Pim and Charlie Save Mother Nature is the fifth episode in Season Three of Smiling Friends.
Synopsis[]
During a forest retreat, Pim and Charlie help Mother Nature clean up the woods during a search for a cryptid, while Mr. Boss tries to convince Allan to relax during his vacation.
Adult Swim synopsis[]
It's in the friggin' title brother, read that...and you'll get an idea of what happens... peace.
Plot[]
Mr. Boss takes the boys out on a well-earned forest retreat, telling the boys to smell the nature. Allan remarks he can smell animal faeces (in reality Mr. Boss faeces) and Charlie asks if this holiday is real or going to be another fakeout like the Brazil episode, though the others assure them it’s legitimate. Mr. Boss takes the others inside his cabin, daps Pim up over their mutual love of Super Monkeyball, tells Allan the wifi password (“i_hate_allan58”), and notices Charlie looking at a painting of the Brown Blur. He tells Charlie that the cryptid roams these very woods and nobody has ever been able to take a photograph of it, with the painting’s artist killing himself from insanity immediately after the painting was done. He tells Charlie that the painting is worth a lot of money, catching the Yellow Man’s interest enough for him to join Pim on a hike.
Charlie informs Pim of his intentions and tells him that if he weren’t in Smiling Friends he reckons he’d be an agent for the CIA. Noticing rustling in the bushes, Charlie readies his camera only for both him and Pim to be disappointed by Mothman. The S-Tier cryptid tries to get the others to take a photo of him but when they refuse he flies away to destroy another bridge. The two smiling friends rant about how much they hate Mothman until sunset comes. As they sit at an abandoned campsite, Pim comments on all the litter around the place, with Charlie downing an energy drink and throwing it away. Pink chastises Charlie for contributing the littering and picks it up, but hears a voice thanking him for helping. He looks down to discover a face in the soil - Mother Nature herself. She asks about who just littered and Charlie lies, shifting the blame onto Mothman. Mother Nature asks the boys for a favour which Pim agrees to - clean up her land. Mother Nature and her earth spirits sing a song about cleaning up and Charlie initially refuses to join, but reluctantly does so when Pim asks him to.
At the lodge, Mr Boss served Glep up a hot dog, which he catches in his jacuzzi. He tries to serve Allan a hotdog too but he refuses due to wanting to file the company’s insurance. The Boss tries to help him relax since they’re meant to be on holiday but Allan still refuses his offers to relax. Bursting into tears and throwing the hotdog away, Mr Boss storms back into the lodge. Allan asks Glep if he was in the wrong, to which he responds “yeah.” Elsewhere, Pim and Charlie throw out the last of the trash and say goodbye to Mother Nature, who rewards the two with a hyperrealistic blueberry. He eats it as him and Charlie walk away, onto to stumble onto Mothman again, who tries to get their contact information. A tree crushes him and Mother Nature reveals herself to be the killer - after all the “litterer” is dealt with now. Pim tells her that he hates littering as much as she does but he thinks murder is not only going too far but it‘s illegal. Mother Nature panics and tells the two to hide the body, with the earth spirits reprising their song about cleaning up “the filth.”
At the lodge, Mr. Boss beats Glep at a board game and Allan joins them, apologising for his earlier behaviour. Mr Boss forgives him as he was just worried he was spending too much time on work. Allan asks if he can enjoy the board game with them but before they can start, Mr Boss hears his cookies are done and dresses in some pyjamas to enjoy them. He and Allan get into a sensual eating montage before the latter receives another notification. He throws the laptop away to which Mr Boss tells him it’s a work laptop but he respects the decision. Meanwhile, Mother Nature consumes the body and grows exponentially bigger - commenting on if there are more litterers around to eat. Charlie pulls Pim away and tells him they have to leave but Pim tells him they have to stop her from eating more people - especially since it was because Charlie’s littering being the reason why they’re in this mess. One of the spirits overhears this and tells Mother Nature, who turns on them immediately and hoists Charlie up by a root. Pim prays for the other three to save them but Mr Boss and Allan are shown being seemingly too engrossed in some baking-themed erotica. Taking matters into his own hands, he throws a can of one of Charlie’s energy drinks into her gullet, instantly killing her and her cronies. Charlie thanks Pim, to which the latter asks if there’s any negative repercussions for them killing Mother Nature. Charlie says there probably won’t be and asks Pim if he wants to play Super Monkey Ball when they get back to the lodge, with the two walking away as nature erodes behind them.
The next day, Mr Boss thanks Allan for last night (revealed just to be the latter cleaning up some errant cookie crumbs) and Allan thanks him for helping him relax in return. Charlie and Pim return looking haggard, with Pim telling the others what happened. Charlie tells Mr. Boss he couldn’t find the Brown Blur and Mr. Boss reveals the portrait is just a photo of his anus from his colonoscopy, leaving the two stunned. A post-credits scene reveals Mothman’s funeral, which his father being too sad to read his eulogy.
Characters[]
- Pim
- Charlie
- Allan
- Glep
- Mr. Boss
- Mothman (debut)
- Mother Nature (debut)
- Mother Nature's minions (debut)
- Mushrooms
- Tree
- Puddle
- Rock
- Mothman's father (debut)
- Priest
Title in other languages[]
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Czech | Matka příroda | Mother Nature |
| French | Pim et Charlie Sauvent Dame Nature | Pim and Charlie Save Mother Nature |
| German | Urlaub im Grünen | Vacation in the Countryside |
| Polish | Pim i Charlie ratują Matkę Naturę | Pim and Charlie Save Mother Nature |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Pim E Charlie Salvam A Mãe Natureza | |
| Spanish | Pim y Charlie salvan a la Madre Naturaleza |
Trivia[]
General[]
- The stop motion sequences for this episode were worked on by Max Winston, who has also provided such sequences for Uncle Grandpa and the Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Daffy in Wackyland".
- Winston also provided the puppetry for the inside of Mother Nature's mouth. This technically marks the first instance of puppetry being used in the main series.
- This is one of the rare episodes Glep says “Yeah” in English. He previously said "yeah yeah" when Allan asked him to karaoke in the episode "Pim Finally Turns Green". He spoke perfect English in “Charlie Dies and Doesn’t Come Back” but that was in the (seemingly) far future.
- While Charlie is explaining how he would be an elite spy, Pim can be seen avoiding animal droppings on the ground that Charlie eventually steps in.
Episode connections[]
- Charlie mentions the Smiling Friends' ill-fated trip to Brazil from "The Smiling Friends Go to Brazil!".
- A creature resembling a yellow Bliblie in a cowboy hat can be seen amongst Mr. Boss' hunting trophies.
- This is the second episode to feature an antagonist with a root-based power system.
Cultural references[]
- Mr. Boss mentions having Super Monkey Ball for the Nintendo GameCube at his cabin. The system itself can be seen by the TV.
- Additionally, on a shelf near the TV is a pair of DK Bongos for the game Donkey Konga.
- Mothman is a parody of the real cryptid of the same name, with Mothman's comment about destroying another bridge being in reference to the 1967 Silver Bridge crash which he’s supposedly involved in.
- On the table where the guys are playing Shplanko, a card with a Joker design resembling the one from Balatro can be seen.