EPISODE REVIEW
New Student
Release date: 7/14/2003
"She's so mysterious...but nice! I think we're going to be the best of friends"
It's Charlotte's first day at her new school. Things don't go as she expects them to.

Plot Summary

A blue little girl named Charlotte, who just moved to town, has arrived for her first day at Mu Elementary School. Immediately, she sees a student get swatted away by the Giant Kitty - but she's fascinated rather than terrified. Before she can further interact with the cat, the bell rings, signifying that class is starting.

Charlotte skips off to Classroom 4 and meets her teacher, Mr. Milk, as well as her classmates. Charlotte sits down, but Mr. Milk instantly urges her to switch seats, as the one she chose belongs to someone he only refers to as "her". Marion, one of the other students, warns the confused Charlotte and tells her she needs to "watch out" for this person. Then, as if on cue, the center of the discussion enters the room.

Vendetta, a scowling green girl, walks in alongside her giant hamster minion, Grudge. Upon hearing Mr. Milk utter her name, Charlotte is fascinated and compliments her, asking if her name is French. Vendetta immediately doesn't like her and just squints in response. Mr. Milk attempts to begin a lesson, but Vendetta instantly shuts him down by asking to have recess. Grudge along with various other friends pressure him into saying yes, and Charlotte is overjoyed.

Charlotte leaves the classroom and heads straight for the swingset, singing while doing so. Her fun is cut short by Vendetta and Grudge, the latter of which cuts the swing using a large pair of scissors. Vendetta warns Charlotte and tells her to watch out, as Grudge can cut "more than just rope" However, Charlotte doesn't feel threatened at all. She continues trying to talk to the green girl even as she walks off. After Vendetta leaves, Charlotte mentions that she seems "nice" and that she thinks they'll be best friends.

Fiendish Findings

  • Despite not being strictly "for adults", the web series was able to show much darker content at times. Here this is mainly shown by the posters hanging on the back wall of the classroom. One reads "A is for Alimony" and another is a drawing of a dead cat hanging by its neck. Yeah...Nick saw this and wanted to make it a kids' show for some reason.
  • This episode marks the first time Grudge is mistaken for another animal, in this case Charlotte thinking he is a bear. Later on in episode 9, Mrs. Minty mistakes him for a dog.
  • Despite being violently batted away by the Giant Kitty not even a minute earlier, Malachi appears in Room 4 seeming perfectly fine upon Charlotte entering. Hmm...
  • Speaking of Kitty, he's the first fiend to appear in this episode, and therefore the entire series. Mrrroowww!
  • The web series Season 1 DVD features a live commentary on this episode from Charlotte and Vendetta. It's a fun watch. Charlotte even talks about the cat that lived by her old school in Vermont.
  • On older versions of the Making Fiends website, each episode had a hidden message located above it. These messages were written in black text so they would blend in with the site background. This episode's message read the following: "The first episode of Making Fiends, a web series by Amy Winfrey, the creator of Muffinfilms.com and Big Bunny. This is a cartoon about two little girls: Charlotte and Vendetta"
Final Thoughts

Awesome first episode and a great introduction to our main characters. It's short and simple, but works perfectly for a show like this. Charlotte is incredibly likeable here and her optimism feels very genuine, especially in this original version. She's not quite as stupid in the web series (which I know isn't saying much) which you can sense here...somehow. It's hard to explain. I love her.

Vendetta, our other main character, doesn't get much exposure in this episode, but we still get enough to see what she's like and appreciate her character. As always, Agalia does a wonderful job at voicing her. I love her line deliveries, especially the "I...don't care!" which drips with sarcasm. Grudge is also great. I remember the part with the scissors making my dad laugh really hard for some reason. I really liked the weird bug-eyed Charlotte asset they used for when she was laying on the ground.

Not too much more to say about this one other than it's a great introduction to the show. As with most of Amy's animations, you can clearly see the South Park influence in the animation. I love how the characters look like they were made of construction paper, but less professionally than the South Park characters. They look more like they were just drawn on the paper and then sloppily cut out. It's great. And that's not even it - 'Show and Tell', the second episode, came out on the same day.