Review: The Smurfs “Back to Nature/Okey-Dokey”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Back to Nature

Vanity, Poet, and Dimwitty get lost in the forest during a harvest.

Okey-Dokey

Jokey uses a potion that makes Grouchy say “okey-dokey” to everything.

Our Take:

The first episode’s plot consists of Vanity, Poet, and Dimwitty learning about the great outdoors the hard way. After failing to get the right flowers for Papa Smurf, the Smurfs are forced to be trained how to survive by Wild Smurf, the smurfy equivalent to Tarzan. With Brainy supervising them, Wild teaches Vanity, Poet, and Dimwitty the basics of survival, including swinging on vines, stealth, and making traps. He even left them stranded in the forest at night. Unfortunately, they fail at every one of the basics, forcing Wild to give up, but not before he and Brainy get stuck in his trap and are attacked by a bear. Luckily, Vanity and the others used their own tactics to escape the situation alive.

The humor in the second episode consists of Grouchy Smurf getting caught in Jokey’s latest prank. When Jokey gets assigned to Grouchy’s chores, he uses a potion to make Grouchy say “okey-dokey” to anything he’s asked to do. He even has Grouchy pranking the other Smurfs for him. However, their latest prank on Chef resulted in the latter angrily sending Grouchy to Gargamel, where the wizard learns of Grouchy’s curse. Gargamel then uses it to his advantage to get Grouchy to lead him to the village, forcing Jokey to rescue the cranky yet obedient Smurf. Jokey eventually does so by leading Gargamel and Azrael to a trap before getting a taste of his own medicine by Grouchy.

Overall, both episodes are enjoyable enough to get the “okey-dokey” from me. “Back to Nature” is a suitable episode that introduces me to a new Smurf that knows the ways of the forest. Additionally, it offers a message about never judging others quickly. “Okey-Dokey” is the most hilarious of the two episodes, with Jokey making Grouchy into his obedient joke puppet. However, it’s another episode that’ll depend on how you feel about Jokey’s actions in the show. Although, I did find Grouchy saying “okey-dokey” with a cheerful attitude funny and charming.