I Remember Melville

"I Remember Melville" is an episode of Rugrats from Season 3.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Spike
 * Melville
 * Chas (mentioned)

Synopsis
When Chuckie's pet bug passes away while in the care of the other Rugrats, they try to find a way to break the news to him - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
Chuckie shows up one day at Tommy's house with a pet of his very own: Melville, a pillbug. Chuckie is happy with Melville and spends many days (or at least just one) having fun with Melville.

One day, Chuckie asks Tommy, Phil, and Lil to watch Melville while he searches for a special kind of leaf for it. They notice that Melville isn't doing anything. Tommy is confused, but Phil and Lil recognize Melville as being dead. The twins explain death to Tommy, who realizes Chuckie is going to be devastated and tries to replace Melville with a snail.

Chuckie returns with the leaf and becomes angry when he sees the snail. He yells that a snail is not a bug (which Phil had already stated) and demands to see Melville. Tommy and the twins explain that Melville is dead. Chuckie refuses to believe Melville is dead, until he realizes Melville does not respond to anything. Chuckie breaks down sobbing that he'll never be happy again.

The next day, Chuckie comes over appearing to be normal, but everything they do causes him to start crying again because it reminds him of Melville, even chocolate pudding. When Tommy says they'll never be able to do anything again in order to avoid upsetting Chuckie (even eating chocolate pudding), Chuckie says he still likes to do things. He explains he feels sad because he never got to say goodbye.

In order to give him closure, a funeral is held for Melville in the backyard. Phil and Lil mention all of things Chuckie used to with Melville and begin to tear up. Sadness turns to outrage when Chuckie bursts into laughter. Chuckie explains that he feels happy remembering these things, and says from now on when he remembers Melville, he'll laugh instead of cry. This causes Phil and Lil to cry, which surprises Tommy and Chuckie.

Music Identification

 * Bah Vocal

Trivia

 * This is Kath Soucie's favorite episode.
 * This is the first and only appearance of Melville.
 * Though the species of Melville is never mentioned, it is obvious that he is a pillbug.
 * None of the grown-ups nor Angelica appear in this episode, this is the only episode the main characters, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil appeared in.
 * Chas is mentioned by Tommy.
 * Even though this episode has no problem with saying the words "dead", "death", and "died" aloud, in the newer episodes these words are never used, particularly when talking about Melinda Finster.
 * Chuckie is shown going through the Five Stages of Grief (a.k.a. the Kübler-Ross model) when Melville dies. This includes denial (Chuckie first keeps denying Melville is dead and desperately tries to awaken him), anger (Chuckie is angered when the others try to tell him Melville is dead, and that the "replacement bug" is really a snail), bargaining (Chuckie attempts to show that Melville is fine by having him perform in a "circus"), depression (Chuckie finally realizes Melville is truly dead and cries over it), and finally acceptance (Chuckie starts laughing at Melville's funeral, remembering all the good times he had with Melville, shows he has now accepted his pet bug's death).
 * Morals:
 * It's always sad when you lose a pet.
 * Friends are there to mend a broken heart