The seventeenth episode of the sixth season of Rugrats (1991).
"All's Well That Pretends Well":
Angelica is coming down with a cold, so to avoid missing out on the Cirque du Dummi Bear show, she tries to make the adults think the babies are the sick ones instead.
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: The episode ends with the babies Playing Sick so that they can keep the sick Angelica company, and the adults taping the circus so that they don't miss it, however Angelica still has a cold.
- Continuity Nod: When Angelica tells the babies about how the Cirque du Dummi Bear show is going to be the greatest show ever, Phil asks "Even better than Reptar on Ice?"
- Couldn't Find a Tissue: At one point, when Angelica is about to sneeze, she looks for the nearest thing to sneeze into, settling on Spike.
- Feigning Healthiness: Angelica has a cold, but she pretends to be healthy so she doesn't have to miss out on a Dummi Bears performance. She tries to make it look like the babies are sick by using a feather duster, but she ends up giving herself away by accidentally making herself sneeze. However, she gets to see the performance anyway when it's shown on TV.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Angelica attempts to make the babies sneeze by using a feather duster on them. When Spike snatches the feather duster from her and shakes it, it makes her sneeze.
- Nose Nuggets: When Didi sees the babies with vanilla ice cream on their faces, she mistakes it for snot.
- Playing Sick: At the end of the episode, the babies pretend to be sick so they can stay home with Angelica, feeling bad that she couldn't go to the Cirque du Dummi Bear show with them.
- Powder Gag: Angelica takes a dusty feather duster and tries to sprinkle dust all over Chuckie to make him sneeze. However, Spike steals the duster and plays with it, so the dust ends up landing on Angelica and making her sneeze.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: The parents think Angelica must be sick when they hear her sneezing. She is sick, but in that particular instance, it was dust that was making her sneeze. Furthermore, it's not the disease Didi was worried about, but rather a cold.
- Rule of Three: Angelica tries three plans to make it seem like the babies are sick and not her. First, she covers them in baby powder and lipstick to make them look like they have chicken pox (under the guise of making them look like clowns). Then, she gives the ice cream to make them shiver and look like they have runny noses. Finally, she tries to use a feather duster on the babies to make them sneeze.
- Shock-and-Switch Ending: Downplayed. It seems as though the babies have caught Angelica's cold, but actually they were just pretending. The issue of them being unable to go to the circus is also solved when Drew reveals that they have it taped on video. However, Angelica still genuinely has a cold.
- Unplanned Staycation: Everyone is planning to go to the circus, but they cancel their plans because Angelica has a cold and the babies pretended to have caught her cold so they could keep her company. To compensate, everyone watches the show taped on TV.
"Big Babies":
The babies want to initiate Dil into being a "big baby" like them.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Title: Big Babies.
- Malaproper: The babies mispronounce "initiation" as "itchynation".
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Conan McNulty serves as this to Lou. Lou is not keen on him joining the Wombat Club, but does relish the idea of giving him his secret wombat initiation to see if he really is Wombat material.
