Smiling Friends Season 3 Review: More Bizarre Hijinks and More Meta Relevance

No matter what you think of Smiling Friends, you have to admit that it still remains relevant today in a way that only a few other animated shows have.

From its many one-off jokes that have become memorable to the universal acclaim of its realistic dialogue, Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel’s wild series has truly struck with fans. Now, with Smiling Friends Season 3, the avant-garde duo are back at it again with more of Charlie and Pim’s shenanigans.

That being said, Season 3 does present us with some fun one-shot stories with an iconic character to go along with them. Although, it’s also starting to feel very introspective about the word surrounding what it’s famous for.

As an opener, Smiling Friends Season 3 Episode 1 “Silly Samuel” is a more closed episode as it goes back to the roots of Season 1 with its single character focus.

Charlie and Pim have to try and get this mish-mash of a character, Silly Samuel, back on his feet, but all the guy wants to be is taken seriously. All in the meanwhile, Boss and Allan have another side story together where the Smiling Friends building gets inspected.

However, unlike Season 2 Episode 3 “A Allan Adventure”, it actually has prominence on the main story.

While the animation style, at particular moments, does have that little visual upgrade from previous seasons, this feels like an episode that you might probably only watch once.

It’s got some fun moments, like Silly Samuel’s doctor’s appointment to the Boss and Allan trying to reason out their headquarters’ deteriorating conditions. 

However, if you’re a fan of single story, Season 1-inspired episodes, then this episode will definitely be for you. I did enjoy the craziness and simplicity of it, but at times, it does feel like it’s treading on familiar waters. However, there are a few episodes from Smiling Friends Season 3 that stand out.

These two episodes, in particular, are Smiling Friends Season 3 Episode 2 “Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille” and Episode 3 “Mole Man”. Both episodes carry themselves with a unique fashion, as both of them tackle two different sides of the series altogether.

For one, Season 3 Episode 2 “Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille” is a part of what fans would call the “Mr. Frog” series of episodes, which all revolve around the unpredictable phenomenon that is Mr. Frog. However, unlike previous episodes that focused on Mr. Frog, this episode feels more heavy-handed.

That might be because of everything the character’s accomplished within the past two seasons, having ruled the world at this point. Yet, it’s unlike its predecessors in that the story isn’t necessarily fully driven by Charlie and Pim’s actions.

Instead, what we get is a complex unraveling of Mr. Frog, given his state of grief and depression, and his family history. There are so many somber moments that’ll make you shocked at how Cusack and Hadel have approached this character. Plus, you throw in a surprising cameo from one star from The Office and it just makes you genuinely sad for the guy.

However, given the runtime of each episode lasting about ten minutes or so, you might be wondering how it can accomplish so much in so little time.

Since this episode mainly follows Mr. Frog’s perspective, it’s able to create depth as much as it needs to. Albeit, it might be somewhat cynical in the beginning and the ending just rushes things in an abrupt way. Still, it does provide an entertaining watch and interesting character study.

The other episode, Smiling Friends Season 3 Episode 3 “Mole Man”, is actually much more retrospective about the entire series itself rather than just the character. It does so in the most insane way: by having this socially obsessed Mole Man capture Charlie and Pim and essentially make them re-enact their daily lives.

What results from Season 3 Episode 3 is a somewhat creepy, yet fast-paced and enjoyable story reminiscent of Season 2 Episode 5 “Brother’s Egg”. Both episodes have this unusually bizarre concept that finds their grounding through relatable ideas, even if they’re emphasized to an extreme.

There are also a few lines that definitely reflect on the word-of-mouth of Smiling Friends as a whole, especially on things that fans love about it. Whether it be a line about the show’s “relatable dialogue” to the decrepit setup of the fake building, this episode does a satisfying job in being meta about itself. 

All in all, Smiling Friends Season 3 continues to be hilariously fantastic with its signature humor and storytelling, but also revels in being more self-referential. There’s definitely some undertones to suggest that there’s only so much that this series can do before it hits its breaking point.

However, what we get from Season 3 is still a wildly funny experience that definitely captures the ecstacy-fuelled rush that this series has been known for.

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Smiling Friends Season 3 premieres on Adult Swim on Thursday, August 21.

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