Visiting Aunt Miriam

"Visiting Aunt Miriam" is a Season 5 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Lou
 * Miriam
 * Florence
 * Sheila

Synopsis
''The Rugrats visit Aunt Miriam's place as she plays poker with Grandpa Lou and some of her elderly friends. The babies become alarmed however, when one of the women jokingly says that Chuckie "looks good enough to eat". - Description from Klasky Csupo''

Summary
Grandpa Lou is on babysitting duty today. He watches a Reptar movie with Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, but is interrupted by the phone ringing. Aunt Miriam is calling, and invites Lou to play poker with her and her friends that afternoon. Lou refuses at first, saying that Miriam cheated last time they played cards together, and that he's watching the kids. Miriam responds that they play for money and the betting pot gets to be over $100. Lou quickly changes his mind and says he will be there with the kids in 15 minutes. While he gets the car keys, Phil asks why Aunt Miriam would have such big pots. Tommy assumes they are for cooking, and Lil says that she and Phil once attended a "potluck," where everyone brought different food. Since Grandpa isn't bringing a pot with him, the babies start to worry.

Lou takes the kids to Miriam's house. As usual, Miriam is happy to see the babies, and she invites everyone inside. Lou sets the babies in the living room to play, then sits at the table with Miriam's friends, Florence and Sheila. They discuss how big the pot is going to be today, which worries the babies again. Phil and Lil point out that the ladies look strange with their wrinkly skin and heavy makeup. Phil concludes that the ladies are alien grandmas. As Tommy wonders what they will cook in their big pot, Chuckie crawls with them under the table and accidentally rests his hand on Sheila's leg. She picks Chuckie up and says that she could "eat him up." The other three babies worry even more after Sheila kisses Chuckie on the cheeks and says he's "delicious."

Tommy and the twins figure that the grandmas are going to eat Chuckie, and that Lou probably doesn't realize what is going on (which happens a lot, according to Tommy). The babies agree not to tell Chuckie, not wanting to frighten him into a panic attack. Chuckie approaches his friends, happy at all the attention from the grandmas. Since Lou didn't bring any toys for the babies, Miriam grabs pots and pans from her kitchen for them to play with. She sets Chuckie into the biggest one, and he pretends to be in a soup.

The adults continue their card game, and Lou accuses Miriam of cheating again when she shows the group her 3-of-a-kind Queens. Miriam denies this, then gets up to grab snacks for everyone. Miriam asks the babies if they would like to go with her to the kitchen. Chuckie is first to step up, but Tommy stops him, saying that his shoes are untied. Since Chuckie's shoes are always untied, he goes to the kitchen anyway. He and Miriam come back with a tray of snacks. Miriam thanks Chuckie for being her helper, and says that she will fatten Chuckie up with the snacks. While Chuckie eats, the babies sneakily take the rest of the food from the tray and throw it into a closet. Florence and Miriam notice that the tray is empty, so Miriam offers to get more for the adults. Chuckie notices as well, and heads to the kitchen.

Miriam notices Chuckie behind her as she opens the oven. She reaches into a cabinet to get some flour, but accidentally tears the bag, making the flour spill onto Chuckie. The babies enter the kitchen, and think that Miriam covered Chuckie in flour on purpose to prepare him for the waiting oven. Miriam turns around to wet a towel to clean Chuckie. As she does, the other babies drag Chuckie out of the kitchen. Chuckie asks why, and Tommy makes up an excuse, saying that they want to play hide and seek, with Chuckie as the only hider. Chuckie is confused but agrees, and hides behind a curtain. The other babies try to come up with a plan to stop Miriam and her friends from eating Chuckie.

At that moment, Lou gets fed up with Miriam cheating and decides that whoever wins the last round of poker wins the whole pot. Tommy thinks this means that the winner will get to eat Chuckie. The babies decide to help Lou win, since Lou would never hurt Chuckie. Tommy thinks that the winner has the most cards, so he and the twins swipe the cards from the other ladies' spots on the table, and put them into Lou's lap without him noticing. Chuckie approaches them and asks why they aren't looking for him. Phil blurts out that the grandmas want to eat him, to Tommy's annoyance. Chuckie denies this, saying that the grannies were just being nice. The babies give their "evidence" of the pots and pans, and Sheila calling Chuckie "delicious." This convinces Chuckie, and he runs away screaming.

Lou stands up to see what is wrong with Chuckie, but the cards fall out of his lap. Miriam accuses Lou of cheating, and Lou denies this. Fed up with the nonsense, he declares himself winner and takes the whole pot with him. The babies cheer that Chuckie won't be eaten. Lou starts to leave with the kids, but Miriam stops him. She admits to cheating before, and since they are now "even" she offers to play again fairly. Lou agrees, proposing they do so at his house next week. The babies worry all over again, especially Chuckie.

Trivia

 * On Paramount+, this episode is listed as being shown first rather than its sister episode, "Fugitive Tommy".
 * While Grandpa Lou and the kids are watching Reptar fighting a giant ape on TV, the scene is a reference to King Kong Vs Godzilla (1962). Even Reptar using Godzilla's iconic roar in that scene.