In this week’s two-part season finale, The Muppets treats fans to a very funny and very progressive send off for season 2. Thankfully, the writers behind these episodes weren’t afraid to use each character’s personality to the best of their abilities, and this especially shows in episode 15 “Generally Inhospitable.” However, episode fifteen ends up serving not only oodles of humor, but also plants itself as a giant comic springboard for part two of the season finale, “Because…Love,” and while part two isn’t nearly as funny as part one, it’ll definitely please long time fans with the strides it makes in developing characters and their love stories.
In “Generally Inhospitable,” Miss Piggy twists (or rather, gruesomely bends) her ankle in a “Single Ladies” dance routine gone wrong. Requiring surgery, Pizza (yes, still pronounced ‘Pa-chey’) wants to bring in a guest host in order to replace her for the night. The entire crew is against this notion, so while Kermit and Deadly help Miss Piggy overcome her fears of the surgery room, Pizza ends up getting trapped in closet by Rizzo, Pepe and the gang. Trying to stall for time, both Kermit and the gang begin to brainstorm a way for Miss Piggy to not lose her spot on the show, even for one night.
What makes this specific episode of The Muppets so unique is how finely tuned all the characters feel in their environment. Both plots to the narrative are funny and charming in their own ways, and long time Muppets fans will get to see some pleasant little sketches that incorporate many of the characters who’ve been underutilized thus far in the series. For example, both episodes feature more of Dr. Honeydew and Beaker (more so in “Generally Inhospitable”), and their little science sketch together will delight anyone looking for a good laugh. Not to mention, we get two special guest stars out of Phil LaMarr and Willie Nelson, who bring their own little brand of humor to an already funny episode. What feels like this episode’s biggest strength of all, however, is the near perfect blend of funny situations and progressive drama between Kermit and Miss Piggy, something the series was definitely waffling on every now and then. I feel safe in saying that “Generally Inhospitable” is one of the series’ best episodes thus far.
Next, there’s part two of the season one finale, “Because…Love.” Without spoiling too much from the previous episode, as some important plot points happen towards the end, things between Miss Piggy and Kermit have reached their boiling point with deciding how they feel about one another. With his recent split with girlfriend Denise, Kermit isn’t entirely sure how he feels about anything, especially with his fellow friends on set divided among themselves on what steps Kermit should take for his future. Meanwhile, guest musician Jack White may end up giving Kermit a few pointers himself on the steps he must take to make his decision.
What works best about “Because…Love” is how well it suffices as a direct continuation of “Generally Inhospitable.” There’s a lot more drama than humor to be had in this episode, compared to the previous episode being more gags than drama. With this in mind, they end up coming off as a very well paired set with one another, matching different vibes to create a satisfying send off to get viewers returning for season 2. The downside to this is that, while long time fans will appreciate the steps this show is making towards desired changes, a little more jokes would have been appreciated (although it should be noted there was a hilarious “Revenant” joke here.) On a side note, special guest Jack White adds some sweet moments between himself and Kermit, and those unfamiliar with his work will likely go and check him out thanks to an interesting performance for the show.
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Overall, “Generally Inhospitable” and “Because…Love” are a great pair of episodes to end a season. Despite lasting an hour long together, fans will find plenty of jokes in part one to keep them laughing, and a plethora of drama in part two to keep them reeled into the characters. It could easily be said that “Generally Inhospitable” is the superior of the two, thanks to the amount of jokes and fantastic usage of characters we get out of it, but “Because…Love” adds on to it in its own unique way, and it was just as great to see things keep developing for everyone’s lives. To sum everything up, The Muppets season one ends with a bang in both gags and theatrics, providing audience members a wealth of reason to return for the next season.
Episode 15 Rating: 9/10
Episode 16 Rating: 8/10
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