This is the second part of a four-part series. For the first part (which features Calypso’s teaching approach and analysis of Jack, Rusty, and Coco), click here. Otherwise, let’s look at some of Bluey’s other peers…

Indy the Afghan Hound: Perfectionism and Self-Image
From Indy’s first introduction, she is strong and confident. In “Mums & Dads,” she serves as a foil for Rusty and challenges his ideas about family and gender roles. Implied to be the daughter of a working mom, Indy seeks to play the part of a hardworking breadwinner in her games about family, much to Rusty’s initial chagrin. Additionally, Indy is shown to have a swath of dietary restrictions played for comedy in the episode “Markets.” It’s strongly implied that Indy can’t have meat, dairy, sugar, salt, or gluten not so much because of health concerns as because of her mother’s strict beliefs around food. Indy’s dad hasn’t appeared in the show, but he’s referenced briefly in “Mums & Dads.” Indy also has a sister (Polly) who stayed in a neonatal intensive care unit for some time after her birth; Indy was deeply affected by this and, in the episode “Early Baby,” reenacts these events in a game with her peers. Like so many of her friends, Indy is processing life through play, and it’s very common for young children to use reenactment this way.

Indy is a devoted friend to Bluey and has no issue taking charge of a situation, but the season 3 episode “Stories” shows a different side of Indy. While Calypso’s students sculpt with beeswax, Indy struggles to make a realistic-looking horse and begins to critique herself harshly. “I’m not very good.” It’s a stark contrast from the confidence we’ve seen in her earlier appearances, but it also reveals that much of Indy’s confidence is undergirded with a deep and painful perfectionism. In “Markets,” she has to follow her diet perfectly. In “Mums & Dads,” she has to be the perfect parent and holds all her playmates to high standards. In “Early Baby,” she has to recreate the NICU setting perfectly. Indy’s really struggling, but in standard Calypso fashion, the kind teacher orchestrates comfort through a peer relationship.

In “Stories,” Indy’s perfectionism is paired with Winton the Bulldog’s off-the-wall imagination and refusal to follow any rules (including the most basic social norms). While Indy only focuses on her mistakes, Winton delights in “not being good” and instead having fun. Even in the narration which frames the episode, Winton makes no attempt at realism, and his humor helps to shake Indy out of her disappointment and reestablish her confidence. So long as Indy sees herself as “not very good,” she’s stuck in that image, but Winton —and once again, by proxy, Calypso— helps her rewrite the story and allow herself room to learn and grow. As the old proverb goes, “Perfect is the enemy of good,” and Winton helps Indy to step back from the perfect and enjoy the good instead. Of course, Winton has his own issues to deal with…

Winton the Bulldog: Boundaries and Self-Differentiation
Winton carries himself with a certain social awkwardness and eagerness to please, and this often works to his detriment. As we see in “Circus” and “Mums & Dads,” Winton doesn’t have a lot of agency and usually follows the direction of anyone else present. He regularly says as a point of pride, “I’m a very obedient breed!” Lacking a strong sense of self-differentiation, he’s quick to follow a crowd or bend to the will of others. His lack of emotional boundaries even has a physical component, as the episode “Typewriter” shows Winton to be a chronic “space invader” (someone who constantly and unwittingly enters the personal bubbles of others).

The season 3 episode “Stories” represents significant growth for Winton. Whereas all his previous appearances have presented him adhering closely to the wishes of others, Winton finally shows off his creative side when he and his classmates are playing with beeswax. Winton is overjoyed with the exercise and quickly crafts all the gross things you’d expect a normal six-year-old boy to make: a booger, a pile of poop, a silly mustache, etc. A creative activity helps Winton to express himself, and as he does, his unique personality finally shines through. Sure, Winton is still “a very obedient breed,” but he’s finally communicating his own needs and hopes and dreams, and he’s doing so with creativity and humor.

Chloe the Dalmatian: Expectations of Parents
Early on, critics of Bluey charged that the parents were too perfect. I mean, they’re not wrong, and especially in those first dozen or so episodes, Bandit and Chilli appear to have limitless patience, creativity, and energy for games with their kids. Later seasons have shown the parents to be a little more flawed (too busy, too tired, too rough, and in one case, too hungover), but even before this, the season 2 episode “Octopus” seemed like a direct response to the show’s critics.

After a day of playing with Bluey and perfect-dad-Bandit, Chloe goes home to her own dad and attempts to recreate her favorite game from the Heeler house: “octopus.” As Chloe tries to explain the rules to her more serious and nerdy dad, he struggles to understand the game and have fun with it. Eventually, a frustrated Chloe tells her dad that Bluey’s dad is more fun, and the two part ways. As I’ve said before, one of the things I appreciate about Bluey is its willingness to have tough emotional moments, and this confrontation certainly hits home for any parent watching. When Chloe seeks out her dad to apologize, she finds him researching octopi on his computer and learning as much as he can about them so that he can better play the game with her. Chloe is moved by her dad’s interest, and they create their own variation of the game that impresses even Bluey.

While other episodes address the challenge of adults relearning how to play (most notably “Cafe” and “Stumpfest”), Chloe’s journey with her dad is unique because of the way parent and child interact and teach one another along the way. Chloe’s dad isn’t playful in the same way as the kids (or Bandit), so he and Chloe have to be patient with each other as he adapts to meet her needs and she adapts to meet his. Sure, there are some pretty major bumps along the way, but he ultimately rises to the occasion, and Chloe meets him in his own style of play. While Chloe is initially unsure about her dad’s ability to play with her, by the end of the episode, she is proud of him and accepting of his different approach as he shows his love for her in his own nerdy way.

You know, going three topics at a time seems to work well for this subject matter, but next time, I’m going to cheat a little and cover some of these as pairs: Pom Pom and Snickers, Mia and Captain, and Mackenzie the Border Collie. Yeah, Mackenzie gets his own section for reasons that will become evident…