It’s time to play the music! It’s time to light the lights! It’s time for a recap of The Muppets tonight! This evening’s episode of The Muppets was considerably more streamlined than past episodes, primarily focusing on two major plot lines. We got a big of redemption for Piggy (who was turning into a bit of a jerk in recent episodes) and we saw a fair amount of Dr. Teeth and company alongside the episode’s guest star, Kristin Chenoweth.

Kermit and Denise

For anyone still catching up with the first couple episodes, Kermit and Piggy are no longer a couple. His new girlfriend Denise is a marketing executive at the show, which leads to some awkward situations when Kermit’s past and present romantic lives converge upon one another. Plus it doesn’t exactly help that Kermit has admitted to having a type. 

In a change of pace for the series, it’s Kermit who gives in to misguided and selfish motives when he needs to buy a birthday gift for Denise. Stumped when it comes to shopping, Kermit recruits the last person on Earth he should have asked: Piggy. Surpisingly Piggy comes through with an amazing gift but not without her usual flair for the dramatic. The gift that she finds for Denise is perfect, but not without a little dig at Kermit. Unresolved feelings may remain, but it is genuinely nice to see Piggy make good on a promise without cataclysmic consequences. Also. this portion of the episode really screamed “Jim and Pam” from The Office, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the arc of the show eventually brings Kermit and Piggy back together. Piggy’s bit of vengeance in this episode is completely justified and she does sum it up beautifully.

Don't ask your ex to buy a gift for your girlfriend that is messed up! #TheMuppets https://t.co/2d2YKhyqF0

— The Muppets on ABC (@TheMuppetsABC) November 4, 2015

Kristin Chenoweth and the Electric Mayhem

The band is able to convince Chenoweth to play a family birthday party, so she tags along for what is probably one of the single most awkward road trips in history. While driving out into the desert to an undisclosed location for Floyd’s parent’s anniversary party, a few harmless questions by Chenoweth lead to an all-out drama-filled band fight including whose band it really is, who has been with Janice over the years (she’d argue everyone is with everyone else at all times), and who even gets paid for their performances.

Scooter’s life

Okay, so it barely counts as the episode’s C-plot, but the bits of Scooter’s life we’re given in this episode don’t actually cement him as this universe’s Dwight Schrute. Instead, it is undeniable that Scooter is, at best, the Principal Skinner of this world and, at worst, the Norman Bates. He’s all too obsessed with the pottery painting store Color Me Mine which is his go-to nightlife spot, and he has a genuinely creepy level of jealousy for his mom’s boyfriend “Ken”.

Boy oh boy, do I hope we meet Ken at some point. If we get to see Scooter jealous of someone for real, I can only hope they introduce a real-world Ken. Let me speculate/openly hope out into the ether in terms of casting: Kenneth Branagh, Ken Marino, or Kenny Rogers.

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Overall this episode is still on the right track. As I’ve mentioned before, the pacing seems great for what the show is trying to do. We got to see a bit more Rizzo/Pepe banter, and I’m glad they’re used sparingly because it makes everything they do all the more special. Plus no one wants to see the end result of them picking up women at Color Me Mine. What happens at the “whoopsie bin” stays at the “whoopsie bin”

Muppet Musings

• Pepe gives the world his e-mail. I’ll let you know what reply I get from [email protected]
• Gonzo is single in this series, but he was with Camilla for quite a while; he should know not to get anyone a scale.
• “Put on a robe, Ken”
• Scooter is a little creepy, but far too endearing.
• Uncle Deadly states no one knows him but we want to. Nay. We need to know you.

You don't know me. #TheMuppets https://t.co/HSa91YyqTR

— The Muppets on ABC (@TheMuppetsABC) November 4, 2015

What’d you think of “The Ex-Factor”? Let us know in the comments below.

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Images: ABC