The fifteenth episode of the fourth season of Rugrats (1991).
Ransom of Cynthia
Angelica tells the babies that Cynthia's been kidnapped, but she may be hiding something.
Turtle Recall
At a shopping mall, Chuckie wants to return a pet turtle to his "daddy" (a turtle figure on a fountain in the mall).
"Ransom of Cynthia" provides examples of:
- Birthday Episode: A downplayed example; the episode begins with the babies having returned from Susie's birthday party, which is why they have bags of candy. It's also never mentioned how old Susie is.
- Call-Back:
- Green Around the Gills: Angelica's face turns green from sickness as a result of both eating too much candy and being spun around by Drew when the latter finds out that the original Cynthia doll has been found.
- Human Ladder: The babies form one to get their bag of candy down from a high shelf.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Angelica tries to get a new Queen Cynthia doll, along with the other babies' stash of candy, by faking her Cynthia's kidnapping, complete with a ransom note and a phone call with the kidnapper (actually her). However, the babies realize something's up when they figure out that the "ransom note" is just a page torn out of Angelica's coloring book; soon after, Angelica (with chocolate smeared all over her face) tells the other babies that the kidnapper demanded more candy... even though she wasn't there during the phone call. The babies immediately call her out on this, and Angelica's plan is exposed.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As usual, just when Angelica thinks she's won, everything comes apart for her: just as she gets the new Queen Cynthia doll, Spike shows up with the original Cynthia, which causes her father to return the Queen Cynthia to the store, much to her chagrin. And she pays the price for eating too much candy as well when that, plus Drew spinning her around, causes her to get sick and vomit all over him.
- Literal Metaphor: Angelica literally takes candy from the babies (she even calls the expression out by its name) by staging a ransom for her Cynthia doll.
- Little "No": Drew after Angelica throws up on him.
- Manchild: Stu. After Charlotte refuses to let Angelica eat any more candy, Didi decides that she should do the same with her kids by tossing out the rest of their candy. Stu manages to convince her to save it by telling her that he wanted to eat the candy, as it includes Dummi Bears.
- Noodle Incident: Charlotte refuses to let Angelica have any more candy after her last visit to the dentist revealed that she has a cavity.
- Pushover Parents: Zig-zagged with Drew. When Angelica asks for a Queen of the World Cynthia doll, Drew refuses to buy it for her, saying there's nothing wrong with her old Cynthia. When Angelica stages Cynthia's kidnapping, he gives in and buys her the Queen Cynthia, but when Spike reveals that he found the original Cynthia, he is delighted, as now he can return the Queen Cynthia.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: When Angelica gets sick from eating too much candy and being spun around by Drew when he finds out that Spike found the original Cynthia doll, and he can return Queen Cynthia, she throws up on Drew. The camera cuts to a view of the babies as Angelica throws up.
"Turtle Recall" provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: Chas leaves Stu in charge of the babies while he goes to buy a new fondue set. Stu gets distracted by a football game playing on the TVs, allowing the babies to escape and have an adventure. He does become aware of the babies' escape after Chas returns and finds the strollers are empty.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:
- This line from Chas:
"Of all the places to leave an empty stroller! Some people just..." [beat] "Empty? Stroller? Stu! Where are the kids?"- While on the run from a Security Guard, Chuckie hides the turtle in a shoe, then tells the babies about it. When Phil asks him what kind of shoe it is, Chuckie realizes it is the same shoe that an employee is about to put on a customer.
- Shout-Out: This episode's title is a reference to the 1990 film, Total Recall.
- Stairs Are Faster: The babies board an elevator on their way back to the fountain. The Security Guard catches up to them and jumps onto the elevator, then falls back down, deciding to take the stairs instead. Stu, Chas, and the Security Guard all catch up to the babies by the time they get to the top floor.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The employee in the pet department says, "Oh, great... snakes!" as Phil and Lil knock over a tank of snakes, allowing the snakes inside it to escape. She's later seen with a fearful expression as she holds the snakes.
