Frenemy Mine

Frenemy Mine is a HYPER-infamous episode of the Fairly Oddparents.

## Why it ain’t no frenemy

So... Vicky wants to be Timmy's friend after he saves her life; sounds like a blast huh? Hahahaha, fuck no... this is an episode with a great deal of potential that they just... piss away and... I don’t know, man. There's some things where it's hard to put a finger on why you hate something, but you just do... it's certainly not the worst episode of the show, but it's pretty damned bad; I'd put this in the top 10, maybe top 5, worst of the show. This episode probably has more issues than any other in the show, whereas most squally only suffer from one problem.

The moral it wants to teach of never saving the lives of your enemies is... honestly very situational. Remember, by this point in the series, Vicky is Satan; Timmy would be FAR BETTER OFF if she were dead, or that's the logic the show would use if its writing didn't tank. Whenever Timmy manages to get Vicky off his back now, expect her to get even worse, or for his replacement babysitters to be either sickeningly pathetic or ACTUAL DEMONS! The show seems to have forgotten the fact that at the end of "Channel Chasers", Timmy WILLINGLY decided to put up with Vicky until he's old enough not to need a babysitter because... she's the whole reason he has fairies in the first place; he can usually count on them to save his skin from her.

In a way, he should thank her for this rather when he sees she's about to be flattened to death, he has to THINK about whether or not to save her life! I mean, I get it, I'd have to think about this myself considering who’s in danger, but the way it's played out and such just comes off as needlessly cruel... TO VICKY! After being RELUCTANTLY SAVED, Vicky gets kicked out of a club FULL of evil babysitters! Now, this is actually a concept I feel could've used its own episode rather than brushed off for a one-off bit gag that… honestly feels very cheap. Think about it: an entire club full of babysitters just as, if not eviler, than Vicky herself is a really neat concept like something out of Codename: Kids Next Door, maybe even make it a GLOBAL CONSPIRACY! But no... more wasted potential... that makes me a saaaad panda...

They also seem to have forgotten this important thing about Vicky: she's LITERALLY incapable of empathy! Whether it's an evil bug up her butt, being born evil, or just having a black hole for a heart, it's as rare as a unicorn farting rainbows to see Vicky genuinely care about anyone but herself. The past times Vicky was saved, she was still a bitch; why would getting her kicked out of her little club make her suddenly grow a heart? Now with Mr. Crocker, I could see this working because, while he's lacking in empathy, he's not incapable of it as shown in "Bad Heir Day" and that he does want to be loved. It would also make the.... insanity a bit more justified and actually funny...

Because this is an episode that staples a bunch of ideas together haphazardly, the pacing is understandably very bad. Vicky and her psychotic desire to "befriend" Timmy comes off as completely unnatural and forced; though considering it's Vicky, I guess that's the point. Even so, it doesn't help with how irritating she is, given her voice rarely goes below screaming madman. Vicky is actually creepier when she's trying to be Timmy's friend, the Grinch face doesn't help... Anyhow, this wouldn't be so terrible as to garner my attention if it wasn't for how the episode reverts to the usual status quo, and why the moral doesn't work.

The smart thing to do here would be to copy Vicky's more manic moments when she's doing them and going above and beyond, proving to her Timmy's not worth befriending because "he's crazy". If she's were the more reasonable type, I'd just tell her she's taking this friendship thing too far and better elaborate on what it means to BE a friend, but this isn't that kind of show so... mania wins! Instead, Timmy lashes out at Vicky when she's subdued and pisses her off, ruining the genuine moments of kindness she's shown him like giving him a rare poster or genuinely driving her into madness! Honestly, Timmy deserves to get flattened after all of this! All Vicky was trying to do was be your friend, she wasn't trying to abuse you (in her usual way at least) and, in her own twisted way, was grateful to you!

I think this episode was trying to be something like the Ren & Stimpy episode "Stimpy's Invention" with the asshole being forced into an unnatural sense of kindness and empathy, but that's not what this ended up as. In the end, it does teach that no matter the circumstance, you should never save your enemies, lest they ruin your life even worse with gratitude! I didn't make that up, that what the episode states at the end! While not as abhorrent as "It’s a Wishful Life", I still think this is a good case for why most cartoons shouldn't try teaching morals intentionally or not. Also, what was the point of Poof in this episode? He did literally nothing but drink from his bottle. You could remove him and place this episode in Seasons 3-5, and it wouldn't make a difference! I suppose that's the main problem with Poof in general, huh?

(This was originally written on deviantart by Regulas314)