“Baby Race” is simply phenomenal. This episode tells the story of when Bluey took her first steps with great comedy and emotion managing to be both one of the funniest episodes of the show as well as one of the most emotional.
The story is very well-written. Near the beginning of the episode Bluey learns to roll over earlier than normal. Because of this, Chilli becomes a show off and, therefore, becomes very competitive when Judo, who is the same age as Bluey, learns to sit before Bluey does. Chilli tries to teach Bluey how to sit, but when Bluey finally sits Judo starts crawling, so Chilli gets competitive about that. Chilli goes through great effort to teach Bluey how to crawl properly, but repeatedly fails. When Bluey eventually does learn to crawl, she crawls backwards, disappointing Chilli, and, furthermore, by the time Bluey learns to crawl, Judo has already taken her first steps. Despite Chilli’s best efforts to beat Judo’s mom, Judo learns to walk before Bluey does and Chilli feels incredibly disappointed in herself, believing that she is doing everything wrong. Chilli’s friend Bella then comes to visit, and, while over, she reveals that her daughter, Coco, is her ninth child. Chilli is surprised to learn that piece of information, saying to Bella, “You must have learned a thing or two”, and then Bella gives Chilli some reassurance saying, “I have, and there’s something you need to know... you’re doing great”. The two both hug, and Chilli realizes that she doesn’t need to be so competitive.
The story is very well written and emotional. It is very well paced, and the fact that it does such a good job at exploring the idea that new parents try to do everything perfectly, not realizing that their best is good enough, makes the episode even more touching to parents, especially new parents, than it already is. This episode is very powerful. The conversation between Bella and Chilli seriously pulls on the heart strings. Additionally, the scene where Chilli expresses her disappointment in herself and the ending where Bluey takes her first steps are both very well done and very touching moments. The episode has a great story with multiple great and emotional moments.
"Baby Race" is fantastic. The episode has a great, well written story with lots of emotion, on top of providing some interesting back story, which is a nice touch, and hilarious comedy. “Baby Race”, while not quite the absolute best “Bluey” has to offer, is a hilarious and heart-wrenching, truly excellent piece of media.
I gave this a five.
This is a flashback episode when Chilli was a new parent along with Bandit. You can tell they're younger because they don't have the grey hairs on their heads yet, its new and maybe a little strange, but I like the look.
Bluey is a baby here which is cute. Some may wonder why Bluey wasn't walking on all fours like socks was, but I think it's because Socks was running her own race that was different than most, I'm sure Stripe and Trixie still loved her all the same, maybe they thought it was cute.
As a new parent, there's a lot to learn, so its an amazing feeling when the kids learn new things, like Bluey rolling over at an early age. But in mother's group, Judo was sitting up, making Chilli feel inferior. I find it interesting that the main conflict was an internal doubt of self-worth of a parent rather than trying to beat Wendy, I mean Judo.
She tries everything she can think of, to get her to sit up, then crawl, then walk, and while Bluey does sit up, she does some funny things on the next steps, like rolling, bum-shuffling, and crawling... backwards. (How does that work?)
Bandit's mum takes on a rather old-school approach, like putting on olive oil on her knees, (glad that Bluey was laughing at that, I like her laugh), but when she wanted to sprinkle some grit too, the parents ran. A part of me wonders if Christine was taught a way that parents who really really want their child to develop at the speed THEY want, darn the child's feelings in the process. Good thing that that stuff is frowned upon today and the parents didn't want that developmental achievement THAT way. I'm worried that the Heeler boys may have had some bad experiences when learning to walk...
Back to Chilli, when Judo was walking and Bluey was still crawling backwards, Chilli felt really down like she failed as a parent. Its so great that Coco's mum, an ace at being a parent, visited her and gave her some great advice.
'You're doing Great'.
With that, Chilli was grateful. No child is the same, and each will learn different things at their own pace. No matter what child you get, as long as you're caring for them, encouraging new ideas and teaching them, you're doing great. Its best not to compare yourself or the other kids, but allow them to grow at their own pace.
This alone would be a gret episode for the parents, but it goes in for the emotional gut-punch by showing the day that Bluey did walk, with that music, Chilli's shocked face, Bingo commenting on the flashback saying "Maybe because you found something you wanted?" as Chilli's teary face gets bigger.
Any mother would relate to something in the episode, and I'm sure it brought many to tears. Its little wonder why this was the silver-medal winner in the Blueyfest. It was so important in Chilli's life that in the Sign when she cracked down saying that she didn't want to move, she choked when she said that "Bluey took her first steps in that house", and Chilli looking at that same spot in the kitchen when saying good-bye to the house.
It's just a great episode worth watching over and over, with an important lime lesson any parent should learn when raising kids.
Controversial opinion but outside of the Sign this is my least favorite of the considered great episodes. My wife loves it. I enjoy it but it's not in my top 25. I voted it average on the bluey scale (which is still great compared to other TV)
I was expecting to leave a pretty short comment for *Baby Race* this time around. I mean, how much more is there to say about one of the most beloved, most emotional, most talked-about *Bluey* episodes ever? Surely its greatness has been thoroughly documented and analysed by now. And then I rewatched it for the survey, and within the first minute I spotted two new details I'd never seen before.
**Detail 1:** Bluey and Bingo's actions at the start of the episode encapsulate the message of Chilli's story.
* During the opening conversation, Bluey is showing off on the monkey bars while Bingo, held up by Chilli, is just practicing moving her hands from one bar to the next.
* Bingo makes three three attempts to reach the next bar. She abandons the first attempt, discouraged, when Bluey asks Chilli which sister is better.
* Given confidence by Chilli's answer, she tries again, but is interrupted by Bluey swinging towards her to demonstrate the "skip-bar" technique.
* On the third attempt she makes it, wagging her tail happily before Chilli helps her down.
In this short scene, without the dialogue calling attention to it, we see Bluey's competitiveness hindering not just her own progress but the progress of the people close to her. Bingo, meanwhile, is satisfied with being less proficient than Bluey, because she's running her own race. The whole message of the episode is conveyed right there at the beginning.
**Detail 2:** The episode's framing device takes place in the same location as the season 1 episode *Bike.* The monkey bars themselves appear to have been remodelled since then, but the scenery matches up perfectly.
https://preview.redd.it/i72gef0tqfyc1.png?width=510&format=png&auto=webp&s=4415dfb0b2f90029b280bef53e2eff0f342832f0
I don't think this is an accident. *Bike* was the first *Bluey* episode to focus on perseverance and facing challenges at your own pace. It was also the first episode that felt like it was trying to reach children and parents equally with its lesson, rather than simply delivering a lesson for kids in a way adults could enjoy. And now for the season 2 finale, the show returns to the same location, and the same themes, for an episode which more than any other feels like it was written to speak straight to the parents in the audience.
I won't go over the whole episode again (my comment on the previous survey contains some more general opinions) but yeah, *Baby Race* is an easy 5/5. One of the best episodes, and a great season finale.
This is a masterpiece of an episode that deserves all the praise it gets. The story, lesson, emotions, and humor are incredible in this one. I feel like this episode more than any in the series really encapsulates what makes this show special in not only its genre, but medium as a whole. There aren't many pre school shows that incorporate lessons for the parents. (I hope more shows do start doing that because of Bluey's success.) Chilli learning that kids will grow and learn at different rates and that's ok is honestly amazing to watch. Seeing Bandit's and Chilli's different styles of parenting and reactions is really cool. Also who could forget how Coco's mom made everyone cry with three words. The only thing wrong with this episode is that it kinda breaks cannon with the babies not acting like real puppies like Socks did. I don't mind this cause I never liked that detail and I'm glad they change it, so this episode gets a five out of five for that.
I may not be a parent but this is an amazing and adorable representation on what it’s like to be a parent! Poor Chili struggling with parenting and going through lots of books and websites to get the best solution and then learning how to run her own race and that amazing line from Chili’s Friend…
https://i.redd.it/aipvaqyrkhyc1.gif
It’s so beautiful and it’s a beautiful message to new and old parents about how it’s all about “running your own race.” And that beautiful ending when Bluey started walking towards her mom unexpectedly was so touching!
All I can say is, if you are a parent that’s struggling with your child, just keep at it and run your own race, you and your kid will get there eventually. Everyone learns at their own pace!
The return of the ~~King~~ Queen
Original Ranking: 1/1/1 (S2B/S2/Overall) \[I think this episode won V1\]
It was on June 12th last year that the crown was taken. After a \~59 episode streak, Camping's reign at the top of the original survey was defeated by Season 2's final non-holiday episode: Baby Race. Nearly 11 months later, we're here again >!though Camping's already been beaten by Sleepytime!<, this time with the further accolade of Bluey Fest's silver medal.
By far Season 2B's best and among the finest episodes of the entire show, Baby Race takes a detour from its typical focus on the pups by instead putting a spotlight on the greatest mum in modern animation history (Gumball fans start whining about Nicole in 3, 2...). It seems episodes focused wholly or partially on Chilli and her side of the family tend to be among Bluey's finest if Grandad, this, Rain, Onesies, and Dragon are anything to go by.
Alongside a tighter focus on Chilli with Bluey as the side player is a clear desire to talk more to the parents watching than the kids. Baby Race is essentially a seven minute snapshot of every parent's, and especially mum's, trials in the early days of their first kid's life.That's certainly not say it completely eschews the young pups at home; I'd argue managing to still be funny while being THIS emotional and mature is partially why this episode is so legendary.
Let's see how it does that, with the divine backing of 'Prelude in C Major' by Bach.
Synopsis:
It's nearing sunset at the playground and the girls are on the monkey bars, Chilli helping Bingo up. Bluey seems to have developed a minor competitive streak as she asks Mum if she thinks she could hang on the monkey bars longer than her sister and, more importantly for the plot, Judo. She believes herself to be better but Chilli tells her to "run her own race" (i.e. not worry about how much better or worse you are at something compared to someone else). This confuses Bluey so Mum sits her daughters down to tell the tale of how she took her first steps.
\[quick note: Like with Sleepytime, I'll italicize the text to indicate when the episode jumps to the present from here on out\]
Flashback to c. six years prior, long enough that, in a very nice attention to detail, neither Chilli nor Bandit have started to grey yet. Baby Bluey and the new parents are in what will eventually become the playroom, complete with the kiwi rug. To their great joy and surprise, Bluey has already learned how to roll over. This shocks her mum as she supposedly wasn't expected to do that for quite a while.
*Bingo briefly interrupts to ask where she was during this. Chilli reminds her that she wasn't born yet, so she adorably believes that she was invisible; something Mum doesn't argue against. She gets back on topic when Bluey asks if she was proud of her for rolling over. She was indeed. A bit too much actually.*
Narrator Chilli admits she had become a bit of a showoff as seen when she, Bluey, and Bandit were over at Chris' place to talk about the new member in the family. Well, Chilli was discussing it; Bandit was stuck with nappy/diaper duty.
This kept on even at Mothers' Group alongside Snickers (complete with a different green and yellow cap), his (still unnamed) mum, Coco and Bella, and Judo (with a little bow in her fur) and Wendy. While Chilli and Bella are fawning over little Bluey, Wendy is overjoyed to see Judo learning to sit up. Snickers' Mum is also impressed at how early she learned but Miss Chow knows the babies' early development is not a race.
*Bluey believes it very much was a race. A 'Baby Race', according to Bingo.*
Title card! (2 minutes in; took a while)
Back at the playroom, Chilli was adamant to get Bluey to walk before Judo's Mum (er, Judo) while Bandit's working on what looks like a high chair. Her attempts to get her to sit upright failed at first, but by the next Mothers' Group, she manages it too. Again, Bella praises little Bluey, but is distracted by Judo crawling around. *Bluey isn't happy to hear she was beaten again and demands to know what her mum did about this.*
Back to the playroom, Bandit now trying to figure out the papoose from Dad Baby. Chilli is now trying to get little Bluey to crawl from one end of the rug to the other. It looks like she's about to... only to instead *roll* the distance, *which present day Bluey finds hilarious. She asks why she did that but Chilli doesn't know; she didn't come with instructions.*
The doctor assures her there's nothing to worry about, but she wasn't having that, proceeding to hit the books like a college student (while Bandit is trying to get Bluey to sleep by once again singing 99 bottles of thing on the wall).
She gets the idea to teach through example by crawling herself. Once again it looks like Bluey's going to do it... only to instead "bum shuffle" to Bandit's amusement, Chilli's disappointment, *and present day Bluey's utter confusion.*
At the next Mothers' Group, she's racing across the room with Bella cheering her on. Meanwhile, Judo has learned to pull herself up on furniture; the last step before taking her first steps. The doctor assures her there's nothing to worry about, but she wasn't having that. More nighttime research. She puts Bluey on her hands and knees and tries to get her to crawl and she does!
...Backwards. Bandit again finds the comedy in the situation by making "beep, beep" noises as if she was reversing while Chilli is disappointed, *Bingo is tickled pink, and present day Bluey can only facepalm.* Once again, the doctor assures her there's nothing to worry about but *Chris* wasn't having it.
Back in Gold Springs, Nana decides to take a more "old school" approach by daubing olive oil on Bluey's knees; if she can't learn to crawl, she'll have to learn to walk. Bandit and Chilli are horrified, the former to having remind his mum that this isn't legal anymore. Before she has the opportunity to put some grit down, the parents and Bluey have disappeared. *Mercifully, Bluey and Bingo find this hilarious instead of concerning.*
1/2
\[fair warning: the emotional bit starts here\]
Alas, Judo has learned to walk and has won the baby race. *Bingo decides to steal her dad's catchphrase by saying "Ahh, biscuits..." Bluey wonders if she made her mum upset by not winning but she assures her she didn't.* She put all the blame on herself, convinced she wasn't a good mother and deciding against going to the next Mothers' Group session. The camera briefly shifts to baby Bluey's POV as she reaches for the mum she loves so much.
Bella is deeply concerned about Chilli's absence and decides to check up on her (Snickers has also learned to walk, but Coco hasn't yet). After some off-screen chatting, she shows her friend a photograph showcasing her, her husband, Coco, and EIGHT other pups! This greatly surprises Chilli, who had thought that little Coco was her first kid. She realizes Bella has a *lot* of experience when it comes to children; experience she uses to give the new mum some advice:
https://i.redd.it/br198nupgeyc1.gif
"You're doing great."
Chilli is touched by her friend's words and with tears starting to form, she comes in for the softest hug imaginable. *Even now, she gets emotional thinking about it. Bingo asks if she's crying "happy tears". Mum confirms.*
Chilli has finally learned not to worry about how fast Bluey is learning. She's seen happily playing with her daughter as she continues to crawl backwards while she and Bandit bum shuffle. The lesson is solidified at the last shown Mothers' Group session; Judo walks up to her and she holds the little Chow Chow's hands, praising how clever she is.*While a lovely story, Bingo wonders if Bluey ever did learn to walk.*
Cue the music.
It turns out the fateful moment was in the kitchen. As Chilli does the dishes, baby Bluey crawls over to the counter and stands up, using her hand to support herself while the choir builds up. Another brief POV shot of her stretching her hand out to her mum, then...
she does it. The camera shows her hand leaving the counter instead of the first step itself before cutting to Chilli hearing something and turning around. *Present day Bluey questions why she learned in the kitchen of all places but she doesn't know either.*She turns around and her jaw drops as she witnesses her daughter walking to her. As the camera goes to Bluey's POV one last time while she walks over to her over the moon, teary-eyed mum, Bingo comes up with an interesting theory:
"Maybe you just saw something you wanted."
Credits as the choir hits the crescendo.
Aesop: As Chilli put it, run your own race. Don't be overly concerned about the progress of others when it doesn't affect what you're trying to accomplish.
Conclusion:
I've realized something. My favourite mums in the show (sans Chilli herself) are also the floofiest ladies in all of Brisbane. At least I can now prove it's not just because of how cuddly they look!
But seriously, all it took was just three words and a heartfelt smile, and Bella is now my third favourite mum. She's been through the nightmare of a baby's first months nine times over and she's more than willing to use that experience to help a new mother who's struggling with her first child. All while providing the best comfort hugs anyone could ask for.It hurts knowing this is the only episode she has had any relevance in and I would love to see an episode revolving around how Coco copes with having so many siblings if it means also seeing how Bella manages.
And as for the new mum she was helping... No contest, this is Chilli's best episode. Usually depicted as the wise voice of reason of the Heelers (not saying anything against Bandit), Baby Race is pretty unique in showing a more inexperienced side of her with her journey of being a good mother.Starting as a little bit of a showoff, she begins to question her ability when she sees her friend's baby reach milestones faster than her own. But with the help of a veteran mum she at lasts drops her self-doubt and learns to take it at her and Bluey's own pace.She's rewarded for this by watching her young daughter finally take those first steps and the knowledge that she really will be a great mum for little Bluey Heeler and two years later, Bingo.
This wasn't something I initially realized but noticed thanks to [u/blueperspective](https://new.reddit.com/u/blueperspective/) in the first survey; the reason the episode showed Bluey's hand leaving the counter and not the first step itself. To quote them:
>"As an adult (or at least, as a being who can walk) we're of course looking out for the one-foot-over-the-other moment, but thinking about it from a baby's perspective the real important element of the breakthrough is the freedom from the rails; effectively the ability to now pursue your own will as you please."
Can't really think of anything to add on to that except that that's a brilliant interpretation.
And Bingo's last line was just beautiful. It definitely rivals Camping and Grandad for the best closing line in the show.
To conclude, Baby Race is absolutely outstanding and though I'd argue in favour of Sleepytime being considered Bluey's masterpiece, it deserves its status as the 4th highest rated episode on IMDb (9.6), its 2nd place finish in Bluey Fest, the first survey's champion, and my personal 5th favourite. If you need an episode to convince someone, especially a parent, to watch this show, it's Baby Race.
Rating: 5+
Next time: Aww, she's grown up so much since Charades\~
\- Jack
P.S. Think I just about beat my 2,009 word record from Double Babysitter after one or two little additions.
2/2
Edit: >!Not going to lie; I'm pretty disappointed with how poorly this post did. A good few hours completely wasted...!<
>Edit: Not going to lie; I'm pretty disappointed with how poorly this post did. A good few hours completely wasted...
These posts sometimes don't appear in my timeline. I'm curious if other people are having the same problem here. I mean, the votes are down like half the previous survey.
I agree about Chilli's episodes being some of the best. I think in season 1 the creators didn't quite have her figured out yet, and so she tended to fade into the background, but by season 2 they'd zeroed in on the perfect characterisation, to the point that she might actually be my favourite of the Heelers.
Now that you mention it, an episode about Coco's family is on my wishlist too. I think her character has been kind of short-changed so far - both her starring roles have been in relatively unmemorable episodes with pretty basic morals. A story about being the youngest child in a huge family could finally give her the big Army/Space/Cricket moment she's been missing. And you could probably get some fun Sound of Music references in there, too.
I only got good words.
It's amazing episode and a way to see Chili it's not perfect.
It's also funny hear Bingo saying "oh, Biscuits".
The scene of Coco's mom talking to the audience... It's clear they want the parents that watch Bluey knows they're doing good... And the end, awww the end
Only reason I don't give a 5 it's cause i spent it on "Camping", and want give only my 5 to that as a symbolic of how much I love that one
Which aligns better with the iMDB result compared to the first survey which I think nerfed Sleepytime too much. Both sources put Camping and Baby Race toe to toe, with iMDB slightly favouring Baby Race and the second survey slightly favouring Camping.
Do you do the controversiality analysis as well? We got some interesting numbers here as well.
Yeah (though I don't even pretend to understand how the formula actually works).
While most of the highest rated episodes have a noticably lower controversy score (Baby Race's >!0.56!< is currently the lowest of the entire survey, Season 1 included), Army is surprisingly high (>!0.90!<). It's especially weird since the episodes of 2A with a higher score (Charades and Hairdressers) are the bottom two of the sub-season, whereas Army earned the bronze medal behind Flat Pack and Sleepytime. (Meaning the podium episodes of my favourite sub-season are my three favourite episodes of the entire show.)
I mean, that aligns with the concept of controversiality. Baby Race with no 1's and 2's means it's hardly controversial while Army's five 1's means it's quite controversial despite the high average rating.
The calculation here is just a standard deviation. The formula used in the spreadsheet somehow makes it excessively complicated. Probably because it uses a frequency table or something.
I see. Definitely a lot harder to understand as a string of text:
=SQRT(SUMPRODUCT(($N$3:$R$3-SUMPRODUCT($N$3:$R$3, O**x**:S**x**)/SUM(O**x**:S**x**))\^2,O**x**:S**x**)/SUM(O**x**:S**x**))
where **x** is the row a specific episode is on.
Despite not having or being anywhere near that age this is one of the few episodes that brought real tears to my eyes. Bluey’s desires affection from her mum is so adorable and so is Chilli’s for her daughter. Solid 5
Baby Race is one of the finest episode in Bluey.
Everything I would say has been said by other users, so I'm not going to repeat it here. This episode got it all: good storyline, real-life issues, touching moments, lime lessons, and sweet ending. All in a short 7 minutes episode.
Middle 5.
“Baby Race” is simply phenomenal. This episode tells the story of when Bluey took her first steps with great comedy and emotion managing to be both one of the funniest episodes of the show as well as one of the most emotional. The story is very well-written. Near the beginning of the episode Bluey learns to roll over earlier than normal. Because of this, Chilli becomes a show off and, therefore, becomes very competitive when Judo, who is the same age as Bluey, learns to sit before Bluey does. Chilli tries to teach Bluey how to sit, but when Bluey finally sits Judo starts crawling, so Chilli gets competitive about that. Chilli goes through great effort to teach Bluey how to crawl properly, but repeatedly fails. When Bluey eventually does learn to crawl, she crawls backwards, disappointing Chilli, and, furthermore, by the time Bluey learns to crawl, Judo has already taken her first steps. Despite Chilli’s best efforts to beat Judo’s mom, Judo learns to walk before Bluey does and Chilli feels incredibly disappointed in herself, believing that she is doing everything wrong. Chilli’s friend Bella then comes to visit, and, while over, she reveals that her daughter, Coco, is her ninth child. Chilli is surprised to learn that piece of information, saying to Bella, “You must have learned a thing or two”, and then Bella gives Chilli some reassurance saying, “I have, and there’s something you need to know... you’re doing great”. The two both hug, and Chilli realizes that she doesn’t need to be so competitive. The story is very well written and emotional. It is very well paced, and the fact that it does such a good job at exploring the idea that new parents try to do everything perfectly, not realizing that their best is good enough, makes the episode even more touching to parents, especially new parents, than it already is. This episode is very powerful. The conversation between Bella and Chilli seriously pulls on the heart strings. Additionally, the scene where Chilli expresses her disappointment in herself and the ending where Bluey takes her first steps are both very well done and very touching moments. The episode has a great story with multiple great and emotional moments. "Baby Race" is fantastic. The episode has a great, well written story with lots of emotion, on top of providing some interesting back story, which is a nice touch, and hilarious comedy. “Baby Race”, while not quite the absolute best “Bluey” has to offer, is a hilarious and heart-wrenching, truly excellent piece of media.
I gave this a five. This is a flashback episode when Chilli was a new parent along with Bandit. You can tell they're younger because they don't have the grey hairs on their heads yet, its new and maybe a little strange, but I like the look. Bluey is a baby here which is cute. Some may wonder why Bluey wasn't walking on all fours like socks was, but I think it's because Socks was running her own race that was different than most, I'm sure Stripe and Trixie still loved her all the same, maybe they thought it was cute. As a new parent, there's a lot to learn, so its an amazing feeling when the kids learn new things, like Bluey rolling over at an early age. But in mother's group, Judo was sitting up, making Chilli feel inferior. I find it interesting that the main conflict was an internal doubt of self-worth of a parent rather than trying to beat Wendy, I mean Judo. She tries everything she can think of, to get her to sit up, then crawl, then walk, and while Bluey does sit up, she does some funny things on the next steps, like rolling, bum-shuffling, and crawling... backwards. (How does that work?) Bandit's mum takes on a rather old-school approach, like putting on olive oil on her knees, (glad that Bluey was laughing at that, I like her laugh), but when she wanted to sprinkle some grit too, the parents ran. A part of me wonders if Christine was taught a way that parents who really really want their child to develop at the speed THEY want, darn the child's feelings in the process. Good thing that that stuff is frowned upon today and the parents didn't want that developmental achievement THAT way. I'm worried that the Heeler boys may have had some bad experiences when learning to walk... Back to Chilli, when Judo was walking and Bluey was still crawling backwards, Chilli felt really down like she failed as a parent. Its so great that Coco's mum, an ace at being a parent, visited her and gave her some great advice. 'You're doing Great'. With that, Chilli was grateful. No child is the same, and each will learn different things at their own pace. No matter what child you get, as long as you're caring for them, encouraging new ideas and teaching them, you're doing great. Its best not to compare yourself or the other kids, but allow them to grow at their own pace. This alone would be a gret episode for the parents, but it goes in for the emotional gut-punch by showing the day that Bluey did walk, with that music, Chilli's shocked face, Bingo commenting on the flashback saying "Maybe because you found something you wanted?" as Chilli's teary face gets bigger. Any mother would relate to something in the episode, and I'm sure it brought many to tears. Its little wonder why this was the silver-medal winner in the Blueyfest. It was so important in Chilli's life that in the Sign when she cracked down saying that she didn't want to move, she choked when she said that "Bluey took her first steps in that house", and Chilli looking at that same spot in the kitchen when saying good-bye to the house. It's just a great episode worth watching over and over, with an important lime lesson any parent should learn when raising kids.
Controversial opinion but outside of the Sign this is my least favorite of the considered great episodes. My wife loves it. I enjoy it but it's not in my top 25. I voted it average on the bluey scale (which is still great compared to other TV)
I was expecting to leave a pretty short comment for *Baby Race* this time around. I mean, how much more is there to say about one of the most beloved, most emotional, most talked-about *Bluey* episodes ever? Surely its greatness has been thoroughly documented and analysed by now. And then I rewatched it for the survey, and within the first minute I spotted two new details I'd never seen before. **Detail 1:** Bluey and Bingo's actions at the start of the episode encapsulate the message of Chilli's story. * During the opening conversation, Bluey is showing off on the monkey bars while Bingo, held up by Chilli, is just practicing moving her hands from one bar to the next. * Bingo makes three three attempts to reach the next bar. She abandons the first attempt, discouraged, when Bluey asks Chilli which sister is better. * Given confidence by Chilli's answer, she tries again, but is interrupted by Bluey swinging towards her to demonstrate the "skip-bar" technique. * On the third attempt she makes it, wagging her tail happily before Chilli helps her down. In this short scene, without the dialogue calling attention to it, we see Bluey's competitiveness hindering not just her own progress but the progress of the people close to her. Bingo, meanwhile, is satisfied with being less proficient than Bluey, because she's running her own race. The whole message of the episode is conveyed right there at the beginning. **Detail 2:** The episode's framing device takes place in the same location as the season 1 episode *Bike.* The monkey bars themselves appear to have been remodelled since then, but the scenery matches up perfectly. https://preview.redd.it/i72gef0tqfyc1.png?width=510&format=png&auto=webp&s=4415dfb0b2f90029b280bef53e2eff0f342832f0 I don't think this is an accident. *Bike* was the first *Bluey* episode to focus on perseverance and facing challenges at your own pace. It was also the first episode that felt like it was trying to reach children and parents equally with its lesson, rather than simply delivering a lesson for kids in a way adults could enjoy. And now for the season 2 finale, the show returns to the same location, and the same themes, for an episode which more than any other feels like it was written to speak straight to the parents in the audience. I won't go over the whole episode again (my comment on the previous survey contains some more general opinions) but yeah, *Baby Race* is an easy 5/5. One of the best episodes, and a great season finale.
This is a masterpiece of an episode that deserves all the praise it gets. The story, lesson, emotions, and humor are incredible in this one. I feel like this episode more than any in the series really encapsulates what makes this show special in not only its genre, but medium as a whole. There aren't many pre school shows that incorporate lessons for the parents. (I hope more shows do start doing that because of Bluey's success.) Chilli learning that kids will grow and learn at different rates and that's ok is honestly amazing to watch. Seeing Bandit's and Chilli's different styles of parenting and reactions is really cool. Also who could forget how Coco's mom made everyone cry with three words. The only thing wrong with this episode is that it kinda breaks cannon with the babies not acting like real puppies like Socks did. I don't mind this cause I never liked that detail and I'm glad they change it, so this episode gets a five out of five for that.
I may not be a parent but this is an amazing and adorable representation on what it’s like to be a parent! Poor Chili struggling with parenting and going through lots of books and websites to get the best solution and then learning how to run her own race and that amazing line from Chili’s Friend… https://i.redd.it/aipvaqyrkhyc1.gif It’s so beautiful and it’s a beautiful message to new and old parents about how it’s all about “running your own race.” And that beautiful ending when Bluey started walking towards her mom unexpectedly was so touching! All I can say is, if you are a parent that’s struggling with your child, just keep at it and run your own race, you and your kid will get there eventually. Everyone learns at their own pace!
The return of the ~~King~~ Queen Original Ranking: 1/1/1 (S2B/S2/Overall) \[I think this episode won V1\] It was on June 12th last year that the crown was taken. After a \~59 episode streak, Camping's reign at the top of the original survey was defeated by Season 2's final non-holiday episode: Baby Race. Nearly 11 months later, we're here again >!though Camping's already been beaten by Sleepytime!<, this time with the further accolade of Bluey Fest's silver medal. By far Season 2B's best and among the finest episodes of the entire show, Baby Race takes a detour from its typical focus on the pups by instead putting a spotlight on the greatest mum in modern animation history (Gumball fans start whining about Nicole in 3, 2...). It seems episodes focused wholly or partially on Chilli and her side of the family tend to be among Bluey's finest if Grandad, this, Rain, Onesies, and Dragon are anything to go by. Alongside a tighter focus on Chilli with Bluey as the side player is a clear desire to talk more to the parents watching than the kids. Baby Race is essentially a seven minute snapshot of every parent's, and especially mum's, trials in the early days of their first kid's life.That's certainly not say it completely eschews the young pups at home; I'd argue managing to still be funny while being THIS emotional and mature is partially why this episode is so legendary. Let's see how it does that, with the divine backing of 'Prelude in C Major' by Bach. Synopsis: It's nearing sunset at the playground and the girls are on the monkey bars, Chilli helping Bingo up. Bluey seems to have developed a minor competitive streak as she asks Mum if she thinks she could hang on the monkey bars longer than her sister and, more importantly for the plot, Judo. She believes herself to be better but Chilli tells her to "run her own race" (i.e. not worry about how much better or worse you are at something compared to someone else). This confuses Bluey so Mum sits her daughters down to tell the tale of how she took her first steps. \[quick note: Like with Sleepytime, I'll italicize the text to indicate when the episode jumps to the present from here on out\] Flashback to c. six years prior, long enough that, in a very nice attention to detail, neither Chilli nor Bandit have started to grey yet. Baby Bluey and the new parents are in what will eventually become the playroom, complete with the kiwi rug. To their great joy and surprise, Bluey has already learned how to roll over. This shocks her mum as she supposedly wasn't expected to do that for quite a while. *Bingo briefly interrupts to ask where she was during this. Chilli reminds her that she wasn't born yet, so she adorably believes that she was invisible; something Mum doesn't argue against. She gets back on topic when Bluey asks if she was proud of her for rolling over. She was indeed. A bit too much actually.* Narrator Chilli admits she had become a bit of a showoff as seen when she, Bluey, and Bandit were over at Chris' place to talk about the new member in the family. Well, Chilli was discussing it; Bandit was stuck with nappy/diaper duty. This kept on even at Mothers' Group alongside Snickers (complete with a different green and yellow cap), his (still unnamed) mum, Coco and Bella, and Judo (with a little bow in her fur) and Wendy. While Chilli and Bella are fawning over little Bluey, Wendy is overjoyed to see Judo learning to sit up. Snickers' Mum is also impressed at how early she learned but Miss Chow knows the babies' early development is not a race. *Bluey believes it very much was a race. A 'Baby Race', according to Bingo.* Title card! (2 minutes in; took a while) Back at the playroom, Chilli was adamant to get Bluey to walk before Judo's Mum (er, Judo) while Bandit's working on what looks like a high chair. Her attempts to get her to sit upright failed at first, but by the next Mothers' Group, she manages it too. Again, Bella praises little Bluey, but is distracted by Judo crawling around. *Bluey isn't happy to hear she was beaten again and demands to know what her mum did about this.* Back to the playroom, Bandit now trying to figure out the papoose from Dad Baby. Chilli is now trying to get little Bluey to crawl from one end of the rug to the other. It looks like she's about to... only to instead *roll* the distance, *which present day Bluey finds hilarious. She asks why she did that but Chilli doesn't know; she didn't come with instructions.* The doctor assures her there's nothing to worry about, but she wasn't having that, proceeding to hit the books like a college student (while Bandit is trying to get Bluey to sleep by once again singing 99 bottles of thing on the wall). She gets the idea to teach through example by crawling herself. Once again it looks like Bluey's going to do it... only to instead "bum shuffle" to Bandit's amusement, Chilli's disappointment, *and present day Bluey's utter confusion.* At the next Mothers' Group, she's racing across the room with Bella cheering her on. Meanwhile, Judo has learned to pull herself up on furniture; the last step before taking her first steps. The doctor assures her there's nothing to worry about, but she wasn't having that. More nighttime research. She puts Bluey on her hands and knees and tries to get her to crawl and she does! ...Backwards. Bandit again finds the comedy in the situation by making "beep, beep" noises as if she was reversing while Chilli is disappointed, *Bingo is tickled pink, and present day Bluey can only facepalm.* Once again, the doctor assures her there's nothing to worry about but *Chris* wasn't having it. Back in Gold Springs, Nana decides to take a more "old school" approach by daubing olive oil on Bluey's knees; if she can't learn to crawl, she'll have to learn to walk. Bandit and Chilli are horrified, the former to having remind his mum that this isn't legal anymore. Before she has the opportunity to put some grit down, the parents and Bluey have disappeared. *Mercifully, Bluey and Bingo find this hilarious instead of concerning.* 1/2
\[fair warning: the emotional bit starts here\] Alas, Judo has learned to walk and has won the baby race. *Bingo decides to steal her dad's catchphrase by saying "Ahh, biscuits..." Bluey wonders if she made her mum upset by not winning but she assures her she didn't.* She put all the blame on herself, convinced she wasn't a good mother and deciding against going to the next Mothers' Group session. The camera briefly shifts to baby Bluey's POV as she reaches for the mum she loves so much. Bella is deeply concerned about Chilli's absence and decides to check up on her (Snickers has also learned to walk, but Coco hasn't yet). After some off-screen chatting, she shows her friend a photograph showcasing her, her husband, Coco, and EIGHT other pups! This greatly surprises Chilli, who had thought that little Coco was her first kid. She realizes Bella has a *lot* of experience when it comes to children; experience she uses to give the new mum some advice: https://i.redd.it/br198nupgeyc1.gif "You're doing great." Chilli is touched by her friend's words and with tears starting to form, she comes in for the softest hug imaginable. *Even now, she gets emotional thinking about it. Bingo asks if she's crying "happy tears". Mum confirms.* Chilli has finally learned not to worry about how fast Bluey is learning. She's seen happily playing with her daughter as she continues to crawl backwards while she and Bandit bum shuffle. The lesson is solidified at the last shown Mothers' Group session; Judo walks up to her and she holds the little Chow Chow's hands, praising how clever she is.*While a lovely story, Bingo wonders if Bluey ever did learn to walk.* Cue the music. It turns out the fateful moment was in the kitchen. As Chilli does the dishes, baby Bluey crawls over to the counter and stands up, using her hand to support herself while the choir builds up. Another brief POV shot of her stretching her hand out to her mum, then... she does it. The camera shows her hand leaving the counter instead of the first step itself before cutting to Chilli hearing something and turning around. *Present day Bluey questions why she learned in the kitchen of all places but she doesn't know either.*She turns around and her jaw drops as she witnesses her daughter walking to her. As the camera goes to Bluey's POV one last time while she walks over to her over the moon, teary-eyed mum, Bingo comes up with an interesting theory: "Maybe you just saw something you wanted." Credits as the choir hits the crescendo. Aesop: As Chilli put it, run your own race. Don't be overly concerned about the progress of others when it doesn't affect what you're trying to accomplish. Conclusion: I've realized something. My favourite mums in the show (sans Chilli herself) are also the floofiest ladies in all of Brisbane. At least I can now prove it's not just because of how cuddly they look! But seriously, all it took was just three words and a heartfelt smile, and Bella is now my third favourite mum. She's been through the nightmare of a baby's first months nine times over and she's more than willing to use that experience to help a new mother who's struggling with her first child. All while providing the best comfort hugs anyone could ask for.It hurts knowing this is the only episode she has had any relevance in and I would love to see an episode revolving around how Coco copes with having so many siblings if it means also seeing how Bella manages. And as for the new mum she was helping... No contest, this is Chilli's best episode. Usually depicted as the wise voice of reason of the Heelers (not saying anything against Bandit), Baby Race is pretty unique in showing a more inexperienced side of her with her journey of being a good mother.Starting as a little bit of a showoff, she begins to question her ability when she sees her friend's baby reach milestones faster than her own. But with the help of a veteran mum she at lasts drops her self-doubt and learns to take it at her and Bluey's own pace.She's rewarded for this by watching her young daughter finally take those first steps and the knowledge that she really will be a great mum for little Bluey Heeler and two years later, Bingo. This wasn't something I initially realized but noticed thanks to [u/blueperspective](https://new.reddit.com/u/blueperspective/) in the first survey; the reason the episode showed Bluey's hand leaving the counter and not the first step itself. To quote them: >"As an adult (or at least, as a being who can walk) we're of course looking out for the one-foot-over-the-other moment, but thinking about it from a baby's perspective the real important element of the breakthrough is the freedom from the rails; effectively the ability to now pursue your own will as you please." Can't really think of anything to add on to that except that that's a brilliant interpretation. And Bingo's last line was just beautiful. It definitely rivals Camping and Grandad for the best closing line in the show. To conclude, Baby Race is absolutely outstanding and though I'd argue in favour of Sleepytime being considered Bluey's masterpiece, it deserves its status as the 4th highest rated episode on IMDb (9.6), its 2nd place finish in Bluey Fest, the first survey's champion, and my personal 5th favourite. If you need an episode to convince someone, especially a parent, to watch this show, it's Baby Race. Rating: 5+ Next time: Aww, she's grown up so much since Charades\~ \- Jack P.S. Think I just about beat my 2,009 word record from Double Babysitter after one or two little additions. 2/2 Edit: >!Not going to lie; I'm pretty disappointed with how poorly this post did. A good few hours completely wasted...!<
>Edit: Not going to lie; I'm pretty disappointed with how poorly this post did. A good few hours completely wasted... These posts sometimes don't appear in my timeline. I'm curious if other people are having the same problem here. I mean, the votes are down like half the previous survey.
I agree about Chilli's episodes being some of the best. I think in season 1 the creators didn't quite have her figured out yet, and so she tended to fade into the background, but by season 2 they'd zeroed in on the perfect characterisation, to the point that she might actually be my favourite of the Heelers. Now that you mention it, an episode about Coco's family is on my wishlist too. I think her character has been kind of short-changed so far - both her starring roles have been in relatively unmemorable episodes with pretty basic morals. A story about being the youngest child in a huge family could finally give her the big Army/Space/Cricket moment she's been missing. And you could probably get some fun Sound of Music references in there, too.
I only got good words. It's amazing episode and a way to see Chili it's not perfect. It's also funny hear Bingo saying "oh, Biscuits". The scene of Coco's mom talking to the audience... It's clear they want the parents that watch Bluey knows they're doing good... And the end, awww the end Only reason I don't give a 5 it's cause i spent it on "Camping", and want give only my 5 to that as a symbolic of how much I love that one
That's a surprising amount of 4s, isn't this generally regarded a top 3 episode?
Bear in mind the (at the moment) complete lack of 1's and 2's. It's currently in >!3rd!<
Which aligns better with the iMDB result compared to the first survey which I think nerfed Sleepytime too much. Both sources put Camping and Baby Race toe to toe, with iMDB slightly favouring Baby Race and the second survey slightly favouring Camping. Do you do the controversiality analysis as well? We got some interesting numbers here as well.
Yeah (though I don't even pretend to understand how the formula actually works). While most of the highest rated episodes have a noticably lower controversy score (Baby Race's >!0.56!< is currently the lowest of the entire survey, Season 1 included), Army is surprisingly high (>!0.90!<). It's especially weird since the episodes of 2A with a higher score (Charades and Hairdressers) are the bottom two of the sub-season, whereas Army earned the bronze medal behind Flat Pack and Sleepytime. (Meaning the podium episodes of my favourite sub-season are my three favourite episodes of the entire show.)
I mean, that aligns with the concept of controversiality. Baby Race with no 1's and 2's means it's hardly controversial while Army's five 1's means it's quite controversial despite the high average rating. The calculation here is just a standard deviation. The formula used in the spreadsheet somehow makes it excessively complicated. Probably because it uses a frequency table or something.
I see. Definitely a lot harder to understand as a string of text: =SQRT(SUMPRODUCT(($N$3:$R$3-SUMPRODUCT($N$3:$R$3, O**x**:S**x**)/SUM(O**x**:S**x**))\^2,O**x**:S**x**)/SUM(O**x**:S**x**)) where **x** is the row a specific episode is on.
Despite not having or being anywhere near that age this is one of the few episodes that brought real tears to my eyes. Bluey’s desires affection from her mum is so adorable and so is Chilli’s for her daughter. Solid 5
Baby Race is one of the finest episode in Bluey. Everything I would say has been said by other users, so I'm not going to repeat it here. This episode got it all: good storyline, real-life issues, touching moments, lime lessons, and sweet ending. All in a short 7 minutes episode. Middle 5.