Liv Dunleavy
Staff Writer
Bluey is back, bigger and better than ever in her newest episode, “The Sign.” With terrifying foreshadowing from the previous episode, “Ghostbasket,” comes a tear-jerking, cry-laughing, wondrous 28-minute-long episode that brings out the best of our favorite classic “Bluey” characters.
In the episode prior, we are reunited with “Bluey” fan-favorite characters, Janet and Rita, our adored grannies, or Bluey and Bingo in disguise. We get to see what might be a game or bit that they play, where Bandit (their father) plays a real estate agent, selling a beautiful home to Chilli (their mom), a potential buyer.
Throughout the episode the grannies are up to hijinks trying to dissuade the potential buyer from saying yes to the house. They pull a stunt pretending to be a ghost-basket that’s haunting the house. At the very end of the episode, the camera pans across the front yard, where a “For Sale” sign is seen.
This set the internet aflame, with “Bluey” fans all over the world asking the question, “Is this the end?”
The newest episode, “The Sign,” has a twisting weaving plot that focuses around two major events in the Heeler family’s life - their Uncle Rad and Aunt Frisky’s marriage and the loss of their childhood home.
The fear of leaving your childhood home is one that many kids have experienced in one way or another. But what we don’t realize as children is how hard it is on the parents as well, having to leave the home they raised their babies in. This is a dilemma Chilli and Bandit experience throughout the episode.
For the “Bluey” inept out there, this episode is a culmination of everything we have been experiencing throughout the last three seasons. “Bluey” is a show that makes even the grownest of men cry and learn that maybe we all needed a Chilli and a Bandit in our lives growing up.
The Easter eggs placed strategically throughout the episode do wonders for fan service, calling out small details from previous episodes that the audience caught on about, and bringing them to life. It makes this episode a little bit more bearable through the tears.
If you are familiar with “Bluey,” you might recognise Bluey’s kindergarten teacher, Calypso, and understand that she is a voice of reason and wisdom in most episodes. In “The Sign,” Calypso reads a brief short story to the children, with the message of “we’ll see” as the underlying theme.
This message gives a ray of hope to not only the viewer but also Bluey, as she now is under the assumption that everything will work out in the end.
There are so many developments to follow - cousin Socks can talk now! Frisky and Rad are getting married! What’s this about Bandit’s new job?
With a roller coaster ride of emotion, you might feel so moved as to pause and take a deep breath. But we must continue onward as the fun is just beginning. We arrive at our second main plot point, a pivotal point in our journey through “The Sign.”
The girls are on a mission to save the day and get rid of that horrible “For Sale” sign! They embark on their journey, and we get a sweet, sweet taste of insane cousin Muffin, my spirit animal.
Following their target, hot on their scent, they retrieve clues during each of their endeavors. It was so refreshing to see the girls’ character development, and I was stuck on Sock’s age jump for like half the episode.
“Bluey’s” official social media accounts have been posting small snippets and sneak peaks for weeks leading up to the episode, and being able to follow those to their place in the episode was so rewarding, and understanding each of the “signs” was so heartwarming.
This is not the type of show that is for the weak-hearted. This show will tear you apart and build you back up and do it over and over. I never expected this episode to be as deep and gut-wrenching as it was. You can tell that the creators know their audience.
“Bluey” is not just a children’s television show - this is a show for those of us who did not have the encapsulating, undying, enveloping warmth of a childhood that is the Heeler family.
But nothing is as rewarding as seeing the story unfold. If you haven’t already, I implore you to watch “Bluey’s” newest episode, and feel your heart explode with emotion.
Is this the end of “Bluey?”
I guess we’ll see.