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What Is Blue Afraid Of?

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What Is Blue Afraid Of? is the eighteenth episode of Blue's Clues from the first season. It was the nineteenth episode aired in October 27, 1997 on Nickelodeon in the United States.

Summary

"Blue is scared, and we play Blue's Clues to determine what's frightening her. As we search for clues, we investigate shadows and conceptualize what objects are making them, decipher extreme close-up photos taken by Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, and label the source of scary sounds within a haunted house!"

Elements

  • Question: What Is Blue Afraid Of?
  • Clues:
    • 1. A Feather
    • 2. A Shadow (the one that went away)
    • 3. A Sound (Hoo Hoo)
  • Answer to Blue's Clues: An owl
  • Wrong Answer: A shadow-dancing feather
  • Living room picture: Boo's haunted house (Skidoo location)
  • Felt Frame Picture: Freddy tries to scare Fifi with a monster mask

Recap

Steve invites the viewers inside and says that he's looking for Blue, whom he finds under the blanket, shaking and whimpering because she's scared. They play Blue's Clues to figure out what Blue has a fear of. After the pawprint spookily disappears, Steve gets the notebook from Sidetable Drawer. Steve goes to the kitchen and a feather floats about on its own. Steve draws the first clue, a feather in his notebook. Soon after, Shovel and Pail were outside in the dark when Steve's shadow appears and he says "Bleh bleh bleh!", playfully scaring Shovel, Pail, and Blue. Shovel and Pail had shadows of their own, and so did Blue. They see a shadow of a tree and a birdbath.

Steve finds a clue on another shadow that was on a branch. When Steve isn't looking after asking what the shadow is, it disappears but Steve had to hurry and draw the second clue in his notebook and not delay anyway. Then, Steve hears pots and pans banging and clattering, so he goes into the kitchen to see Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper. Steve asked them where Blue was, and she was nearby banging on the pots and pans like drums. After that, Mr. Salt showed Steve and Blue three photos that were taken up close. Every time Mrs. Pepper sees them, she gets in shock. They figured out that the up-close photos were different kinds of food.

The first one was a graham cracker, the second one was a raisin and the third one was celery. In the Mailtime segment, Mailbox tells Steve a knock-knock joke. After that, Mailbox gives Steve his letter, which Steve opens. The Video Letter segment featured three kids making shadow puppets. Soon after, Steve sees a ghost on the picture frame. Blue appears and was too scared to skidoo into a spooky haunted house alone. Steve suggests that he and Blue Skidoo together, and Blue happily agrees with the idea with Steve, along with a high five. After that, they look for the little ghost. They find him and tell them his name was Boo. Whenever he hears his name, he gets startled. Suddenly, they heard a thump thump thump thump sound. It was the sound of footsteps.

A kitten came down the staircase. Soon after, Boo yells and his kitten scampers back up the steps. Then they heard a loud boom sound, and it turns out to be thunder. And then they hear banging. It was the sound of pots and pans. Boo's dad was making dinner for Boo in the kitchen. Boo thanks Steve and Blue for what those so-called spooky sounds were. Blue and Steve skidoo back home. Immediately after that, Steve gets startled by the ringing sound, which turns out to be the telephone. Steve answers it and all he hears was a hooting sound, which has a pawprint on it, meaning it's a clue. Steve hangs up the phone and draws the third clue in his notebook.

After that, he goes to the thinking chair to put all three clues together. The clues were a feather, a shadow, and a hooting sound. Steve thought it was a shadow-dancing feather. That was not the right answer, and it's not even scary. The viewers thought it was an owl. Because an owl had feathers, its shadow matches the owl's shape and the owl hoots. After figuring out Blue's Clues, Steve and Blue go into the bedroom to see the owl in the flesh. Owl hooted happily. He wanted speak to her but poor Blue was still scared but after a matter of minutes, they introduced themselves and now Blue overcame her fear of owls. Mr. Salt, Mrs. Pepper, Shovel, Pail, and Boo came to see the owl. Owl was now Blue’s friend. After that, Steve goes into the living room and sings the So Long Song and the episode ends.

Characters

Locations

Video Releases

  • Nickelodeon: Happy Halloween (DVD, 2010)
  • Season One (3 Disc Set, DVD, 2014)

Objects

Gallery

Watch Episode

This episode is available for streaming on Paramount Global's video streaming service Paramount+.
What_Is_Blue_Afraid_Of?

Trivia

  • Coordinating Producer Penelope Jewkes is also one of Steve's friends in this episode.
  • Steve began his second thought with, "Well, a bird has feathers". But considering only one bird makes a "Hoo!" sound, the kids immediately put the rest of the clues together and came up with the correct answer. Other times, either Steve, Joe, or the kids put all of the clues together.
  • Although not mentioned, this is considered to be a Halloween episode because of the scary content.
  • In the VHS version, Blue hides behind the flowers instead of hiding behind the house in the intro.
  • While Steve and Blue Skidoo, Steve did not say, "We can, too." Instead, he says, "Let's go together" due to Blue's fear of seeing a ghost inside the Skidoo picture of the haunted house.
    • However, in the British version, Kevin says the usual "We can, too" instead of what Steve said.
  • This is the first episode with Boo.
  • This is the first episode since Blue Wants To Play A Song Game that an early-mid season 1 "Blue's Clues" sound effect was used. It was used for one last time in Blue's News.
  • This was the sixth episode to use the "No, it's a clue" from Adventures in Art.
  • This episode can be seen on the Nickelodeon Happy Halloween DVD. On Nickelodeon Happy Halloween DVD the Nick Jr. cats logo gets plastered by the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo with 2010 copyright.
  • The pawprint slowly fades out on its own.
  • In the Nick Jr. logo (with cats) after the credits, a soft meow could be heard. This is the first time where the Nick Jr. logo has its sound.
    • Unlike every other episode in the UK version, the Blue's Clues logo fades to the Nick Jr. logo at the end of the credits.
  • In Boo's Haunted House:
    • The painting spotted Steve and Blue.
    • Every time Steve says out his name, he shouts thinking he scared him.
  • Blue and Steve Skidoo together for the first time.
  • An organ plays when Steve and Blue Skidoo back home.
  • During the wrong answer in the Thinking Time segment, the music from the Thinking Time segment in Adventures in Art was used.
  • This is the first episode to feature Woody Woodpecker's Notebook with a blue Crayola crayon with a circle logo on it (with REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. written on it).
  • Steve ends the Figured-Out Blue's Clues song with the word brave instead of smart.
  • In the Mailtime segment, Mailbox uses the old boohoo knock-knock joke on Steve.
  • This is the first episode that Sidetable Drawer did not say the "Blue's Clues! I'm so excited!" line, which was also used in Magenta Comes Over (which is the first one in airing order) and Blue's News, and the last episode in airing order for her to say those words.
    • It also happened in the VHS version of Blue Goes to the Beach.
    • This is the last produced Season 1 episode to air before Season 2 began airing the following month later. The episode What Story Does Blue Want to Play? produced in the season, would not air until a year later on November 9, 1998, and be released as a Season 2 episode.
      • Also, in airing order, the previous episode was Blue’s News, meaning the audience may not know who Paprika is; however, it should be noted that it made no sense for this episode to air after Blue’s News because Paprika was not featured in this episode while she was introduced in Blue's News, thus creating an infamous continuity error in airing order.
  • In the Mailtime song, the footage was the same as Blue Goes to the Beach, Blue Wants to Play a Song Game, and What Does Blue Want to Make?.
  • When Steve, Blue, Shovel and Pail are making shadows, stock animation of Blue howling at the end of the Mailtime song is used.
  • During a phone call, Mr. Owl pulls a prank on Steve by hooting, which is the third clue.
    • Joe had this kind of experience in a later episode, I Did That!, which was also the third clue, but it was the laughing sound.
    • When the second clue (a shadow) moved, it was an owl who did it.
  • This is the first episode where we hear Mrs. Pepper scream.
  • This is the first episode to have a feather being a clue.
  • When the phone rings and Steve answers it finding the third and last clue, it turns into a real-life telephone when he's holding it against his ear.
  • In the late 2000s airings, this episode features a Noggin bat logo.
  • Before meeting Mr. Owl, Blue had what is called Strigiformophobia, which is the fear of owls. It was given this name because owls are from the order of Strigiformes. Fortunately, Blue doesn't have ornithophobia, which is the fear of birds, as seen in other episodes throughout the series.
    • She may have been afraid of his large eyes, his hooting sound, or how owls can rotate their head up to 270 degrees.

Goofs

  • When Steve asks Blue what she's doing under the blanket, taking a much closer look shows Steve's hand is actually going through the blanket.
  • After Steve says, "Just kidding. It's me, Steve", Blue's mouth moves, but her bark sound comes about a second late.
  • In the opening of the episode, when Blue jumps out from behind the house, Blue suddenly moves to jump out from behind the bush animation a split second before she lands on the sidewalk.
  • When Shovel, Pail, and Steve see a shadow of a tree with a bird's nest, there is a black stripe on the left side of the background. Steve appears to be standing in front of the strip.
  • The shadow of the tree branch holding the shadow of the second clue doesn't appear to be connected to anything.
  • When Mr. Salt asks Steve about the second picture, a blue line can be seen on the top of the screen.
  • Steve's arms go through some of the scenery throughout Boo's house.
  • Before Steve and Blue see Mr. Owl, there is another black stripe on the right side of the background. Blue's ears appear to be staying in front of it. Steve even goes behind it when he heads to the bedroom.
  • At the end of the episode, Boo appears out of nowhere before floating over to meet Mr. Owl with the other characters.
  • When Mrs. Pepper shouts "It's fantasAHHH!", Blue's ears raise before Mrs. Pepper yells.
  • When Mrs. Pepper shows the viewer the first picture, Steve disappears from behind the picture, but when Mrs. Pepper jumps back, he reappears. Steve should have been seen through the gap.
Blue's Clues Season 1
Snack Time | What Time Is It for Blue? | Mailbox's Birthday | Blue's Story Time | What Does Blue Need? | Blue's Favorite Song | Adventures in Art | Blue Goes to the Beach | Pretend Time | A Snowy Day | The Trying Game | Blue Wants to Play a Game | The Grow Show | Blue Wants to Play a Song Game | What Does Blue Want to Make? | What Story Does Blue Want to Play? | Tickety's Favorite Nursery Rhyme | What Is Blue Afraid Of? | Magenta Comes Over | Blue's News
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