“Smurfy Secrets” (“Schtroumpfe-moi ton secret”)
Summary: Gargamel attempts to transform himself into a Smurf. The only way the Smurfs can be sure another Smurf isn’t Gargamel is by giving up their biggest secrets.
Commentary: This is one of those plots that never gets old. I’ve seen it used in sci-fi/fantasy often enough: An alien or a spirit or something takes over someone’s body and their darkest secret is the easiest way to prove who they are, because only their most inner circle would know it’s true.
I saw it in the first episode of SciFi’s wonderful series, “Dark Matter,” that got cancelled before its time. It still makes me mad when I think about it. It was the #1 show on the network, but the network didn’t own it, so off it went. sigh
Sorry for the tangent. I had to get that out of my system. The show is on Netflix; give it a try sometime.
This Smurfs episodes is one of the rare episodes where a single story takes up the whole half hour. So I have a little extra room to talk about random nonsense. Thanks for listening.
Meanwhile, in the Smurfs’ Village…
Brainy is the one to discover Gargamel’s nascent plans to take a pill that will turn him into a Smurf. The early efforts aren’t great — Smurfs aren’t pink, nor are they in the shape of a lizard — but Brainy knows what’s coming.
He races back to the Village to make a plan. Naturally, the plan revolves around him. Every Smurf will tell him their biggest secret. He’ll write them all down. Brainy will hold onto that book of secrets and use it to randomly test Smurfs to ensure they are who they say they are.
Papa Smurf assigns him a partner in Storm. She’s fairly safe. Odds are good that Gargamel will transform himself in a male Smurf, after all. Plus, she’s all sorts of spunky and fun. She’s just as sure of herself and just as demanding as any of the other single note Smurf characters.
She refuses to be Brainy’s assistant and wants basically be the Smurfs Chief Deputy Sheriff. And she’s not afraid to take down a Smurf when they give her the wrong answer.
The sequence where the Smurfs line up to tell Brainy and Storm their secrets is laugh out loud funny, with one secret being more outrageous than the next. Maybe.
It’s an expert usage of “smurf” as the every word substitute in this sequence that makes it work. Hefty has a freckle on his smurf. Someone else has no smurf. Smurfette worries that her feet are a little smurfy. (Imagine her OnlySmurfs page!) Another smurf really loves smurfs. (Whoa, scandal!) Papa admits that sarsaparilla makes him smurf.
These are probably all single lines that just sound silly to the five year old the show is aimed at. Meanwhile, their parents are behind them snickering at the double entendres, and perhaps being a bit worried that their minds are that far in the gutter while watching The Smurfs.
Leave it to Jokey, of course, to be the voice of reason, doubting that Brainy’s book filled with hand written secrets is really all that safe. But then he admits that he goes smurfing in Farmer’s field and the outrage is off the charts.
It is not at all surprising, of course, that Dimwitty is the first to be mistakenly taken down, just because he can’t keep track of his own secret. Ultimately, Jokey is the one to destroy the entire system and that causes an internal Smurf Civil War and the near expulsion of Brainy and Storm.
And that’s how Gargamel sneaks in…
There’s probably a lot to read into this story as far as civil liberties goes. There’s a certain amount of distrust of government officials or the security force, specifically. One might take issue with Brainy’s blatant grab for power under an assumed threat that hadn’t even shown itself yet. And one might question the Other Smurfs going along with the hare brained plan to give up certain liberties as a trade for security in the first place.
But this isn’t exactly a political polemic. It’s a logical story that moves from Point A to Point B.
The first half of the episode ends with Gargamel revealing himself to Brainy and Storm. The writers did a good job in creating one larger story but breaking it into two discrete chunks. The first half is all about the threat of Gargamel-as-Smurf and how The Smurfs reaction to it. The second half is all about fighting back against Gargamel after he’s already in the Village and gets everyone in a burlap sack.
Storm has a Run For Her Life moment (complete with white slashes in the air) where she’s trying to escape Gargamel that involves outrunning Azrael and a bear at the same time. It’s a very kinetic scene with lots of lead changes and running through the forest (a staple of this series) and some funny situational reversals.
There’s a great sequence where Brainy is trying to find his way back from Gargamel’s hovel to Smurfs Village without his glasses. He can’t make it three steps without ever running into something.
Hilariously, Gargamel sneaks back into the Village as the world’s worst Brainy impersonator. Not only is his voice and accent all wrong, but check out those Eugene Levy-sized eyebrows!
Eventually, Gargamel bags 99 Smurfs and is thrilled that he finally has caught them all. He’s the ultimate Pokemon catcher! Brainy, the 100th, he knows is back at his hovel.
Leave it to Azrael, however, to point out that he missed Storm.
This brings up the question of the second Smurfs Village. Does Gargamel not know about all the other women Smurfs? Does he not know that the second village exists? Doesn’t Storm stand out just a bit to him? Doesn’t he want to collect them all?
And shouldn’t she have gone back to her village for help? The Smurfs could really have used the arrival of a cavalry at this moment.
Storm works something out for herself, combined with Brainy’s smart return to the village, and the day is saved. The final piece of the puzzle is provided by Gargamel’s mother, who was back in the hovel with Brainy. Again, the writers did a good job constructing this episode, bringing together things from all corners of The Smurfs mythology so The Smurfs could ultimately prevail.
I’m watching these episodes out of order, but it seems like Gargamel’s mother is suddenly in every episode I’m watching. Was I avoiding these episodes up until now? Is this a coincidence? Have I been missing a major Smurfs character all this time?
I’ll talk more about her in another recap coming up soon…
Title Translation: “Schtroumpfe-moi ton secret” is another one of those cases where the French title works better just because it sounds better when you say it out loud. It’s not because it makes more sense or has better wordplay or anything like that. Literally, it would translate out to “Smurf Me Your Secret,” which I think I do prefer over the English version.
I’m surprised by this. I’m usually such a sucker for alliteration. I think a title that’s a command to do something just sounds more interesting.
Credits:
Script: Peter Saisselin & Amy Serafin
Storyboard Supervision: Alexandre Viano
Storyboard: Lionel Brousse & Alexandre Viano (part 1), Jean-Luc Abiven (part 2)
Director: William Renaud
