I watched my first episode of Bluey because I saw a single quote circulating the internet, and it was exactly what I needed. For validation, maybe? A bit of comfort? Ultimately both. Bluey Season 3, Episode 49, “The Sign,” digs into the importance of happiness, reminding me and likely others why happy endings matter in stories.
I’d heard many things about the series’ appeal to adults, and this episode proves that point. We need happy endings in the fiction we consume now more than ever. Bluey asks her teacher, “Why do stories always have happy endings?” to which the response is: “Well, I guess cause life will give us enough sad ones.” And that’s it—that’s the point of our incessant need to beg TV writers for a bit of levity during these dark times, only the opposite keeps happening instead.
The interesting thing is that as kids, no matter how heavy our days get, we always have something comforting like Bluey to come home to. For me, it was the Rugrats. It was Franklin and Little Bear. It was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and still, to this day, when the theme song comes on, you’ll automatically catch me bursting into tears. We’re all struggling—hard. Remember when we trauma dumped on Elmo earlier this year? Wars and battles are happening all around us, and we just lived through a pandemic that’s still occurring. These are things that kids shouldn’t be exposed to, so it’s lovely that a little show like this exists to champion happy endings.
It’s lovely when writers remind us that it’s not edgy to subvert expectations when the initial setup was anything but. Of course, this episode would end with Bluey and the whole family staying in their home. Of course, there would be a happy wedding because that’s the show’s setup. The problem with modern television today is that shows will bring in something deeply wholesome in their first season, then throw massive curveballs later on. What’s the point? Life is sad enough. There will always be dark and gritty TV, too. No one wants those gone—there’s greatness there, too. But the fear of happy endings, the dismissal of them by countless people? That’s what stings.
It’s tiring to hear different actors talk about how “romantic cliches” shouldn’t happen when they’re some of the best parts of life in the real world, too. It’s horrible to have a character death that makes no sense because the show needed to do something drastic to be refreshing. Where are the shows like Bluey for adults? The ones we can turn to on a bad day, knowing they’ll hold our hand instead of abandoning us in the ditch we’re already in. Where are the shows we can trust at a time when renewals aren’t even guaranteed? Writers often feel they need a cliffhanger to keep people invested, but viewers will always come back to the things that make them feel good. Isn’t that why we turn to old shows and movies anyway? Because we know exactly how they’re going to make us feel comforted.
Why does Bluey understand this message better than adults, and how do we get to a place where we can trust that TV and film won’t consistently hurt us when they’re marketed a certain way? How do we convince writers and producers that happy endings aren’t lazy but necessary—they’re warm and brave and more vulnerable. How do we get to a place where we don’t slam happy things but instead embrace them and leave people in a better place than when we found them? This is why adults are also running to embrace Bluey alongside their kids. It’s why we’re crying, too. We’re all desperate for happy ends, and we need to stop pretending that we’re above them.
At least Bluey gets it.
Bluey is now streaming on Disney+.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Disney