After the release of a trifecta of “Bluey” episodes, fans of the Australian children's television show about a family of Blue Heeler dogs are speculating about what's next for the characters and the series.
The popular show, which follows Bluey, her sister Bingo, and her parents Bandit (Dave McCormack) and Chilli (Melanie Zanetti), became the zeitgeist of pop culture last month, beginning with the release of “Ghostbasket” on the 7th. April, in which viewers learned that the Heeler house was for sale.
A week later, the 28-minute “The Sign” special, the longest “Bluey” episode ever, revealed more details about this shocking plot twist. We learn that Bandit has accepted a new job that requires the Heelers to move, saying it's so the family can have a better life. “I don't want a better life,” Bluey exclaims. The episode featured a wedding, a pregnancy reveal and a last-minute decision by the family to stay in Brisbane.
An additional episode, aptly titled “Surprise,” was announced just hours before it aired on April 21. In the final moments, the series moves into the future, and an adult Bluey visits her parents and we see a child.
But the events have left fans wondering what it all means and if this is the end of “Bluey,” as many have speculated. A fourth season of the beloved series has yet to be announced, and should it arrive (or something longer, like a movie), questions arise like: Will the show jump in time with Bluey and Bingo as parents and Chilli and Bandit as grandparents? Why didn't we get to see adult Bingo in “Surprise” (Chilli says she's in the backyard)?
While series creator Joe Brumm hasn't been specific in interviews about what's next, when The Times spoke to executive producer Daley Pearson about “The Sign,” he said he'd “love to think about where.” [the show] “I could be next.”
Producer Sam Moor confirmed to the BBC that the show would return for a fourth series. Zanetti, who voices Chilli, told The Times that she is still hoping for a musical episode and she is definitely ready to do more series. “On the record, we like fun and we love doing our voices and we're up for anything,” she said.
The message from fans has been unequivocal: they want more “Bluey.” The show is produced by Ludo Studio for Australian Broadcast Co. and BBC Studios, and is shown in the US on Disney Channel and Disney Junior and streaming on Disney+. A week after “The Sign” premiered, Disney announced that the special had had more than 10 million views, making it the most-watched “Bluey” premiere in history. To find out where the show is headed, here's a look at eight key “Bluey” episodes that inform its past and possibly its future.
'Barky Boats' (Season 2, Episode 38)
In this episode, the students at Bluey's school spend the day with their older friends. The episode begins with Winton taunting Bluey that she will marry Mackzenie. Many have noted that the little dog outside the Heeler house in the final seconds of “Surprise” bears a striking resemblance to Mackenzie. Since this mysterious pup appears to have arrived with adult Bluey and is ready to attack Bandit with a toy similar to Bluey's in “Surprise,” is it possible that Bluey married Mackenzie and that is her son by the door? ?
'Fairy Tale' (Season 3, Episode 25)
Bandit tells Bluey and Bingo a story about growing up in the '80s (“a wild place” where no one needed helmets, the trampolines didn't have nets, and the curse rules were ironclad). Bandit tells the girls that this is the first time he has met Chilli, something she denies. But he admits that he and her family used to vacation at the place where Bandit's story takes place. Like Season 2's “Baby Race,” which reminds Bluey of when he was a puppy, the show shows that he's comfortable playing with time.
'Grannies' (Season 1, Episode 28)
Janet and Rita, the respective alter egos of Bluey and Bingo's grandmothers, were introduced in the first season of the show (there are actual t-shirts with the phrase “Nice parking space, Rita!”). They have made several appearances throughout the show's three seasons, including on “Bus” and “Granny Mobile.” But, most notably, they appeared in “Ghostbasket,” like Bingo, where Rita pretends to be a character hanging around the house so that a potential buyer, played by Chilli, doesn't buy it.
'Curry Quest' (Season 3, Episode 8)
Bandit and Bingo go to visit Mackenzie and her family to swap curry. But the episode contains a plot point that takes on a lot more meaning now that we know how the season ends. Bandit is reluctant to tell Bingo that he has to be gone for six weeks for work. Did it have anything to do with the job opportunity that would have led the family to move?
'Onesies' (Season 3, Episode 32)
Chilli's sister Brandy visits her for the first time in four years. We learn (or at least the adults know; the plot will most likely go over the heads of younger viewers) that the reason for her estrangement is that Brandy has been unable to have a child of her own. “It's hard to see them all,” she tells her sister. Viewers were delighted to see Brandy pregnant at “The Sign” wedding.
'Chest' (Season 3, Episode 10)
Unlike other television series, the actors who voice Bluey and Bingo do not receive credits and remain anonymous. The show is inspired by the life of creator Joe Brumm and is a family affair. Brumm's brother Dan voices Uncle Stripe. His mother, Chris, voices Nana Heeler. The challenge, of course, is that the actors are getting older, but Bluey and Bingo are still 6 and 4 years old, respectively, since the series premiered in Australia in 2018. The kids will start to sound different as they get older. Brumm discussed possible solutions to the puzzle a few years ago. Viewers got their first glimpse that the series was considering spending time during this episode in which Bandit teaches his children how to play chess, or “chest,” as they call it. Bluey tells her dad, “I'm almost 7. She's 5.”
'Double Babysitter' (season 2, episode 25)
Bandit's brother Rad (Patrick Brammall) and Chilli's best friend Frisky (Claudia O'Doherty) get married in “The Sign”. But the couple meet for the first time in the show's second season when, due to a miscommunication, they are both asked to babysit. Bluey and Bingo interrogate them (“Why don't you have a wife?” “Do you want kids?”), as we see initial sparks between the eventual couple.
'Cricket' (Season 3, Episode 47)
In this episode, which comes before “Ghostbasket,” Bandit tells a story in a way that makes it seem like he's talking about something that happened a long time ago. Maybe he's telling the story to his grandchildren? The story is about Rusty, Bluey's friend, and how he loves to play cricket. No one can knock Rusty out of the game until he intentionally hits a ball that his sister Dusty can catch. Cricket, as Bandit tells Bluey, is more than just a game. The final moments of the episode show an adult Rusty playing professional cricket and passing into a younger version of himself on the field. This is not the first time the program has moved forward. We see a teenage version of Bluey in Season 1's “Camping” and a teenage Bingo in Season 2's “Daddy Dropoff.” But “Cricket,” which takes us up to Rusty's adulthood, is perhaps the most significant. Is it the children's television version of “Lost”? Maybe.
