If you live in the United States, it’s possible that you haven’t seen some of the parents and children in your life for the past couple of weeks.
Why?
Well, Disney+ dropped ten new episodes from season three of the Australian television sensation Bluey on Friday, January 12th, and American families are currently watching them on loop and falling deeper into the lore of the imaginative animated universe set in and around a canine version of Brisbane, Queensland.
If you are one of those parents or children (or just a cool adult who values imagination and childhood wonder), odds are that you’ve been charmed, amused, and moved to tears by the Heeler family and the supporting cast that brings their universe to life. It’s the kind of show that is just as good at teaching kids how to share as it is at grappling with loss and the existential dilemma of the impression we hope to leave on this world.
While this article sets out to rank each entry in the latest batch of Bluey episodes, it’s important to establish three universal truths:
- There is no such thing as a bad episode of Bluey.
- The “worst” episode of Bluey is still miles ahead of most other shows produced for children or adults since the dawn of television. Every episode on this list and beyond is oozing with noteworthy humor, style, and emotion.
- Lists like this are subjective and should only be used to facilitate conversation and build community around this beautiful pop culture phenomenon. Bluey knows how to dig deep into our souls, and each episode will land differently in the heart of each viewer. All of those takes are valid.
This particular list is constructed largely from one dad’s perspective. It aims to consider the humor, depth of theme, narrative and/or visual style, and emotional resonance of each episode. On top of that, this reviewer granted quite a few bonus points to episodes for iconic moments, tie-ins to larger Bluey lore, and any other selfish joys that rose to the surface. As a final layer of assessment, the rankings were also measured against the rankings of a nine-year-old Bluey fan. This final layer of scrutiny dropped some episodes down the list and drove others toward the top.
10. Exercise (Season 3 Episode 39)
This is a solid and serviceable episode that cashes in on Bandit’s ongoing quest for physical fitness and Bluey & Bingo’s innocent and naive perceptions of adult work life. It’s fun, as always, but we’ve seen this bit before. A few gags feel fresh and new, like Bingo envisioning a pair of free weights as the wheels on a car or Bluey testing the limits of her dad’s physical endurance with a longer-than-necessary explanation: “Well, the answer to that is long…so here it is!” Props to Bandit for weathering the storm.
9. Wild Girls (Season 3 Episode 44)
As we established with the last episode, Bluey is definitely at a point where it is retreading old ground. This episode offers a take on the common theme that imaginative play is better when it evolves to include more people, but it doesn’t hit the theme as hard as older episodes, like “Octopus,” nor does it bring the imaginative play to life with the same visceral energy as “The Adventure.” Each of those episodes also featured the fun-loving dalmatian Chloe, so her inclusion here reminds us that we aren’t hitting quite the same highs as before. Nevertheless, this episode still makes us feel something with Coco’s sad howling, and it earns a big style nod for framing its narrative around the notion of humankind evolving from a foraging culture to a society built around farming.
8. Stickbird (Season 3 Episode 41)
This episode is the first victim of the nine-year-old litmus test. It appears at the very bottom of the nine-year-old reviewer’s list due to the fact that this is a particularly parent-centric episode. While the design of the beach is beautiful and Bingo’s love for a model bird built with found objects is charming as hell, those moments where Bandit is frozen by his own mysterious anxiety don’t necessarily hit for all ages. Grownup minds run wild with the possibilities of what Bandit might be grappling with, but the kids are left waiting for a joke. This one hurts, grownups, but perhaps we can all just collect those bad vibes and throw them as far away as possible.
7. Show and Tell (Season 3 Episode 42)
This episode is so clearly retreading old ground that it even takes the time to remind us that they already kind of did this in “Tina.” While the episode certainly does make a smart point about the fact that kids (and adults) need to learn and relearn lessons, it still feels like a little bit of a cheat. So, how does it beat the last three episodes? For one thing, it scores quite high on the nine-year-old ranking. More importantly, though, it is teeming with iconic moments like Bluey’s enraptured eyes when she tastes sugary ketchup for the first time and Chilli twisting the knife in Bandit’s side by pointing out that Bandit has been depriving them of “the good stuff.” As we all know, Bluey often offers meditations on larger issues, so when Bandit takes a wrong turn into a cemetery and Bingo calls it “Statue World,” the episode is walking us right up to the edge of the existential questions that shape this world.
6. Relax (Season 3 Episode 39)
Admittedly, this episode is riding some easy bonus points for catering to the superfans; real ones know all about the Bluey shorts, and this episode opens with the girls singing “Flying Saucer” in the back seat of the car. We also get a treasured iteration of Bingo’s deep “husband” voice made famous back in “The Sleepover.” This time, Bingo praises Bluey’s vocal stylings: “You sing so well, babe.” This episode is also truly hilarious with its rapid-fire imaginative play. In short order, we get everything from mermaid ovens to prize-winning toilets. We even get an instantly iconic moment when Bandit switches on the hotel spa and changes his daughters’ perception of the world forever; however, what really pushes this episode up the list is Chilli’s admission that she doesn’t “know how to relax.” This reviewer’s wife certainly felt that moment, and got to share in Chilli’s relief when she finally found some inner peace. That is the sort of magic that makes an episode of Bluey special.
5. Slide (Season 3 Episode 46)
This episode gets off to a strong start. Not only do we get a significant return for Bingo’s fan-favorite friend, Lila, but we get a nod to “The Weekend” when Bingo spares the life of a walking leaf bug and names it Leaficus (iconic). On a more serious note, the visual motif of zooming in on a small caterpillar as the girls try to enjoy their slip and slide toy without crushing innocent insects invites viewers to consider the scale of the stakes here. When Bingo and Lila discuss older generations who crush bugs indiscriminately before piecing together a regulatory system (Bug Inspectors) to help them live in harmony with the world, it’s clear that Bluey is offering a vote of support for the beliefs and values of the next generation. That is beautiful, but of course, it’s also fun when the girls divert the slide to save the caterpillar and send Bandit careening crotch-first into a garden gnome. In the end, the caterpillar comes back as a butterfly to land on the girls’ hands as a loving tribute to their caring natures.
4. Cubby (Season 3 Episode 38)
If we were rating episodes on their sense of childhood wonder alone, this would be the clear frontrunner. This episode is an absolute visual feast as Bingo and Bluey construct a larger and larger blanket home throughout their living room. We get some humor from the contrast between the girls’ game and the much more mundane concerns about living space from Bandit and Chilli (Do we need a bigger TV? Should we expand the living room?); we also get a ton of laughs from the increasingly silly “essential” rooms in Bluey and Bingo’s blanket house (an alpaca farm, for instance). What makes this episode so visually stunning is the careful design of each room in the blanket house. One standout is the observatory room constructed with an upright umbrella and glow-in-the-dark star decals. In the end, this episode falls short of the top spot because the theme about living humbly with what you’ve got has been executed elsewhere, most notably in “Hammerbarn” and “Pizza Girls.”
3. Cricket (Season 3 Episode 47)
This episode gets the biggest boost from the nine-year-old litmus test, in fact, this episode tops that list. Honestly, it makes sense – in this episode, the kids make the grownups look foolish. Every piece of children’s entertainment should do that once in a while! In this episode, a group of washed-up, wannabe-cricket-player dads conspire an absolute tidal wave of bullshit in an attempt to one-up a child who has the athletic prowess they can only dream of.
Despite all of that abuse, Rusty continues to be a perfectly polite and impossibly lovable kid. After all of those silly games from the dads, Rusty still manages to throw fan-favorite Pat (aka Lucky’s Dad) a bone and hit his cute little sister a catch. He even earnestly thanks the dads for the game. Watching the doofy dads lose provides some great comic relief, and we even get a fun Sandlot-style narration that ultimately culminates in a visual of young Rusty walking by his future self as a professional player taking the field. We also get the added bonus of Uncle Stripe one-upping Bandit in a sporting event and poor Snickers the dachshund failing to throw a ball with his short little arms. We love you, Snickers!
2. TV Shop (Season 3 Episode 45)
This episode provides a truly charming visual narrative in which Bluey, Bingo, and their friends navigate a pharmacy using closed-circuit security cameras in order to check in on their friend Coco, who is glued to the screen of her tablet waiting for a prescription. This episode scores high for its visual creativity and heartwarming sense of childhood innocence as the kids dance and communicate using a piece of old technology that feels new to them.
All of those elements of the episode work, but “TV Shop” is here near the top of the list for much more adult reasons.
It’s really all about the epic background story of Cornelius (aka Winton’s dad) as he puts the moves on the (yet unnamed) Terriers’ Mum. While the kids play out their search and rescue on the television cameras, astute viewers will note the ABSOLUTE ICON Cornelius spraying deodorant on himself in the middle of an aisle, scoping out some protein powder while examining the status of his bicep, spraying breath freshener before approaching the Terriers’ Mum, and ultimately earning a flirtatious forearm touch for his efforts. As the episode closes, we deduce from family decal stickers in the parking lot that the Terriers’ Mum is a single parent, and we see that the “mother” decal has been scratched off of Cornelius’ car. Longtime fans know that Winton’s parents are separated or divorced, so here’s hoping that this storyline might lead to a happy and healthy future for everyone involved…though, if this relationship goes anywhere, the Terriers might eat poor little Winton alive.
1. Dragon (Season 3 Episode 43)
This episode is a crowd-pleasing home run in every category. Yes, it builds on the hand-drawn storytelling structure that was so dynamic back in “Escape,” but it manages to take the concept to a new level. First of all, we get multiple drawing styles from each member of the Heeler family as they build a story world together. Watching the different artistic styles interact on screen is beautiful and deserves every style point. Meanwhile, the episode offers nonstop humor in the form of silly monsters, Bingo embracing her most unhinged setting, and, most importantly, Bandit’s fantasy-inspired self-portrait constantly complaining about his itchy “fur jocks.” When a dragon burns the jocks off near the end of the episode, Bandit’s likeness is relieved to be living “free and easy.”
Thematically, this one nearly falls short. There is a simple lesson about not giving up and building skills over time, which is acceptable for a kids show, but Bluey often takes things further. In this case, the theme becomes a reflection on Chilli’s relationship with her deceased mother. Longtime fans have a clear sense that Chilli’s mom hasn’t been in the picture for a while, and this episode makes it abundantly clear that she has passed on, likely well before Bluey and Bingo were born. Not only do we see Chilli’s patient parenting style reflected in her memory/illustration of her mother, but the episode establishes a connection between Chilli’s memory of her mother and her ability to draw a lifelike horse, which she has been perfecting since her mother set her on that path as a child.
In the closing moments of the episode, after we get a belly laugh from watching Bandit’s juvenile car illustration crash through some boulders, Chilli shares a moment with her horse illustration and acknowledges that it won’t be able to continue on the journey with them. At this point, the horse sprouts wings and flies off into the night sky. Viewers, especially parents who have lost a parent, find bittersweet comfort in the fact that Chilli can still pull strength from the mother she lost, even if they can’t share a physical connection. This is Bluey doing what Bluey does best.
What a ride – and that’s just the ten most recent episodes! If you are already a fan, get out there and keep rewatching every episode that makes up this important piece of television history. If you haven’t caught the show yet, it’s time. Become one of those cool adults who still cares about imagination, childhood wonder, and existential reflection on your place in the universe. You won’t regret it!
