the episode can be best explained as a problematic idea with a myriad of saving throws and that makes it very complicated to talk about but i do think the song is the main issue here
if we have a version of this ep where they sing about how they miss being friends then suddenly all my problems go away AND it matches the lesson they each learn a lot better. baljeet learns that he LIKES being confident and is actually capable of a lot when he's not constantly put down. buford learns that it isnt bullying that he enjoys, its being with his friends, baljeet in particular. he just uses bullying as an excuse to hang out with them without hurting his perception of himself. baljeet realises he enjoys bufords company and wants to keep doing stuff like this with buford there with him and buford realises he just wants to be friends with baljeet and the gang but he has to be less shitty to them to keep that up.
but the fucking SONG fucks it ALL up because the lesson they were being set up to learn was that this dynamic NEEDED TO CHANGE
UGH
and like they almost got it too with bufords line "sometimes you dont want to bully everyone, you just want to bully someone you love" like you were SO CLOSE man sdjgsdhsdfjh
i mean sure its in character for buford to miss the point of what he's realised like that but it doesnt give a very good message, does it?
im serious though its just the fucking song that ruins this because if we replace it with an imaginary one where they sing about missing being friends the episode is suddenly perfect, everything slots into place a lot better and less uncomfortably
i think this is why so many people like the episode and miss the implications because the ending and the particulars of certain bits of dialogue give the impression you're watching something better than you are because they were made to support a better story than the one presented
