Review: Smiling Friends ‘Squim Returns’

Posted on November 17, 2025November 17, 2025 by John Witw

Overview:

Smiling Friends continues Season 3 with “Squim Returns.” In true Smiling Friends fashion, the episode introduces the titular Squim, who is summoned with a magical whistle to fill in for Charlie while he’s sick from work. Meanwhile, Charlie gets into some really dark stuff on the internet.

Our Take:

Charlie calls Pim asking him to tell the boss that he’s feeling under the weather and is staying home. Pim wonders if he’s really sick, knowing he wants to play a game dropping that very day, “Grand Strategy IV.” Charlie plays dumb, only to head to his laptop, complete with fresh takeout, to enjoy the game. Meanwhile, Allan and Glep head off to an anime convention, leaving Pim the only employee in the office.

Mr. Boss summons someone to fill in for Charlie: the titular Squim, who comes in bursting through the wall to declare “Wassup!” In Smiling Friends’ long-standing tradition of referencing famous memes, Squim seems to be based off Pac-Man from the viral “Here Comes Pacman” video. He also seems to be animated in the style of 90s cartoons.

'Smiling Friends' - Adult Swim — ‘Smiling Friends’ – Adult Swim

Mr. Boss explains that Squim is actually the first “Smiling Friend” ever hired. Of course, there’s already some hint that he’s someone that the characters could have known beforehand. After all, he has an uncanny resemblance to the Smiling Friends building.

One thing Squim shares with Pim is a love for keeping things positive. In fact, Squim’s positivity immediately appears to solve the case at hand. Pim is initially happy to have a partner just as upbeat as him. However, Squim soon proves to have no filter, even chiding someone who is mourning their dead wife to cheer up, complete with a disco number. Soon, Pim is getting tired of his new partner, trying to explain that there’s a time and place to be positive.

Charlie’s “sick day” eventually backfires on him since Mr. Boss is his friend on Steam and can see he’s playing the game. The normally, even eeirily, calm character threatens to fire him if he doesn’t make it to the office by noon. Unfortunately, thanks to the takeout he just ate, Charlie really does start to feel unwell. Soon, he starts hallucinating and scaring people in town.

Pim and Charlie’s stories eventually segue into each other, causing things to practically resolve themselves. Albeit, in a very gruesome manner. Of course, Mr. Boss has a few more surprises for them.

Some fans might have wanted to see more of Allan and Glep going to the anime convention. That said, it’s mostly used for a gag at the end when they have to deal with a magical girl cosplayer. Of course, fans at least get to briefly see the duo’s own cosplay. Of course, thanks to this joke, one has to wonder if Charlie could have saved himself some trouble just telling Mr. Boss he wanted to stay home to play a game.

One of the episode’s highlights is a parody of The Simpsons Pim watches early on. A green-skinned cyclops with a blue beehive hairdo scolds her son “Blart” for playing on the computer until his large, frog-like father devours him. “Blart” even gets to sneak in a shout-out to the Hawk Tuah meme. Pim even comments the show’s still got it, even after nearly 500 seasons. This isn’t the first time the series has referenced the long-running sitcom and the show has also returned the favor, with one episode of The Simpsons showing Bart being a fan of “Screaming Friends.” Either way, it’s always nice to see these shows give each other shout-outs.

The episode matches the show’s tone, introducing a new character that the characters seem to know with an ironic twist. Of course, viewers actually get an explanation of who Squim is. The episode is also filled with all sorts of references and parodies for fans to enjoy. It’s also likely fans will soon see videos and memes featuring Squim. with the show’s dedicated fanbase, so it’s always nice to see a new character introduced. If nothing else, fans who always wanted to see Glep dressed up like Cloud Strife, or Allan dressed up like a magical girl, will have their wish granted.