The Decider

"I like capsicum salad!" The international version of this episode contains script changes to make the episode more intelligible to international audiences.

Episode

Gallery

Script

The Decider
Airdate	June 23, 2022 July 12, 2023 (US)
Created and Written by	Joe Brumm
Cast	Dave McCormack (Bandit) Melanie Zanetti (Chilli) Brad Elliott (Pat) Anna Daniels (Janelle) Richard Jeffery (Mackenzie's Dad) Ray Warren (Commentator) Johnathan Thurston (Commentator) Gordon Bray (Commentator)
Credits
Producers	Libbie Doherty (Executive-ABC) Henrietta Hurford-Jones (Executive-BBC Studios) Richard Jeffery (Series Director) Charlie Aspinwall (Executive Producer) Daley Pearson (Executive Producer) Sam Moor
Music & Sound	Joff Bush (Music) Gabriella Cowan (Music) Jazz D'Arcy (Composer Assistant) Dan Brumm (Sound Design & Mixer) Dave Champion (Recording Engineer)
Production	Andy Blazdell (Technical Advisor) Simon Lipowicz (Technical Advisor) Lauren Brown (Manager) Rhiannon Steffensen (Manager) Chloe Hume (Assistant Producer) Sasha Folker (Assistant Producer) Jessica Magro (Assistant Producer)
Designers	Costa Kassab (Lead Art Director) Alice Walsh (Art Director) Rob Smyth (Lead) Jake Bresanello Owain Emanuel Jasmine Moody (Storyboard)
Background Artists	Nick Rees (Lead) Jemma Bayley Rob Corless Daniela Hammer Salem Jacobin
Animation	Beth Harvey (Director) Seb Davis (Lead) Chris Bennett Danika Catchpole Max Gibson Kathleen Hirst Madeleine Parker-Hill Dan Smith
VFX	Francis Stanton (Lead) Nicole Clowes Daniel Sun
Editors/Post-Production	Josef Switak (Editor) Grant Sundin (Online Editor) Anthony Pham (Assistant Editor) Reezy Miller (Post Production Scripts) Chop Shop Post (Post Production)
Other Staff	Daniel Schultz (Production Accountant) Jenny Lalor (Production Lawyer)
Episode Guide
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Following	Cubby

The Decider is the thirty-seventh episode of the third season of Bluey.

Synopsis

• ABC
• Bluey.tv

The Heelers and Lucky’s family get together to watch the big game!

Lucky’s Dad, Lucky and Chucky have come over to the Heelers’ house to watch a rugby final together. Everyone at the Heelers is supporting the Maroons, but Lucky’s Mum has stayed at home next door to support the Blues.

Chucky asks Bluey to help him choose which side he should support. After flip flopping between the two teams in the first half, Chucky finally decides to support his dad’s team.

His Mum feels sad but stoically accepts his choice. A few days later, Chucky’s family and Bluey’s family unite to support one team, when Australia faces New Zealand in an international!

Episode Recap

Warning Spoilers! ->

It's time for the big game! This episode starts with Bluey and Bingo playing with a projector screen out in the back garden. Shortly afterwards, Lucky's family (aside from his mum) arrive; Pat and Lucky are wearing maroon shirts. Pat asks where Bandit is; soon, he makes his grand entrance, going all out by literally dyeing his blue fur maroon. He, Lucky and Pat are all barracking for the Maroons tonight.

Pat asks where Chilli is; she is at the game with Bluey's fairy godmother Frisky and Trixie. Shortly before the game starts, Janelle, who barracks for the Blues, proclaims to the Heelers and the other Labradors that "WE'RE GONNA FLOG YA!" - in response, Bandit and Pat start booing at her. However, Chucky scolds his dad for booing at his mum.

The game kicks off. Bingo is sitting in front of the screen waiting for Chilli to show up. Bluey tells Chucky that she's on the maroon team despite being blue herself; she adds that it confuses her. Chucky tells Bluey that he's gold; Bluey wonders if there's a gold team, but Chucky says there isn't. The maroon team scores a point, which sends Bandit and Pat yelling and dancing smugly in Janelle's face; Janelle is clearly not having it right now. However, soon enough, the commentator announces that someone on the maroon team cheated and there's "no try" - this causes an uproar from the dads and Lucky. Janelle calls the maroons "a bunch of cheats!" After a few goals from the blue team, Bluey and Chucky go over to Janelle's house. She isn't pleased that there's a maroon supporter in her house, but she lets it slide and gives Bluey and Chucky popcorn. After the blue team scores a goal, she hugs Chucky really tight. However, soon afterward, the maroon team proceeds to score a point, with Chucky pointing out that now the other team is dancing.

As the match goes into half-time, the two families have ordered pizzas and are back together again. Janelle asks Chucky if he's going to watch a bit of the game between both parents, which Lucky is annoyed about. After a bit of pondering, Chucky reluctantly makes the decision to support the maroons - a decision that Janelle is disappointed by, but supports nonetheless. The game comes to an end with the maroons winning, everyone with the exception of Bingo - who had fallen asleep earlier - and Janelle, whose team had just lost, are cheering and wagging their tails. Janelle sadly turns off her TV and goes to bed, crushed, as Bingo wakes up at the moment Chilli, Trixie and Frisky appear on the screen, waving. Bingo, now happy she's seen her mum, cousin and fairy godmother on the screen, waves back at them before drifting off again.

The next day, the two familes converge at the Heeler house - there is a Gold team, and both the Heelers and Labradors are barracking for it!... except Bluey's close friend Mackenzie, who barracks for the other team. Oops. Once Mackenzie and his family pass by Bluey's street, the Heelers and Lucky, in response to the Border Collies announcing such, announce that "We're gonna flog ya!" The game begins, and the episode finishes with the gold team scoring a point and both of Chucky's parents hugging their youngest son.

Appearances

• The Labrador Family
  • Chucky
  • Lucky
  • Pat
  • Janelle
• The Heeler Family
  • Bluey
  • Bingo
  • Bandit
  • Chilli
  • Trixie
  • Frisky Heeler
• The Border Collie Family
  • Mackenzie's Dad
  • Mackenzie's Mum
  • Mackenzie

Trivia

• This is the second sports-related Bluey episode after "Obstacle Course", and the first of two (including Cricket) to be released regarding a specific sporting event.
  • The episode aired during the 2022 State of Origin Series, a set of three rugby league matches played between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues. These are often considered to be the pinnacle of Australian Rugby League, arguably more important than international competition.
• Because Janelle barracks for the Blues, it is assumed to be that she is from New South Wales.
• This is the only episode where Trixie appears without Stripe, Muffin, and Socks and Frisky appears without Radley.
• The end of the episode shows an international rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia (in green and gold) and the All Blacks of New Zealand. Matches between the Wallabies and All Blacks are usually played in an annual series to win the Bledisloe Cup. As of 2022, the All Blacks have won the Cup 50 times, including the recent 2022 match, while the Wallabies have won the Cup 12 times, with their last win in 2002.
  • Although New Zealand are the All Blacks, Mackenzie's Dad said "Go the Kiwis!" In real life, the Kiwis play rugby league as opposed to rugby union.
    • Despite this, the Australian jerseys are mostly gold, just like the Wallabies, as opposed to the Kangaroos having mostly green jerseys, so this would have to be a rugby union game.
    • "Kiwi" is also an unofficial demonym for a New Zealander. It is likely that the show chose to use that since "All Blacks" is a registered trademark of New Zealand Rugby.
• The episode features the guest voices of legendary NRL commentator Ray Warren, former halfback for Queensland and the North Queensland Cowboys (NRL), Johnathan Thurston, and longtime Australian rugby union commentator Gordon Bray.
• The phrase “We’re gonna flog ya” is a common Australian phrase for people watching the football/rugby games when one or more people supporting their favourite team just to say that to the other people supporting the other team.
  • In the United States version of the episode, the phrase was replaced with "We're gonna beat ya!"
  • This is peculiar as "Obstacle Course" went unedited.
• This episode is one of two mid-season finales of Season 3 (the other being Fairytale), with this episode being grouped in batch 3B.
• For eight and a half months (June 2022 - April 2023) this was the most recent episode available to the public.
• On the official website page for the episode, the character section has Bandit wearing body paint and Pat, Janelle, and Lucky wearing sports jerseys.

References