10 Episodes Of Bluey That Are Way Deeper Than They Have Any Right To Be
The Australian animated series Bluey has been hailed as the best modern kids show, but some of the best episodes touch on topics that go far beyond the sensibilities of a preschooler. The show follows the adventures of Bluey, the seven-year-old blue heeler dog, and her expanded circle of friends and family in a canine-ified version of Brisbane, Australia. While many of the episodes center around Bluey, her younger sister Bingo, and their similarly-aged classmates, just as many include adult-friendly plotlines that focus on their parents, Chilli and Bandit.
Every season of Bluey has episodes that will make parents cry, most of the time with happy tears. Likewise, there are some episodes of Bluey that seem specially designed to cheer adults up, whether through lighthearted and silly plots or clever movie references and sight gags. While each season has a set of episodes to appeal to any age group, there are a few specific ones that delve far deeper than any kids' show episode should be capable of. These episodes can be sad or uplifting, but no matter what, they're emotionally powerful and end on a beautiful note.
Bluey Season 3, Episode 35: Why Every Parent Needs To Watch "Smoochy Kiss"
While the kids' show has some great episodes, Bluey season 3, episode 35, "Smoochy Kiss" has some important lessons for both parents and children.
10 Copycat
Season 1, Episode 38
The episode "Copycat" is undoubtedly among the saddest Bluey episodes, as it chronicles Bluey's discovery of an injured bird, who she and her father care for until it dies of its injuries at the vet's office. Bluey is understandably heartbroken, but what takes the episode into unexpected territory is how it shows Bluey handling the incident. The concept of death is tough to handle for adults, so watching a then-six-year-old process that concept seems daunting.
Bluey recreates the incident via play, turning it into a game with her sister Bingo in which Bingo plays the injured bird and her mother Chilli plays the veterinarian. While Bluey intends to play out the event exactly as it happened in real life, Bingo's four-year-old attention span leads to her happily flying away instead. It helps Bluey to accept the real death of the bird by understanding that, as she puts it, "It's out of our hands." It's an extremely heavy topic that the show manages to communicate on a level that a young grade-schooler can comprehend.
9 Flat Pack
Season 2, Episode 21
"Flat Pack" might be the most complex episode of Bluey, simply because of how many different layers there are to it. The episode follows Chilli and Bandit as they frustratedly attempt to assemble a porch swing, and as they discard the packaging, Bluey and Bingo use it for imaginative play. Bluey and Bingo essentially play out global evolution, progressing from fish to "frog-dogs", and eventually to cave-dogs before they create an advanced civilization. While this is playing out, they portray a mother and daughter, with Bingo's daughter growing older as they progress through time.
In 2021, Bluey was actually named to Rolling Stone's list of 100 Best Sitcoms of All Time, coming in at number 96 ahead of beloved adult comedies like Schitt's Creek, Night Court, and Derry Girls.
Eventually, the parents decide to finish without any further fussing after seeing their daughters at play, and upon finishing invite Bluey to join them on the swing, her time as a pretend mother done now that Bingo is a pretend adult. In one seven-minute episode, the show packs in an analogy for the Darwinian Theory of Evolution, a metaphor for the simultaneous beauty and tragedy of parenthood, and the notion that the acts of creation and growth are the path to inner peace/heaven/nirvana/the Singularity, whichever eternal bliss the viewer chooses.
8 Daddy Dropoff
Season 2, Episode 8
"Daddy Dropoff" provides a new and unique perspective within the context of the show, as it's told from Lila's point of view as a non-diagetic narrator. While to young eyes it's a funny collection of pretend games on a school morning, adults will recognize it as a carefully thought-out representation of the Butterfly Effect, as one small game when Bandit wakes up in the morning ("pet feet") leads to Lila and Bingo becoming best friends all throughout high school. Bluey and Bingo's distractions make them both late to school, which is how Lila and Bingo first meet.
7 Onesies
Season 3, Episode 32
"Onesies", which features Rose Byrne in one of Bluey's best voice cameos as Chilli's sister Brandy, is a classic heartbreaking-yet-beautiful episode that can trigger tears in even the hardiest adults. Chilli's sister visits the girls for the first time in four years, with both she and Chilli commenting about how long it's been. It's implied that there is a very specific reason why she hasn't shown up to visit the girls, and it eventually becomes clear (to adults, anyway) that Brandy wants kids of her own but can't have them, and that visiting her nieces is too painful for her.
All Seasons of Bluey Streaming on Disney+ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Initial Release Date | No. Of Episodes | First Episode | Last Episode |
1 | 2018-2019 | 52 | "The Magic Xylophone" | "Verandah Santa" |
2 | 2020-2021 | 51 | "Hammerbarn" | "Easter" |
3 | 2021-2024 | 50 | "Bedroom" | "Surprise" |
For as many beautiful moments in Bluey that speak directly to parents of young children, "Onesies" reaches out to a different audience, who may want kids but who may not be able to have them yet, or ever. It's another really heavy topic that explores the difficulties of fertility journeys and how profound the impact can be. However, it provides a note of hope that pays off at the end of the season in the episode "The Sign", in which Brandy shows up pregnant at Rad and Frisky's wedding.
6 Mum School
Season 2, Episode 23
"Mum School" speaks directly to parents of small children, as Bluey literally acts as a parent to her five balloon "children" with Chilli grading her performance. The most troublesome child is named "Greeny", clearly a stand-in for Bluey herself, and over the course of the episode she's rather hit-or-miss with her parenting tactics. She eventually loses Greeny out the window, worried that he won't be okay, only for Chilli to tell her that he will because he has "a good mum."
Bluey actually fails Mum School, but the episode's entire message is that parenting is difficult, and even if you don't get it right every single day, you always have another chance to try again. What matters is that you're trying your best and caring for your kids, the rest will work itself out. It's not something that kids will necessarily understand, but it hits home for all those who have had to try to manage their own Greeny.
5 Army
Season 2, Episode 13
"Army" is one of the very best episodes in Bluey that doesn't revolve around one of the Heeler clan. It shines a spotlight on a new student at Bluey's Glasshouse school, Jack, who is evidently transitioning to the school mid-year. While children will not necessarily get it, adults will recognize that the issues that forced Jack to change schools are symptoms of ADHD, such as his inability to sit still, remember things, or follow directions. Enter Rusty, the red kelpie who die-hard Bluey fans recognize as the potential central character of the show in an early draft.
Bluey is the reigning two-time winner of the Televisions Critics' Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming.
Rusty, whose father is a soldier currently "on patrol" overseas, immediately welcomes Jack into his game of Army, in which the two boys go on a patrol of their own to keep the school safe. Over the course of the game, Rusty tasks his recruit Jack with a number of army-related exercises, each of which actually tests Jack's ability to do the very things he claims he isn't good at, such as focus, memory, and following directions. The day ends with Jack retelling the entire outing to his mom, while Rusty's father surprises him at pickup.
The episode is heartbreaking in some ways despite how fun it is, because at the beginning of the episode it's clear that Jack is suffering from some self-esteem issues, and believes there is something "wrong" with him, which is something no child should ever feel. He simply needed to find the right method of learning and self-improvement, which he wouldn't necessarily get at a standard school. Jack finds confidence at his new school thanks to the free-form imaginative play style, and thanks to the ever-brave, ever-kind Rusty.
4 The Show
Season 2, Episode 16
"The Show" features a beautiful metaphor for perseverance even in the face of tragedy, along with one of the sadder bits of backstory for the Heeler family. The episode centers around how Bingo keeps accidentally ruining the Mother's Day surprises that the girls have for Chilli. However, her mother encourages her that when something unfortunate happens, it's okay to have a cry, then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and carry on. As the girls put on a show recounting how Chilli and Bandit met and started their family, the audience discovers why Chilli knows how to handle unfortunate situations.
Bingo, playing Chilli, hides a balloon under her shirt that is supposed to represent Bluey in Chilli's belly, and at one point the balloon pops, causing Chilli's smile to disappear and Bandit to put his hand on hers. It's implied, and has been confirmed by the show's creators, that Chilli's reaction is due to the Heelers having a miscarriage before Bluey was born. It is in no way apparent to little eyes, but adults can recognize the connection between what happened to Chilli and her encouragement of Bingo. In typical Bluey fashion, the sad moment is punctuated by an uplifting message.
3 Space
Season 3, Episode 33
"Space" has been analyzed into oblivion because there are so many ways for someone to interpret what happens in the episode. It deals with Mackenzie getting hung up during a game where he, Jack, and Rusty are playing as astronauts exploring the deep reaches of space. Some people have interpreted Mackenzie's desire to keep becoming "lost" or "left behind" as the seeds of depression, while others believe it's a depiction of Mackenzie working through past trauma through play. Regardless of where a person lands on its meaning, it's undoubtedly one of the deepest, most rewatchable episodes for adults.
2 Baby Race
Season 2, Episode 47
"Baby Race" features fan-favorite Baby Bluey in a series of flashbacks as Chilli tells Bingo and Bluey about how Bluey learned to walk, albeit at a slower pace than Judo. The episode delves into the anxiety that every first-time parent has, as Chilli becomes rather obsessed with ensuring that Bluey is progressing as fast as Judo, despite constant reassurance from their pediatrician that some babies move at a different rate than others. Her anxiety and feelings of failure compound until she skips mother's group, concerned that she was doing something wrong because Bluey wasn't walking yet.
The message is that making sure your child is loved and taken care of is the most important thing; everything else will work itself out in time.
Virtually every new parent has felt similar feelings, and the emotional heft of the episode is significant for that reason. Chilli is finally comforted by Bella, her poodle friend who has already had eight children, who reassures her that she's doing great. The message is that caring your child is loved and taken care of is the most important thing; everything else will work itself out in time. It's an episode targeted very specifically at parents, with Baby Bluey and the exhausted Bandit providing entertainment value for younger viewers.
1 Cricket
Season 3, Episode 47
Rusty makes a second appearance on this list with the episode "Cricket", which focuses on a past birthday party at which Bandit, Stripe, and Lucky's Dad try to bowl Rusty out at cricket. The wunderkind seven-year-old proves indomitable, and the episode chronicles all the time that Rusty spent working at getting better at the game of cricket, on his own or with his friends and family. It's a loaded episode, as it provides a very basic explanation of the game of cricket and its play styles while also providing a ton of character depth for Rusty.
On the surface, the episode demonstrates how working hard is the best way to achieve your goals, as Rusty combines his natural talents with years of practice to eventually become a professional cricket player. On a deeper level, it's a celebration of sports in general, as it focuses on Rusty's memories of succeeding at the sport and enjoying it with his friends and family. He ends the game by making one such memory for his little sister Dusty, hitting her a catch and letting her get him out. It's one of the most fun and uplifting episodes of Bluey.
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