The Phineas and Ferb Revival Failed to Answer 1 Key Question That’s Been Bugging Fans

The following contains minor spoilers for Phineas and Ferb Season 5, streaming now on Disney+.

A decade after what was originally intended to be the series finale, the beloved Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb has recently returned for a fifth season. New episodes will be released weekly on the Disney XD channel, but the first half of the season is already available to stream on Disney+. As always, the Phineas and Ferb revival mainly targets a young demographic, but creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff «Swampy» Marsh clearly knew that those who grew up with the series in the early 2000s would tune in for the sake of nostalgia.

The fifth season included callbacks to the series’ earlier episodes and some jokes that would go over most kids’ heads, such as references to Friends, The Matrix, and Aliens. Overall, the new season was successful at remaining consistent with the series’ previously established continuity; aside from some updates to the animation style and a few replaced voice actors, it felt as if Phineas and Ferb never ended. However, the new episodes completely glossed over what should have been an important plot point: Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz’s return to evil.

Phineas and Ferb Undid a Major Development From the Season 4 Finale

In the finale of Season 4, «Last Day of Summer,» Doofenshmirtz finally abandoned his goal of taking over the Tri-State Area. His daughter, Vanessa, threatened to move out if he did not turn over a new leaf, because she was unable to begin an internship at O.W.C.A. while living with one of the agency’s main enemies. Near the end of the episode, she helped him realize that he did not actually want to be evil and that he would be happier if he used his inventions for good: «You’re basically a nice guy who’s pretending to be evil. And, you know, it seems like it’s all out of obligation to your backstories, not something that truly comes from your heart.»

Most episodes that chronologically took place after the finale, such as «Act Your Age,» «Doof 101» and «The O.W.C.A. Files,» showed Doofenshmirtz leading a non-villainous lifestyle, including a brief stint as a science teacher at Vanessa’s school and as an O.W.C.A. agent. This was even true of Doofenshmirtz’s cameos in Milo Murphy’s Law, another series from the creators of Phineas and Ferb. There were a few contradictions, like the series’ winter and Halloween specials, but that was simply a result of those episodes being written long before «Last Day of Summer» was conceptualized.

Despite this, Doofenshmirtz is evil once more in Season 5 of Phineas and Ferb. His relapse was acknowledged in the first episode, «Summer Block Buster,» but only briefly. During the musical number «Summer is Starting Right Now,» Doofenshmirtz sang, «I spent most of last year trying to be good, but now I’m back to my evil ways!» No further explanation was given, and the other characters did not react strongly. Even Vanessa just casually said, «Oh, so we’re evil again?» and continued with her day, not making any mention of her O.W.C.A. internship. For the rest of the season, it was as if Doofenshmirtz had never turned good in the first place.

Future Episodes of Phineas and Ferb Can Explain Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Return to Evil

​​​​​Resetting the status quo in the first episode was not inherently problematic. It helped the new season find its footing by returning to Phineas and Ferb‘s familiar formula. The issue instead lies in the complete lack of justification for Doofenshmirtz’s dramatic shift in motivation, even after the premiere. In the Season 5 episode «Deconstructing Doof,» Doofenshmirtz began going to therapy, which would have been the perfect opportunity to explain what happened between seasons to turn him evil again. Instead, he only talked about his frustration with Agent P foiling his schemes.

The reason did not have to be anything serious; Doofenshmirtz has always been known for his absurd backstories and petty obsessions, so even a single throwaway line about somehow being slighted by O.W.C.A. would have made the transition from Season 4 feel much smoother. Fortunately, there is still time for the writers to explore this topic. 10 episodes of Season 5 have yet to be released, and another season is planned to follow. Though Phineas and Ferb is a goofy cartoon, the writers have allowed characters to grow and change throughout the series, so it would be a shame for such an important moment in Doofenshmirtz’s life to go completely ignored by the narrative.