- "After the rain comes a rainbow!"
Airdate: May 26, 2000
"Hide and Seek" is the fourteenth episode of the first (internet) season of Happy Tree Friends.
Flaky, Petunia, and Toothy are playing hide and seek with a war vet bear named Flippy. When the bear counts down as the other critters find their own place to hide, a woodpecker begins pecking a nearby tree. The sound triggers the bear's PTSD, turning him hostile and causing him to throw a knife at the woodpecker. Toothy is hiding behind a tree, unaware that the seeker is hidden in camouflage at that particular tree. The poor beaver ends up with a twisted neck. Next up is Flaky, who is still looking for a hiding spot, only to get strangled and hung by a wire. Petunia happens to see this, scaring her. She unknowingly walks backwards into a pit trap filled with spikes. The seeker finds Petunia, who begins to raise her hand for help. Instead of help, all she gets is a grenade that explodes after the closing iris.
"Hide and Seek" contains the following:
- Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the episode, while Petunia is impaled, it looks like Flippy has turned back to normal, and is about to help her out... then he puts a live grenade in her hand.
- Chameleon Camouflage: Fliqpy takes on the appearance of the tree behind Toothy before murdering him (pictured above).
- Cruel and Unusual Death:
- Toothy has his neck snapped.
- Petunia gets blown up by a grenade after falling into a spike pit.
- Debut Queue: Flippy makes his debut in this episode.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Aside from the initial trigger, Flippy looks no different after he flips out in this episode. His flipped out mode lacks the green eyes (except during the trigger itself) and crooked (later sharp) teeth.
- Establishing Character Moment: Flippy freaking out, turning into Fliqpy, then throwing a knife at the bird that triggered him.
- Flashback Echo: A non-visual example: When Flippy flips out, the sound of the pecking woodpecker that triggers him turns into the sound of machine gun fire.
- Hope Spot: After Petunia falls into the spike pit, Flippy shows up at the hole's opening. Petunia begins to raise her hand, thinking he is going to help her...
- Mood Whiplash: A friendly game of hide and seek turns sinister once the seeker turns hostile.
- Neck Snap: How Fliqpy dispatches Toothy.
- Never Trust a Trailer: This episode's teaser implies a Survivor-style hide and seek game involving Toothy, Petunia, and Flaky, with no Flippy in sight.
- Shout-Out:
- This episode's teaser is played out a la Survivor, having a similar logo and its own take on the show's slogan ("Out Wit, Out Play, Outlast" becomes "Out-Cuddle, Out-Cute, Out-Last").
- The way Fliqpy kills Toothy and Flaky is similar to Rambo's kills in Rambo: First Blood Part II, cementing his status as a Rambo Expy.
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: The teaser for this episode lacks Flippy.
- Sound-Only Death: Petunia's death, as the grenade explodes after the closing iris.
- Spikes of Doom: Petunia falls into a hole filled with spikes near the end of the episode. She does not instantly die.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Flaky, Petunia, and Toothy die.
- Updated Re-release: One of the early episodes to be part of "Classics Remastered" releases, which rereleases early HTF episodes in HD.
