The seventh episode of the fourth season of Rugrats (1991).
The Carwash
"The Carwash" provides examples of:
- An Aesop: Don't be afraid to try something new.
- Adults Are Useless: Stu is about to take the babies out of Chas' car during their trip to the carwash, when he gets distracted by the mechanism of the car wash and caught up in a conversation with the carwash mechanic. Angelica tries to tell Stu that she and the babies are still in the car, but by this time, he's out of earshot. Stu then tells Chas to take the babies out of the car, but Chas is too busy arguing with the carwash attendant over a possible discount. Fortunately, once Chas realizes the babies are still in his car, he does everything he can to save them.
- Butt-Monkey: Chas gets pushed around by the brushes and sprayed with water and soap when he tries to save the babies.
- Cowardly Lion: Chuckie plunges into the soapy water to find the squeegee so he can use it to close the windows and stop the car from being flooded to the roof with water.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: This line:Chas: [To carwash attendant] So you see, if you had a frequent washer program, you could always make it up in volume. Take my van over there, full of kids. [Gasp] My van?! Full of kids?!
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: Tommy & Angelica act like this for Chuckie, as they try to convince Chuckie to save the babies from being soaked by the carwash or not, respectively.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Angelica, being in the front passenger seat, has full control over the buttons that open and close the windows to Chas' car. She accidentally presses the one that opens the moon roof just above her, and the car wash pours water all over her before she can press the button again to close it. This happens to her again after Chuckie closes the windows and saves his friends from being drowned near the end of the episode.
- Malaproper: Chuckie mispronounces "Carwash Master" as "Carwash Monster".
- Missed Him by That Much: When Chuckie says, "Oh, I wish my Dad was here.", Chas gets picked up by one of the carwash's brushes and rubbed against his car's back window. Neither Tommy nor Chuckie see Chas, nor do they hear him screaming in pain.
- Papa Wolf: When Chas finds out the babies are still in his car, he does everything he can to get to them in time, including carjacking a man.
- Two Scenes, One Dialogue: When describing the Finsters’ first time in the new carwash in town Chas & Chuckie’s dialogue syncs up, with Chas raving about how great it is while Chuckie is warning the other babies about the horrific experience he had.
- Vertigo Effect: Done on Chas when he realizes his car is about to go through the car wash with the babies inside.
Heat Wave
"Heat Wave" provides examples of:
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When Al-Sabu finds out that there's no more water in the fountain, he says, "We are doomed! Doomed, I tell you!" Chuckie's response? "I think I'm gonna like this guy."
- Correlation/Causation Gag: Lou dislodges the valve to a water pipe just as Phil and Lil argue over which one of them is going to drink up all the water in the fountain. When the water stops flowing, Tommy believes that the twins really did drink up all the water. Near the end of the episode, Lou manages to re-lodge the valve just as Tommy sticks the straw from his juice box in a sprinkler, causing water to flow from it.
- Dads Can't Cook: Discussed; when Al-Sabu explains to Chuckie what a "barrage"note is, Phil compares it to Howard cooking breakfast.
- Heat Wave: It's in the title.
- Hollywood Mirage: On their quest, the babies see what looks like an igloo in the distance, only to later find out that it's really a deflated volleyball.
- Hypocrite Has a Point: While the babies' problems were Lou's fault, as he was the one dislodged the water valve, he does make a good point when he tells the two construction workers to be more careful about where they leave their tools.
- Limited Wardrobe: Tommy is seen wearing blue and white sneakers and teal socks with his light blue shirt and white diaper in this episode, a rare instance of him wearing shoes on the show.
- Malaproper:
- The babies mispronounce "sunburn" as "sunbird".
- Al-Sabu mispronounces "mirage" as "barrage", and Chuckie mispronounces it as "garage".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When two construction workers fixing a water pipe go on their lunch break, Lou finds that they left their wrench behind. When he tries to pull the wrench out, he accidentally dislodges a valve, causing the water in the fountain to stop flowing and leaving the babies without water.
- No One Gets Left Behind: When the babies make it to the Black Tar Playground, they find out that Chuckie wasn't in the wagon, as he chose to stay with the deflated volleyball, hoping it would turn back into an igloo. Tommy rushes back with Spike to find Chuckie and save him.
- Trouser Space: Tommy is revealed to have kept a box of grape juice in his diaper, which the babies use to re-hydrate themselves on their quest for water.
- Wearing It All Wrong: Al-Sabu gives Tommy a diaper to wear on his head to protect it from the heat of the sun.
- Whole-Plot Reference: This episode parodies Lawrence of Arabia, with the kids crossing "the Black Tar Playground" to find water on a sweltering summer day.
