Recap / HTF - Blind Date

"Love is Blind!"

Airdate: February 22, 2004

"Blind Date" is the twenty-fifth episode of the second (internet) season of Happy Tree Friends.

After doing some shaving, Mole begins his date. However, being blind, he ends up at the wrong house, causing him to unknowingly date the oblivious Lumpy (who is only interested in his chocolate) and miss his actual date, Giggles. On their way, a semi-trailer truck blocking the road is being fixed by Handy. Of course, Mole ends up running over the orange cone before driving through the truck, causing its hood to close in on Handy and cut him in half. Meanwhile, the roof of Mole's car got taken off and the top of Lumpy's skull got ripped off, exposing his brain and leaving him vegetative. A bird lands on Lumpy's brain and starts pecking it, making him twitch. The two first arrive at a drive-in movie theater, then at a restaurant. At the latter, a second bird lands on the rotting Lumpy. Elsewhere, on a cliff, Disco Bear is dancing in his car to seduce the visibly uncomfortable Petunia. When he tries for a kiss, he gets sprayed in the face, burning his eyes. Mole's car finally arrives at the spot, and he obliviously bumps Disco Bear's car off the cliff. There, one of the birds picks out a piece of Lumpy's brain. This results in Lumpy's arm spontaneously flying up to slap Mole in the face. Back inside Giggles's house, the still-waiting Giggles hears her doorbell ring. She excitedly opens the door, only to be left confused by the sight of a rotting Lumpy holding a flower, again a mistake by Mole. Meanwhile, an egg is now present on Lumpy's brain. It starts to hatch.

"Blind Date" contains examples of:

• Accidental Murder: Every death in this episode is caused by Mole's blind mistakes.
• Ambidextrous Sprite: Mole's mole position and Lumpy's antlers.
• An Arm and a Leg: At one point, Mole closes the car door for Lumpy, unaware that one of the latter's legs gets caught in it. Of course, said leg gets torn off once Mole continues driving.
• Anticipatory Breath Spray: Disco Bear does this as he prepares to lean in for a kiss with his unwilling date Petunia.
• Armed with Pepper Spray: Petunia is shown being on what is presumably a blind date with Disco Bear and looking very uncomfortable with the whole situation. When he tries to go for a kiss, she screams and sprays him in the eyes with something from off screen. The viewer isn't shown if it was this trope or her skunk spray, though the Blurb implies the former.
  The best way to fend off a brown bear
  is to play dead or climb a tree
  or is it pepper spray?
• Bilingual Bonus: At one point the BlurB! points out Lumpy's enlarged caseus lobe, for processing cheese. "Caseus" is Latin for "cheese".
• Bittersweet Ending: Mole remains oblivious that his (literal) blind date is Lumpy and not Giggles, meaning that the latter has to wait all night in vain, believing she's been stood up. At least the two birds nesting on Lumpy's brain are starting a family.
• Blind Date: A literal case in this episode. A more straightforward example seems to be Petunia and Disco Bear, the former of which visibly dislikes the latter.
• Blind Mistake: Mole, of course.
• The Cameo: A silhouetted photo of Cuddles can be seen inside Giggles's house.
• Caption Humor: One of the episodes with a BlurB! version.
• Chocolate of Romance: Mole offers his date this. Little does he know that he ends up at Lumpy's place, and the moose is only interested in the chocolate...
• Color-Coded Characters: Pointed out by the BlurB! regarding Mole's sweater matching his car's color scheme.
  Fashion tip: It's good to have your car match your sweater.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Handy is cut in half at the waist by his truck's hood.
• Drive-In Theater: The first location visited for Mole's "date".
• Drives Like Crazy: Justified. Mole is blind.
• Easter Egg: One of the BlurB! episodes featuring the Comedy Robot. Deciphering the binary codes during the credits roll yields the classic "brown and sticky" joke.
• Every Car Is a Pinto: Disco Bear's car explodes after being bumped off the cliff.
• Eye Scream: Disco Bear's eyes turn red and sunken in after getting sprayed.
• Flowers of Romance: The Mole offers a bouquet of flowers to his blind date, as well as a box of chocolates.
• Furry Reminder: Petunia sprays at Disco Bear when he gets too close. Since she's a skunk, that probably wasn't mace...
• Gratuitous Disco Sequence: Disco Bear's date with Petunia. Petunia obviously is not into it, and him, for that matter.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Handy gets cut in half at the waist by a falling car hood.
• Hammerspace: Lampshaded by the BlurB! regarding the scene where Mole pulls out his cane after shaving.
  Where does he keep that cane?
• Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Giggles sadly waits for her date while eating a lot of ice cream. She finally stops and becomes happy again once she hears her doorbell ring... only to be greeted with Lumpy's corpse instead of Mole, who dropped him off in the first place.
• High-Pressure Emotion: When the Mole believes that his date is rubbing "her" foot against his, he blushes and pulls the collar of his turtleneck nervously, releasing steam from under it.
• Luminescent Blush: Mole after Lumpy's twitching foot rubs the former's foot, mistaking it for a sign of affection.
• Make-Out Point: The cliff where Disco Bear's date with Petunia takes place as well as their death.
• Innocent Innuendo: At one point you see a car bouncing along with the sound of grunting....only for it to be disco bear dancing inside
• New Job as the Plot Demands: Like in "The Way You Make Me Wheel", Handy is an auto repairman in this episode.
• Running Gag: From the BlurB!: "Same <object> Orson Wells drove/used in 'Citizen Cane'"
• Shout-Out:
  • Handy's truck has an Autobot symbol on it.
  • The BlurB! wastes no time slipping in mentions of Citizen Cane as part of its Running Gag.
• Show Within a Show: Like in "Keepin' It Reel", the movie playing at the drive-in theater is a Buddhist Monkey short. In this case, it is the "Books of Fury" short.
• Sudden Anatomy: Handy is drawn with visible ears when he is jolted upwards with his hat off from Mole's car running through his truck.
• There Will Be Toilet Paper: The result of Mole's attempt to shave at the beginning of the episode.
• They Killed Kenny Again: Lumpy, Handy, Petunia, and Disco Bear die.
• Through a Face Full of Fur:
  • The Mole gets a Luminescent Blush over his lavender fur when he thinks his date is rubbing "her" foot against his.
  • After he is (presumably) killed after having his brain exposed, Lumpy's blue fur eventually starts turning pale as he starts to decompose.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Giggles and Mole survive.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
  • Practically no one notices Lumpy's rotting corpse during Mole's date despite the two going around public places. Granted, no Faceless Masses are drawn, but still.
  • Giggles is simply left confused when she is greeted by the sight of Lumpy's rotting corpse.
• Updated Re-release: One of the older episodes to have a "Classic Remastered" version, which presents the episode in HD.
• Visual Pun: Lumpy is a bird-brain. Pointed out by the BlurB!.
• Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: One of the BlurB! captions:
  Lumpy's brain does it's own stunts
• Yawn and Reach: Mole does this to Lumpy. Lampshaded by the BlurB!.
  The "Yawn" move
  a classic!