Bluey isn’t just a show that teaches life lessons for kids. Some of the show’s episodes are targeted to adults, look at “Baby Race” as an example. But this children’s show could do more than teach how to deal with emotions and friendships. It turns out that it does cover some more heavy adult topics that one might not realize unless they do a second viewing.
Reddit user u/happyhealthy27220 shared on r/Bluey an excerpt from a book titled Hard to Bear from Australian journalist, Isabelle Oderberg. The book referenced the series 2 episode, “The Show” and how it confirmed an ongoing fan rumor that Chilli suffered a miscarriage.
To recap, ‘The Show’ was a Bluey episode where the Heeler family celebrates Mother’s Day. Bluey and Bingo decide to put on a show that told the story of how Bandit and Chilli first met. Throughout the show, it showcased Chilli’s pregnancy through the use of a balloon, that eventually popped.
While one could assume that the balloon popping was a reference to how the show started since Bingo believed that she ruined the production, Bandit was seen holding Chilli’s hand prior to Bingo running away. This sparked the fan theory that there was more to this scene than just a popped balloon.
The show’s creator, Joe Brumm addressed the scene that was mentioned in the book, where he not only confirmed the speculated fan rumor but also shares more detail about the scene in general.
“‘The Show’ indeed does point at Chilli having a miscarriage. In fact, this is what the episode is about essentially, Chilli is passing down her method of coping to Bingo. I can’t say too much about who it is based on as the person involved wouldn’t want me to. But the key aspect of the experience relevant to this episode was the facr that her other children still needed taking care of, so there really was no choice for her but to pick herself up and keep going. Which I always admired.”
Fans praised how Brumm confirmed this popular theory, stating that he’s done it through an educational book rather than just a tweet or social media statement. This post opened up the discussion about this health topic on the subreddit, considering that some Bluey fans are adults, and talking about these sensitive matters is very important.
This confirmation could also mean that a scene from the award-winning episode ‘Sleepytime’ did reference a first child when Bingo passed by an unhatched Mecrury during her journey to the sun.
There were a handful of Bluey episodes that addressed childbirth through the perspective of a child. One episode titled ‘Early Baby’ talked about how Indy’s mum had a child that came out early and how the nurses had to keep a closer watch on the newly-born child. Meanwhile, the episode ‘Dad Baby’ (a censored episode in the US) had Bandit experience the various stages of pregnancy, including childbirth.
If you want to read this official excerpt from Bluey‘s creator and how a children’s TV program addresses miscarriages, Hard to Bear is now available to purchase.
