iGet Pranky Thoughts!

[author_abz]

My thoughts on iGet Pranky, with a special appendix on Sam/Spencer in both fandom and canon!

Things I liked:

 

- Jerry Trainor is the best ever, right? You see? We should have always been having Spencer-centric episodes! A total over four seasons of like... three (if that) is so not enough.

- "I thought she was less irritating." Oh, Freddie. I love when you get back at Sam and she has absolutely no idea.

- Montage! I LOVE MONTAGES. What I loved most about this episodes montage was the complete randomness of it! Most montages skip through time or show the progress of something without going into detail with it.... this montage was so upbeat and fun and it totally rocked. And because I've bought the episode on iTunes, if you listen to the words of the song during it (that we all identify as originally being Katy Perry's) has lyrics than can be/are super, SUPER suggestive. Like, you thought we were just going to a party to hang out tonight, but we're spending all night together. Best thing ever, y/y?

- Spencer's pranking. True, I dislike pranking on a base level, but he did it to EVERYONE and for the most part they WERE harmless and pretty funny - for him. I also love his varying outfits for pranking. Like, he's wearing swim trunks in the studio and his pajamas at school! Plus, the sequence was the same - set up, prank, sudden, dancing Spencer! Then he'd run away. :D Plexiglass in front of the elevator bit was super funny, I will admit. Another thing I really love about Spencer pranking is how well it fits into his personality. Not only that - but WHEN he started pranking and became the King of Pranks really fits in with the timeline of his life. Freshman year Carly wouldn't have been more than three or so years old (possibly 2), and Spencer's been an only child for a long time before this, and it all fits into a cry for attention/let's be creative! streak that is a cornerstone of Spencer's make-up.

- Pranking is an addiction. You should do one before you are Carly's age. It's all totally drugs and sex! And sex can become an addiction too, so total bonus points. You need to hit rock bottom to learn to stop, or you die from overdose, etc.

- Sam knows everything. "I knew he'd say that." "I've seen this before" AND she knew that if they physically attacked him he would stop. NUNCHUCKS, YOU GUYS. SHE WAS GOING TO USE NUNCHUCKS ON SPENCER. I WILL NEVER NOT LOVE THIS.

- Sam made a cop think his feet were gone. Oh, Sam, you are my favorite.

- Gibby was in the episode legitimately, but without an overbearing or completely random reason that would make me question him becoming offical cast. Bravo.

- Almost every line of dialogue was awesome and super funny. I didn't really have an issue like I normally do where something is obviously supposed to be super funny and I just think it's stupid and irritating.

- "Easy there, Texas." Random dialogue for the win, Carly Shay. :)

- Sam says that she has a little crush on Spencer, which causes him to stop dancing, and Carly questions, only to have Sam swiftly move the conversation along. Thank you, Dan Schneider, I know  I've been right all along. :D

 

 

Things I didn't like:

- Hey, did you notice the role that Freddie plays in the episode? Oh, that's right - HE DIDN'T HAVE ONE. All Freddie did the entire episode was support and act in a group and just be there. He had NO individual contribution to the episode/plot. He was there so Sam could beat up on him and be bothered, essentially. Even more annoyingly, his nothing-to-contribute aspect made him always appear with Sam, and for peer pressure they were on the same side, and I've seen at least one Seddie being like, "they were always together!!111!!" which is irritating for them to say for one, and for two means absolutely nothing.

- There wasn't a subplot. This isn't necessarily all that bad of a thing, but it was weird, and subplots are a nice way to break from things or certain people being forced on you. I really didn't notice for the most part, but its still weird.

- I am not a big fan of pranks. The gang's focus on them and their complete approval, except for when they get pranked, is another example of what terrible people the iCarly gang are sometimes. I do not approve.

- I've never pranked anyone, and the assumption that I should have by now is a bit insulting. Well, pranking and "pranking" both apply here. Gee, thanks for making me feel like a loser, iCarly. (or I suppose how they define pranks - I've like... hid things and watched while people looked for them ... but that's not even in the same category as Freddie's raisins-in-hat prank.)

- Spencer gets beat up again! This isn't a critique on the end of the episode, which I am okay with, even if it's one of the stranger abrupt endings - it did make sense - but how many times is Spencer going to get beat up overall? TOO MANY TIMES.

- "You guys gotta do something about Spencer." DUDE - you have already made the allusion that pranking = drugs, and now you're like - okay, teenagers - fix this person! Addictions are so not that easy. Which Sam knows, because she knows all - and she has totally had family members with various addictions, and that is where she's seen this before, right? Plus, the gang is NOT that smart - and they have to do this. What, you break it you buy it?

- Gibby got broken. Awww. :( Poor Gibby. His ribs cracked and his arm is in a sling, and he had been looking up catheters. (How much do you want to bet that that majority of the iCarly audience have no idea what a catheter is?)

- Why does Freddie say "ocho"? Is that Nathan's mistake and it's supposed to be "mucho"? Because when Sam and Carly both say "yes" - the correct corresponding answer isn't "eight."





Sam/Spencer Analysis from the Captain of the Spam Ship / Queen of Spam

I was NOT surprised when Sam said she had a little crush on Spencer. This is probably because I was modding and came across the snippet and watched it before I watched the episode, but even if I hadn't, it didn't really produce more than a "heeeheee!" from me. I already know that Sam has a little crush on him. It has been painfully obvious for quite a while now. The interesting part of this, though, is that Sam acknowledged it herself. She knows she's not hitting him with a baseball bat because she has a crush on him, not just because "he's Spencer."

The reason it was actually acknowledged in canon, in the way that it was actually written into the script and filmed are ridiculously simple: they wanted to put into words the chemistry you can see between Jerry and Jennette why else would Sam withhold her anger at being continually pranked? It's a lot harder to express the "he's Spencer" sentiment, and it is definitely hard to do that in the explaining space of about two seconds where Sam is yelling at him that he should sleep with one eye open and feel lucky, basically. If that line weren't inserted, well, all of us would know, even if we had wondered why Sam's violent nature hadn't surfaced before then - that it's the all too integral Sam and the Shays relationship and how that includes Spencer as well as Carly, but most of the iCarly fanbase wouldn't grasp that.

Oddly enough, Sam did say that she has a little crush on Spencer, and now both canon and fanon are CHANGED FOREVER. Some people have said that it's just a kind of fan-service, but I don't think so. I don't think iKiss was a fanservice, and neither was iSaved Your Life, so why would this be? It's not. Canon now has the decision to make about Sam's character, whether this will actually be acknowledged or whether, as with most tweendom shows, things will be the way they have been since before then. And now I have to pretend I haven't seen iSell Penny Tees. In my personal view of canon, neither can end very well. If it's ignored, then what was the point, why even bother with anything? It would be a disgrace to both the fans and character development, when you drop bombs they don't just dissolve, they leave marks/damage. Ignoring it would also mean that a HUGE opportunity for so many other, unknown things are missed out on. Acknowledging it, on the other hand - well, I can't see that road being full of butterflies and rainbows and happy thoughts, either. No matter how much they develop it or how far - they can't do anything substantial with it. And that just kills me. There IS such a potential for awesome stuff there, but I doubt Nick will do anything like (no matter how easily realisitically or kid-friendly it can be done) having Spencer discover reciprocal feelings, or have the issue dealt with fully (in that best friend's brother sphere, in particular). It can only ever be one-sided, or one-sided with a friend who knows about it. Those are always heartbreaking plotlines.

Still, all is not lost. The bomb has been dropped, and I'm shaken, but not broken. This piece of canon doesn't entirely bring joy to my door, because it means my canon idea about not realizing they're falling for each other thing is GONE, because Sam DOES know... but it's not terrible. Actually, what I find most interesting is Carly and Spencer's reactions themselves. Spencer stops dancing and there's a definite "hang on, what?" look on his face (which quickly goes away, I might add, and I don't know how or why he so quickly goes back to his prank-high) and Carly asks, "Little crush?" And OMG THIS MOMENT IS SO IMPORTANT. Carly is intrigued,but not mad, confused, but she's not going to attack Sam about it. I can see (and hopefully will write) a scene later where Carly re-confronts Sam about having a crush on Spencer, and no matter Sam's answers Carly will be there and smiling, and best friend-like, and will understand that we all crush on the most random people, and I suppose my brother is not the worst person in the world, I'm just surprised.

But still, I can't get over it, pretty much - Sam knows. SAM KNOWS. SAM KNOWS. Sam knows she likes Spencer! It's so mind-blowing to me. It's such an important character bit, it's a sign of maturity, and OH MY GOD. That's what blows me away. Sam has recognized that Spencer is not entirely more than just her best friend's big brother, that he's a guy, a fairly attractive one, and he's her friend and they could possibly maybe exist elsewhere than just in the realm of best friend's big brother together. Some, most, or all of those have been acknowledged by Sam, and considering how most or all or some of us view her character, I think this is a monumental step (that we can see). THAT more than anything, has blown me away.