This story briefly revisits a point in the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf novel, in where Empath first visits the Smurf Village to see how the Smurfs live, during which he begins a friendship with Grouchy.
This story provides the following examples of:
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The Smurfs theme song from the 1980s cartoon show makes its appearance in the story as part of Papa Smurf's demonstration of how Smurfs live their lives.
- The Dreaded Toilet Duty: Both Empath and Grouchy are assigned to cleaning out outhouses by Hefty, a task that neither of them like, although it doesn't bother Sloppy, who is the Smurf Village's garbage Smurf.
- Friend to All Living Things: Grouchy is surprisingly made out to be this in secret when Empath spies on him out in the forest.
- Hates Being Touched: Empath on a few occasions is shown reacting negatively to Papa Smurf touching him. Though later on, he does hug Papa Smurf before he leaves to return to Psychelia.
- Mundane Luxury: Empath has been living in a society where not only emotions are forbidden, but also having anything to eat that actually has a taste to it, with the standard Psychelian cuisine being a bland "nutrient paste". In this story, during his first visit to the Smurf Village, Empath tries out a smurfberry for the first time and then suddenly begins to devour the entire basket of smurfberries in Greedy's kitchen.
- Nobody Poops: Averted in this series when Empath and Grouchy are both shown working with Sloppy in cleaning poop from an outhouse.
- Odd Friendship: Empath's friendship with Grouchy starts here in this story.
- Our Nudity Is Different: As in the novel, Empath has a minor panic when he sees himself wearing just a hat and pants, due to the moral standards of dress being different in Psychelia.
- Waking Up Elsewhere: Empath on his first night at the Smurf Village goes to sleep in a house shared by a few other Smurfs, and wakes up in a spare bed set up in Papa Smurf's house, waking up right after having a nightmare of seeing Papa Smurf turn into a hideous monster.
- You Are Not Alone: As in the novel, when Empath is about to return to Psychelia after spending his first year visiting the Smurfs, Papa Smurf gives him a Smurf medallion and tells him that he as a Smurf is no longer alone in this world.
