Line #79 Recap/RenandStimpyAPC1x02RenSeeksHelp


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_536.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: The ''real'' WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse wouldn't hurt a fly... or in this case, a frog.]]
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4	'''Original air date:''' 7/3/2003
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6	"Ren Seeks Help" is the second episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'''': [[WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon Adult Party Cartoon]]''.
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8	Ren did [[NoodleIncident something]] so horrible to Stimpy, it left Stimpy in hysterical grief and Ren [[EvenEvilHasStandards in guilt]]. To atone for this, Ren seeks out a therapist to control his violent urges once and for all.
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10	After wandering past a dreary cityscape, Ren eventually comes across the office of Dr. Mr. Horse, who agrees to listen to his problems. And that's when Ren goes into detail about his [[BackstoryHorror disturbing childhood]], where he describes the unspeakable pain he experienced being spanked at birth, [[DisproportionateRetribution which he took out]] on [[ColdBloodedTorture innocent animals]]. His most notable victim was a frog, who was violated, blown up, ground up by a tricycle wheel, ''and'' electrocuted. By a car battery. Upon learning that the frog [[DrivenToSuicide wanted to be put out of his misery]], Ren [[CruelMercy decided to force him to continue living instead]].
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12	Ren then shares with Mr. Horse his relationship with Stimpy, talking about how they first met. He then goes on to reveal what exactly he did to Stimpy, which is [[TheUnreveal never revealed to the audience]]. This horrifies Mr. Horse so much that he proceeds to assault Ren, causing Ren to go berserk. He beats Mr. Horse, and bites off the hand of one of the asylum workers trying to capture him. After Ren is hauled away, the frog from Ren's childhood visits the bloody scene, and [[AteHisGun shoots himself with Mr. Horse's gun]] which turns out to be a 'BANG' gun that impales him, leaving him in even more agony.
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14	([[MoodWhiplash cue "That's All Folks" spoof and credits]])
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16	* Written in 1991. Produced and aired on Creator/SpikeTV in 2003.
17	* Directed by: Creator/JohnKricfalusi
18	* Story by: John K. and Richard D. Pursel
19	* Animation by: Creator/CarbunkleCartoons
20
21	!!Examples:
22	* ArtisticLicenseTraditionalChristianity: Ren's father was a Catholic priest, even though members of that priesthood are sworn to celibacy. While it's admittedly possible that he was breaking the rules, the fact that he doesn't seem to be making any effort to hide the fact that he's in a romantic and sexual relationship makes it hard to believe he could get away with it.
23	* ArtShift: After Ren expresses anger at being asked if he loves Stimpy, Mr. Horse looks to the viewer and his face is drawn to resemble the head of a real horse.
24	* AteHisGun: The frog tries to kill himself by doing this, but only manages to leave himself in even ''worse'' agony than before.
25	* AxCrazy: Ren is at his happiest trying to brutally kill the frog, and later murders Mr. Horse.
26	* BackstoryHorror: Ren's childhood is perhaps the darkest moment in the entire series.
27	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: The episode goes into painstaking detail to describe the many horrific ways Ren tortured animals [[EnfantTerrible as a child]] to justify its portrayal of Ren as a cruel, abusive sociopath.
28	* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Ren's parents are depicted this way; they wear clothes, but not shoes.
29	* BeyondRedemption: After hearing Ren's backstory and what he did to Stimpy, Mr. Horse declares him outright irredeemable and proceeds to give him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
30	* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: The episode has an extended flashback of a young Ren torturing a frog in grotesque ways: first shoving firecrackers up its butt, then running it over with his tricycle, then hooking it up to a car battery, then mutilating it with a chainsaw. After all that, Ren [[CruelMercy refuses to kill the frog]], and we see that the frog is ''still alive'' 10-20 years later, living in horrible agony.
31	* BlackComedyBurst: The show was no stranger to BlackComedy, as seen with Ren's [[FreakOut mental breakdowns]]. This episode takes his instability and sadism to horrific extremes.
32	* BreakTheCutie: An offscreen moment for Stimpy.
33	* BullyingADragon: After hearing all the horrible things he's capable of, Mr. Horse really should have known what would happen when picking a fight with Ren.
34	* BungledSuicide: At the end of the episode, the frog tries to shoot itself, only for the gun to be a BangFlagGun that leaves him impaled, but alive and in pain.
35	* ButtMonkey: The frog only exists to be mutilated by Ren.
36	* ColdBloodedTorture: What Ren did to various animals, especially that poor frog.
37	* CrazyPrepared: For no reason (nobody called during the fight and nobody yelled at a chihuahua beating a horse to death), two asylum workers come in to take Ren away.
38	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Ren gives this to Mr. Horse via a gun.
39	* CruelMercy: Ren refuses to kill the frog when it begs for death.
40	* CryingARiver: Stimpy wails enough to flood his bedroom with tears, though the body of water just appears out of nowhere.
41	* DarkerAndEdgier: Easily one of, if not '''the''' darkest ''Ren & Stimpy'' production ever made, as the details above and below can attest to.
42	* DisproportionateRetribution: Ren explains that his desire to inflict pain on others came from a moment where he felt an "unspeakable pain", that being getting spanked by the midwife when he was born.
43	* TheDogBitesBack: Or rather, the ''cat'' bites back. Stimpy gets so upset over what Ren said to him, it's ''his'' turn to [[IllKillYou threaten to kill him]].
44	* DomesticAbuse:
45	** Implied with Ren's parents. And it's a rare case of ''reciprocal'' abuse in fiction too -- Mrs. Hoek screams at and hits her husband for giving their son a gun (right before [[ComicallyMissingThePoint handing him a chainsaw]]) and later Mr. Hoek slaps her in the face for showing concern over Ren. It's implied that this is a common occurrence in the Hoek household.
46	** Despite Ren inexplicably denying being an item with Stimpy in this episode, their relationship feels more like it here than it ever has before. Just listen to Ren recounting their first meeting.
47	--->'''Ren:''' Then I met Stimpy. What a silly idiot. Why, I remember the first time I slapped Stimpy. He hardly even felt it. So I hit him harder...and ''harder''...BUT HE WOULDN'T GO DOWN!
48	* DownerBeginning: [[HeroicBSOD Stimpy is in agony]] [[NoodleIncident on what Ren did to him]][[EvenEvilHasStandards ...the chihuahua even finds it that horrible!]] While the former continues to wallow uncontrollably, the latter takes a long, restful journey to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin seek psychological help]].
49	* DownerEnding: ''Holy mother of God.'' After Mr. Horse finds out what Ren did to Stimpy, he beats him up. Ren completely loses it and retaliates by pistol-whipping him to death before being carted off by two asylum workers (one of whom he mutilates), presumably to be locked up in a mental institution. The frog shows up and tries to kill himself with Mr. Horse's gun, only to be impaled on a bang flag (which ''still'' doesn't kill him) and be left in worse agony than ever. And to top it all off, Stimpy's still back at home, likely still bawling over what Ren did to him, whilst simultaneously waiting for his best friend to come back, not knowing that he's being hauled away.
50	* EnfantTerrible: Played disturbingly straight with Ren; he started to mutilate animals ever since infancy.
51	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even a sociopath like Ren found what he did to Stimpy utterly deplorable.
52	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Mr. Horse points out that Ren should be "locked away from normal, decent people". Not long enough and--true to Mr. Horse's words--two asylum workers come in to take Ren away.
53	* {{Flashback}}: Several of them, each showing Ren torturing animals.
54	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Ren first enters Mr. Horse's office, Mr. Horse tells him that he can sit down and talk if he wants to. At first, it sounds like the kind of language psychiatrists use to let their patients know that they're there to help themselves, not do what others are telling them to do. When Ren asks if he should tell him about his childhood, Mr. Horse tells him to do so if he likes. Again, this sounds like something a psychiatrist would say. As it turns out, he's saying all of this because he genuinely doesn't know why Ren is there and wants to know why.
55	* FreudianCouch: Ren lies on a couch when he visits Mr. Horse.
56	* FurryReminder:
57	-->'''Ren:''' What kind of a psychologist are you?!
58	-->'''Mr. Horse:''' PSYCHOLOGIST?! Are you nuts?! I'M A ''HORSE''!!!
59	* GoryDiscretionShot: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for the most part, but Mr. Horse's death scene [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this trope]]. We never see what's happening to Horse while Ren is beating him, but later his mutilated head is given a GrossUpCloseUp.
60	* GutPunch: Ren is revealed to have done something irredeemable. Mr. Horse is killed in a brutal fashion. This is only the second episode of ''Adult Party Cartoon'', and it serves to tell the audience this isn't the ''Ren and Stimpy'' they knew from TheNineties.
61	* HesNotMyBoyfriend: Dr. Horse asks Ren if he loves Stimpy. Ren denies it with "Not in that way. He's a friend. Just a friend." If you've seen the other adult episodes, you know Ren's denials are BlatantLies.
62	* HypocriticalHumor: When Ren's dad is about to give his son a gun, Ren's mom swipes it out of Ren's hand, insisting that he's too young to be using guns. Then she hands him a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]].
63	* IHatePastMe: {{Averted\|Trope}}. Ren surprisingly does ''not'' seem to regret all of the atrocities he has done throughout his childhood, despite apparently having felt horrible for mistreating Stimpy. In fact, he's pretty much looking at the flashbacks quite ''fondly''.
64	* IHaveAFamily: The tick and the frog try this on Ren to make him stop the torture. It doesn't work.
65	* JerkassHasAPoint: Deranged lunatic he may be, Ren is completely right that Mr. Horse essentially wasted his time by ''not even telling him he's not a psychologist''.
66	* KnightOfCerebus: Ren. ''Oh God, REN!''
67	* MadeOfIron: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]; the frog that Ren tortures goes through ''several'' things that ''should'' have killed him several times over. The deconstruction comes from the fact that before it's even over he [[DrivenToSuicide wants to die]].
68	* MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: A frog dreams of being killed.
69	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Ren has deep regrets he said something apparently bad to Stimpy.
70	* NightmareFace: Ren makes a monstrous face when the asylum workers confront him after he beats Mr. Horse.
71	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Ren delivers a nasty beatdown to Mr. Horse in the climax in retaliation for the one Mr. Horse just dished out to him.
72	* NoNameGiven: The frog is never named, despite being an important character in the episode.
73	* NoodleIncident: This sets up the plot, as Ren apparently said something incredibly horrible to Stimpy. He whispers the event to Mr. Horse, which gets him shouting at Ren and calling him a psycho.
74	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
75	** Mr. Horse has always been TheStoic and a DeadpanSnarker, and keeps that attitude for most of the episode, even when Ren is describing the horrific acts of his childhood. It isn't until when [[TheUnreveal Ren whispers to Mr. Horse about what he did to Stimpy]] that causes Mr. Horse to [[NotSoStoic flip out and start beating the crap out of Ren]].
76	** In both versions of the show, Stimpy is extremely forgiving toward Ren and often blissfully oblivious to the fact that Ren's treatment of him is abusive. Here, whatever Ren did to him was apparently so horrible, that Stimpy ''flat out calls him a monster and threatens to kill him''.
77	* PistolWhip: Ren beats Mr. Horse to death this way. Also serves as a bit of {{Foreshadowing}}, since Ren's mom bonks Ren's dad on the head with his pistol upon being handed to Ren to finish off the frog.
78	* PrecisionFStrike: Mr. Horse shouts this when he chews out Ren near the end. [[{{Bowdlerize}} The TV version has]] [[SoundEffectBleep a car horn censoring the word.]]
79	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When Stimpy tells Ren "How. Can you say. Those horrible things. To ME?!"
80	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mr. Horse gives one to Ren after he reveals to him what he did to Stimpy. Ren counters that with one of his own.
81	-->'''Mr. Horse''': You need to be locked up -- away from decent, NORMAL people! What kind of a lunatic are you?! You just walk up to strangers on the street and tell them "Hey, Mister, you want to hear some sick stories of my sick, twisted youth"!?\
82	'''Ren''': I don't understand! I came to you for help! I bared my soul to you! I told you all my darkest secrets! And now you tell me I'm crazy? ''WHAT KIND OF A PSYCHOLOGIST ARE YOU?!''\
83	'''Mr. Horse:''' PSYCHOLOGIST?! Are you nuts?! I'm a HORSE, YOU CRAZY SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!
84	* {{Sadist}}: Ren was abusing and torturing animals and people for fun ever since he was a toddler.
85	* SeriesContinuityError:
86	** In "[[Recap/RenandStimpy2x04SvenHoek Sven Höek]]," Ren states that he and the titular character were born from the same litter (despite being [[IncestSubtext cousins]]), and even shows a picture of them as newborns. In this episode, Ren is shown to be an only child, and his newborn self looks very different from in the photograph in "Sven Höek."
87	** In addition, Ren says that Stimpy is "just a friend", despite the two being a gay couple in Adult Party Cartoon. Both of these errors are most likely due to the episode being written in 1991.
88	* ShooOutTheClowns: Stimpy is only present for the first ten minutes of the episode [[HeroicBSOD and he's clearly not in the mood to be funny]]. The rest of this extremely dark episode goes on without him.
89	* TheShrink: Mr. Horse. Subverted in that he's not ''actually'' a shrink. He's a horse.
90	* TheSociopath: Ren. His ComedicSociopathy is actually deconstructed here.
91	* SoundtrackDissonance: Much of the torture Ren inflicts on animals is set to some pretty cheery music.
92	* ThatsAllFolks: [[MoodWhiplash After the dark and morbid ending]], a parody of the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' signoff appears with Ren, Stimpy, Mr. Horse, the frog, and the injured asylum worker (still with his hand bitten off) smiling at the audience from inside the circles.
93	* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness For once]], Stimpy refuses to forgive the way Ren treats him, and forces him to get help.
94	* TorturePorn: A rare WesternAnimation example, as each incident of young Ren victimizing animals is animated in graphic detail.
95	* TruthInTelevision: Most of Ren's behavior is accurate to real life {{serial killer}}s.
96	* TheUnreveal: The plot is built off of Ren seeking help after doing something horrendous to Stimpy. When he tells Mr. Horse, however, all we get is a whisper.
97	* VomitIndiscretionShot: The camera never cuts away when Ren's mother vomits.
98	* WhamLine: When we learn that Ren can't get psychological help after all:
99	-->'''Ren:''' (''after Mr. Horse calls him crazy'') I don't understand! I came to you for help! I bared my soul to you! I told you all my darkest secrets! And now you tell me I'm crazy? What kind of psychologist are you?!\
100	'''Mr. Horse:''' Psychologist?! Are you nuts?! ''I'M A HORSE, YOU CRAZY SON-OF-A-BITCH!''
101	* YouMonster: Stimpy calls Ren a monster after he said something horrible to him.
102	* ZanyCartoon: The intent of this episode was to [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruct]] this trope, as the zany cartoon character in question, Ren, goes to therapy and reveals [[EnfantTerrible the horrific things he has done in his childhood]]. References to various classic characters and gags are strewn throughout the episode, juxtaposed with incredibly grotesque and violent imagery so that their comedic impact is replaced with sheer horror.

Context Recap / RenandStimpyAPC1x02RenSeeksHelp