Phineas and Ferb Season 5 Review

Phineas and Ferb Season 5 returns the timeless series in style, by keeping what worked while trying new ideas.

The premise of Phineas and Ferb is a proven formula. Inventive whiz kid Phineas Flynn (Vincent Martella) and his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher (David Errigo, Jr.) build the most over the top and insane inventions possible to make every day of their summer break fun. This triggers the ire of Phineas’ older sister Candace (Ashley Tisdale, High School Musical), who tries to bust them for creating such unsafe devices. Meanwhile, their pet platypus Perry (Dee Bradley Baker, Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again) works as a secret agent foiling the plans of the evil but bumbling scientist Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire) in such a way that conveniently erases the boys’ activities and rendering Candace’s busting attempts futile. 

While it seems like such a basic formula would get old fast, the enjoyment of Phineas and Ferb comes from how many different ways the writers can spin the narrative. They keep the basic setup while exploring new ways to bend the format without breaking it. Many of the scenarios are exaggerated to comical degrees, with Doofenshmirtz’s plans becoming much more petty and the kids on the show being much more imaginative. Since Phineas is always trying to one-up the last invention, it makes each episode feel fresh and clever. Sprinkled into the dialogue are many jokes about the real-world science used for the invention of the day, meaning kids will learn something from watching. 

For such a formulaic show, Season 5 of Phineas and Ferb is surprisingly nuanced. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is far from a one-dimensional villain, as we see what motivates him to try these inventions. His tragic backstory and desire for approval from his daughter Vanessa (Olivia Olson) make him one of the most sympathetic characters on the show. You almost want to see him succeed because his life is so tragic. As for Candace, her attempts to bust her brothers tie into a need for validation from her mother Linda (Caroline Rhea). It becomes almost an obsession as it affects even her social life and sanity, but she is also a character the viewer wants to see succeed if only because she suffers so much.

Half of the writers of Phineas and Ferb Season 5 have been with the show from the start, the other half are people who grew up with the series. While this could have led to conflict over what the show should have been in its continuation, there is a sense of unity here. The new season follows the same formula and characterizations, while also progressing storylines from the past series. Everyone is a year older now, so they do storylines which involve their  The show also has one musical number per 11-minute segment, as it always has, and most of them still deliver as composer Danny Jacob writes in a variety of genres and moods. It says something about how a show can contain so many musical numbers and most of them are still consistently good. 

In Phineas and Ferb Season 5, the characters have become more self-aware. They comment a bit more on the action and a few more running jokes have been included in the formula. The attempts of their friend Buford (Bobby Gaylor) to build a bread bowl hot tub make for the most prominent recurring joke. Many storylines compound upon each other, making a largely episodic series have a sense of continuity. One still does not need to watch every episode in order per se, but doing so will make a few jokes land harder. The special two-parter “Meap Me In St. Louis” feels like an elaborate practical joke, following up on a storyline from the original show in the most tongue-in-cheek way possible; it makes sense in context. 

The new season gives new plotlines and ideas to show how the formula has not gotten stale at all. There are even several episodes which go off-book, including stories about Phineas and Ferb’s friend Isabella (Alyson Stoner) trying to resolve a conflict among her own circle and another where Candace has a sleepover with her friends and is trying to focus on her social life over the need for validation. In one memorable segment “Deconstructing Doof”, Candace’s therapist Dr. Shemai (Brendan Hunt, Ted Lasso) comes dangerously close to cracking the code for the series with hilarious results. 

If there are any complaints to be had, they are only from how the world has progressed in the ten years since the original show concluded. Some of the voice actors sound unchanged, others like Alyson Stoner and Olivia Olson do show their age. Ashley Tisdale has to be autotuned because having a 39-year-old actress voicing a sixteen-year-old character leads to some awkward line reads. The animation also sometimes looks a bit too fluid, with character movements going too fast and facial expressions being super detailed. But these are just nitpicks and do not detract from the writing, which is still just as funny as ever. 

Phineas and Ferb Season 5 is able to strike a balance between what made the show work in the past and finding a new direction for a new television landscape. New fans will not be alienated by inside jokes and older fans will appreciate how the original feel of the show has been retained. This is only the first half of the season, but if the quality continues as it goes, this will be a great ride. The show is as good as it has ever been, so this is the perfect time to get into it, or even revisit it.

The first 10 episodes of Season 5 of Phineas and Ferb are now available to stream globally on Disney Plus. The rest of the series will be released weekly from July 19. Watch Episode 1 in full below!