Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Phineas and Ferb Seasons 1-5.
Disney split up Phineas and Ferb’s fifth season kinda strangely, huh? After we got the entire first half of the season in June, the series took a bit of a break, then premiered two more batches of episodes through the autumn… leaving only three episodes left. Those remaining stories – one of which was double-length – aired a couple of days ago. Having reviewed the rest of the season already (in two parts), I’d be remiss not to finish things off! But Disney… next time, try to schedule things a little more uniformly, eh?
Last time, I spoke about the batch of episodes as a whole, then went over each of them individually. There are only three this time, so we’re going to do things the other way around! I’ll briefly talk about each of the three stories in turn, then I’ll turn my thoughts to the *entirety* of Season 5 as a whole, hopefully wrapping up this review with my final thoughts on the entire thirty-seven stories.
Eating an ice cream under a tree is *peak* summer, eh?
As always, my usual caveat applies: everything we’re going to discuss is *subjective, not objective* – so if I criticise an episode you adore, praise an episode you hate, or our views don’t align… that’s okay. There’s plenty of room in the fan community for differences of opinion and respectful disagreement, and there’s no need to get into an argument!
With all of that out of the way, let’s quickly run through these final three episodes.
Elevator Irritator:
We call them “lifts” in the UK.
I quite liked this one. It was cool to see Candace getting the chance to drive in a way that wasn’t connected to the main story, it was fun to see the boys and Candace in a totally different setting, and without any of their friends, and I liked how Perry and Doof’s story tied into it, too. Doofenshmirtz’s scheme seemed particularly silly, even by his standards, and I suspect if it had to carry the A-story on its own it would’ve struggled. But as a minor plot device to set up the “stuck in a lift” storyline, it was fine.
The song wasn’t much on its own, but I did enjoy the visual montage that went with it, as the boys made the best of their situation. Candace eventually ended up giving a very emotional speech, which reminded me a lot of Candace Against the Universe – the big twist being that the boys had already left the lift and weren’t there to hear it. This was also the episode where Jeremy – who’s been a little too absent this season, IMHO – said “I love you” to Candace, which was cute to see. I wonder where Season 6 will take Candace and Jeremy’s relationship after that.
Master of Fate:
The, uh, title character… I guess.
Master of Fate was kind of forgettable for me, at least on the side of the story with the kids. The Large Hadron Collider being in next door’s garden was maybe a bit too far, and the unexplained Baljeet doppelganger added onto a mystery that the story had no intention of solving. It ended up feeling like a non sequitur, even within the confines of Phineas and Ferb’s very loose worldbuilding, and when no attempt at an explanation was made for where the Master of Fate came from… it just left me scratching my head as much as anything.
The Perry side of the story had a bit more interest, though. I like the idea of Perry potentially having a rival at OWCA, though I wish this Agent O had a bit more screen time. And I like the idea of Doof wanting to team up with Perry for his own selfish pride. Unfortunately, neither of those ideas got enough time in the spotlight to really shine, though. The way the episode ended, with a bit of an explanation of sorts as to why Perry gets so easily trapped was fine, but I don’t think it’s necessarily something that needed to be said aloud. Sometimes acknowledging something – like the contradiction between Perry’s supposed superstar status at the agency and the ease with which Doof can trap him – draws too much attention to it. A nitpick? Yes! But this side of the episode was by far my favourite.
Vendpocalypse: The Musical:
He warned it could happen…
To be blunt, I went into this one with *zero* expectations! After a couple of misfires earlier in the season (The Candace Suit and Croquet Y-8), which took throwaway lines from past seasons and spun them out into full-blown stories, I was kind of nervous for a repeat of that. Luckily, however, Vendpocalypse: The Musical was far better than I expected, a great way to bring the show’s fifth season to an end, and surprisingly emotional story to boot. Most of the main characters got something to do, with sub-plots that actually got fleshed out enough to matter. Isabella turning to Candace for advice was sweet, Candace using her driving skills to help save the day was fantastic, and the kids raiding Doof’s old coin collection made for an incredibly fun sequence.
But this episode will be remembered, I have no doubt, for the genuinely emotional story between Norm and Doof. I will caveat this by saying I think it could’ve been set up just a little better; Norm hasn’t been a huge presence this season, and having a couple of moments in earlier episodes which led into this would’ve added a lot. But… I actually teared up. Twice. The relationship between Doof and Norm has always been strained, with Norm viewing Doof as a father figure, but not really having a role in the family dynamic. This episode took that a stage further, with a (Star Trek: First Contact’s Borg Queen-inspired) villain “assimilating” Norm, and Norm having to make the ultimate sacrifice after Doof confessed his feelings. The flashback at the end was adorable, too, and seeing Doof so determined to reconstruct Norm probably means we don’t have to say goodbye to the character. But it was a heck of an ending to the season – explosive in every sense of the word.
(The Final Final) Conclusion:
The kids at the end of the season.
Phineas and Ferb has been one of my “comfort shows” for a long time. It shouldn’t have been, I guess: this was a show I first encountered when I was way older than its target demographic. But there’s always been something special about it, something unique… something that, even on dark days, I’ve been able to reach for and distract myself with, if nothing else. So I was both anxious and excited when the show’s revival was announced. I was pleased that we were gonna get more episodes… and concerned, based on both Disney’s recent output *and* the quality of a lot of other reboots, sequels, and revivals.
For my money, Phineas and Ferb is a better revival than most of the others I’ve seen. It recaptured the look, sound, tone, and feel of the original show – not always perfectly, but almost always competently. There were a few odd choices across these thirty-seven stories – episodes I’d probably not have chosen to greenlight, were I in charge. But some of the genuinely *different* ideas that the show’s writing team put together worked exceptionally well. The season premiere, which brought the kids together to save their mom, was incredibly tense and engaging, and a story concept the show hasn’t really done before. Baljeet and Irving made a genuinely good pair in their story together. The Star Trek and sci-fi parody of Space Adventure was incredibly good fun. And those are just three examples.
Space Adventure made for a wonderful Star Trek parody.
In terms of doing what it set out to do, I’d rank Phineas and Ferb Season 5 quite a way ahead of what was probably my most-anticipated revival/sequel of the last few years: Star Trek: Picard. Picard was tonally inconsistent, jumpy, with season-long story arcs that either felt poorly paced or that totally abandoned key characters and storylines. Its creative teams – which changed mid-production – couldn’t decide whether they wanted to make a sequel or a revival, leading to them trying to do both but ending up with a satisfactory version of neither. Phineas and Ferb’s production team knew what they were doing: creating more Phineas and Ferb. And they pulled it off.
I still stand by what I said last time, and in my review of the first batch of episodes: Phineas and Ferb Season 5 is closer in overall quality to Season 4 than to Seasons 1-3. If you know me, you’ll know that Season 4 was generally my least-favourite part of the show’s original run; I just felt the quality starting to dip as ideas seemed to be running out, new things were being tried, and perhaps a degree of tiredness was setting in for creatives who wanted a new challenge. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t like Season 4 – some of my favourite episodes, like Happy New Year, the Halloween specials, and the Star Wars special – all come from Season 4. There’s a lot to enjoy there – as there is in Season 5, too.
Sneaking into Doof’s building.
Phineas and Ferb is a bit of a tricky thing to review, at least for me. Usually, when I’m reviewing a film or TV programme, I’ve watched it once, then gone back to it a second time to make notes, but after I hit the “publish” button, that’s me done. I may return to it one day if it was especially fantastic, but I don’t generally re-watch the same things over and over again. But Phineas and Ferb is the kind of thing that I return to. Maybe I’ll be having a quiet moment and I’ll watch a couple of episodes to fill the time. Maybe it was an off day and I need a pick-me-up. Or maybe I get into the groove and decide to binge half the series over a few days! But almost every time I watch it, I find something new or different to think about; a background character I hadn’t noticed before, a throwaway line that suddenly seems important, a weird quirk of the animation… it could be anything.
My point is that my opinions on this show – and on this batch of episodes, too – can and will shift. Stories I hated on first viewing can grow on me over time. Songs I didn’t like when I first heard them become perennial favourites. Characters I felt were weak or unexceptional turn into guests I happily welcome back. And sometimes, a story I liked a lot at first seems weaker or less entertaining the fifth or eighth or seventeenth time around!
Taking notes and applauding… just like me when I was preparing this review!
So unlike most of my reviews… this isn’t definitive! Come back to me in five years’ time, when I’ve incorporated all of these new stories into my regular Phineas and Ferb re-watch sessions, and ask me again. I bet I’ll have changed my mind on some of them. I might even start to like Bread Bowl Hot Tub. I mean, you never know… right?
But for now, what I’ll say is this: roll on Season 6! I hope the creative team can keep the stories flowing, and I hope they can keep finding both new ideas and classic tales for Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Perry, Doof, and the rest of the gang to get stuck into. While I may not have adored every single one of Season 5’s stories, there were more hits than misses, and with really only one or two exceptions, there was *something* to enjoy in basically all of them.
Trapped in a lift…
In 2025, I shared my opinions on the first half of Season 5, and then later on the second batch of episodes, so I’ll direct you to those pieces to read more of my thoughts on those episodes in particular. You can find the first part by clicking or tapping here, and the second part by clicking or tapping here. I go into a bit more detail in those pieces on things like the animation style, music, and more, so be sure to check them out if you haven’t already.
At this point in time, I don’t know when Season 6 might premiere – I don’t even know how far into production it is. Season 5 very consciously targeted a summer broadcast date, but I highly doubt Season 6 will be arriving this summer. I’d like to think we’ll see it sometime in 2026 or the first half of 2027, though. And if you missed it, a new film has just been announced, which will presumably follow on from Season 6 sometime in 2027 or 2028. So there’s a lot more Phineas and Ferb coming our way over the next few years – and so long as I’m able to do so, I’ll cover and review all of it!
A very touching way to end the season.
I hope this has been interesting. I know that three episodes isn’t much to base a review on, but having already reviewed the rest of the season, it’d feel weird to leave these three un-reviewed! I don’t think these three episodes on their own transformed my view of Season 5 as a whole – but that would’ve been a tough ask! I had fun with them, though, and to my surprise, I must admit, Vendpocalypse: The Musical was a great way to end the season.
Thanks for checking out my review, and be sure to tune in when we get trailers and teasers for Season 6 and/or the upcoming movie, as I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about that! And when Season 6 arrives, I’ll do my best to review those episodes, too.
Have fun out there!
Phineas and Ferb Seasons 1-5 is available to stream now on Disney+. Episodes also regularly air on the Disney Channel. Phineas and Ferb remains the copyright of Disney Television Animation and the Walt Disney Company. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Phineas and Ferb, including Season 5.
Back in the summer, I shared my thoughts on what I mistakenly assumed was the entirety of Phineas and Ferb’s fifth season – the show’s first new episodes in a decade. But it turns out that Disney, for some reason, dumped only *half* of the episodes onto Disney+ back then, and a few more episodes have premiered over the summer and into the autumn. So I thought I’d better update my Phineas and Ferb Season 5 review, as some of what I said back then may no longer be accurate!
It’s also worth noting, before we go any further, that there are still a few more Season 5 episodes to come – but those won’t be landing until January. So I hope you’ll swing back in the new year for Part Three of this review, and to get my final thoughts on Season 5 as a whole! I just wanted to be clear about that, since I got a bit muddled up last time.
Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!
As always, I’ll give my usual caveat. Everything I’m going to say is the entirely subjective, not objective, opinion of one person only. If you hate my take on Phineas and Ferb, think I’ve gotten it horribly wrong, or we just have different ideas for what makes a fun or successful episode… *that’s okay!* There ought to be enough room in the fan community for differences of opinion and polite discussion, and I share my thoughts with you in that spirit.
What I’d like to do first is talk about the recent batch of episodes in general, then I’ll address a couple of criticisms I made of Season 5 earlier in the year, which I’d now like to change or recind. And finally, after all of that, I’ll go through the newer episodes one by one and share my thoughts on each of them. For the purposes of this review, I’m calling each individual story an “episode,” even though they usually come paired up on TV and streaming. Last time, I covered all of the episodes in Season 5 up to The Ballad of Bubba Doof, meaning this time I’m starting with Attack of the Candace Suit and covering all the episodes up to Dungeons and Dating, which is the most recent story to air at time of writing.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!
Norm and Vanessa with Doof.
One thing I wanted to mention last time (it was in my notes, but somehow didn’t make it into the final review) has also cropped up in this second batch of episodes. Someone on the animation team *really* loves their new “low light” filter, don’t they? So many dark scenes now have a kind of “hazy” effect over characters and environments, which is something I don’t remember seeing in any of the first four seasons. It doesn’t look bad, exactly, but when it’s used so often in so many different episodes, it becomes noticeable… at least it did for me! And when there really aren’t a lot of other visual effects or filters being applied, the constant re-use of this one sticks out all the more.
I don’t hate the way this looks, just to be clear. It’s a bit of a change from what you might remember from earlier in the show’s run, but on its own, in one-off situations, I’d never say that it looks *bad*. But when there really aren’t any other comparable visual effects, changing the way the animation looks to represent, for instance, twilight, firelight, or other such things, this “low light” effect being recycled in multiple episodes became pretty noticeable for me.
The “low-light” filter.
Speaking of new obsessions that the writers seem to have, several episodes this time haven’t *really* ended, with an apparent old-school cliffhanger seeming to tease story continuations that are almost certainly never coming. If it was a one-off gag, I’d be fine with it. In some cases, those kinds of things work well, either as a genuine tease or as a pastiche of the kinds of films and TV shows which do that kind of thing a lot.
But when it’s overdone, and when it’s obvious that these stories are well and truly over, one-and-done things… it gets repetitive. As above with the “low light” effect, it was just something that I started to notice as we got further into the season, and even though it was by no means happening in every episode, I definitely felt it begin to overstay its welcome.
An example from the end of The Nightmare-Inator.
Dr Doofenshmirtz has (arguably) been Phineas and Ferb’s breakout character. But even keeping that in mind, Doof was *all over* this batch of episodes, being featured prominently. Heck, *four* of these episodes have Doof’s name in them, which must be some kind of record! There is still room for other characters, of course, but I think at this point it’s safe to say that Phineas and Ferb’s writing team are acutely aware of Doofenshmirtz’s popularity, meme-ability, and just the general place he’s carved out in pop culture.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing necessarily, and *most* episodes still manage to feel balanced. But there’s a sense, perhaps, that Doof’s near-omnipresence is beginning to tip the scales just a little, and while the show is still managing to throw him into new situations or give him new experiences, I worry that if this continues, we might actually start to burn out on the character prematurely. There are still, at time of writing, forty-four new stories being produced, and if Doof is front-and-centre in as many of them as he has been in this batch of episodes… it might start to get a bit too much. He’s always been a main character, of course, but I just felt the balance tip a little this time.
Doof is all over Season 5.
Phineas and Ferb took a break in August and September, before coming back with new episodes in October. I was a little surprised, then, that we didn’t get any kind of Halloween special. Such things are not expected nor demanded, but the show’s previous special episodes have been some of the best, and getting another Halloween or Christmas episode was something I had on my wishlist! Given that we aren’t getting any new episodes now till January, I doubt we’ll see anything festive this year. But I’m still crossing my fingers for 2026 or 2027!
There also aren’t any double-length or two-part episodes in this batch, excluding the second part of the Candace Suit saga. Again, not necessarily a problem, but some of the special feature-length episodes have been among the show’s best. Perhaps we’ll get something like that for the season finale?
There was no Halloween or Christmas special this time.
On the whole, I think I’d say that this second batch of episodes wasn’t quite at the same level as some of the other episodes we’ve enjoyed in Season 5. There were some standout stories, plenty of callbacks to the show’s original run, and the return of some characters who I felt had gone missing in those first few episodes – all of which I enjoyed and appreciated. But there were also a few duds, a couple of storylines which don’t land as well in the revival as they did in the show’s original run, and the pay-off to a pretty weak joke (that had been running all season) which didn’t really live up to the hype.
So… a mixed bag, then!
In terms of quality, I stand by what I said last time: Season 5 is probably about on par with Season 4, which – prior to the revival – would’ve been what I’d have said was the weakest part of the show. Note that I didn’t say “bad,” because there are some solid and some excellent Season 4 stories – as indeed there are in Season 5, too. But there are perhaps fewer of them, and some of the stories in between are either not especially memorable… or just not as good.
Candace on the phone with Stacy.
Last time, I said that I was disappointed to see Irving, Norm, Roger, and Jeremy basically go missing – and I’m pleased that each of them got at least *something* to do in the recent batch of episodes. Irving, by the time we reached the end of Season 4, seemed to have climbed out of the secondary character milieu to become an adjacent member of the friend group, so his absence was particularly noteworthy. Though we got a couple of solid roles for Irving further into Season 5, he’s still not as prominent as I might’ve expected, and doesn’t seem to be as close with the core friendship group as he was when the show’s original run was coming to an end. Episodes like Dungeons and Dating could’ve provided a “nerdy” character like Irving with loads to say and do, but he was relegated to a non-speaking cameo.
I’m glad that we got to see a bit more from Norm and Roger. Though neither has been especially prominent in Doof’s stories, they add a lot to his world and to that side of the series, and Norm in particular was great comic relief in some of the recent episodes. I’m glad that both of them had a bit more to say and do this time around.
Vanessa and Norm.
Jeremy is a bit of an odd case. If you didn’t know (and I don’t think I mentioned it last time), Jeremy’s original voice actor didn’t return for Season 5, and I suspect that’s why his role has been reduced this time around. Personally, I think that’s a real shame – after Jeremy and Candace became an official couple, his moments with her really opened up new narrative avenues which the show had begun to take advantage of. Although I think I’m right in saying that we saw more of Jeremy in the second part of Season 5 than we had in the first, he still doesn’t seem to be a particularly major character – not for Candace, nor for the series.
Jeremy works well when his easy-going, laid-back attitude can provide a contrast to Candace’s energetic and chaotic side. Throwing Jeremy into some of the boys’ plans has also worked well in the past, giving Candace either a reason to join in or at least to keep her busting in check for a while. Even in some of Jeremy’s more prominent moments this time, we didn’t get a lot of that. And he still doesn’t seem especially important or prominent on this side of the story. In any individual episode, it’s not something you really notice. But upon reaching the end of this batch of episodes, it’s odd to think that Jeremy – once such a prominent secondary character – has only made seven appearances in thirty-five stories, some of which only gave him a few seconds of screen time and one or two lines.
Jeremy’s role feels smaller in Season 5.
Last time, I said it was weird to see Candace achieving one of her biggest accomplishments – getting her driver’s license – only for it to not be mentioned again. We did finally get to see her drive, though, so we can check that one off the list! I still think the driving thing could be brought up a bit more often, even if it’s not directly related to the plot… because otherwise what was the point of License To Bust? But I’m glad that we got something in that vein this time around.
We’ll get into this a bit more when we cover the episode Bread Bowl Hot Tub, but this non-sequitur, which ran for basically all of Season 5, didn’t really get a strong enough payoff for me. I like how random it was, and it was cute to see Buford getting so excited as his request was belatedly granted. But after so much buildup across practically every preceding episode, this was one story which *really* needed to stick the landing. Unfortunately, despite a great guest star in Diane Morgan, it kinda didn’t.
Buford in his bread bowl hot tub.
Phineas and Ferb continues to be pretty meta and self-referential in Season 5, stretching some one-off gags and jokes into full storylines… even when there isn’t really enough material, or a strong enough foundation, to support something like that. I noted it last time with Buford’s life-size moulds – something which, inexplicably in my view, came up again in this crop of stories – but we can also add things like Perry’s lair entrances and the boys’ plans for croquet into that same category.
I’m all for the show reliving some of its glory days and replaying its greatest hits! That’s why a revival like this exists, at the end of the day – to play on the nostalgia viewers have for its original run. But at the same time, there are ways to tell new stories using these characters and familiar narrative frameworks that don’t *only* rely on things that had been set up years earlier. A nod and a wink to returning viewers can be a ton of fun, and I’m on board with in-jokes and meta humour. But when those things are the sole foundation for a story, or when the writers take a one-off gag or throwaway line and try to build it out into a complete story of its own… I think we’re getting far more misses than hits with that approach. So, for clarity: meta humour and being self-referential works well for jokes and small story beats, but hasn’t worked very well when an entire episode has been constructed around it.
All of the entrances to Perry’s secret lair.
Next, let’s look at each of the episodes in turn, and talk about some of the things I enjoyed, disliked, or just found noteworthy about each of them.
For the sake of clarity, I’ve only watched most of these episodes a couple of times, so I’m not going to be delving deeply and nitpicking every element of them! I’ll cover each episode in broadcast order, and I’m not going to be ranking them, nor rating them out of ten or anything like that. Although these episodes are paired up, I’ll be covering each story individually.
Attack of the Candace Suit:
The Candace Suit.
As I said last time, Buford’s “life-size moulds” was a funny one-off gag that worked well in Season 3. But it’s not the kind of thing to build an entire story around, let alone a two-parter. With that being said, I felt Attack of the Candace Suit was the stronger half of this weird little two-part story, being noticeably better and more enjoyable than The Candace Suit had been earlier in Season 5. The now-sentient suit elicited some genuine sympathy, in the same sort of way as Frankenstein’s monster might, as it came to terms with existing as a living creature in this world.
This was also a good episode for Candace and Jeremy – one of the only times in the season where they got to spend much time together. It was also fun to see Candace and the boys on the same team, something that’s not totally uncommon but is still nice to see. The episode also got a happy ending, with the sentient suit being paired up with Klimpaloon, who got a small cameo at the end. I hope this will be the final part of the Candace Suit saga, and that we aren’t gonna get some kind of third episode next time!
Book Flub:
Candace and Addyson on a see-saw.
This one I genuinely liked. We got a Candace-Linda team-up story, with one of Linda’s problems being in focus for a change. It made for a really interesting change of pace, as Linda had to rely on Candace’s unusual skills to resolve her book club issue. The return of Irving, as noted above, was also incredibly welcome, and seeing Irving and Linda working together was odd but cool! It’s nice, after all this time, that Phineas and Ferb can still find new character groupings, and put different spins on its storylines. This kind of originality, quite honestly, is something I wish we’d gotten a bit more of in Season 5.
This is a bit of a rarity insofar as it’s a story without much input from either Perry and Doof or Phineas and Ferb, but I think staying laser-focused on Linda, Candace, and Irving was the right choice. Perry and Doofenshmirtz’s fight on a burrito-plane was fun, and they added a bit of levity to the story as things progressed. All in all, though, this was a great change of pace.
The Bad Old Days:
Doof and Vanessa in Drusselstein.
Any chance to visit Drusselstein with Doof is fun, but I especially liked this new take on the old country. Doofenshmirtz is left hurt and confused when he sees how his hometown has been completely redesigned and gentrified, and is no longer the primitive backwater of his tragic backstories! This side of the story also contained some rare moments with Doof and Vanessa, and his excitement at her potentially becoming a citizen showed off his best fatherly tendencies. I wish we got more with these two in Season 5.
The boys’ side of things felt a little… repetitive. The giant drill was similar to something we saw right at the beginning of Season 1, and searching for either a missing ring or one of their mom’s lost possessions was also kind of samey if you remember similar escapades in Seasons 3 and 4. Nothing about it was *bad*, though, and this was really the episode’s secondary story. A great episode for Doof and a fun visit to Drusselstein, even if goings-on back in Danville weren’t quite as strong.
Mantis Fact:
Jurassic Park vibes, anyone?
Mantis Fact felt like a classic Phineas and Ferb episode from the show’s original run. Candace wants to bust the boys for their over-the-top creation, while Perry has to investigate what’s going on with Doofenshmirtz’s latest inator. The twist was that Perry and Doof ended up having to work together to shut down his inator, which had created a group of giant, deadly praying mantises. I don’t think the core idea of constantly sharing “mantis facts” added much to the story, though, and the delivery felt a bit grating as the episode wore on.
The camouflaged bird sequence gave me a few good laughs near the end, and I felt Mantis Fact was a solid mid-season offering that harkened back to the show’s earlier seasons. I mean that as a compliment, and it’s an episode I’ll happily return to and re-watch in the future.
The Nightmare-Inator:
Doof and Perry do battle.
This episode felt like it was harkening back to Season 3 or 4, whichever one had that Halloween special! There were some fun sequences, as Doof’s inator seems to malfunction, causing nightmares to become real. Vanessa got a great up-tempo song in a sequence that drew on the likes of Evil Dead and other horror titles for inspiration. We also got a callback to the haunted/evil Ducky Momo, as well as Vanessa’s relationship with Candace’s favourite kids’ show.
This was another story with only one main storyline, and I think keeping Doof and Perry in focus worked pretty well. It allowed for a greater variety of dream and nightmare sequences, including some pretty random and surreal imagery, which is always fun. I like the running joke of Ferb’s mind being a total enigma, and Doof’s apparent phobia of a giant, out-of-control Perry. Not a totally unique idea, perhaps, but solidly executed overall, and with a great song.
Doof in Retrograde:
Baljeet and Irving: an unlikely duo!
I had to re-watch this one to remember what happened; nothing about the episode left much of an impression. The whole “solar system” thing felt way too samey after the boys made something comparable back in Season 4, and Doof’s motivation for wanting to be the centre of attention didn’t really ring true for me. There were a couple of fun moments, like Carl moving Perry’s chair when he tried to enter his lair, but a lacklustre song kind of capped off a really uninteresting Doof and Perry story for me.
On the flip side, it was fun to get some interaction between Baljeet and Irving, and I liked how this storyline gave Baljeet more of a main role. The two “nerdy” characters worked well together (surprise, surprise!), and it was just a fun change of pace for Baljeet. Irving got a chance to live out his “being like Phineas and Ferb” fantasy, and we got a pretty classic ending to the story with Doof’s inator destroying the kids’ inventions.
Bend It Like Doof:
The match of the century?
Bend It Like Doof had a pretty weak setup, and at first I thought it was just going to be a vehicle for a couple of famous guest-stars. In the end, neither Megan Rapinoe nor Cristo Fernández really got all that many lines, so I’m just not sure what the intention was here! I like football (or soccer, if you prefer) as much as the next person, but Phineas and Ferb already did a pretty solid episode themed around that sport back in Season 3’s My Fair Goalie. This episode wasn’t *bad* per se, but it lacked originality, and the central Doof-Monogram conflict has been done better – and more believably – elsewhere.
It was nice to see most of the members of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N again, albeit that most of them didn’t have major roles, and to spend a bit more time than usual with Major Monogram. It was also weird (and kind of funny) to get some continuity with the episode Tropey McTropeface, through the news reporter-turned-prison escapee Dink Winkerson. Not a great episode, but there are some highlights and funny moments.
Dooflicated:
A giant Phineas robot.
This was a fun idea, and even though it leans a bit too heavily on the “doesn’t Doofenshmirtz have weird mannerisms” trope, I think it was well-executed, too. Seeing the boys take their inventions in an overtly evil direction – albeit in the name of fun – was a blast, and Candace being the protagonist for once, having to stop them when they got out of control, felt like something fun and different.
Dooflicated also gave us one of the rare moments in Season 5 where Doof and Vanessa have a meaningful conversation. I liked Vanessa’s totally blasé attitude to name-dropping a famous relative on her college application; it seems in-keeping for her character while also being a subtle comment on nepotism in the United States. I still miss the idea of Vanessa working for the O.W.C.A. in some capacity, and I think it’s a shame how that idea wasn’t picked up more this time. But a nod to her college applications was a fun way to go, too.
I’m a big Star Trek fan (if you couldn’t tell already), so Space Adventure was almost tailor-made for me! The show-within-a-show doesn’t just parody Star Trek, of course, and there were references or hints at other sci-fi properties, too. Although it was undeniably silly, I really liked the end result, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I think I laughed the most at Space Adventure’s parody than I did at any other episode in the season!
Space Adventure was, unsurprisingly, also a solid episode for Buford and Baljeet. I felt it harkened back to stories like Bully Bromance Breakup, while also reminding me a little of Excali-Ferb – at least in terms of its core premise. It was bold to frame this story around *only* Buford and Baljeet, with Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Doof, and Perry all absent. It was arguably even bolder to then have the bulk of the story just be this Star Trek-themed show-within-a-show! But for me at least, Space Adventure is one of the highlights of the season.
Droogenfest:
The Fireside Girls at the festival.
I like some of the ideas present in Droogenfest, but the core drama of Danville somehow being *desperate* for a trade deal with the Drusselstein delegation didn’t really work, even in light of Gimmelstump’s new-look presentation from earlier in the season! Setting that overblown nitpick aside, though, Droogenfest comes across like another classic story. The kids are participating in a big local event, Doof’s attempt to ruin his brother’s reputation gets in the way, and they end up having to work together to put things right.
The callback to Candace Against The Universe – where Doofenshmirtz and Isabella last interacted with each other – was a fun addition, and a way to keep the film somewhat relevant. Little touches like that – when not overwhelming a story – help the world of Phineas and Ferb feel connected, so I appreciated that. And it was neat to get another little addition to Drusselstinian culture and history. All in all, a pretty solid offering.
Doofercise:
Join the Doofnasium!
Doofenshmirtz gets the idea to turn exercise into power for his inators and opens a free gym. I actually weirdly kinda like this premise, and Doof and Norm make for really fun exercise gurus. The episode starts off slow, but quickly builds up to Doof’s gymnasium idea, with even Vanessa getting roped in when he makes one of those dodgy low-budget local TV commercials! That was a particularly fun sequence. Perry’s idea to overload the inator was a bit obvious, perhaps, but it worked well to bring this side of the story to a conclusion.
Candace and Jeremy’s date gets interrupted by the boys’ land-boat. The visual of the boat was pretty neat, and I liked the way it looked. As I said above, we didn’t get a ton of Jeremy and Candace together, so this date – before its interruption – was nice to see. The chase through the city was also pretty exciting. Another episode that could’ve been from an earlier season, really – which I mean as a compliment.
Croquet Y-8:
Oh look, it’s that throwaway line from Season 4… as a full episode. Yay.
Remember in the New Year episode, when Baljeet asked why the boys were going straight from Football X-7 to Hockey Z-9? Yeah. This is another one-liner that, for some reason, has been stretched beyond breaking point to form the core of an entire story. And I’m sorry, but there was just no need. The “we’re saving that for croquet” comment in Season 4 was funny, but it was clearly nothing more than a joke – the humour coming from the fact that croquet is not the kind of sport you could really “soup up”, for want of a better term. The end result even borrowed from the boys’ bowling ball invention back in Season 1, and it just didn’t feel like a particularly strong premise *or* a good execution of the idea.
The dilemma Perry faced, though, added stakes to his and Candace’s side of the story, and it was cute to see Candace and Jeremy following the robotic Perry duplicate around, trying to make the documentary. I didn’t feel Doof’s sheep-related invention was one of his best or most interesting ideas, but the time limit Perry had kept that side of the story largely on the rails.
Dinner Reservations:
Ah, the old sitcom cliché…
The boys’ drone light-show idea was fine, if a little underwhelming after their more impressive laser light-show in Season 4! But I liked the way it began, with Buford talking about how his family home was, apparently, just covered in Christmas lights. And the visuals at the end, with the drones making different images, worked pretty well.
However… the other side of the story was not my favourite. I can buy Monogram and Doof’s feud, though I think it fell into the fairly common kids’ show cliché of adults not knowing how to act like adults. But what I didn’t really think worked was Monty and Vanessa’s relationship. In Act Your Age, at the end of Season 4, we saw Ferb and Vanessa together as a couple in the future. And that’s a really great direction for both of them, paying off Ferb’s crush from earlier episodes while also giving Vanessa an unexpected new direction. But with that context, I just can’t get invested in Vanessa’s doomed relationship with Monty. It was great to see Monty again, and we got some pretty okay slapstick comedy out of the whole “enemies having dinner” premise. But… I think I’m over Vanessa and Monty now that the show has confirmed Vanessa’s future with Ferb. I don’t want to see her and Ferb together in the show’s present day… eww. But maybe Vanessa’s relationship with Monty should just quietly be sidelined?
Bread Bowl Hot Tub:
Rafting home.
As I said above, I didn’t feel this episode was good enough to be the payoff to a season-long gag. In fact, even if it hadn’t been running all season, I’d still say this was an especially weak story. I’d actually rather that Buford’s bread bowl hot tub had remained un-made; a non-sequitur type of joke that could be brought up sometimes… just another random idea of Buford’s that the kids are clearly never going to make. Because what we got was just… not very good.
Diane Morgan, who guest-starred as the voice of the titular hot tub, is great, and it’s such a shame she was wasted on such a weird and ultimately underwhelming story. There probably was a way to write a story like this, but maybe it needed to be a feature-length story or maybe it needed other characters involved? Something went wrong, anyway, and while it’s great to see Buford getting his wish, and to get a Buford spotlight episode which picked up on various aspects of his characterisation… this wasn’t the way to do it. And the end result was one of the worst episodes of the season for me.
Entrance Exam:
Communing with the “mysterious force…”
I’m glad that, after Perry’s lair entrances gradually disappeared from Phineas and Ferb as the show’s original run wore on, Season 5 has brought them back. They’re a classic part of the show, and many of them – like couch gags in The Simpsons – have been a ton of fun. But sometimes, when you over-explain or dig too deeply into something like this, it loses much of what makes it fun or impactful. We get it: Perry has lots of ways to access his secret lair. Did we need an entire episode all about that, drawing attention to how much of the Flynn-Fletcher household is taken up by these access points?
Where I will give Entrance Exam its dues is in Candace’s story. Hearing Monogram’s voice from below, she mistakenly believes she’s speaking with the “mysterious force” responsible for making the boys’ inventions disappear – and that typical sitcom mistaken identity cliché actually made for some genuinely funny moments. Particularly when Stacy also got involved, this side of the story was a ton of fun.
Dungeons and Dating:
Evan.
The most recent episode at time of writing. Dungeons and Dating was all about live-action roleplaying, as the boys (and their friends) set out to tell their own version of the ending to their favourite franchise when it was prematurely cancelled. I like the premise, I like the references to D&D, and we got some neat backdrops for the kids as their adventure unfolded. I think this could’ve been a good story to include someone like Irving or Albert, but both were only present in the background, which was a bit of a shame. I liked the callback to Buford being a fan of fantasy, though, and the kids had a fun adventure on this side of the story.
Doof’s reality show dating thing was neat, too. It was clearly a reference to the likes of The Bachelor and Love Island, and the character called Evan, who could seemingly only say his own name, was a hilarious send-up of the kinds of pretty-but-empty-headed folks who all too often appear on programmes like that! Norm and Vanessa’s banter as they watched Doof on TV was also laugh-out-loud funny for me.
So those are all the episodes so far!
The Flynn-Fletcher house.
Closer in quality to Seasons 4 than Seasons 1-3, and perhaps a bit of a dip compared to the first half of the season. But there are still some funny moments in practically every episode, and some novel and interesting story ideas which go a long way to justifying Phineas and Ferb’s resurrection after a decade-long break. I will gladly watch these episodes again (and again), and I’m sure I’ll enjoy them all the more when I’m not taking notes for my review or looking for things to pick on!
There are four episodes left in Season 5, and then we still have Season 6 to come. I’m hoping for some kind of special episode or feature-length outing in January to round out the season – but even if we don’t get that, I’m sure I’ll be satisfied with more adventures in Danville with Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Perry, Doof, and the rest of the gang.
I hope this has been interesting. Please remember that all of this is subjective! And be sure to join me in January or February when I’ll write up my thoughts on those final episodes, as well as perhaps talk a little bit more about the season as a whole. If you missed it earlier in the year, you can check out my review of the first part of Season 5 by clicking or tapping here. That’s all for now, so… Trekking with Dennis is out! Peace!
Phineas and Ferb Season 5 is currently airing on the Disney Channel, with some episodes also streaming on Disney+. Other episodes will join Disney+ in January 2026. Phineas and Ferb is the copyright of Disney Television Animation and The Walt Disney Company. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.