The Latest 'Bluey' Episode Brought Many To Tears — But Provides False Hope For Struggling Kids
Real life doesn't always have a happy ending.
Itsissen / Shutterstock The Season 3 finale of everyone’s favorite dog-centric cartoon, "Bluey," aired on April 14, 2024, covering a tough topic that so many families go through — moving.
In the episode “The Sign,” Bluey’s dad, Bandit, has decided to take a job in a different city, meaning that the family has to sell their house and move away from the community they’ve always known.
Like so many other "Bluey" episodes, it was a wonderful example of families feeling big feelings together, touching on the uncertainty both kids and parents feel when faced with a major life change.
The season finale of 'Bluey' brought people to tears, but its message provided false hope for struggling kids.
While Bluey navigated the daunting idea of leaving her friends, her school, and the city she was born in, she revealed to her parents that she didn’t want her life to change at all.
Photo: syamhari photography / Shutterstock
Bluey’s mom, Chili, told her that the move could be good for their family, to which Bluey answered, “But it could be bad for our family.”
Her mom revealed that Bluey could be right, noting, “I wish I could tell you which one it was going to be, but I don’t know.”
Bluey and Chili shared a moment of not-knowing, looking toward their uncertain future without having clear answers.
It’s a situation many families experience, especially now, as rising economic upheaval means that many parents are losing their jobs, which can lead to losing their homes or the way of life they’ve always known.
Bluey’s dad, Bandit, told Chili, “I just want to give them the best life I can,” a feeling that’s entirely relatable for all parents, whether they’re cartoon dogs or real-life people.
In some ways, Bandit equated his new job with more opportunities for his kids, which, of course, isn’t untrue. Money provides access, yet by moving his family out of their community, Bandit overlooked the opportunities for connection and stability they already had.
The episode captured the feeling kids get when the world moves so quickly around them, yet they don’t have the power to stop the changes imparted to them.
Parents across the internet shared their young kids’ emotional reactions to the episode, showing just how deeply they felt about Bluey’s conflict.
“The Sign” ended on a happy note, as Bluey’s family didn’t move after all.
Yet that creative decision could be seen as a missed opportunity to reveal a valuable lesson for kids who are struggling with moving or any other big change.
Bluey’s happy ending missed the mark, showing an unrealistic version of how life usually plays out.
More often than not, when parents have to move, it happens, whether or not kids want it to.
So many kids are in families where they’re losing things they love. By ending the episode as they did, the show lost the chance to show hope in what is often reality: Kids don’t have the decision-making power to control their own lives and are, therefore, just along for the ride, even when they don’t want to be.
After I finished the episode, I cried, then reached out to a friend with two kids of her own who recently made a cross-country move they didn’t want to make.
As my friend noted, “Showing the move could have helped kids who are dealing with their own big feelings around moving.” To her, the fact that the show didn’t have the family go through with the move felt “unrealistic.” She referred to the ending as “A ‘Parent Trap’ situation: Kids might want their divorced parents to get back together, but most times, that’s just a fantasy.”
Despite missing that particular mark, “The Sign” highlighted that it's okay to have big feelings for both kids and parents. It’s okay not to know how a decision will turn out. It’s okay to sit in the uncertainty together.
There’s so much pressure on parents to have the answers to everything, yet that, in itself, isn’t realistic. No parent is perfect, and trying to reach perfection can actually cause harm.
While the show’s happy ending didn’t mirror what most kids go through, it did reveal that what matters most isn’t a bigger house. What matters is having the space to express your emotions, especially the hard ones, and learning how to weather life’s many storms together as a family with love for each other.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.