Season 5, Episode 29 - Blue's First Holiday
A show can change depending on its lifespan. Star Trek changed its entire roster between the Original Series and the Next Generation. SpongeBob supposedly has decreased in quality since the created Stephen Hillenburg left the show. Blue's Clues is no different.
For Blue's Clues, the big transition was Steve to Joe, which caused a rumble amongst nostalgic fans of the former. I, for one, always preferred Steve, however, Joe was never unappealing to me. But I did notice a difference.
Back in the day, Blue's Clues was the pioneer for interactive kids television. Sesame Street and the like were forerunners of that sort-of kids genre, interacting with kids at home, but never in the way Blue's Clues spurred. Intimately talking to the camera and whatnot, having the audience act as a third protagonist. It was revolutionary and, along with Dora, provided a template for future kids programs.
The second iteration with Joe changed a lot of things. While Steve's years inspired the future and still kept that little inch of realism in the interaction, Joe somewhat watered down the show in places. No lie, Joe was a great choice to succeed Steve, yet his takeover led to changing the show to become more like the shows of the time that ironically were inspired by the show itself.
That's not to say these episodes did not leave behind its past. This episode here, "Blue's First Holiday", brings two and two together, providing a interesting backstory for Blue and bridges the gap between first and second generations of Blue's Clues.The episode begins with the arrival of Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper's holiday present. The gift is none other than two movies (VHS home videos, actually... it was 2003...). Taking cues from the previous holiday show, the episode te
lls the story outside the normal status quo. Instead of (directly) playing Blue's Clues on screen, we see them watching their old home movies. (Side note: Didn't know they had a TV until now. It's weird, 'cause we see them circle the house like every episode.)
Now, these home movies tell the origins of Blue. They even come with titles the first being, not surprisingly, "The Day We Met Blue". In the video, all the Blue's Clues gang as babies, except an older, yet still young Steve, celebrate a previous holiday. Noticeably absent to the group is Blue. Explained by Mr. Salt, however, we discover he was in fact not there at the time of the filming.
We see the entire gang getting their holiday gifts, except young Steve. Steve knew exactly what he wanted and that was a dog. In the end, he gets his present. Though, instead of a puppy, he receives a book about a puppy (literally called About a Puppy). The book tells the story of a puppy called Blue (yes, that one), who wants a friend because all the other dogs are too different than him. The book ends by asking the reader if you'll be her friend. Steve reads the book repeatedly and eventually answers 'yes'. And, through the power of skidooing or love or something, Blue pops out of the book and into real life.
See, this is the kind of stuff I love. Never in a million years would I think to see Blue's origin story. It's weird, yet only natural, that she comes from a book. They completely explain skidooing and her anthropomorphic qualities because of this, though indirectly. And, through this story, the bond between Blue and Steve is much more grounded and furthers the love we already knew from his seasons. Also, gotta hand it to the actor who played young Steve (William Ulrich) on playing this iconic part, he is exactly how I imagine a young Steve being.
After playing with her for a long time, young Steve eventually asks if she will stay. She says yes and the book has since resided on the bookshelf. The little vignette is probably one of the most compelling things the show has done.
That superlative, however, easily goes to the exchange that happens right after the video. We actually get a call on the phone from Steve. This moment of contained nostalgia acts like the "Steve Goes to College" arc, but moreso like a final acceptance of the change. A real acknowledgement things are in capable hands. There's this part where Steve talks to us and says he misses us, but his enthusiasm shines through in a way that confirms his faith in Joe. The Mail Time alarm interrupts part of the call, but before they hang up Joe says "It was great to hear from you." A heartfelt recognition and salutation to the past, showing within one line that even while growing and changing, they won't forget their roots and won't completely abolish them.Following this, we lightheartedly receive a holiday card (not a letter) from our friends explaining the four holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Ramadan. Just like the last special, it's great they acknowledge the actual holidays too. Because it's odd how Steve and them celebrate... holiday... In this holiday card, they go over the fun things about the holidays for the kids representing them.
The next movie, titled "Blue's First Clue", is shown and goes over the first game of Blue's Clues. This was not as required as was the sentimental Blue origin, but paints the perfect picture of the beginnings of the game.
For many years, having forgotten this episode with time, I've thought Blue's Clues was always a pretentious game. Blue always seemed to just use it as an excuse to have Steve or Joe go on a wild goose chase for her attention's sake. However, the video reveals the game is actually a result of her unintelligibility (How've I already used this word twice?). She can't exactly talk like the rest the gang, so she uses the game as a way of communicating her thoughts. This is really good stuff and it actually gives rhyme and reason to the entire show itself.
Now, the first game of Blue's Clues was the search for Joe's duck blanket. No one knew where it was except for Blue, who used her clues to lead the way. It ended up, of all places, outside near the snowman. Upon finding it, Steve washed it (didn't know they had a washing machine either) and returned it to his baby brother.While I've got it on the brain, I wanna mention the really great sequence at the beginning of the home video with them in the snow. It's really nice seeing everyone together in this flashback, but, most of all, Blue and Steve. It's just this image of them sledding together is firmly implanted in my brain and it sealed that dynamic of "Steve and Blue" in my head for all time.
Thus, the ending of them outside in the snow together like in the home video was a fitting one. Most fitting is the ride of Joe and Blue on the sled, that officially has me accept the Steve to Joe transition.
I think this episode to me, more or less, focuses less on the holiday and more on the togetherness. The last one did combine the two, but this sealed the gap and showed us first generation and second generation Blue's Clues aren't so different after all. Even so, the difference is not different enough to justify the complaints. The transition is something that had to happen and the way it did happen felt natural enough to be accepted. Thus, this episode is probably my favorite Joe episode and one of my favorite Blue episodes altogether. I give it a 4/5.
I hope you enjoyed this review. This will not guarantee my return to the blog, nor does it mean if I do that I'll be reviewing Blue's Clues episodes all the time. But, this is just something fun I wanted to do and I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading and don't forget to be awesome (DFTBA).
Now I'm not over yet, the post just got started. I didn't tell you about the dance numbers, "Wot' A' Bit' A' Spring Can Do" and "At Last it's Christmas". They were both choreographed by Courtney Oliver, who will be directing the upcoming Oliver. The numbers include all the cast and are pretty good.
