Recap / Rugrats S 2 E 17 Rebel Without A Teddy Bear Angelica The Magnificent

The seventeenth episode of the second season of Rugrats (1991).

Rebel Without a Teddy Bear:

Tommy decides to go bad after Didi takes his stuffed lion away to wash it.

Angelica the Magnificent:

Angelica does magic tricks, and the babies think she turned Lil into a butterfly.

"Rebel Without A Teddy Bear" provides examples of:

• Accidental Misnaming: Both Chuckie and Didi call Henry "Herman", much to Tommy's ire.
• An Aesop:
  • Vengeance is not the way to solve problems; it will always make things worse.
  • Be a leader, not a follower.
• Closest Thing We Got: Tommy and Chuckie take Henry into the kitchen to try to clean him. Unfortunately for them, the soap is out of their reach. They do, however, find a bottle of mustard on the kitchen table.
  Tommy: Wait! [points to kitchen table]
  Chuckie: Tommy, that's not soap! That's mustard!
  Tommy: Eh, close enough.
• Companion Cube: Henry, Tommy's stuffed lion.
• The Corrupter: Angelica serves as this to Tommy, convincing him that being bad will get him whatever he wants.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Invoked by, of all people, Tommy. Angelica has successfully turned him bad, and he has completely wrecked his whole house at Angelica's behest. She then tells him to finish it off by throwing Didi's favorite necklace in the garbage. He refuses, with some coercing from Chuckie.
• Morality Chain: Chuckie serves as this to Tommy. He is the only thing keeping Tommy from being as much of a mean-spirited, destructive hellion as Angelica.
• Never My Fault: After Tommy messes up his lion by pouring mustard on him, Didi takes the doll away in an attempt to clean him. Tommy is completely convinced his mom confiscated Henry from him for no reason whatsoever.
• Never Trust a Title: Despite what the title says, Henry is a stuffed lion, not a teddy bear.
• Poke the Poodle: Tommy's first unsuccessful attempt at being bad is... throwing an empty juice cup on the floor.
  Angelica: First of all, when you knock over your juice, you do NOT drink the juice first!
  Tommy: But I didn't want to make a mess!
• Pushover Parents: Tommy busts up nearly every single window in his house, and destroys thousands, maybe even millions of dollars worth of stuff in his house, but his parents do not punish him in any meaningful way, as they follow Dr. Lipschitz's advice, telling them that if they gave him the freedom he needs, he'll be over it in three to four months.
  Stu: Months?!
• Reset Button: Tommy's house has nearly every single window shattered and thousands, maybe even millions worth of dollars worth of its stuff destroyed thank to Tommy and Angelica's bad behavior. It's back to normal by its next appearance.
• Rousing Speech: Chuckie gives one to Tommy to try to convince him that being like Angelica will lead to a life of hard time.
  "I've been quiet all this time, but I can't keep quiet anymore, cause' it's wrong! It's just plain wrong! Tommy, don't do it! You start off throwin' a necklace in the garbage can. Pretty soon, you're breakin' windows! Before you know it, you're stealin' houses and you end up in prism!"
• Stock "Yuck!": Tommy is revealed to dislike beets in this episode, as he tells Chuckie that he's been fed them when he wasn't hungry.
• Thermometer Gag: When Tommy decides to be bad, he tells Chuckie that he's had his temperature taken more times than he wants to remember.

"Angelica the Magnificent" provides examples of:

• An Aesop: Be honest and take responsibility for your actions.
• Chasing a Butterfly: A non-lethal example; Angelica performs a magic trick wherein she intends to make Lil disappear by hiding her in a cardboard box. Lil chases a butterfly as Angelica says the magic words, and another butterfly flies into the box around the same time, leading the babies and Angelica to believe that Angelica turned Lil into a butterfly.
• Correlation/Causation Gag:
  • When Lil leaves the cardboard box to chase a butterfly as Angelica says the magic words, another butterfly flies into the box in Lil's place. This leads the babies and Angelica to believe that Angelica turned Lil into a butterfly.
  • The shed the fathers built begins to collapse immediately after Tommy waves Angelica's magic wand at it.
• Didn't Think This Through: After Angelica unsuccessfully tries turning Lil back to normal after assuming that she turned her into a butterfly, Tommy gets angry and points out that Angelica's going to get into a lot of trouble when the adults find out what she did—Angelica, not realizing this beforehand, has an Oh, Crap!-realization and acknowledges that Tommy's right.
• Disappearing Box: Angelica attempts a disappearing act by putting Lil in a cardboard box and having her go out the other end as she says the magic words. Because Lil chases a butterfly, and another one flies into the box as Angelica says the magic words, Angelica and the boys believe that Angelica turned Lil into a butterfly.
• How About a Smile?: The babies believe that Angelica has used magic to turn Lil into a butterfly, and they demand that she change her back. Angelica, as usual, takes this opportunity to torment the babies.
  Angelica: Say "Please."
  Phil, Tommy, and Chuckie: Please...
  Angelica: Say "Pretty please."
  Phil, Tommy, and Chuckie: Pretty please...
  Angelica: Say "Pretty please with sugar on top and ice cream in the middle and..."
  Tommy: Angelica, change her back!
• No Man Should Have This Power: After Tommy thinks his playing with Angelica's wand caused the fathers' shoddily built shed to fall apart, he throws the wand away, telling Chuckie there are some things even a baby shouldn't mess with.
• Oh, Crap!: Tommy is frozen with shock after he thinks he magically caused the fathers' shed to collapse.
• Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat: Lil wants to see Angelica do this trick, since she saw it on TV. Angelica refuses to do that trick.
• Ridiculous Counter-Request:
  Phil: But I want my sister!
  Angelica: And I want a pony. You can't always get what you want.
• You Watch Too Much X: This exchange when Lil reappears after chasing some butterflies:
  Phil: What was it like?
  Chuckie: Did it hurt?
  Tommy: Did you like being a butterfly?
  Lil: You guys have been watching too many cartoons.
  • It serves as a Ironic Echo a bit later when the parents embrace their babies after hearing from Angelica that they dug a hole and buried Lil underneath:
    Angelica: Lil, I'm so glad to see you! Was it cold under there?
    Drew: All right, Angelica. I think you have been watching too many cartoons. Maybe it's time for a nap.