The following is copypasted from [this comment:](https://www.reddit.com/r/rickygervais/comments/1vlyval/comment/p35gded/?context=3)

My main problem with this show so far is that above all else, it's *boring.* About half of the episode is spent on "establishing" the cats and their personalities, but aside from maybe Gus and Olive, we don't get a very good grasp on their personalities beyond basic one-note quirks (Ponce's a bit of a snob, Puke is barely surviving by a thread, and Fang is...actually, I still don't get where they're taking Fang), so the majority of the episode just feels like meandering and dead air. I will admit though that things do start to pick up once we're introduced to Kitten, the only character so far besides Olive that I genuinely like. She has an actual sympathetic personality amidst a sea of one-note cynical jerks, and I actually feel somewhat bad for her: she's clearly lost both literally and emotionally, is hit the hardest by the rough-and-tumble hardships the cats have to weather through every day, and actually has a sense of empathy (well that and Jo Hartley is putting way too much effort into this role). But even with that, barely any progress is made on what I assume to be the main goal of the series (helping Kitten find her way back home). I will honestly admit that I actually kinda liked the last few minutes of the episode (right after Ralphie gets unceremoniously killed), partly because this is when the show actually manages to get its act together and try to not be a sleep-inducing parade of stream-of-consciousness writing. The voice acting also gets better too: even Ricky as Gus is honest-to-god trying to 
be effective with his deliveries as the character. The ending where Gus starts showing his more open and soft qualities to Kitten when she's going through a crisis is also unironically good.

So far, the show isn't outright terrible: the animation is good, the voice acting on a few of the cats is decent, Olive, Kitten and (towards the end) even Gus are okay characters, and sometimes the show tries to be above "an inducer of complete disinterest", but the slow pacing and general meandering feel hold it back for me. 5/10

"Havoc" was considerably worse than "Lost" in my opinion. Whereas "Lost" at least attempts to break out of its sluggish conversations halfway through, "Havoc" does so for considerably longer to hide a plot that's so excruciatingly paper-thin it makes the worst of *Peppa Pig* look like a Shakespearean play. *All* that happens is Gus and his gang commenting on trashy TV in their dingy apartment (which already happened before), heading over to a school to bully a fat kid because I guess Ricky thinks fat-shaming people is the goddamn pinnacle of animated comedy, Gus' (admittedly sorta funny) attempt to tackle said fat kid, the cats meeting up with an old friend of theirs before he gets presumably put down, and Ricky and Kitten's talk at the end. Of those 5 plot points, only the last two are relevant to the show's core plot and avoid being plain old white noise for me, meaning that over 60% of the episode is dedicated to spiritually crippling me via utter boredom and dragging. The only positives I can really say are Ricky and Kitten's aforementioned chat (I'm starting to like their dynamic) and the random spacey things Olive says throughout the episode. Other than that, it just feels like a giant, drivel-esqud waste of time that could've been spent on more important, plot-related matters. 3/10

"Kids" is a Gus-centric episode, and strangely enough, it's the best one so far...once you get past everything before he checks up on his mom, since the majority before that is dedicated to jokes about how much of a filthy, depraved creature Puke is, none of which are really that funny, as well as one actually amusing bit where Olive briefly talks about what she wants in a potential partner. Granted, "best" only means somewhat decent, but still. It's starting with this episode that we finally get a good hand on Gus' personality and what can be inferred from it: the guy's been chewed up and spit out by life, between the desolate conditions he lives in and general lack of hope that things will get better, and the nihilism it's instilled in him makes him cold, apathetic and only out for himself. Still, there's a small part of him that's willing to reveal openness and even compassion to those he trusts enough, namely Kitten, his mother and Lara. It all makes for a surprisingly developed character in a sea of ones I don't care much, and I'm wondering where the show will take him and the others from here. 6/10

I actually liked "Date Night". It's still nothing outstanding and it takes a *while* to get going (I also dislike how they seem to have dropped the whole subplot of Kitten trying to find her way back home), but for what it's worth it's paced pretty well, Gus and Lara have a legitimately good dynamic, and some of the jokes honest-to-god made me chuckle (like when Gus gets picked up by an old lady, gets to enjoy the high life for a bit - and then dips because he realized he ditched his buddies). This episode also marks the first example of the overly relaxed atmosphere actually working in the show's favor, specifically during Gus and Lara's date: it's nothing major, but it's cute and helps the event feel like something two real people would have. Also the scenery during the montage of the two cats is legitimately gorgeous: it appears that a lot of the budget for this show went into the backgrounds, which are really good-looking and highly detailed. Anyways not much else to say, just a legitimately good, fun time once it hops off its ass. 7/10

With only one episode to go, we have "Mum"...the first few minutes of which are dedicated to hammering in ~~Ricky's~~ Gus' staunch atheism. As a whole, *Alley Cats* is tonally split - it has the seeds of something great, but doesn't fully capitalize on any of them because what's surrounding it is either boring podcast-imported *Seinfeld*-esque small talk or Tumblr-quality, bottom-of-the-nutsack humor. Fortunately, once Gus starts singing a lullaby to Kitten and he and his gang head out of their apartment (also helps that they're finally making progress on helping Kitten retrace her steps and get back home thanks to a fever dream she had while she was sick), the episode picks up in quality a fair bit, most notably with the death of Gus' mother, which was a genuinely well-done scene that actually got to me a fair bit. *Un*fortunately, right after that the cats happen upon a drug dealer, have and get plastered, which dismantles whatever intrigue I had in the episode and how things were moving along. As one singular package some parts of it are truly great, but due to how they're arranged I have no choice but to rate this episode smack-dab in the middle with a 5/10

"Home" is a perplexing thing. The first half is pretty crummy like with typical *Alley Cats* episodes, but the second half is a really strong finale: Kitten finally returning home, her last talk between her and Gus, Gus realizing that Kitten's owners didn't value her enough to look for her and saying that she moved away to s pare her feelings, and the quite literal dance party ending are genuinely well-done...once you get past all the jokes involving Puke deciding to get his dick stung by a bee after Olive accidentally gets her tongue stung. It's a mixed bag leaning more towards good than bad, tho, so I'll give it a 6/10.

Overall, to me, *Alley Cats* is a massive mixed bag. The parts of it that work work incredibly well, but they're bogged down by a load of jokes and plot points that are ungodly monotonous, boring and tryhardy, which tend to take up the majority of each episode anyway. As a whole I'd give it a 5.5/10: it's good for white noise in the background while you're doing work or want to get to sleep, but not very good for anything else and certainly not worth anything more than one viewing.

I've finished watching all of Alley Cats. Here are my thoughts on each episode!