Bluey: The Sign

April 14, 2024 9:25 PM - Season 3, Episode 49

A special Bluey episode that is 28 minutes.
posted by m@f (13 comments total)

Well I cried.

(There are at least six or eight episodes of Bluey that reliably make me cry every. single. time).
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 7:22 AM on April 15 [3 favorites]

Oh I’m so glad this has been posted on Fanfare.

I cried so much! But I found this episode overwhelmingly joyful. Also I love Muffin and Socks so much.
posted by unicorn chaser at 2:10 PM on April 15

I posted this without comment because I’m still processing the episode. So many feelings!

My child developmental educated wife is concerned with children getting disappointed if they have to move and the “we’ll see…” doesn’t happen like in this episode. That it isn’t realistic that a housing sale gets cancelled after closing and you stay in your house.

My pragmatic 15-year-old replied that it's more realistic than talking dogs. I’m still conflicted.
posted by m@f at 2:38 PM on April 15 [6 favorites]

I’m a little sad that Socks seems fully out of puppy stage.
posted by lizjohn at 5:02 PM on April 15

My child developmental educated wife is concerned with children getting disappointed if they have to move and the “we’ll see…” doesn’t happen like in this episode. That it isn’t realistic that a housing sale gets cancelled after closing and you stay in your house.

It's unclear how far through the buying process the contract in question had proceeded, however I can absolutely confirm that here - in Brisbane, Australia, where the Bluey comes from - a house sale can absolutely be cancelled for various reasons right up until settlement.

There are commonly riders for finance, and building and pest inspections, and other things which can be used to cancel a contract.
posted by coriolisdave at 6:17 PM on April 15

Oh, and I meant to add - it's also entirely possible that the buyers called the agent and said they wanted to pull out, and the agent called Bandit and asked and he agreed.
posted by coriolisdave at 6:40 PM on April 15 [2 favorites]

Wow. What a great episode. Definitely tear-inducing. My six-year-old granddaughter has declared it her favorite Bluey evar.

Word is that the production team is going on hiatus after this. Anyone have any idea for how long?
posted by Thorzdad at 8:41 AM on April 16

A friend of mine gave me permission to post their take:

I think it's obvious from the start we were going to return to the status quo by the end because after all, it is a kid's show, and the target audience doesn't deal with massive changes well. It also makes the show a lot harder to show in reruns when there's such a massive disparity in setting and supporting cast. So I'm not surprised at all how things turned out.

However, I do think it undercuts the message behind the episode, in that while it's trying to teach children about accepting change, it also suggests that if you're super sad enough, your dad will decide to not take the new job. Granted, he didn't seem too thrilled about it in the first place, and his reasoning of "I want to give them a better life" was rather weak (I mean, their life seems pretty great already). It would have been more interesting to put Bandit in a position where he had to factor in his own personal happiness.

And, yes, it's a kid's show but creator Joe Brumm has always tried to put in a message for the parents as well. I always try to remind parents that yes, your happiness matters. Don't sacrifice yourself completely for your kids because guess what? They notice, and it makes them miserable to see you miserable. It's the whole "secure your face mask before assisting others" adage. Part of what makes the show work is that it's clear that Bandit and Chili are happy and satisfied, but recently the show seemed to be hinting that something was bubbling under the surface with Bandit. Maybe it was this job offer, maybe it was something else. Hopefully the show will address it, otherwise like I said, the message of "The Sign" is seriously undercut.

Also if Frisky and Rad have a kid, it will probably be a boy, though I will laugh my ass off if it's another girl.

posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:24 AM on April 17 [1 favorite]

I can't remember the exact line, but in the episode Bluey asks her teacher 'Why do stories always have happy endings?' and her teacher replies 'Because real life gives us enough sad ones'. I felt like this was a little in-episode recognition of the fact that the ending was unrealistic, but happy. This is one of a number of times the dialogue in Bluey seems to address real-world criticism. One of my favourites is when Bluey goes to the movies and asks all sorts of questions and her father responds 'It's just monkeys singing songs, mate'. And another was the episode where the dad tells Bingo that sometimes you'll put something beautiful into the world and people won't like it.

I feel like a lot of criticism zeroed in specifically on the 'moving house' element, while to me it felt like the episode wasn't about moving so much as sometimes adults don't know what they're doing and they just kind of have to take a leap of faith without knowing for sure whether it's the right thing to do. I'm not a parent, but I was once a kid, and I picked up on my own parents' doubts and fallibility. I think this is a beautiful and important message for children and I think Bluey does it really well.

I watched the episode again yesterday and I was struck by what an ambivalent bride Frisky is, even after she's forgiven Rad and agreed to go through with the wedding. Again, an important and unusual thing to feature in children's programming!
posted by unicorn chaser at 6:35 AM on April 17 [3 favorites]

“ it's also entirely possible that the buyers called the agent and said they wanted to pull out”

Uh … that’s exactly what happened.

Bluey found a coin, it got jammed in the binoculars at the lookout. Later, the sheepdogs were also at the lookout, un-jammed the coin and then spotted a house with a pool, which is what they said they wanted in the first place…

It’s a well plotted storyline. I swear, attention-spans are just declining overall - even my daughter thought that it was the kids who cancelled the sale.

It was serendipity…
posted by rozcakj at 8:29 AM on April 19

Dude, I was addressing the point it isn’t realistic that a housing sale gets cancelled after closing, and providing options for how, actually, in this place it can be entirely realistic. There are legal, contractual ways, and another option is the purchaser simply requesting.

I swear, reading comprehension skills are just declining overall.
posted by coriolisdave at 10:11 PM on April 20

Apparently another episode just came out.
posted by Coaticass at 1:01 AM on April 21

Man this episode hits hard. We just told our 6yo this week that we're moving 2,000 miles away to a new city, because her dad found a better job that will hopefully provide a better life for her.

At first she was NOT OK with this news. But once she found out that this means all her possessions will be coming along with her to the new house she took it a lot better.

And then we watched The Sign and she realized that her classmates will be staying behind. She got really sad and wrote letters to her two favorite friends at her school (she's big into stamp/envelope pen pals). She's still processing it. It's going to be great, and we're waiting until she's out for the summer before she moves, but it's still uprooting a 6yo from the only city she's ever known.

I wish they would have moved in the end, but I get that we're invested in all the other characters, and I'd hate to leave them behind as well.

Side note: the realtor is mentioned in the episode Dragon. He makes fun of Bandit's drawing of a car and stifles his artistic ambitions.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:55 AM on April 21