When 'Phineas and Ferb' first started to air, Disney Channel was nowhere near as good as it used to be and still isn't. Instead of the likes of the animated Disney shows of the 80s and 90s, most of it was and still is animated shows with childish humour and Disney Channel sitcoms and unfortunately it tended to not be the good ones. This continued throughout the whole of 'Phineas and Ferb's' run to the extent that this became one of the few shows airing on the Channel worth watching.
Both "Hide and Seek" and "That Sinking Feeling" are very good episodes and well worth watching. Neither are among the best, or at least my favourite, 'Phineas and Ferb' episodes, neither are they among the most creative in ideas. Others also have interest points such as seeing different dynamics, different sides to characters and more than one adversary. Again though there are a lot of recommendable things, "Hide and Seek" benefits from some inventive visuals and "That Sinking Feeling" is a lot more intelligent than it sounds.
Did feel that the Doofenschmirtz and Perry subplot in "Hide and Seek" was not that inspired and doesn't quite have enough of the wonderfully nuts factor. Would have liked to see more interaction between them.
Occasionally too both are slightly on the manic side, something that can be the case for 'Phineas and Ferb'.
The good, or should that be great, things are many. The animation is still wonderfully vibrant with very rich attention to detail. The gang in mini form was interesting and inventively done, as were the visuals in the Doofenschmirtz subplot in "That Sinking Feeling". The music is dynamic with the action and the theme song is insanely catchy with very clever and quotable lyrics that anybody still in school fishing for how to spend their vacation will relate to. The voice acting is great, Dan Povenmire always sounds like he's having so much fun.
Writing is very funny and intelligent, that in "That Sinking Feeling" was a lot more tasteful than expected. Once again, the right balance of being easy to understand for children while not being too juvenile for adults is successful. The very over the top romantic gestures in "That Sinking Feeling" are very funny to watch. The characters are very well done in both episodes, Phineas and Ferb are both likeable and Doofenschmirtz is typically wonderfully goofy. Did appreciate that Baljeet's childhood friend was not a shallow character and liked him just the way he is.
In conclusion, very well done. 8/10.
