"Desmond's Big Day Out" is the first episode of the first season and the pilot episode of Smiling Friends. It stealth premiered on April 1, 2020 as part of Adult Swim's annual April Fools stunt. It made its official premiere on January 9, 2022.[1]
Synopsis[]
A small company dedicated to bringing happiness to the world receives a simple request to help a woman's unhappy son smile again.
Plot[]
Pim and Charlie, currently off duty, watch television in the main lobby. The show they are watching simply features a dancing alien. Charlie suggests to watch something else, but Pim assures that the most interesting part is yet to come. When his doings are questioned, Allan answers that he suspects a mouse is present in the building, as his precious piece of cheese has gone missing. He also suspects Charlie and Pim, Charlie says that that is not the case. In slight disappointment, Pim says Charlie missed the bit, Charlie is confused at first but then Pim explains to him that the alien in the T.V. did a cool spin but Charlie couldn't get to see it. An alarm goes off, meaning that Pim and Charlie have to meet Mr. Boss.
Upon meeting him, Mr. Boss breastfeeds his son in front of the two employees. He then announces that a mother is in heavy concern of her 'mopey' son Desmond, and thus asks the Smiling Friends to cheer him up. As he tells the address, Jason bites Mr. Boss's nipple, causing him to be chastised. Unsettled, Charlie asks if there is anything else needed to be done before Mr. Boss tells him there isn't and that they just need to make Desmond smile.
Arriving at the mother's house, Pim yells his desire for (helping) kids out in the neighborhood. Charlie says he would and should not scream his passion out loud. The mother answers the door, asking if they're the Smiling Friends, which Pim confirms. The Smiling Friends are allowed to enter the house. Pim and Charlie enter Desmond's room and meet him with a gun against his head, which he wields. When asked about the gun, Desmond says he will probably use it to shoot himself. And when asked what is wrong, Desmond answers that life is not doing well for him, as his wife and kids left him, and his dog died from a broken heart. Charlie suggests a private talk, in which he finds Desmond to be a 'lost cause'. Pim is determined to not give up, promising to Desmond he shall put a smile on his face, even though Desmond will commit suicide if the Smiling Friends' mission fail.
Meanwhile, Allan counts his paperclips. Having seen that one is missing, he asks Glep about it. Glep thinks Allan is accusing him, but Allan assures he is not, which is followed by Glep arguing. However, as soon as Glep halted his speech, a mouse is caught by a mousetrap, which brings joy to Allan. The mouse has seemed to have escaped via the back of the fridge. Allan pushes said fridge away to discover an opening in the wall. Avenging his cheese, Allan swears to capture the mouse. He enters the hole, only to see a man busy on his computer. He hides his computer as Allan asks for the directions of the mouse, but the man does not know about that. He suggests Allan to look further. As Allan wanders for the mouse, the man clarifies that someone should first let others take note of his appearance before proceeding to enter a person's place. Although, Allan thinks that the man should not be present inside the wall in the first place, to which the man responds that it is not his business. However, since he lives inside the office walls, Allan tells him it is their business. Allan leaves.
Pim and Charlie had brought Desmond to his family residence to show him quality family time, a major and important piece of life. He introduces Graham Nelly, who has experience with fingerboarding. He thus shows his awesome tricks. Then, Pim's sister Amy announces her hatred for Pim. Pim tells Desmond that they love each other despite their broken bond, which Amy debunks, stating that she truly hates him. He tells Desmond that his father would sit in the empty chair, but now sits in front of a television, watching the very same show Pim has watched. The father demands silence as he watches TV, but Pim's mother orders him to sit at the dinner table as Pim has come home. This emits a heavy argument between the two. Alpha, Amy's boyfriend, unexpectedly barfs on the table, immediately deeming his sorrow for it. Desmond wonders how this will make him not want to not kill himself, which Pim responds that he has not been home since Christmas, hence forgetting the family tensions. But he encourages Desmond not to worry as friends are also what life makes worth living for.
At a party, Pim shows how making new friends is also enough to sustain life. Encouraged to show how, he tries to meet a man who talks to another. After his utter disgust of Pim touching him, the man bullyingly suggests Pim to return to his wife and family as he is 'old'. The other attenders laugh at Pim's humiliation. Despite thinking he is not of old age, Charlie assures him he indeed is. He states that it doesn't matter however, which Desmond agrees with. Desmond announces his death as they are beginning to fail. However, Pim knows a place that shall definitely complete the Smiling Friends' mission. They arrive at Dave land, an amusement park full of joy and happiness with various rides and stands, including the ability to meet the one and only Dave. Desmond questions who Dave is exactly, to which Pim doesn't know except him being the creator of Daveland is notable. Pim wants to ride the rollercoaster with Desmond and Charlie to have their fun, also experiencing the other fun activities at Daveland.
Allan still searches for the mouse, but he instead discovers a startled Bliblie. Despite clarifying everything shall be OK, reaching for the cheese, the Bliblie stabs Allan's hand with a stolen paperclip. The Bliblie returns to his cocoon-like ball with the cheese with Allan demanding to give said food back as he smashes against the cocoon. It erupts however, emitting dozens of Bliblies, which invade the building. The Boss asks to keep it quiet as he is playing a game with friends on his gaming laptop.
After having fun at Daveland, Pim questions his emotions, if he feels any better. Desmond responds that he did before it ended, like all good things do, he states. Pim says that fun and good things indeed do not last, which is the overall reason of Desmond's depression. Charlie asks Pim if there is anything else that should be shown to Desmond, but Pim is left speechless after Desmond's deep expression of how doing fun things are distractions of it all coming to an end, deeming past activities to be a waste of time to take your mind off death and the expiration of the universe. Desmond asks if Charlie has anything to present, and that is an ant. As it has not made Desmond lighten up either, Charlie classifies this as a failed mission, saying that Desmond should sign paperwork of the said failure, and that Desmond can do his business afterwards.
Upon arrival to the headquarters, they look upon a lobby filled with raging Bliblies. A crucified Allan screams that he only had the desire for cheese and nothing more. After the Bliblie kills another of its kind, it charges at the Smiling Friends and Desmond. Luckily, Desmond shoots it, much to the other Bliblies' surprises. This has given Desmond purpose and pleasure, starting his own business in killing and removing Bliblies, protecting others, which Charlie takes note of the following day. Allan also announces the return of his cheese, which he eats. They both laugh as Pim is still in shock. The alien from the television breaks through it, yelling out his thanks to the viewers. Nonetheless, Glep runs away as Charlie is scared as he asks Allan to get the creature away.
Characters[]
- Charlie (debut)
- Glep (debut)
- Pim (debut)
- Allan (debut)
- Desmond (debut)
- Bliblies (debut)
- Jason (debut)
- Desmond's Mom (debut)
- Amy (debut)
- Pim's Mother (debut)
- Steven (debut)
- The Boss (debut)
- Man Living in Wall (debut)
- Graham Nelly (debut)
- Alpha (debut)
- Party Bro (debut)
- Dave (debut)
- Screaming Bird (debut)
- Lucas the Magnificent (debut)
- Nick (debut)
Title in other languages[]
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| French | La thérapie du sourire de Desmond | Desmond's smile therapy |
| German | Desmonds großer Tag | Desmond's big day |
| Polish | Wielki dzień Desmonda | |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Desmond Vai Passear | Desmond Takes a Stroll |
| Spanish (Latin America) | El gran día de Desmond | Desmond's big day |
| Spanish (Spain) | La gran salida de Desmond | Desmond's big departure |
Trivia[]
- Charlie is the first character in the show to speak.
- This is one of the only episodes where:
- The cursing is censored on the HBO Max version. The other 8 episodes of Season 1 (including "The Smiling Friends Go to Brazil!") include uncut/uncensored cursing on HBO Max's end, but for some reason, Desmond's Big Day Out is left censored on the service.
- The entirety of the credits song Brown Smile plays in the credits. Future episodes would shorten it accordingly due to the credits becoming shorter.
- The scene where the Bliblie points and scream at Smiling Friends and Desmond is possibly a homage from 1978 science-fiction horror movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
- The eyes on the dancing alien aren't fully black, but are normal eyes that are super dark, similar to the Drell from Mass Effect.
- In an interview, Zach Hadel revealed that one of Pim's brothers is stationed in Afghanistan, as shown by one of the pictures in Pim's house. It is unknown whether or not he has returned to the United States.
- In the arcade behind Pim during the Dave Land montage, there is an arcade machine called "Davebius" which is a spoof of the urban legend Polybius.
Production Info[]
- The commentaries on both this episode and "Charlie Dies and Doesn't Come Back" (alongside other materials) reveal details about the pilot:
- The pilot wrapped production in Fall 2019
- In the original storyboard drafts of this episode, after the scene at Daveland where Desmond talks about how good things indeed do not last, Charlie and Pim would take him to other places, with one of the places they would visit being an oil-spilled beach with dead dolphins. Pim's depression was additionally planned to happen more gradually. The sequence was shortened to just having it all take place at Daveland, as the network noted that the original drafted version was a bit repetitive.[2]
- Mr. Boss was originally going to be shown playing guitar badly when the Bliblies are taking over the HQ and not playing video games.
Goofs[]
- When Allan asks Glep if he's seen one of his paper clips, the closed captions say "Fleb" instead of Glep.
Videos[]
