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"But I love my dog teeth!" |
Explorers is the fifteenth episode of the third season of Bluey.
Synopsis
While waiting to be picked up from school, Jack plays at being a sailor trying to find his way back home to Australia. Meanwhile, Jack's Dad has got lost on route to collect him.
While waiting to be picked up after school, Jack, Rusty, Bluey and Coco are playing as sailors travelling to Australia. But when Jack's the last one to be picked up, he has to sail the seas alone.
Although Jack doesn't know the way back to land, he refuses to give up! Meanwhile, Jack's Dad embarks on a similar solo journey; after his phone dies, Jack's Dad must navigate to Jack's school without Satnav.
Both facing equal struggles, Jack and Jack's Dad refuse to give up during their journey through unfamiliar land. Finally, Jack sails back to Australia where Jack's Dad is waiting to pick him up! [1]
Episode Recap
Warning Spoilers!
After finishing their discovery of Antarctica, Rusty, Jack, Coco, and Bluey set sail to return to their homeland, Australia. Jack asks Rusty if he could be the sailor who scrubs the deck. The journey is long and dangerous, to everybody's surprise. Mid-speech, however, Rusty's mum calls him to be picked up. He promotes Jack to Captain (as he was standing closest) and promises that they'll make if it they just keep going in the right direction.
Meanwhile, Jack's dad is en route to the school. Lulu notices a kangaroo crossing sign and asks why they never see any, but Jack's dad isn't sure. The Sat Nav then gives instructions to the route but then disaster strikes: the phone runs out of battery and shuts down. Having only recently moved to Queensland, and this being only the second time he's visited Jack's school, they are now lost.
Back on the boat to Australia, Bluey asks Jack what to do, and he suggests Bluey do something with the sails and Coco steer. Coco is called by the mum and, despite Rusty's warning to look out, she hits a coral reef and is washed away.
Spotting a strawberry farm with workers, Jack's dad pulls over to ask for directions, but it turns out the workers are backpackers, and don't know the area either. One has a phone, but there's no reception this far out. Regardless, Jack's dad still buys a punnet of strawberries for Lulu before heading off again.
Jack has finished repairing the boat after its collision but, to his dismay, Bluey has been captured by a giant octopus, signalling that she too has to go. A disappointed Jack is now alone, and without supplies, trying to make the journey home.
Jack's dad finds a gas station but the owner, Maynard, got rid of his phone because he was sick of people calling. He agrees to draw a map for the cost of one of Lulu's strawberries, but Jack's dad has driven pretty far off-course. He asks if there's a faster way, but Maynard is hesitant, saying it's a “bit of a bush road” and Jack's dad looks like a bit of a “city fella”.
Finding the short cut, Jack's dad steels himself and takes off down the winding, hilly dirt road. The journey is rough and bumpy, bouncing Lulu's strawberries all about the car, and the car getting very dirty. They cross a grassy clearing where, to Lulu's delight, they get to see a mob of kangaroos.
As Jack's dad is arriving back at the road to the school, their destination in sight, Jack notices a flock of cockatoos and realises he's almost home. Pretending to make landfall, Jack crawls from the boat, gasping he never gave up. His dad approaches, having finally made it after also not giving up, and praises Jack's determination as Lulu offers him a strawberry.Appearances
- Jack
- Jack's Dad
- Rusty
- Coco
- Bluey
- Rusty's Mum (debut)
- Lulu
- Bella
- Argentinean Backpacker
- French Backpacker
- Bandit
- Maynard
- Calypso
- Coco's Siblings (cameo/physical debut)
- Mackenzie (cameo)
- Mackenzie's Dad (cameo)
- Winton (cameo)
- Cornelius (cameo)
- Indy (cameo)
- Pretzel (cameo)
- The Terriers (cameo)
- Honey (cameo)
- Daisy (cameo)
- Chloe (cameo)
- Frank (cameo)
- Snickers (cameo)
- Snickers' Mum (cameo)
Trivia
- Jack's sister's name is revealed to be Lulu.
- Rusty's Mum makes her physical debut this episode.
- Jack's family car is animated through cel-shaded CGI.
- It is revealed that Jack and his family are from Victoria; this can be shown on the number plate shown on his family's car.
- Jack's Father realises that the bush road he needs to travel on is suitable only to cars with Four-Wheel Drive (4WD), while he has an all-wheel drive (AWD). The difference between the two is that 4WD is where power is provided to both car axels at the discretion of the driver, while AWD is when an onboard computer designates the amount of power given to each wheel (and is often found in newer cars as well)
- Jack proclaims he's been at "sea" for 102 days. This is nearly 3.5 months (or 14 weeks and 4 days), much longer than the six weeks Rusty said it would take, though Jack probably just picked a big number.
- Bandit's role of the octopus returns from a previous episode, Octopus.
- The petrol station in which Jack's Dad found Maynard has pricing per litre for roughly AU$1.449 per litre (or each litre costs 144.9 cents). This is roughly £0.60 or €0.70 per litre, or roughly US$6.58 per gallon.
- The various "disasters" that befall Rusty's/Jack's crew as the journey continues, the poor "planning", and the gratuitous "loss of life", mimics early Australian-British attempts to reach the South Pole.
- Long Dog: The long dog in the episode is light brown with a darker brown spot and nose. It is wearing a beanie and holding a strawberry, and is visible only when Maynard asks "You don't know the way to your son's school?" It is on top of the bait shelf behind Maynard.
- The combination of a beanie and strawberry brings together both Jack and his Dad/Lulu's goals.
- Explorers is the second episode to feature strawberries in its title card, the first being Born Yesterday.
- When this episode aired on Disney Channel in the US, it was paired with Housework and Sheep Dog.
- Error: In the scene where Lulu and her dad are driving on the off-road track, immediately before the drifting turns, Lulu laughs but her animation while in the window seat is frozen.
Censorship
- When Lulu and her dad pull into the strawberry fields, he talks to the pickers, one of which (the male Bulldog) has a thick French accent. The bulldog's line “and I'm from France” (the original ABC version) was changed to “we're backpackers” for the Disney Plus version. The reasoning is unclear, though perhaps as to give reasoning as to why the backpackers were located in the field. The DisneyNOW and Disney Jr. screenings, and the wider international/BBC dubs, and all dubs in other languages (including those on Disney+) do not have this edit.