History YMMV / RenAndStimpyAPC1x02RenSeeksHelp

** Be sure to know EXACTLY where it is you're going and who to see when you need medical and/or mental help. After being kicked out by Stimpy, Ren wanders aimlessly until he finds a building that says "HELP" and assumes Dr. Mr. Horse is a psychologist without even asking what kind of doctor he his. As it turns out Mr. Horse was not a psychologist of any kind.
** Alternatively, therapy is not for everyone. It is only as effective as you allow it to be. Ignoring that Mr. Horse is not a therapist, Ren clearly doesn't care about improving himself or getting better. He wants to be told he isn't crazy or even worse that he is justified in the things he did throughout his life; not reacting well when Mr. Horse tells him the honest truth. The first step of therapy and improvement is that you have to actually WANT to get better. Another way to see this is that Ren was lying to Stimpy and himself about getting help just to throw himself a pity party.

** Alternatively, therapy is not for everyone. It is only as effective as you allow it to be. Ignoring that Mr. Horse is not a therapist, Ren clearly doesn't care about improving himself or getting better. He wants to be told he isn't crazy or even worse that he is justified in the things he did throughout his life; not reacting well when Mr. Horse tells him the honest truth. The first step of therapy and improvement is that you have to actually WANT to get better; one could say Ren was lying to Stimpy and himself about getting help just to throw himself a pity party.

** Alternatively, therapy is not for everyone. It is only as effective as you allow it to be. Ignoring that Mr. Horse is not a therapist, Ren clearly doesn't care about improving himself or getting better. He wants to be told he isn't crazy or even worse that he is justified in the things he did throughout his life; not reacting well when Mr. Horse tells him the honest truth. The first step of therapy and improvement You have to actually WANT to get better; one could say Ren was lying to Stimpy and himself about the whole thing just to throw himself a pity party.

* DamnedByFaintPraise: Basically what the more positive opinions on this episode amount to. Pretty much nobody is arguing that it's a good episode on its own merits but if nothing else, it's a novel experience due to ''trying'' to be a PsychologicalThriller psychological thriller, having a good atmosphere and an actual plot with proper pacing, while the other five ''Adult Party'' episodes are little more than aimless {{Padding}} and LowestCommonDenominator humor with no structure.

* ReviewsAreTheGospel: Before WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter reviewed this episode, it was more of a BrokenBase, with some people thinking it was one of the better episodes of the show. Now, it's almost unanimously hated by ''Ren & Stimpy'' fans.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Ren snapping and mauling Mr. Horse at the end comes off less like him being his typical assholish self and more like a cornered, scared animal trying to defend itself, especially considering that Mr. Horse had basically attacked him for no reason at all.

* ValuesDissonance: The ending of the episode brings up the idea that if you go to a therapist, you are at risk of being institutionalized. This would likely not fly super well in TheNewTwenties, where that fear is well-known as preventing quite a few people from getting the help they need.

* BrokenBase: It's the most polarizing episode in the series. Fans like it for its strong atmosphere, dark([[BlackComedyBurst er]]) humor, and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt stylistic qualities]]; detractors (especially WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter) hate it for its animal torture and [[NauseaFuel excessively graphic visuals]]. Others just say it's the episode that [[DamnedByFaintPraise sucks the least]].

* HilariousInHindsight: A future episode of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' has Bojack in Ren's shoes, where he discovers that the horse who he ''thought'' was his therapist is just a therapy ''horse''. He even uses "I'm a horse!" as justification for not being able to help Bojack.

* SpiritualLicensee: For better or worse, this may be the closest thing we have to the conclusion that John K. never got to give to ''WebAnimation/WeekendPussyHunt''.

** Inversely, this was also ten years before ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' and eleven years before ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', both shows which were extremely well received for their depictions of an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist dealing with the serious repercussions of his hilariously selfish antics. Humorously enough, not only was the former show created by [[Creator/JustinRoiland a professed]] ''[[Creator/JustinRoiland Ren & Stimpy]]'' [[Creator/JustinRoiland fan]], but there's [[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E3PickleRick a particularly gruesome episode about the main character going to therapy]]. Meanwhile, the title character in ''[=BoJack=]'' is often visually compared to Mr. Horse and there's even an episode where he discovers that a horse he thought was a therapist isn't actually a therapist.

** According to John K., the premise for the episode was his belief that there had never been a cartoon about an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist going to therapy. There's a good chance he never saw the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Helga on the Couch".[[note]]Granted, a character going to therapy wasn't as absurd a notion on a show as grounded as ''Hey, Arnold!'' as it would be for a ZanyCartoon like ''Ren and Stimpy''.[[/note]]
** Inversely, this was also ten years before ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' and eleven years before ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', both shows which were extremely well received for their depictions of an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist dealing with the serious repercussions of his hilariously selfish antics. Humorously enough, not only was the former show created by [[Creator/JustinRoiland a professed]] ''[[Creator/JustinRoiland Ren and Stimpy]]'' [[Creator/JustinRoiland fan]], but there's [[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E3PickleRick a particularly gruesome episode about the main character going to therapy]]. Meanwhile, the title character in ''[=BoJack=]'' is often visually compared to Mr. Horse and there's even an episode where he discovers that a horse he thought was a therapist isn't actually a therapist.

* OlderThanTheyThink
** According to John K., the premise for the episode was his belief that there had never been a cartoon about an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist going to therapy. There's a good chance he never saw the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Helga On The Couch."[[note]]Granted, a character going to therapy wasn't as absurd a notion on a show as grounded as ''Hey, Arnold!'' as it would be for a ZanyCartoon like ''Ren and Stimpy''.[[/note]]

* HarsherInHindsight: The episode might as well be called "Creator/JohnKricfalusi Needs Help". The whole thing feels like an on-screen confession about his unchecked history of abuse, mental instability and DaddyIssues. Worse is that he later used his mental illness as an excuse for his child grooming (calling it "poor impulse control"), enforcing the episode's message that psychiatric help is a lost cause.

* HarsherInHindsight: The episode might as well be called "Creator/JohnKricfalusi Needs Help." The whole thing feels like an on-screen confession about his unchecked history of abuse, mental instability and DaddyIssues. Worse is that he later used his mental illness as an excuse for his child grooming (calling it "poor impulse control"), enforcing the episode's message that psychiatric help is a lost cause.

* ReviewsAreTheGospel: Before WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter reviewed this episode, it was more of a BrokenBase, with some people thinking it was one of the better episodes of the show. Now it's almost unanimously hated by ''Ren & Stimpy'' fans.
* SignatureScene:

* HarsherInHindsight: The episode might as well be called "Creator/JohnKricfalusi Needs Help." The whole thing feels like an on-screen confession about his unchecked history of abuse, mental instability and DaddyIssues. Worse is that he later used his mental illness as an excuse for his child-grooming (calling it "poor impulse-control"), enforcing the episode's message that psychiatric help is a lost cause.

* TheWoobie:

* UnacceptableTargets: The fact that Ren is torturing innocent animals is enough to upset many viewers, especially since these scenes are PlayedForLaughs, albeit [[BlackComedy extremely dark laughs]].

* HarsherInHindsight: The episode might as well be called "Creator/JohnKricfalusi Needs Help." The whole thing feels like an on-screen confession about his unchecked history of abuse, mental instability and DaddyIssues. Worse is that he later used his mental illness as an excuse for his child-grooming (calling it "poor impulse-control"), enforcing the episode's message that [[UnfortunateImplications psychiatric help is a lost cause]].

* ValuesDissonance: The ending of the episode brings up the idea that if you go to a therapist, you are at risk of being institutionalized. This would likely not fly super well today where that fear is well known as preventing quite a few people from getting the help they need.

* ValuesDissonance: The ending of the episode brings up the idea that if you go to a therapist, you are at risk of being institutionalized. This would likely not fly super well today where that fear is well known as preventing quite a few people from getting the help they need

* AccidentalAesop: The ending implies that people who go to the therapist are at risk of being institutionalized, especially if they are in danger of harming [[DrivenToSuicide themselves]] or [[AxCrazy others]]. This fear is a major reason why people in need of help don't seek it.