The Best Bandit Episodes from Bluey
Posted 2024-01-02 by
Marisa Quinn-Haisu
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"Magic Claw has no children. His days are free and easy"
Bandit Heeler, "The Claw", Bluey
Bandit Heeler (played by David McCormack) is a main character on the animated children's television program Bluey. He is the father of two young girls, Bluey and Bingo, and the husband of Chilli. Bandit is a devoted husband and father who balances work with raising his kids. He contributes to the house and childcare duties and always plays a central role in games he plays with his kids. He has been praised for being a caring father and a competent husband and a supportive partner to Chilli. This article will look at some of his best episodes in the first three seasons of Bluey.
1. Pavlova
Episode Details: Season 3, Episode 17
Air Date: 6 December 2021
Written by: Joe Brumm
I have a 1-year-old daughter who shouts "Yay!" and applauds every time Bluey comes onto the TV. I thought I was done with this article. After sitting through multiple rewatches of the episode "Pavlova" with my daughter and seeing how much Bandit made her laugh, I knew that I had to go back to my article and add this episode to the list. After Mum tells Bingo she can't have any pavlova, the kids decide to play café in the kitchen. Bluey sets up a shop that only serves pavlova. Bandit decides to join in and sets up a competing shop that only serves edamame beans. What makes the episode great is Bandit dresses up as a chef and speaks nonsense French the entire time. What I love about this episode is it shows Bandit's creative way of parenting. He is playing along with the game and being his usual silly self but he is also trying to get them to eat the edamame beans. What I like about this episode is he listens to Bingo when she says she doesn't like being forced to eat things and wants to make her own choices. He lets her choose to eat some pavlova and then afterwards she decides for herself that maybe she will try some of those edamame beans after all.
2. Dad Baby
Episode Details: Season 2, Episode 13
Air Date: 29 March 2020
Written by: Joe Brumm
"Dad Baby" is one of the funniest episodes of TV I've ever watched. After the kids find their old baby-harness, Bandit puts it back on to demonstrate how he used to carry them around when they were babies. This gives Bluey an idea for their next game: Dad Baby! Bingo climbs into the harness and Bluey tells Bandit to pretend that he is pregnant. This episode had me laughing so much. I loved Bandit laughingly complaining about being pregnant, Chilli whacking him with a rolled-up magazine, Bingo peeking out of the top of the harness and stealing food, kicking him in the gut, and then popping out the bottom of the harness and saying "Hello!" with a cheerful wave. Bandit is just the best in this episode. I love his sense of humour, his cheekiness, and his willingness to play with his kids.
3. Fairytale
Episode Details: Season 3, Episode 24
Air Date: 16 December 2021
Written by: Joe Brumm
In the episode "Fairytale" Bandit tells Bluey and Bingo what he calls a "real-life fairy tale" about a ten-year-old kid in the 1980s who gets cursed when he was mean to his little brother. In a flashback, we see younger versions of Bandit and his brothers Stripe and Rad, riding bicycles while on vacation with their family. When Bandit is mean to Stripe, he is jinxed, which means he is cursed until someone says his name again. Bandit is miserable until he meets a girl dressed in a She-Ra costume, a younger Chilli, who calls out his name and returns his lost hat to him which breaks the curse. Bandit tells his kids that she was a real-life princess. "Fairytale" is such a sweet episode. I liked that Bandit is honest with his kids that he wasn't always a nice brother to Stripe growing up. He admits his faults and tries to turn it into a learning lesson for them. The scene where he meets Chilli is very heart-warming. My other favourite thing about this episode is the perm that Nana sported back in the 1980s. It was very funny.
4. Takeaway
Episode Details: Season 1, Episode 14
Air Date: 14 October 2018
Written by: Joe Brumm
"Takeaway" was one of the first episodes of Bluey that got me hooked on the show. The episode begins with Bandit taking Bluey and Bingo out to get some takeout food. When they are forced to wait out the front of the restaurant for their order, Bluey and Bingo get bored and start getting up to mischief, which pushes Bandit's patience to the limit. When I watched this episode for the first time, I thought for sure that Bandit was going to lose his temper and tell his kids off for acting up, but that never happens. What makes Bandit such a good dad is even though he gets frustrated at them in this episode, he never once raises his voice at them. He even decides after reading a fortune cookie about childhood to join in all the chaos.
5. Unicorse
Episode Details: Season 3, Episode 8
Air Date: 28 November 2021
Written by: Joe Brumm
In the episode "Unicorse" Bluey can't sleep so Chilli agrees to read her one more story but is interrupted when Bandit declares he has an idea. He runs off and comes back with the most annoying hand puppet in all the world Unicorse. As Mum tries to read to Bluey, she is constantly interrupted by Bandit pretending to be Unicorse, who talks at the top of his voice and makes a lot of rude jokes much to Mum's frustration. I share a lot of things in common with Bandit. I like to be the fun parent who is always speaking in high-pitched funny voices, cracking jokes, or making fart sounds. My favourite thing in the world is to see my children smile and hear them laugh. There is a time and a place to be the fun parent though. I sympathise a lot with Chilli in this episode. Bandit is being way too loud and silly when he should be helping to get Bluey to go to sleep. It's hard not to like Unicorse though. My favourite line in the episode is when Bluey asks him "What's your favourite food?" and Unicorse gets very close to her face and whispers in a menacing tone "Children…" Bandit has an outrageous sense of humour.
6. Movies
Episode Details: Season 2, Episode 29
Air Date: 27 October 2020
Written by: Joe Brumm
It can be so hard to take small children to the movies. More than once I've had to deal with my kid wanting to switch seats, sinking out of their chair to flop onto the floor in boredom, asking questions loudly, asking to go to the toilet or telling me off for not sharing the popcorn. In the episode "Movies" Bandit tries to take his kids to see a movie and it's just chaos. Bingo switches seats, asks to go to the toilet, and runs around the theatre. Bandit is run off his feet trying to control his youngest while also trying to find the patience to answer all of Bluey's questions about the film. This episode is so relatable to anyone who has ever tried to take small kids to a movie. Bandit has so much patience with Bluey and Bingo.
7. Fruitbat
Episode Details: Season 1, Episode 8
Air Date: 8 October 2018
Written by: Joe Brumm
It can be hard to be a parent. You have to devote a lot of time to your kids which can make you feel like you are missing out on doing a lot of other things you might like to do like meeting up with friends, eating out at restaurants, playing sport, or going on holiday. It takes a certain amount of selflessness to be a good parent. You have to be willing to trade parts of your old life away to make time for your kids. In the episode "Fruitbat" Bluey can't sleep so she sneaks downstairs to speak to her Mum and finds her Dad asleep on the floor with a rugby ball tucked under his arm. He is dreaming of playing sport with his friends. Bluey asks why he can't go play with his friends anymore and Chilli explains that he's too busy working and looking after Bluey and Bingo. What's nice about this episode is Bandit is clearly happy with his life. He doesn't resent his wife or his kids or the life he lives in the suburbs with them. He's accepted the trade he's made. He loves every second of being a dad and that's beautiful.
8. The Quiet Game
Episode Details: Season 2, Episode 37
Air Date: 4 November 2020
Written by: Joe Brum
We all have our moments as a parent where we just want our kids to stop being so loud. In the episode "The Quiet Game" Bandit comes up with the Quiet Game to trick the kids into being quiet. Bandit is very pleased with himself until he needs the kids to tell him something. He begs them to speak but they refuse to stop playing. At his wits end, Bandit admits that he made the Quiet Game up because they had been annoying him, and apologises for being a dodgy dad. Bluey and Bingo react with outrage, but still do not talk. They decide to turn the tables on Bandit and use the game to mess with him. I love the mess that Bandit gets himself into. It was such a fun twist when the kids turned the game against him. I felt like it made him appreciate his daughters more.
9. Seesaw
Episode Details: Season 2, Episode 28
Air Date: 26 October 2020
Written by: Joe Brum
There are some people who think that Bandit is not a good father. They think he can be a competitive bully who is prone to teasing. He can be those things sometimes, he is not perfect, but sometimes what looks like teasing from Bandit is him trying to teach the kids a lesson. A good example of this can be seen in the episode "Seesaw." Bandit and Chilli are the park with their daughters and the local neighbourhood kids. Bandit notices that Pom Pom looks sad and is feeling left out, and gets an idea on how to engage the kids. He gets up and pushes Bingo off the end of the seasaw and rudely plonks himself down where she was sitting. Outraged, Bluey and Bingo shout at him to move, but Bandit refuses. He blows a raspberry at them and crosses his arms. Bluey and Bingo get the idea to get some of the other children to climb onto the seesaw to try and flip him off. They call over each of their friends and ask them to climb onto the seesaw with them. Pom Pom is the final kid to join in and is so happy to be useful in flipping Bandit off the end of the seesaw. What's great about this episode is it shows how creative Bandit's parenting styles can be sometimes. I also love that Chilli knew the whole time that he wasn't being mean to the kids and was trying to get them to play a game which would involve Pom Pom.
10. Duck Cake
Episode Details: Season 2, Episode 44
Air Date: 11 November 2020
Written by: Joe Brum
The episode "Duck Cake" is one of my favourites. Bingo's birthday is approaching so Chilli and Bandit let her pick a cake recipe for them to bake. She selects a duck cake and asks them if they can bake her that. Bandit agrees to bake it but there is a worried tone in his voice. He thinks the cake looks difficult. Bluey asks him if she can help bake the cake, but he tells her to put away her toys first. Bluey whines about cleaning up, until she sees Dad drop the cake. The scene when Bandit slowly sinks to the floor and closes his eyes in defeat really resonated with me as a parent. I once tried to bake a cake for my daughter and stuffed it up so badly it slopped over the edge of the kitchen bench and fell onto the floor like a mud pie. I decided to laugh about it and didn't let it stop me from trying to bake again. I really like that Bluey encourages Bandit to pick himself up and try again. The cake he makes in the end isn't great looking but it was made with love and that's all the matters.
More Bluey Articles by Marisa
The Best Muffin Episodes from Bluey
The Best Chilli Episodes from Bluey
The Best Lucky's Dad Moments from Bluey
Bluey Sleepytime - Book Review
Bluey Baby Race - Book Review
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83188 - 2023-06-11 06:38:54
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