Recap / Rugrats S 3 E 2 Chuckies First Haircut Cool Hand Angelica

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

Chuckie's First Haircut

Chuckie is afraid of getting a haircut.

Cool Hand Angelica

Angelica attends a day camp.

"Chuckie's First Haircut" provides examples of:

• An Aesop: Getting a haircut may seem strange at first, but it’s important to face your fears.
• Barbershop Episode: In this episode, Chuckie must overcome his fear of getting his hair cut so Chas can take him to the barber.
• Book Ends: This episode begins and ends with Chuckie getting his picture taken.
• Broken Tears: We don't actually see it, but according to Chuckie, Chas had a bit of an emotional breakdown following his Traumatic Haircut.
  Chuckie: Did you see how much my daddy cried after he got his hair cut? And he hardly ever cries!
• Deadpan Snarker: Chuckie, after Tommy suggests that he go through with getting a haircut instead of living in fear:
  Chuckie: You know something, Tommy? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.
• Eat the Camera: Done with Chuckie when he screams after he hides in a barrel of hair to avoid getting a haircut.
• Faint in Shock: Chas' reaction to his Traumatic Haircut; he Screams Like a Little Girl before fainting.
• Hypno Fool: Susie attempts to hypnotize Chuckie to overcome his fear of haircuts, but also decides to have a bit of fun (along with Angelica) by making him quack like a duck whenever he hears the word "Banana" and moo like a cow whenever he hears a cowbell ring.
• If You Can Read This: One of the bottles on a barber-shop shelf reads "Eau da doo da day".
• Noodle Incident: When Chas tells Stu and Didi about how humiliated he was over Chuckie running away from his first haircut, Stu and Didi list times he has been humiliated like that before, such as when he got stood up on his Senior prom, the time his boss called him an imbecile over the PA system, and the time an old lady at the supermarket punched him in the jaw.
  Chas: OKAY, OKAY, I EXAGGERATED!
• Open-Minded Parent: It is implied that Chas wouldn't have minded Chuckie becoming a rock star as a grown-up... if Chuckie wasn't afraid of spandex.
• Secondhand Storytelling: We only see the first half of Chuckie's first attempt at getting his haircut. Chas then tell us that "after he spilled the industrial strength cologne and got into the barrel of hair, he knocked over a tub of lather, ran into a shelf of shampoo, and snapped a cardboard cut-out of Crew Cut the Clown right in half!"
• Traumatic Haircut: Subverted with Chuckie. At first, he is terrified of getting a haircut (not helping matters is Angelica trying to convince him it will hurt when she pulls out one of his hairs), but is ultimately fine when he goes through with it. Played straight with Chas, who lets Chuckie cut his hair as a way of showing him that haircuts are nothing to be afraid of, but becomes horrified when Chuckie cuts off nearly all of his hair.

"Cool Hand Angelica" provides examples of:

• An Aesop: Encountering new experiences may seem uncomfortable at first but it will be interesting later.
• Boot Camp Episode: Angelica goes to Ferris Island day camp, which looks and feels like a boot camp.
• Description Cut: In the kitchen, Drew and Charlotte are talking about how excited Angelica must be about going to day camp. Cut to Angelica in her bedroom, bawling about how she doesn't want to go.
• Never My Fault: When Angelica gets sent to day camp by Drew and Charlotte, she blames Cynthia, her doll, for suggesting it.
• Potty Emergency: Bodhi has one when Angelica hides out in the outhouse.
• Pushover Parents: Drew very nearly falls into this territory when Angelica cries about how she doesn't want to go to day camp, telling Charlotte that maybe they shouldn't make Angelica go if she doesn't want to. Charlotte reminds him that they decided they're going to take a firmer hand with Angelica. Ultimately, it's Angelica arguing that she shouldn't have to do things she doesn't want to because she's special that makes them agree that she's going.
• Shout-Out: This episode's title is a reference to the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke.
  • There’s also a training segment where Angelica chases around a chicken
• Toilet Humor: When Les, one of the camp counselors catches Bodhi trying to push a large carton of ice cream to Angelica in the outhouse, he asks Bodhi what's in the outhouse. Bodhi tells him, "Poop?"