Rebel Without a Teddy Bear

"Rebel Without a Teddy Bear" is an episode of Rugrats from season two.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Angelica
 * Didi
 * Stu
 * Chas
 * Henry

Synopsis
Tommy's favorite toy is bound for the trash, and there's nothing he can do about it except taking Angelica's advice -- acting like a brat. - Description from Klasky Csupo

Summary
Tommy's favorite stuffed lion is taken away, leading to him being bad just like Angelica in order to get him back. He tears up the Pickles home in rebellion, and its up to scaredey-cat Chuckie to talk his best friend out of his anger before he does something terrible

Recap
At Tommy’s house, in Tommy’s crib, Tommy is showing Chuckie one of his most favorite toys, a stuffed lion he calls Henry. Tommy loves Henry very much (shown by Henry's dirtyness, as beloved toys will become). Chuckie makes an innocent comment about how Henry is a bit dirty, which upsets Tommy as he chokes back tears. Chuckie suggests they give 'Herman' a bath, to which Tommy corrects him, annoyed by the wrong name. However, Tommy agrees to giving his stuffed lion a bath to help him get clean and be enjoyed by the two friends Tommy then reaches for his plastic screwdriver and uses it to open up the crib to get to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the two have gathered what they need for Henry's bath (Tub, water, Henry)- all they need is the soap. Chuckie spots dish soap but its too high up, so Tommy innocently grabs mustard, thinking it to be close enough and the two get to work to give Henry a bath. Didi comes in and immediately takes Henry, who is covered in mustard along with smelling bad, away to rinse him in the sink, with Tommy upset his mom has taken Henry away. Didi consults with Chas on what to do with “Herman” (ironically the name Tommy told his best friend not to use). As Didi wrings the lion out, Chas points out that he believes it’s ruined; Didi states that she wishes there was something she could do and adds that “Tommy loves ‘Herman’ so much”. Chas informs her that the stuffed animal will grow mildew from being wet, suggesting Didi throw it away. Didi sadly believes that's the only thing to do as well

In the playpen, Tommy laments over his mom having taken away Henry, stating that his mom is always taking away his toys and things he loves.Chuckie attempts to calm his best friend down by softly stating they don't always do, but Tommy argues back that they do. Chuckie suggest that Didi can always buy him a new lion, but Tommy sees this as an attack, deeply offended by the thought of Henry being replaced and accusing Chuckie of taking the grown-ups side. Tommy states that he believes nobody cares about him, still in grief over Henry. Angelica then comes into the scene and asks him if there’s something wrong. Tommy tells her about Henry being taken, while also telling a confused Angelica that Henry is a toy lion. Angelica tells her cousin that he’s been wronged and there is only one way to right it and get his lion back. Tommy asks Angelica what he needs to do, and Angelica tells him the only way to get Henry back...is to become bad, giving examples of how she always gets what she wants when she acts bad. After she leaves, Chuckie is relieved nothing will come of her suggestion, as he knows they never listen to her. Tommy takes his cousin's idea to heart, stating from that moment on, he will be bad.

Tommy then goes into the kitchen and spots a cup of his that's full of juice on the kitchen table, and he intends to knock it over. Chuckie follows and tells his friend not to do it, but Tommy replies that he’s been through a lot in his life. He complains that he was given naps when he wasn’t tired, was fed yucky beets when he wasn’t hungry, and had his temperature taken more times than he wants to remember; and he concludes that “they’ve gone too far” this time and that he needs to stand up for himself and will knock over his cup of juice. Tommy then proceeds to climb up and do his devious deed. Seeing the cup full of juice, he gulps it down first before throwing the plastic cup down on the floor. Angelica comes in and asks the babies what they are doing. Tommy tells Angelica that he was being bad just as she told him, and she notices Tommy threw his empty cup on the floor and called it “bad”. Angelica asks what makes that bad and its not bad if he drinks what's in the cup first before knocking it over. Tommy innocently states that he didn't want to make a mess. Angelica sighs and declares that a lot of work must be done to make him bad.

Angelica and Tommy go into his parents’ bedroom and she begins to lecture Tommy; she states that Tommy’s first lesson is “throwing clothes around the room”. She opens a dresser drawer and tells Tommy to watch and learn. Angelica pulls out a garment and throws it onto the floor. Chuckie (trying to stop the whole thing) rushes over and picks it up. Angelica then invites her cousin to try and Chuckie tells him not to do it. Angelica tells Tommy that Chuckie is just a “fraidy cat” and tells him to take out a shirt and throw it; Tommy does so and Chuckie goes after it. Angelica then tells him to do it again, but with more anger. Tommy, starting to channel his rage from losing his lion, throws another shirt much further and onto a lamp. Angelica encourages Tommy and they both start to throw all the drawer’s contents all over the place, all as Chuckie continues to try and catch them and pick up what’s on the floor. Angelica and Tommy then go over to a closet of more garments and open the door, and as they’re about to start trashing it as well, Angelica states to Tommy the next lesson: being bad means you don't have to say sorry. Tommy and Angelica start frantically throwing everything out, and Chuckie again tries to catch everything. Later on in the living room and we see Angelica and Tommy knock a lamp and a bowl of flowers off the coffee table. They then go over to a stack of papers on a nearby desk, and Tommy pushes them onto the floor; Angelica keeps egging Tommy on with compliments on his progress, and Chuckie rushes over and attempts to clean up the papers. They go into the kitchen and Tommy squirts a baby bottle of milk onto the floor; Angelica looks proud of her cousin, and Chuckie attempts to clean this up as well. They go into the bathroom and Angelica sprays the mirror with a spray can, most likely hair spray, and Tommy throws the toilet paper everywhere; Chuckie (struggling to keep up) proceeds to clean all this as well. As the house starts to get quite trashed, Angelica tells her cousin that she thinks Tommy has gotten bad. Tommy however replies in anger that she shouldn't think he's bad, he IS bad! Angelica is mesmerized by Tommy’s rage, and she suggests that they celebrate by tearing up a pile of newspapers and throwing them all over the house; Tommy approaches the papers with a quite sinister look on his face.

Despite Chuckie’s better efforts, Tommy and Angelica manage to single-handedly reduce the entire house to a dump (they even manage to knock heavy furniture on their sides). They even manage to cause serious, expensive and very dangerous damage: Such as but not limited to puncturing a hole in the sofa, pulling light fixtures apart so that they only dangle by their electrical wires, deforming a large piece of furniture, and even dangerously smashing a huge gap in the large window of the sliding door by the playpen. As Tommy continues his rage fueled bout of destruction, Chuckie tells his friends that he thinks he can stop now; but Tommy states that he won’t stop until he gets his lion back. Chuckie asks what will happen if Henry is never returned And Tommy replies that he will continue to be bad and rebellious, planning to go from 'nursery to nursery' with nothing but a bottle and big wheel. He will draw on walls and rip up papers, making his parents regret even touching his beloved lion. Tommy’s parents walk into the scene; and despite the damage. Stu and Didi manage to remain calm as Didi reads through her Dr. Lipschitz book for consultation on what to do. Stu shrugs it off, saying Tommy has yet to break something irreplaceable, but then notices Tommy ripping up his stamp collection, which Stu becomes distressed over. Didi then cuts in and states what they believe to be a phase in all children, and giving Tommy freedom to do so, he should be over it in three to four months. They observe Tommy pulling down a desk lamp by its cord and breaking it, and they look at each other with great concern.

Later on, after the house as been cleaned up and repaired, Angelica is over, and asking Tommy progress on his bad behavior. Tommy replies that the most bad he's done is splatter food on Stu and pour grape juice into Didi's hair. Angelica states that it’s not bad for a beginner; and then asks Chuckie if he’d also like to join the fun and be bad. Chuckie tells her no and that he’s happy being good; Angelica states that she just doesn’t understand him. Chuckie then points out that Tommy has been acting bad but still doesn’t have the lion back; Tommy agrees with Chuckie and emphasizes that Angelica said that being bad would get him Henry back. Angelica replies that he needs to give it some time; pointing out that “Roll wasn’t built in an egg” (meaning to say “Rome wasn’t built in a day”). Chuckie further states that he believes being bad doesn’t get anyone anything; but Angelica reiterates her belief that it does work and that Tommy isn’t being bad enough (despite the very serious damage they had done earlier). She further states that everything they had done so far was only 'kid stuff' and that it’s now time to do something really bad. Angelica and Tommy go upstairs (with Chuckie following) and wait in the hallway until no grownups are around and sends Tommy to sneak into his parent's room. He spots his mother’s favorite necklace on a necklace holder. He walks over and tries to reach it from the floor but to no avail. Angelica rushes him and he manages to grab it by getting a boost from a stool.

They all walk outside into the backyard with the necklace; Angelica leads them to the trash cans, where she instructs her cousin to throw it into the garbage so that Didi will never see her beloved necklace again. Tommy starts to protest: but Angelica reminds him she took (and possibly disposed of) his favorite lion, so its only fair he rids of her necklace. She points to the can and orders Tommy to toss it. Tommy walks over and holds the necklace near the rim of the can; but Chuckie stops him, having seen enough, states that he's tired of staying quiet, and Tommy is now going too far in his rebellion, warning him that this will only lead to more dangerous crimes. Angelica tells Chuckie to stay out of it and states that Tommy isn’t afraid of going to jail, before turning to Tommy and asking him for his agreement. Tommy is unsure as Chuckie tells him what he's about to do isn't nice. Angelica laughs at this, and she then tells Tommy to just drop it in. Chuckie reminds him that he's holding Didi's favorite necklace. Angelica cuts in and reminds him that Didi  threw away his favorite lion. Tommy, now uncertain, turns away from the trash can and a disappointed Angelica is in disbelief, saying being good will never get him anything. Tommy starts to rebuttal, but Angelica interupts, stating that soon they will take away his dog, bottle, the rest of his toys until he has nothing but diapers, which will eventually be taken away as well if Tommy continues his good behavior. Tommy, now shaking with the necklace in his hands, nervously thinks for a moment. Fortunately, Tommy's conscience finally overcomes his thirst for revenge, and he drops the necklace on the ground while stating that he just can’t go through with it- Didi's one act of taking away Henry doesn't get rid of all the nice things she's done for him. A disappointed Angelica protests that the babies don’t have any guts; Tommy states that it was nice for Angelica to try and help him. Angelica angrily replies that she worked hard to make Tommy bad, but its all gone because he decided to act like Chuckie as she storms off.

An ashamed and apologetic Tommy then thanks Chuckie for talking him out of it, knowing he would regret what he was about to do. Chuckie replies that he’s glad Tommy didn’t throw his mother’s necklace away. Tommy agrees and says Chuckie is the 'bestest' friend any baby could have. Didi then comes over, having been looking all over the house for the two and relieved to have found them. Didi then pulls out Tommy’s lion (which she managed to wash and restore) from behind her back, revealing that he wasn’t thrown out after all, as she was able to wash Henry, and Tommy is ecstatic to have his beloved lion back. Didi then notices her necklace by Tommy’s feet, and is also ecstatic to have it back as well. As she puts it on, she thanks her son for finding it ,not knowing he took it from her room in the first place. Tommy and Chuckie hug Henry as they follow Didi back inside the house with Henry in tow; Angelica, watching the whole thing from an upstairs window, looks in annoyance as she pulls the window shade down, groaning in distaste.

Goofs

 * The viewers think that Tommy has a Teddy Bear because of the episode's title; instead, he has a lion for the whole episode.
 * It may be a way to make it sound more childish/geared to babies, as teddy bears are more associated with babies than lions

Trivia

 * The name of this episode is a reference of the 1955 famous film Rebel Without A Cause starring James Dean.
 * The mustard Tommy and Chuckie try using to clean Henry has a logo of a French flag, suggesting it is French's brand mustard.
 * this was the first episode to air in 1993
 * The original title for this episode was "Rebel Without A Blanket".
 * Its possible Didi just bought a new lion to replace Henry/Herman, as the beginning implied the lion was beyond repair. However, it most likely would've been alluded to in the episode if that were the case, and Didi is the type of parent to have said that to Tommy. So its most likely Didi indeed found a way to restore Henry.
 * Fourth wall: Tommy spills milk from the bottle at one point in the episode, a reference to the opening of the cartoon.
 * Morals:
 * Vengeance is not the way to solve problems; it will always make things worse.
 * Be a leader not a follower.
 * Even though this episode was aired in 1993, it was actually made in 1992, according to the copyright text on the Nickelodeon logo; it also happened to the next episode "Angelica the Magnificent".

Video Clips