, Kermit and Pizza (pronounced ‘Pa-chay’, and yes this is a recurring joke) have formed a rift on how the show’s sketches should be handled. Pizza wants a skit advertising “delicious, gluten-free frozen yogurt made with live and active cultures from pink-berry” to help bring in advertising revenue. However, Kermit believes that his staff writers would never “compromise their integrity” for the sake of additional income and declines the notion. So Pizza, determined to have his way, takes Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe out to an extravagant lunch that just so happens to involve buying expensive suits. Meanwhile, Miss Piggy has begun to believe that she doesn’t have any close friends, thanks to her talk show having less of her in the spotlight in order to accommodate more of the Muppet crew on-screen, and sets out to find a “bestie.”
The problem with an episode like “Got Silk?” is how by the numbers everything feels. Sure, there are a few good jokes here and there, and it’s hard not to laugh when Missy Piggy attends aerial yoga in order to meet people, but the plot surrounding these jokes isn’t particularly memorable. If anything, this week’s show is more focused on the dramatic side of the Muppets’ lives instead of its usual comedic format, such as more trouble between Kermit and his girlfriend Denise, but even that’s mostly shoehorned in for the sake of keeping things moving. Though you do feel for Miss Piggy in her pursuit of finding more friends, it just doesn’t end up feeling like anything particularly important that’ll carry over into more episodes. If you’ve been watching the show from the beginning, you know exactly how her story is going to end. Yes, it can be nicer to end the episode on an expected high note, but it also comes across as if the writers weren’t really trying to challenge themselves in this one.
Kermit and Pizza’s story line seems to have the same kind of quirks and qualities, more or less. There’s a rift between the two, Pizza wants it one way, Kermit wants it the other. Pizza tries to get what he wants, but thanks to Kermit’s determination and intelligence, he figures a work around that makes just about everyone happy. They do get a few good chuckles bouncing off one another, but it’s fairly standard stuff. Not to mention, the celebrity cameos feel especially weak and uninteresting in this week’s show, as RuPaul could have been given a lot more to work with.
Overall, “Got Silk?” is harmless, but it doesn’t try anything essentially new or interesting to stand out from any other Muppets episode. You will have your usual laughs, and Miss Piggy’s assistant Deadly brings enough to her story line to make him an interesting screen presence as always. Yet, by the time next week’s episode has come around, you’ll likely have forgotten “Got Silk?”ever happened. The Muppets is still an enjoyable and worthwhile show to watch, but it was bound to have a few duds here or there, and “Got Silk?” feels like the picture perfect definition of “meh.”
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Rating: 5/10
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