Double Babysitter is the thirty-ninth episode of the second season of Bluey.
Synopsis
When Uncle Rad and Frisky accidently turn up to babysit Bluey and Bingo on the same night, they have to work together to make Bluey feel better about babysitter putdowns.
Bluey doesn’t like babysitter putdowns, so when Uncle Rad and Frisky get double-booked to be the girls’ babysitter they have to work together to settle Bluey down.
Frisky suggests playing twenty questions so they can get to know each other, but Bluey and Bingo’s questions get a bit too tricky for the adults, so Uncle Rad suggests that they play games instead, but that’s still doesn’t work.
Tucked up in bed after story time, Bluey shares that she had a bad experience last babysitter putdown when Nana had the TV up too loud. Uncle Rad and Frisky reassure her and Bluey is finally able to relax.
Episode Recap
Warning Spoilers!
The episode opens with a doorbell at the front door of the Heelers' house. It's Uncle Rad who then does a small trick: as Bingo answers the door and finds nobody there, he surprises her from the armchair he hid behind earlier. After playing around with the kids, which involves apparently mistaking Bingo for Bluey and having to be corrected that the latter is a girl, he confirms the kids that he will be putting them to bed tonight. Bluey is not happy about this fact, but just as his Uncle Rad assures her, Frisky, Bluey's godmother, arrives at the front door.
The two lock eyes briefly, with Rad seeming stunned while Frisky seems amused. It turns out that she has not gotten the message that Uncle Rad called in the last minute asking to babysit. However, just as she is about to leave after realizing the mistake, the kids insist that she stay. The girls plead for both her and Rad to babysit them, to which the latter agrees.
The babysitters and the kids give the parents a goodbye as they leave, and Bluey only lets out a sad "bye". When asked why she isn't keen on babysitter putdowns, she says that she had one before and didn't like it, and says it's just too "different". Her uncle assures her that this putdown will be the same as how her parents do it, although Bluey argues that she doesn't know them as well as her parents. However, Rad and Frisky state that that is why they need to know them better, with a game of 20 questions.
The game leads Rad and Frisky to discover that they have some things in common (namely they both use almond milk shampoo and both hope to have children), but also leads to some embarrassment. After the girls question why Rad isn’t married, and learn that Frisky is no longer with her old boyfriend, Rad suggests that they play a backyard game. However, he is utterly baffled when they rattle off the names of several of their usual games. This time Frisky comes to his rescue, grabbing his keys so the girls can use them in a game of "torch mouse".
After the adults play the part of cats for a bit, it’s time for the girls to clean their teeth. Bluey still isn’t sure about babysitter putdowns, so Rad decides to help her. Holding her upside down so she can stand on the ceiling, he demonstrates that strange experiences can become enjoyable if you give them time. Bingo soon wants in on the fun, but Frisky isn’t quite as strong as Rad and falls down.
Next comes story time, with Rad playing the part of a dragon-punching prince. However, the princess Frisky isn’t interested in being rescued. When asked why, she claims that the prince will probably go looking for another princess the next chance he gets. When Rad offers to “wake up” the dragon, though, she changes her tune.
She attempts to finish the story with the prince having saved the princess, but the girls insist that the characters get married, a development that quite pleases Uncle Rad. Bingo soon drops off to sleep, but Bluey surprises Frisky by asking if she plans to watch TV after Bluey goes to bed. Rad, overhearing this, realizes that his mom must have been the last babysitter to put Bluey and Bingo down at night. Chris' poor hearing and her choice of programming scared Bluey, thus leading to her current dislike of babysitter putdowns.
Frisky encourages her to give it another try, and Bluey agrees, settling down to sleep holding Frisky’s hand. She wakes up during the night, and finds that Rad and Frisky have gone outside. Not only are they not watching loud and scary TV, but Frisky seems to have taken her own advice about not letting a past bad experience hold her back anymore. After briefly listening to the pair talking about their common favorite shampoo, Bluey happily returns to bed.
Appearances
Characters
- Bluey Heeler
- Bingo Heeler
- Radley Heeler (debut)
- Chilli Heeler
- Frisky (debut)
- Bandit Heeler (doesn't speak)
- Jenny (mentioned)
- Bosco (mentioned)
- Chris Heeler (mentioned)
- Mort Cattle (pictured)
Trivia
- This episode first premiered on ABC Kids in October 2020 as one of several sneak peaks, the other ones being Bin Night, Burger Shop and Mr Monkeyjocks.[citation needed]
- This episode was the one-hundredth episode to have been completed in the production order of the show (the forty-eight in the second season).
- This episode reveals that Bandit has a second brother (alongside Stripe); however the order in which the brothers were born would not be known until Fairytale.
- Radley was first revealed in a photo that appears in the background in "Charades".
- Rad would later be seen with Frisky in Christmas Swim, but is yet to reappear again afterward.
- The episode takes place over one evening, beginning from just after sunset (civil twilight) to nighttime.
- When Uncle Rad jokingly mistakes the girls for each other, Rad states, "Oh yeah, 'cause he's blue." with Bluey responding, "I'm a girl!" This is a nod to the frequent mistake a wide ranging number of viewers make when viewing the show, misgendering many characters, including Bluey herself as male.
- When Bluey makes this remark, you can also noticeably see Chilli silently laughing to herself, as if this is a frequent occurrence.
- The way in which Rad is holding Bingo, by just holding on with one hand onto one leg, would hint that Rad himself is childfree, as he would most likely be taking a more cautious approach to holding Bingo.
- The moment when Bluey says "Not hooray" (in response to Rad declaring he will be babysitting the sisters for the evening), the background music stops. Additionally, as soon as Frisky comes to the door, the same music, but with a different instrument, begins playing. It is at the moment that the two are introduced to each other that both separate instruments are moulded together.
- This is the second episode (after Barky Boats, also in the second season) where on the title card, an adult character says, "This episode of Bluey is called [episode title]", instead of a child character. In this episode's case, Uncle Rad says the episode's title.
- Briefly during the shot of Bandit and Chilli leaving:
- You can see where Rad had drifted into a parking position on the pavement and grass verge (an illegal position in Queensland), as opposed to Frisky's car being parked neatly parallel to the pavement.
- Rad's car has a bumper sticker on the back. This could be a reference to the brand Fox Racing, to the Sly Cooper video games, or a dog version of the classic grey alien.
- An Aussie Football (with a muddy footprint on it), being stuck in the gutter on the roof.
- The depth of the Heelers house, being much longer length wise than Wendy's House who lives next door.
- The hopscotch (seen originally in Fairies) is still on the road).
- You can see where Rad had drifted into a parking position on the pavement and grass verge (an illegal position in Queensland), as opposed to Frisky's car being parked neatly parallel to the pavement.
- As Frisky suggests, that the four of them play Twenty Questions, Bingo puts on a pose showing her support. However, in the next scene where they are all sitting down in the playroom, she still holds this pose.
- When Frisky retrieves Rads keys to play "Torch-Mouse", Rad slightly jumps from Frisky grabbing them.
- The characters, dogs with no clothes having non-visible pockets, is a somewhat frequent feature on the show, appearing in other episodes such as Shops.
- In the twilight shot of the horizon, the illuminated TV Towers on Mount Coot-tha, located west of Brisbane's CBD and an iconic symbol of the skyline of the area, can be seen. Mount Coot-tha would appear later in The Sign as a prominent location.
- This is the first time a print of some stones can be seen in the hallway next to the bathroom, which hints at Bandit's interest and profession in archaeology (which a short was made of).
- Next to where Bluey is sitting upside down, a smoke alarm is seen, also on the ceiling.
- The dragon plush colors is similar to the prototype colors of Spyro from the video game of the same name for the PS1.
- When Bluey is in bed and explains why she is unsure of babysitter putdowns, she answers "yes" three times. The same audio clip is used for the second and third "yes."
- In the shot with Frisky and Rad on the balcony, four stars, brighter than the others, can be seen in the background. Considering the position of both Brisbane (the shows setting) and the direction of the house itself, this is most likely The Southern Cross.
- Additionally, as Bluey returns to bed, and just as the episode ends, a shooting star can be seen.
- Frisky is credited as "Aunt Frisky", though she is only referred to as "Frisky" or "Fairy Godmother" in the episode. This is apparently a term of endearment for a family friend, as she is not known to be related to the Heelers by birth or marriage as of this episode. She is first called "Aunt Frisky" by Chilli in Christmas Swim.
- Long Dog: There are two long dogs in this episode. They appear together at the same time, side by side: one appears to have the same hairstyle as Frisky and the other has the same hair as Rad. They can be seen in the balcony shot at the end of the episode, where Rad and Frisky are talking alone; they are somewhat difficult to see as they are the same colour as the floorboards, plus the darkness of the surroundings.
- When this episode aired on Disney Channel in the US, it was paired with Ice Cream and Bad Mood.
- On this episode's page on the official website, the character section has Chilli holding a hockey stick.[2]
- ↑ 23rd August 2021 (Disney Junior (Latin America))
- ↑ https://www.bluey.tv/watch/season-2/double-babysitter/