The twenty-first episode of the sixth season of Rugrats (1991).
Brother's Are Monsters
"Brothers Are Monsters" provides examples of:
- Big Brother Bully: Betty's older brother Freddy gave Betty a hard time when they were kids, doing such things as putting tabasco sauce in her cereal and slimy critters in her bed.
- Call-Back: When the babies worry about Tommy's condition worsening, Chuckie tells Phil and Lil that they can't leave Tommy by himself, and points out that Tommy's been there for them when they needed him. He cites the time he got potty-trained as an example.
- Contrived Coincidence: The babies believe Tommy is turning into a monster when they overhear Stu talking about how older brothers are monsters. Tommy gets covered in grape juice, which causes Spike's fur to stick to him, which makes him look like a monster. Near the end of the episode, as Tommy washes the mud off of Dil's pacifier, he also washes Spike's fur off him, making him look like his normal self.
- Eat the Camera: The episode ends this way on Phil; when he sees Lil with pretzel sticks in her mouth like fangs among hearing sisters can be "monsters" as well, Phil runs right into the camera screaming as if he were Chuckie.
- Here We Go Again!: At the end of the episode, the babies overhear Freddy saying that older sisters can be monsters, too. Tommy then asks Phil if Lil is just a little bit older than him, thus Phil turns around and is horrfied by the sight of Lil (not helping with pretzel sticks in her mouth that look like fangs).
- Literal-Minded: When the babies overhear Stu saying that older brothers are monsters, they believe that Tommy is going to turn into a monster.
- Noodle Incident: When Chuckie, Phil, and Lil talk about the times Tommy's been there for them when they needed him, Phil tells Chuckie and Lil about the time he threw up after he ate the hair off Betty's brush, and Lil tells Chuckie and Phil about the time she had diaper rash and had to walk uncomfortably (Tommy even gave her some flowers to help her feel better).
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Tommy tells his friends that he doesn't want to hurt them now that he's a monster, he locks himself in the playpen and gives them his screwdriver so he can't use it to escape. Chuckie, Phil, and Lil are all naturally shocked when they hear this, as Tommy takes his screwdriver with him wherever he goes.
- Rage Breaking Point: Tommy yells at Dil when he calls him a "doggie" a fourth time, even when Tommy makes it clear that he's pretending to be a wolf. This makes Dil cry, and is the start of Tommy believing he's becoming a monster.
- Sneeze of Doom: Spike's fur tickles Tommy's nose and makes him sneeze, causing him to fall over on an inflatable Reptar and deflate it.
- Spear Counterpart: Freddy is this to Betty, even to the point of wearing a shirt with a ♂ symbol on it.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Stu recounts how Drew would tickle him until he wet his pants, Betty proudly mentions that she never wet her pants, to which Stu nervously replies that he never wet his pants either.
Cooking with Susie
"Cooking With Susie" provides examples of:
- Advanced Tech 2000: Stu’s latest invention in this episode is the Doorstopper 3000.
- Brutal Honesty: After spending the episode's B-plot trying to spare Stu's feelings about his Pickles Door Stopper 3000 invention, Didi tells Stu her true feelings about it near the end of the episode when a door flies through the roof.Didi: Stu, that's enough! I've tried to be nice about this, Stu, but the truth is, this Door Stopper thing is a menace! If you install any more of them, we're going to end up living in a tent in the backyard!
- Cranial Eruption: Lou gets one when he bumps his head on the prototype to Stu's Pickles Doorstopper 3000.
- Even the Rats Won't Touch It: One of the ways the babies try to get rid of Susie's Reptar cereal bars is by putting them in Spike's food bowl. Spike sniffs them, whimpers, and runs away.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- When Phil and Lil taste the Reptar cereal bars, they find they taste terrible, and the twins usually like yucky green things.
- Didi may not be above lying to spare her husband's feelings, but she's quick to draw the line when his invention becomes a legitimate safety hazard.
- From Bad to Worse: The babies spare Susie's feelings by telling her that they really do like her Reptar cereal bars. Susie believes what the babies said to be true and makes more, which the babies try unsuccessfully to hide. It takes the babies telling Susie the truth to get her to stop.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Angelica is shown to have one in this episode when instead of taking Susie’s toy oven when she dejectedly offers it to her, she helps Susie find a new way that people can enjoy her cooking. And to top it all off, she doesn’t even take credit for it in the end.
- Honesty Aesop: When the babies find that Susie's Reptar cereal bars taste terrible, they spare Susie's feelings by telling her they like them. This inspires Susie to make more, which they try unsuccessfully to hide. When they try to hide Susie's oven so she can't make any more, they tell Susie the truth and realize it's what they should have done in the first place. Didi also falls into this position regarding Stu's Pickles Doorstopper 3000.
- Overall, sometimes the truth hurts, but sometimes deliberately trying to avoid having to tell the truth altogether for any reason (in this case, because you're too afraid to hurt someone's feelings) can lead to greater consequences.
- It Tastes Like Feet: Upon tasting the cereal bars for the first time, Chuckie says that they taste like cat poop. We can only hope that he doesn’t actually know what cat poop tastes like.
- Noodle Incident: Didi mentions to Betty that Stu's hydraulic nose hair trimmer plucked out Lou's mustache, which is why Lou is seen without his mustache in this episode.
- Prompting Nudge: Lil does this to Chuckie to get him to lie to Susie about her Reptar cereal bars tasting good.
