| Big Showdown | Gallery | Transcript |
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"Big Showdown" is a Season 6 episode of Rugrats.
Characters Present[]
Characters Introduced[]
Plot[]
The episode opens with Stu, Tommy, and Dil watching a Reptar movie, as he saves the city from a giant robot ant. The boys are mesmerized by it as Didi comes home in the pouring rain, telling Stu that the boys are supposed to be in bed to keep with their sleep schedule. Didi believes that she and Stu are exposing the boys to Reptar too much when Dil wakes up crying in the middle of the night. Stu claims it couldn't be Reptar since Tommy is sleeping soundly, despite watching the same movie. Didi points out how the entire room is decorated in Reptar merchandise, not understanding that something besides Reptar could've scared Dil. Stu jokingly says it could've been a clown puppet in the room, but Didi insists it's Reptar and has second thoughts on all the exposure they let their sons have around the dinosaur. Didi calls Dr. Lipschitz's hotline and asks him for advice. The woman on the other end suggests Didi gets rid of Reptar for good and introduce her sons to Goober the Gopher- a kind, gentle, "hypo-allergenic" gopher who is the only toy that carries Lipschitz's seal of approval.
The next day, Tommy tells his friends all about the movie. When they ask how Reptar defeated the alien, Tommy has Chuckie play the alien, and he plays Reptar. When Phil and Lil ask to be Reptar, Tommy says everyone except Dil and Chuckie will be Reptar, and he assigns Dil with a different role. As the babies approach Chuckie, pretending to be Reptars, Chuckie asks to pick dandelions instead. Tommy rejects the offer, and they all chase after Chuckie, who trips on his laces. Just as the others are about to get him, Didi comes in- much to Chuckie's relief. Didi tells the babies she has a surprise for them, and they all are brought to Tommy and Dil's room, which is now decorated in Goober merchandise, without a trace of Reptar. Didi introduces the babies to Goober. Didi and Stu leave, as Didi says the Goober guy told her the babies will need time to "assimilate" to the icon. The babies wonder who Goober is; Lil thinks that he sent Reptar away, and the babies search the room for the dinosaur. Chuckie instead goes to the giant Goober doll Dil is seated near, charmed by his friendly appearance. As the twins fight over an old banana peel in the trash, Tommy finds all of his Reptar things in the closet. Tommy suspects that Goober locked away all of the Reptar things. Chuckie comes in with a Goober doll, asking if Tommy wants to meet him. Tommy asks him that if Goober is so nice, why did he put Reptar away just like the alien did from the movie? Chuckie denies this, saying Goober is too nice to have done something like that. Chuckie suspects the evil alien, but Tommy says if that were true, he'd have taken over Earth by now. He is still convinced that it was Goober who put Reptar away. Chuckie still insists Goober cannot be evil. When he squeezes him, the babies learn that Goober "talks" with a voice box, saying "I love you! Can I have a hug?" Chuckie reveals that he prefers Goober to scary Reptar, suggesting they all play with Goober instead. Heartbroken, Tommy asks if Chuckie really doesn't like Reptar anymore, with Chuckie replying that even Tommy has to admit Reptar can be mean- never wanting to hug, but only wanting to eat people up. Tommy looks down sadly.
Dil, being young, adores Goober, as he is friendly-looking. Tommy and Chuckie start to play separately; Chuckie plays with dandelions with Dil, and Tommy plays "Reptar races the horsies" with Phil and Lil. Chuckie asks Goober if he wants to race the horsies and Reptar, soon figuring out that all Goober does is ask for hugs. He hands off the doll to Dil as he watches his friends play, only for Dil to hand him back Goober to share.
When Tommy refuses to give Goober a chance, the Dr. Lipschitz hotline suggests that Didi take the kids to The Toy Fair at the mall to force Tommy to become friends with Goober. The Goober mascot at the mall takes away Tommy's Reptar doll and replaces it with a Goober toy, which upsets Tommy greatly. The Goober mascot acts rudely to the group and puts the Reptar doll on a table in the back, where the Reptar mascot, who is also there on the same day, has stolen his sandwich. The two mascots fight after "Reptar" makes fun of "Goober". Didi is horrified by the violence, while the fight excites Betty. Tommy, who sees his doll, sneaks away. Chuckie notices Tommy alone and realizes he has to go help him, as the twins are busy watching the fight. Tommy and Chuckie apologize to each other as they watch the fight, with Chuckie commenting that Goober isn't as nice as he thought. The Goober mascot gets sent crashing into the table the boys are on, causing them to get launched in the air. The Reptar mascot dives in and catches the boys, saving them from harm. Goober then gets booed off for his behavior. The mascot sets Tommy down in his stroller and pats his head, appearing to be a lot nicer to kids than Goober. Didi thanks the mascot and walks off with him to discuss child psychology as the others are amazed that Reptar talked to Tommy. In the end, Didi realizes that she can't force Tommy to like Goober and after seeing how Reptar makes Tommy happy, she allows him to be around Reptar again. Dil still likes Goober, but Tommy says it's okay--Dil can like whoever he wants. He also admits Goober isn't so bad. Dil plays with the Goober toy, who asks for a hug. Dil, Tommy, and Chuckie all hug the doll as Lil and Phil fight over Tommy's Reptar toy.
Trivia[]
- While a lot of fans assume Dil waking up crying was because of a thunderstorm, this is a false theory based on there being one at the beginning of the episode. There's no thunder and lightning during the moment when Dil wakes up crying, meaning he likely just had a random nightmare. Though it's possible the storm scared Dil earlier in the episode when they were watching the Reptar movie, and caused Dil to have a nightmare well after the storm had passed. But given how much he and Tommy have been shown to enjoy Reptar, Didi's assumption as usual is more than likely to be wrong.
- If you look at Didi when Goober Man is taking Tommy's Reptar Doll, you can see her watching it happen and doing nothing about it. This along with her apologizing to him for Tommy crying is one of the worst mothering she's ever done.
- On the Reptar Returns! DVD, this episode is referred to as "The Big Showdown."
- Moral: Don't force your kids to like something they dislike.
- The audio of Tommy crying is recycled from "The Carwash."
Videos[]
How Many Times Did Tommy Pickles Cry? - Part 3 - The Big Showdown
Rugrats - I'll make a man out of you