Review: The Smurfs “Shell Game/Blossom Goes Wild!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Shell Game

Gargamel changes into a snail so that Farmer leads him to the Smurfs’ village.

Blossom Goes Wild!

After a big argument with Storm and Lily, Blossom announces that she is leaving the Girls’ village and is going to live with Wild Smurf.

Our Take:

For the first episode, most of the humor consists of Gargamel disguising himself as a snail to get closer to the Smurfs. Unfortunately, after Farmer brings him to Smurf Village, Gargamel quickly realizes he can’t snap his fingers to change himself back since snails don’t have fingers. Gargamel will then have to use Papa Smurf’s lab to make a potion that’ll change him back to human form. However, he also has to deal with Dimwitty, who mistakes him for a frog. He is able to reach the lab by hypnotizing Dimwitty with his antennas, but thanks to Dimwitty’s stupidity, Gargamel’s plan to change himself back fails, with Dimwitty giving him the wrong potion. As a result, Gargamel’s latest scheme fails, making him a lightweight snail.  

The second episode sees Blossom experiencing the wild side after fighting with her fellow female Smurfs. Additionally, it features another appearance of Wild Smurf, following “Back to Nature” two weeks ago. However, instead of helping the boy Smurfs survive the forest, Wild will have to survive against Blossom’s chirpy personality.

The humor consists of Blossom moving in with Wild after she releases the break from Lily’s waffle truck. Blossom, refusing to apologize to Storm and Lily for her mishap, lives with Wild in his log home. However, much to Wild’s dismay, she “fixes” up his house by borrowing Lazy’s bed and moving her stuff inside to make it more accessible for her. Finally, when Blossom hosts a party with the Smurfs in Wild’s home, the Smurf uses the bear to scare them away. Unfortunately, the episode ends with Blossom living in Papa’s lab since she still refuses to apologize to Storm and Lily.

Overall, both episodes are suitable for their snail mishaps and annoying house guests. “Shell Game” is a humorous Gargamel-focused episode that sees the sorcerer struggling with his snail form and dealing with Dimwitty’s gullibility. However, I would have to say that “Blossom Goes Wild” is the weakest of the two episodes.  

While the humor helps make “Blossom Goes Wild” watchable, including Wild’s annoyance toward Blossom, the episode sadly showcased Blossom’s innocent personality negatively regarding the scenario. Blossom doesn’t apologize for the mistake she made. What’s worse is that she demands Storm and Lily to apologize, even though their anger toward her is justified. Even Wild’s solution to get back his home seemed inconsequential. It’s not the worst episode I’ve seen from The Smurfs, but it does showcase the show’s problematic handling of the characters’ consequences of their actions.