10 Best ‘Bluey’ Episodes for Therapy
Sometimes we all need a good cry, and sometimes there’s nothing that scrubs the rust off the waterworks better than children’s TV. I’m not talking Teletubbies (though Dipsy is pretty tragic); I’m talking about those shows marketed to kids but meant to therapize parents watching—like Bluey.
Sleepytime
It’s night time at the Heeler house, and Bluey and fam are laying themselves down to sleep. Chili doesn’t want to sleep in the same bed as her mom and dad that tonight; she wants her own. Her mother tells her that she’ll always be there, and then Chili goes to sleep. And so begins a rhapsodic, beautifully animated dream sequence where Chili flies through the Solar System with her toy bunny and sees her mother as the sun. And what does her mother say? “Remember, I’ll always be there for you,” just before the little dog kid wakes up. Tears.
Granddad
I think you know what to expect. It starts with “d” and ends with “eath.” Bluey and the fam have a visit with Chili’s father after ol’ Granddad has a brush with heartworm. He’s supposed to be on bedrest, but they find the old codger hard at work in the yard digging up a treestump. Rather than deal with his daughter’s admonishments, he runs off into the woods with his granddkids and hides in a tree. Then he overhears Chili saying that she still “needs him” and that she wants him to take care of his health. It’s a real heartbreaker of an episode about the reality of loved ones getting older, and the fate that awaits us all.
Copycat
If Granddad didn’t die, then Bluey viewers are safe from death, right? WRONG. Copycat starts innocent, with Bluey copying everything her father does, but things take a turn when Bandit discovers an injured bird outside, and attempts to get the little guy to the vet. Too late. Poor thing dies. What does Bluey do? She starts to pretend to be the bird and reenact the day’s events. It sounds macabre, but it’s actually a beautiful exploration of using play therapy to deal with the darker parts of life.
Space
Just like actual outer space, Space gets weird. It ain’t even about Bluey, but three of her friends running around pretending to be astronauts exploring a black hole. The black hole in question is a creepy tunnel that the gang found, and the young Mackenzie goes off alone to explore the void alone. But it isn’t a black hole. It’s the representation of a traumatic memory when he thought his mom abandoned him while he was on the slide. He only lost sight of her for a minute, but it was still pretty scary! He uses the idea of a black hole to explore his feelings surrounding the event, and it’s so sweet and sad.
Baby Race
The episode is also not about Bluey, but her mother Chili. When Bluey was growing up, Chili had a real hard time as a new mom. Bluey took a while to learn how to walk, and it freaked Chili out. While at first Chili boasted about Bluey’s ability to roll over, her child’s apparent lack of development caused her to question her abilities as a mother. It’s a heartbreaker of an episode about the struggle of new parents, and the imposter syndrome that comes with being responsible for a young life in the world.
Camping
We’ve all been here before. You make a new friend at the pool. On the playground. At camp. Wherever. You hit it off, instant best friends, then suddenly their parents call them to leave and you never see them again. Devastating. Bluey befriends a boy named Jean-Luc on a camping trip with her family, and the pair plant a little seedling together. They don’t get the chance to say goodbye when Jean-Luc leaves, and we’re forced to watch Bluey sit sadly next to her seedling. Heartbreaking.
Flat Pack
Flat Pack starts as an innocuous Bluey adventure where the titular heroine and her sister start messing around with packing materials and playing pretend. But over the course of their game, Bluey’s sister Bingo decides she has “grown up” and goes of to explore the universe in a pretend spacedship. “What am I supposed to do now?” says Bluey tearfully. GIRL I DON’T KNOW I WASN’T EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR THIS.
Onesies
Oh god, Bluey just pulled an Up intro. Okay, it’s not that bad, but it IS about infertility—which, when you think about it, is a bold topic for a children’s show to bring up. Bluey and her family have a visit with their aunt Brandy, who hasn’t visited for four years. Bluey asks why that Brandy hasn’t seen them sooner, and Chili explains that the reason is because there’s something that Brandy wants but “it’s not meant be.”What does she want? Children. And she can’t have them. Just stab me in the heart why don’t you?
The Sign
Anyone who ever had to move as a child knows this pain. Bluey’s dad Bandit gets a new job offer, but the job would require him and his family to move away from Bluey’s childhood home. Bluey ain’t gonna let that stand, so she takes matters into her own paws and spends the episode sabotaging the “For Sale” sign in the yard. Eventually Bingo and even Chili have mini-breakdowns considering the move, leading Bandit to remove the sign himself. You really had us going there Bluey.
The Show
The show must go on! That’s what Bluey’s mom says, anyway. Bluey ends up spilling her mom’s Mother’s Day breakfast in bed, and beats herself up about it. Bluey’s mom encourages her with the ol’ showbiz phrase. Later in the episode, an infamous scene occurs where Chili uses a balloon represent the unborn Bluey during the former’s pregnancy … and it pops. Fans believe that the balloon pop was symbolic of a possible former miscarriage that Chili endured, and that she used the old adage on herself to get over the tragedy. The show must go on, right? No. I’m crying too hard and need to turn it off.
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