Review: The Smurfs “Who’s Heftier?/DRIIINNGGGGG!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Who’s Heftier?

Wimpy Smurf challenges Hefty to a Smurf-off and wins by accident.

DRIIINNGGGGG!

Handy builds a special alarm clock to keep Lazy awake.

Our Take:

Now here’s something that’ll keep you wide awake. This week sees the last couple of episodes of “The Smurfs” before it goes on another hiatus. These smurfy adventures involve a battle between the strong and the wimp and a noisy alarm clock. So let’s see if these two things are enough to send the show off on a positive note.

Its first episode, “Who’s Heftier?”, is a Cinderella story that no Smurf has ever expected. After being mocked by Hefty for his lack of strength, Wimpy challenges him to an obstacle course race. Smurfette told Hefty to go easy on Wimpy, but it came with a cost of him losing the race. As a result, the Smurfs hailed Wimpy as the new strongman, calling him “Heftier”. Smurfette then sets out to make Hefty a strongman again by disguising herself as a fortune teller and lying to the Smurfs about a meteorite landing on the “strongest” Smurf. The episode is just Smurfette solving a problem through lying and Wimpy being someone he’s not. While the storyline is far from perfect, it’s a humorous episode that features an intriguing twist on the “David and Goliath” scenario. 

The second episode, “DRIIINNGGGGG!”, has Lazy missing out on the special events in Smurf Village because he’s…well, lazy. Handy then builds an alarm clock backpack for Lazy to keep himself awake. Unfortunately, Lazy’s alarm is preventing every Smurf from falling asleep. When Lazy is chased out of the village, he runs into Gargamel and a hungry bear. This one can be as annoying as Lazy’s alarm clock, but thankfully not by much. Instead of teaching Lazy the importance of sleep, the episode only focuses on Lazy experiencing being awake without caring about the Smurfs’ sleep schedule. Well, only until he gets spotted by Gargamel. It’s not without a few chuckle-worthy moments, but the episode fell short in delivering this kind of message.  

Overall, the episodes were far from wimpy, but they didn’t offer much else to keep the viewers wide awake. “Who’s Heftier” was enjoyable for its humor and Wimpy’s struggle with the obstacle course. “DRIIINNGGGGG” was an average showcase for Lazy as he experiences what it’s like to stay awake. The stories for both episodes may not be my favorites of the bunch, but they still managed to win me over with their charm and slapstick.