The Muppets - S1E6 - The Ex-Factor

Previously on The Muppets, ‘Walk the Swine’

“I’d do anything for Kermit. I mean after all, he is my friend. But don’t ask your Ex to buy a gift for your girlfriend. That is messed up! I think he knows that now.”

In the past I’ve commended the writers for an outstanding job with their depiction of Miss Piggy while also expressing my hope that they would extend that quality of writing to the rest of the cast. This hope came true in this week’s episode. Denise is back (finally) after being suspiciously absent since the pilot and Kermit is scrambling to get her a last-minute birthday present. After a few failed attempts to find a gift on his own, he turns to Miss Piggy for help. What would’ve been an overplayed sitcom trope by having Piggy take advantage of this situation and use it as an opportunity to ruin Kermit and Denise’s relationship didn’t turn out as expected. That isn’t to say that Piggy didn’t have fun taking cheap jabs at Denise every chance she could get, but she still got the job done. As a matter of fact Piggy was a lot less fury and destruction this week and a lot more accommodating of others.

It’s also worth noting that instead of trading nasty words with this week’s celebrity guest, Piggy was actually showing us her more affable side. In fact Piggy and Kristin Chenoweth are perfect for each other. Take the wonderful exchange at the beginning of the episode for example:

Chenoweth: “I saw the break up. He broke up with you.”

Piggy: “And I saw you on Broadway. How much of that was real?”

And later after their brief interaction with a very visibly star-struck Denise:

Chenoweth: “Well you handled yourself beautifully.”

Piggy: “Well I am pretty great with kids.”

Isn’t it delightful to finally see Miss Piggy not exacting a blood vengeance against another female celebrity?

“Thanks for nothing, Kristin Chenoweth. Your selfishness just broke an old couple’s heart.”

This time around the writers decided to hand the B-plot to people other than Fozzie Bear (who was absent this episode). Seeing Electric Mayhem slowly fall apart in the company of Kristin Chenoweth due to old and unspoken grievances being brought to the surface was hilarious to watch. Does Floyd know that Janice has a very loose definition of what constitutes “dating?” Does Zoot have a hearing problem? Does the ACLU and Department of Labor have to represent Animal with a case against the rest of the band? Dr. Teeth and the band have always been depicted as easy-going hippie types so this was a surprising direction to take, especially with their ridiculous solution to the problem. 

Quote of the Week: “I don’t present solutions. Just dramatic problems.”-Uncle Deadly

Side Notes

• “Animal always want to perform with live snakes. But Zoot big baby.”
• Uncle Deadly is a diehard Kristin Chenoweth fan. Who would’ve thought? Nobody knows you, Uncle Deadly. But we sure would like to get to know you better.
• Chip the IT guy is still super creepy.
• It’s no surprise that Scooter still lives with his mom sipping hot water with lemons on their downtime. It’s terrifying that he casually walks in on his mother having sex.