The twenty-second episode of the second season of Rugrats (1991).
The Slide:
Chuckie is afraid of going down the slide.
The Big Flush:
The babies think the local pool is a giant toilet, so they try to flush it.
"The Slide" provides examples of:
- An Aesop:
- Taunting other people rudely is bad.
- Face your fears.
- Be yourself, even if someone makes fun of you.
- Eat the Camera: Chuckie does this as he freaks out while trying to climb up the slide at the beginning of the episode.
- Epileptic Flashing Lights: The screen flashes black and white for a few frames when Chuckie falls into a sandbox.
- Noodle Incident: Angelica mentions some of Chuckie's past fears, including putting his feet in his shoes (because it was dark inside them), and eating green Jell-O (because it could have been alive).
- One-Episode Fear: Susie and the other babies help Chuckie get rid of his fear of slides, which he developed after being pushed down a too-big slide.
- Potty Failure: When Chuckie finally does go down the slide, he mentions that he wet his pants.
- Shout-Out: Chuckie paraphrases John Merrick from the 1980 film, The Elephant Man when Angelica and Susie argue over whether he's a "scaredy cat" or a "big, brave dog".Chuckie: I am not a aminal! I am a human bean!
- Suck E. Cheese's: Chuckie tells his friends about Chas taking him to the Pizza Puppet Place, which looked pretty decent. However, the place had a terribly high slide, and when Chuckie accidentally got onto it, it scared him silly and made him afraid to go down any slide.
- Survival Mantra: Susie teaches Chuckie to say, "I'm a big, brave dog" to help him overcome his fear of the slide.
"The Big Flush" provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: When Stu realizes the kids are on the low diving board and subsequently dives into the pool to rescue Tommy at the end, Chas and Howard just stand there instead of getting their own kids off the board!
- An Aesop: Learn to conquer your fears.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: This line from Chuckie:"We don't know where the flusher is, we don't know where the giant potty is, now we don't even know where the babysitting room is!"
- Continuity Nod: When Tommy asks Chuckie, "Have I ever got us lost forever?", Chuckie goes on a rant, referencing events that happened in previous episodes.Chuckie: How 'bout the time you took us down in the basement and I got stuck in the mattress? And the time you got us locked in that toy store? And the time when you made us go through that mirror into Mirrorland? And the time we chased after that wedding cake? The time we got lost in the mooseum? The time we snuck into your aunt's room?
[continues ranting as he chases after the rest of the gang] - Dirty Coward: Chas and Howard worry about Stu when he climbs up to the high dive. Howard tells Chas that they can't abandon Stu in his time of need, but when the lifeguard asks them if they know Stu, they tell him, "No."
- Fun with Flushing: The parents take the kids to the pool, which they assume is a giant toilet. The whole episode revolves around them trying to find the flusher, and trying things such as the high dive and the sauna thermostat (when they do the latter, they accidentally lock the moms inside).
- High-Dive Hijinks: Stu climbs onto the high dive at the community swimming pool, despite the fact that the last time he did that, he froze up and the staff had to call the fire department to get him down. At first, Stu freezes up again and the lifeguard tries to talk him into coming down, but when he sees Tommy bouncing on the low dive, he immediately gets over his fear and makes a perfect dive, getting into the water in time to save Tommy when he falls in.
- Malevolent Architecture: The lever that controls the sauna is right outside the door, and it's positioned in such a way that putting it on its maximum setting causes it to actually block the door, trapping anyone inside.
- Mistaken for Toilet: When the babies are taken to the local pool, they mistake it for a giant toilet and try to flush it, thinking it would be fun to do so. They also mistake the low diving board for the flusher.
- Noodle Incident:
- Stu is revealed to be scared of high diving boards in this episode. Chas tells Stu that one time, he froze on the high diving board, and the staff had to call the fire department to get him down.
- While ranting about how Tommy always gets him lost somewhere, and referencing the events of previous episodes, Chuckie mentions that once, he got stuck in a tomato bush and a dog thought he was a tree.
- Not Where They Thought: In this episode, the babies go to a community pool, which they mistake for a giant toilet. They go in search of the flusher, because they think it'll be fun to flush a giant toilet.
- Papa Wolf: When Stu sees Tommy bouncing on the low dive, because Tommy thinks the pool is a giant toilet and the low dive is the flusher, Stu gets over his fear and dives, getting in the water just in time to save Tommy when he jumps in.
- Putting the Pee in Pool: Played with; none of the babies actually go potty or use their diapers while swimming, but they do reckon the swimming pool is a "giant potty" and when Chuckie says the pool water tastes funny, Tommy says, "Of course it tastes bad, Chuckie! It's potty water!"
- Sauna of Death: An accidental example; the lever that controls the sauna is right outside the door. When the babies pull it, thinking it's the flusher to the pool that they think is a giant toilet, they accidentally trap Didi and Betty inside. Fortunately, they are let out at the end of the episode, but by this point, they are severely overheated and dehydrated.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Stu, of course, lets out a funny one when he looks down from the diving board.
- Treadmill Trauma: When the babies sneak into the gym to find the flusher, Lil pulls the lever on a treadmill, setting it from SLOW to FAST, and causing the man running on the treadmill to fall off it.
