The twenty-fifth episode of the sixth season of Rugrats (1991).
The Big Showdown
Didi thinks Reptar is too scary for Tommy and Dil, so she replaces him with Goober the Gopher, a new toy that Tommy doesn't like.
Doctor Susie
Susie learns how to be a doctor from her mother and fixes the babies' toys after Dil breaks them.
"The Big Showdown" provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: While Didi can't exactly be given the award for Most Attentive Parent, she takes it to a major extreme in this episode. When Dil has bad dreams due to stormy weather, she thinks that all the Reptar merchandise is scaring Dil, so she takes it away and hides it despite the fact that Tommy isn't afraid of Reptar. She then replaces all the Reptar merchandise with Goober merchandise after a recommendation from the Dr. Lipschitz hotline. When Tommy shows a dislike to Goober, Didi considers throwing the Reptar merchandise away, but thankfully the hotline director tells her that would be too extreme, and instead recommends that she take Tommy to a toy fair where a man dressed as Goober would be. When they go to meet Goober, the man turns out to be a complete Jerkass. He takes Tommy's Reptar toy, making him cry, and replaces it with a Goober stuffed animal. However, instead of standing up to the man, Didi instead defends him and is shocked that Tommy would respond that way.
- Alliterative Name: Goober the Gopher.
- An Aesop: All kids are different, and you shouldn't force them to like things just because you think they are better for them.
- Character Catchphrase: Goober's trademark phrase is "Can I have a hug?" The doll even says it after every phrase it speaks when squeezed.
- Clueless Aesop: In the end, Tommy gets back Reptar, but Dil is still fond of Goober, which Tommy accepts. While this fair on paper since Goober, besides being a rather saccharine mascot, is harmless, the change of heart seems odd since the "Goober" he saw in person (a grouchy adult in a costume) was supposedly a Jerkass who confiscated his toy.
- Fear of Thunder: A thunderstorm early in the episode scares Dil to the point of him having nightmares, but Didi never figures this out and blames all the Reptar merchandise in the room.
- Feud Episode: Tommy and Chuckie get into a feud in this episode when Chuckie likes Goober better than Reptar, and Tommy doesn't like Goober at all. They reconcile when Chuckie sees the man in the Goober costume's true colors, and Tommy realizes that Dil can still like Goober even if he doesn't.
- Kids' Show Mascot Parody: Goober is an obvious parody of Barney the Dinosaur. He speaks in a goofy voice, loves hugs, and lacks any emotion other than happiness.
- Knight Templar Parent: When Dil has night terrors, Didi worries the Reptar merchandise littered around his and Tommy's room is frightening him, and seeks to abolish every trace of Reptar for a more schmaltzy animal mascot, Goober, to Tommy's horror. Naturally Stu and several other adults tell her she might be overthinking it.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: The man in the Goober costume takes Tommy's Reptar doll and gets into a fight with the man in the Reptar costume.
- Only Sane Man: The operator at the Lipschitz hotline. When Didi goes near Abusive Parents in her dislike of Reptar (thinking about throwing away Tommy's toys JUST to force him to love Goober) the operator flat out tells her she is going too far.
"Doctor Susie" provides examples of:
- The Ace: In addition to being a doctor, Lucy is able to help Stu fix a leaky sink in this episode's B-plot.
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Chuckie gets irritated over Dil breaking the babies' toys, he admits that he didn't mind when Dil broke a clown doll, as given his fear of clowns, he kind of liked when Dil did that.
- Adults Are Useless: Averted with Lucy who's able to fix Susie's toy cow in the beginning of the episode. Played straight with Stu and Didi, who don't intervene when Dil destroys all of the other kids' playthings by either taking him out of the room or fixing the toys. Later when Angelica cries out after Cynthia is torn apart by Dil, Didi turns her attention to comforting Dil while her niece is still in distress over her favorite toy being broken and even brushes off Angelica's concerns by repeating the Lipschitz quote about babies needing to test the boundaries of physical force.
- Bait-and-Switch: The episode begins with what looks like a tornado carrying away a cow. However, the cow is soon revealed to be Mrs. Moo-Moo, Susie's toy cow that gets caught in Lucy's vacuum cleaner when she vacuums the living room.
- Confidence Sabotage: Angelica breaks the toys that Susie had fixed to make her believe that she was a failure as a doctor. When Dil breaks Cynthia and Susie doesn't believe she can fix her, Angelica is forced to come clean and restore her confidence.
- Didn't Think This Through: Angelica breaks the babies' toys when they aren't looking to convince the babies that Susie didn't fix them right and isn't a real doctor. When Dil gets a hold of Angelica's Cynthia doll and breaks her, Angelica admits that she didn't anticipate this and never thought she'd need Susie to fix Cynthia.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Angelica breaks the babies' toys when they aren't looking to make Susie look bad. Dil later breaks Angelica's Cynthia doll, and Angelica needs Susie's help to fix her.
- Like a Surgeon: Susie "operates" on various toys, but the trope doesn't really come into play until Angelica's doll, Cynthia, is broken. Angelica paces outside while Susie calls out to the other babies (who now have diapers on their faces and heads meant to look like surgical masks and caps) for tools such as glue while saying things like "We're losing her!" Luckily, the "surgery" is a success.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: When Lucy glues Mrs. Moo-Moo back together, Susie decides that she wants to be a doctor just like her, and spends the episode fixing the babies' broken toys.
- Literal-Minded: When Susie, with the help of Tommy, Phil, and Lil attempts to fix Cynthia, the cap to her glue bottle comes off, and Susie says, "Rats!". Tommy then tells Susie, "We don't have any rats."
- Look Behind You: Angelica attempts to get the babies to go outside by telling them that there's a rainbow with a pot of gold outside. When the babies aren't convinced, Angelica tells them that there's also mud and worms outside. The babies go outside, giving Angelica the opportunity to break their toys while they aren't looking to make Susie look bad.
- Malaproper: Susie pronounces "Hippocratic Oath" as "Hippopotamus Oath".
- Post-Treatment Lollipop: When Lucy teaches Susie how to be a doctor, she concludes by saying that the patient gets a lollipop after their treatment. After Susie fixes Jelly Bear, she gives him a lollipop.
- Troubled Toybreaker: When the babies praise Susie for fixing their toys, Angelica breaks them when they aren't looking to make Susie look bad out of jealousy. After Dil breaks Cynthia, Angelica admits to the babies that she was the one who broke their toys because they liked Susie more than her and didn't expect Dil to break Cynthia or think she'd need Susie to help fix her.
- Wearing It All Wrong: When Susie dresses the babies as surgeons, she has them wear diapers on their heads, which act as surgical caps.
