Also can I just say. I absolutely love how the Pim mischaracterization is being combated this season. That he is not simply this precious little UwU baby that must be protected at all costs, but a grown ass man who just has a lot of whimsy in his life. Like I dunno I know the whole "going insane and killing everyone" was fake but I like to think it changed some people's perspective on him.
Then there's the newest episode where the obvious comparison is supposed to be drawn between him and Squim in their seemingly relentless positivity- except where Pim's positivity comes from a place of empathy and an earnest attempt to connect with and help people, Squim's is simply positivity for positivity's sake. It perfectly highlights the fact that while Pim may certainly be overbearing and naive in his optimism sometimes, he does understand that this isn't some universal cure for sadness and that sometimes you have to let the sad things be a little sad so you can move on (ie. His interaction with the ice cream man, where he let's the moment hang with a twinge of melencholy in the air, while still maintaining his positivity by complimenting his late wife). I don't really believe this is the first instance of him showing this, but it's very blatantly highlighted here.
Then yknow in that same episode there's some smaller but still very important moments (in my opinion) that highlight his complexity outside of that role people put him into- number one being him not believing Charlie when he said he was sick- not only that, but blatantly calling him out on it! I've blabbed on before about this so I won't get too much into it lmao but the fact that despite his avoidance of confrontation he will almost always call Charlie out when he does something (also shown when he threw the can on the ground last episode and Pim got onto him) just really shows that he's not necessarily strictly a people-pleaser. He surely has strong tendencies to please but his morals are of higher importance to him.
The last little thing I'll yap about is his little comment to Squim about Charlie, saying "if he shows up". I recognize this might easily be him just trying to set Squim's expectations for Charlie, as he knows he's most likely not going to take kindly to Squim's nature, but I heart reading into everything so I'm absolutely taking this as an offhand snide comment about Charlie playing hookey. He doesn't press Charlie about it but he clearly seems to know that he's just staying home to play games, and while he doesn't seem outwardly frustrated by this, he surely feels SOME level of annoyance about it. And I dunno I don't really have some sort of greater point to make about this one, I just wanted to point it out.
Anyway uh. Go watch Smiling Friends 5 times and then 5 more times