Let Them Eat Cake

"Let Them Eat Cake" is the 36th episode belonging to season 2 of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Angelica
 * Didi
 * Stu
 * Chas
 * Charlotte
 * Drew
 * Lou
 * Boris (cameo)
 * Minka (cameo)
 * Ben (debut)
 * Elaine (debut)
 * Hip Guy

Synopsis
''The Pickles attend a wedding at a multiplex wedding mall, where several weddings take place at once. (Though all Tommy wants is the wedding cake.) Meanwhile, Ben, Didi's half brother, can't find his bride, Elaine. Has she run away from the ceremony?'' - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
At Tommy's house, everyone is dressed formally and hurrying around. Tommy and Chuckie, dressed in tuxedos, watch the grownups run around, getting ready. Chuckie asks what is happening, and Tommy explains that someone is getting married. He adds that when someone gets married, everyone gets to have cake. Chuckie is excited and wants to get married, so he can have cake. But, Angelica approaches in her pink dress and ribbons, and tells the babies that they are not getting married; the bride and groom are getting married and everyone else just watches. Chuckie asks what a groom is, and Tommy points to his Uncle Ben. Ben is feeling nervous for his big day, but Stu and Drew try to calm him down. Ben thanks Drew for letting Angelica be the flower girl, but Didi interrupts their conversation to urge everyone to hurry to the chapel.

Later, at the mega-chapel, the wedding party arrives. Ben enters with Drew's family, still unsure of going through with the ceremony. Charlotte reassures him, saying getting married is beneficial for his taxes. Everyone enters the building where many weddings are taking place, and thus, lots of people are running around to the different rooms. Tommy and Chuckie assume they all came to get cake. Suddenly, a pair of bakers enter with a giant tiered wedding cake on a cart. The babies stare at it for a while, then the bakers wheel it away.

Soon, the wedding party is in place for the outdoor wedding. Angelica is getting instructions from a pair of chapel attendants on how to be a flower girl. They put a flower crown on her head and call her "little girl." Angelica barks at them to not call her "little girl," then waits for the organist to start playing. The organist initially starts playing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," but corrects herself after people stare at her. She plays "Here Comes The Bride" while Angelica makes her way down the aisle, throwing flowers everywhere. After this, the organist starts the song again and everyone looks to the back of the chapel for the bride, Elaine, to enter. But, no one enters, and the attendants look around for her. Another attendant approaches the priest and whispers in his ear. The priest, shocked, blurts out that the bride is missing, and Ben goes to the attendants for help.

Chuckie thinks that the big entrance was supposed to be for the cake. Since nothing came through the main doorway, he thinks everyone may be waiting a while for the cake to arrive. Tommy agrees that it could be a long time if they waited, but it would be faster if they went off to find the cake themselves. Chuckie begins to protest, but then points out that he and Tommy have been through this scenario before; Tommy suggests something crazy, Chuckie protests, Tommy gives several reasons why they should do the crazy thing, Chuckie protests again, then Tommy tricks Chuckie into doing the crazy thing. Chuckie opts to skip the argument and goes with Tommy to find the cake. The two of them sneak out unnoticed and enter the main wedding hall. They see the bakers wheeling around the giant cake again, and follow the cart down a hallway. But, once they round the corner, the cake has disappeared behind one of the many doors.

The attendants ask Ben to describe Elaine, and Ben launches into a poetic monologue about her. The attendants clarify that they mean her hair color. Ben is unable to answer. The other grownups are talking about Elaine's getting cold feet, when Didi notices that Tommy and Chuckie are missing. She and Stu hurry off to find them. Tommy and Chuckie enter a few rooms where other weddings are taking place. Ben misses seeing them while searching for Elaine on his own. Stu and Didi also are searching in the hallway, and they do not see the babies entering another room behind them.

Eventually, the babies make their way outside through a New Age wedding. There is no cake, only a giant bowl of granola. The babies give up, and rest on a nearby cart. Tommy apologizes to Chuckie for leading him on the wild goose chase, and Chuckie comforts him. But, the cart they are sitting on starts rolling down the hill. The babies cling to the sides for dear life, but when they look up, they notice they are sitting on the cart with the giant cake. The bakers chase the cart as it rolls the cake and babies around the chapel grounds, interrupting other weddings. Eventually, Tommy and Chuckie jump to safety onto the grass, and the cart rolls off into the distance.

A redheaded bride sits nearby, asking why the babies are there. It's Elaine, and she looks unhappy. Elaine asks Tommy and Chuckie if they ran away from the wedding like she did. She tells them that she loves Ben very much, but is afraid of the finality of marriage. She wonders if Ben has the same doubts as her, but Ben approaches the group. He tells her that he was worried about her, and Elaine apologizes, saying she was scared. Ben tells her that he is also scared, but knows that he loves her. Elaine reciprocates and the two of them kiss. Tommy and Chuckie are confused since they have not seen Elaine before, nor do they know what a bride should look like.

Later, at Ben and Elaine's reception, the newlyweds and their guests dance, and of course, eat cake. Chuckie tells Tommy that he wishes they could get married every day. Tommy can only belch in response.

Trivia

 * The early episode title was called "The Wedding".
 * There are several different types of wedding ceremonies visible in this episode. This includes a traditional Jewish ceremony with the song Hava Nagila and the Hora dance, and an unconventional hippie or new age ceremony in which a marrying spiritual couple wear pyramids on their heads, hold a pyramid in their hand, and are to partake in a meal of "thirteen-grain granola."
 * This is the first episode in which we meet Uncle Ben and Aunt Elaine. Drew describes Ben as his "little brother's wife's half-brother," but Ben is also called Didi’s little brother, which would imply one of their parents is not Didi’s birth parent. Referring to Ben as a half-brother is probably just a mistake, though.
 * Ben and Elaine’s names are likely references to characters in the movie “The Graduate,” which has a famous wedding scene.
 * The title is based on the infamous "Let them eat cake" quote, often incorrectly attributed to Marie Antoinette.
 * Nickelodeon originally wanted Ben to call Stu by his first name, not "Mr. Pickles," but the line remained.
 * Nickelodeon had qualms about the wedding cake because it was intact after going under a table, but in the final script, it remained intact.
 * The original script for this episode was also to have revealed Boris & Minka's last name. In the original script, it was "Krapopkin," but it was later dropped.
 * Nickelodeon wanted Minka & Boris' "mother tongue" to sound genuine.
 * This is the fifth time where Tommy is seen wearing shoes.
 * This is the first time Angelica is a flower girl; the next time she was the flower girl was before the start of the episode "I Do", and the third time was in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.
 * Charlotte is the only person who wears her regular clothes to the wedding while everybody else got dressed up.
 * During the wedding, a female organist accidentally plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" before correctly plays "Here Comes the Bride".
 * It's revealed in this episode that Charlotte can speak Japanese, as she does so when talking to Mr. Yamaguchi.
 * During the wedding, Chas is shown crying. He, Didi, and Charlotte also cry during the reception. While Didi and Charlotte's tears are clearly tears of joy, it's possible that the reason why Chas is crying is because he's remembering his own wedding and missing his deceased wife Melinda.
 * Moral: Miracles can happen if you believe them.