Joe Gets a Clue

Joe Gets a Clue
Episode number	Season 4, Episode 23
Airdate	April 29, 2002
Question in the episode	What does Blue want to give to Joe?
Clues	Paper A Crayon A Spiral
Answer to Blue's Clues	A Notebook
Chronology
Previous episode	Joe's First Day
Next episode	Steve Goes to College

Joe Gets a Clue is the twenty-third episode of Blue's Clues from the fourth season.

Characters Present

• Blue
• Steve
• Joe
• Sidetable Drawer
• Mailbox
• Horace (cameo)
• Boris (cameo)

Summary

Joe is excited when he plays Blue's Clues for his very first time.

Recap

The episode starts out with Joe looking for Steve, and Steve looking for Joe. Blue has something she wants to give to Joe, but first Steve has to find him. Steve and Joe end up in a back and forth hide and seek game, with both of them looking for each other inside and outside, until finally, they meet up outside. Steve and Joe bump into themselves from their own behinds. After that, they tell Blue the viewers helped to find Joe. This episode is all about Joe playing his first game of Blue's Clues, in which he tries to find out what it is that Blue wants to give him. Joe gets a tutorial lesson with Steve on how to play Blue's Clues. Steve told Joe about the part where they had to get rid of the pawprint. In the past, they bounced it away, wiped it away, and wiped it off with a squeegee. Joe had a turn at removing the pawprint by snapping his fingers and it disappeared leaving sparkles of glitter. Steve and Joe go to Sidetable to get out the notebook. After that, Steve and the viewers helped to explain the playing of Blue's Clues to Joe. Steve reminds Joe that they should keep their eye out for a blue pawprint. Then, Steve and Joe started looking. Joe thought he found a clue. It was the color blue, but it was not a pawprint, it was a block. Joe understood and remembers that a clue is a blue pawprint. Steve and Joe try again and when they got to the kitchen, Joe thought We saw Blue, and Steve thought You want me to tie my shoe when the viewers said there was a clue. Joe double checks that he saw a pawprint and it was the color blue which meant it was a clue. Steve was because Joe found his first clue. Now Steve gets out his notebook and tells Joe that they had to draw the first clue in the notebook. The first clue was paper. So, what could Blue want to give to Joe with paper. Joe had a couple of ideas, he thought Blue could give him a pile of paper, a paper airplane or a paper doll. Steve thought those were good ideas but he suggests that they should find some more clues to get more information. Steve and Blue had to get the mail. Steve tells Mailbox that Joe was doing great on his first playing of Blue's Clues and Steve also tells Mailbox that Joe found his first clue. Steve gets the letter from Mailbox. The letter was a quick playing similar to Blue's Clues but it was called Keirstin's Clues: a game used to hide three handprints on three objects. A girl looks for handprints. The girl found the first clue: a blanket. So she uses a notebook with a sun picture on as her handy dandy notebook. So she draws the first clue. Next, she sees another handprint on a pillow, which was drawn in the notebook. And finally, the girl sees the third clue which was a teddy bear. So she draws it in her pretend notebook. She sits on a couch as a thinking chair and announced "Let's think." She knows that it is the girl's and Keirstin's nap time. So the two girls wave a sleepy goodbye to Steve and they start going to sleep. After reading the letter, Joe was looking under the bed. Steve looks under the bed too and asks what are we doing. Joe explains that he was trying to find Blue and that she is hiding. Blue calls out from afar. Steve and Joe saw Blue. Steve explained to Joe that she skidooed into a toy board with colored block shapes. Steve skidoos and then Joe skidoos into the picture of colored shapes. Joe touches some shapes and then they slide open like a sliding door. Joe did not see Steve or Blue. They were hiding. Joe had to figure out where Steve and Blue are hiding. Steve gives Joe a hint, Steve said that he and Blue are hiding behind the shape that is closest to the red circle. Joe looks behind the yellow diamond and there were Steve and Blue. Now it was Joe's turn to hide with Blue. Steve tries to look for them. Joe says that he and Blue are hiding behind the shape that is farthest away from the biggest circle. Steve looks behind the blue triangle and he finds Joe and Blue. Steve and Joe thought they could find some clues behind some shapes. Joe and Steve found the second clue behind the rectangle and it was a crayon hidden inside. Joe remembers that they had to get out of the notebook. Steve draws the second clue, a crayon in the notebook. After that, Joe asks what the first clue was. The viewers tell him it was paper and Steve tells Joe the second clue was a crayon. Steve and Joe had to figure out what Blue wants to give to Joe that has paper and a crayon. Joe had three ideas. He thought a drawing, a coloring book, or a card could be what Blue wants to give him that uses paper and a crayon. Steve liked Joe's ideas but they only had two clues. Joe understands that they had to find the third clue so they can put all the clues together. Steve was proud of Joe. Now, Steve and Joe had to skidoo back home. After Steve skidooed, a green rectangle opens to reveal the third clue. Joe was about to skidoo when he saw that there was the third clue but Joe did not have the notebook. Joe calls out to Steve and he skidoos back into the picture. Joe shows him the third clue. Steve was very impressed. Steve gets out of the notebook and he was about to draw when he decides that he should let Joe draw the third clue. The third clue was a spiral. Joe holds the notebook using his right hand and he draws with his left hand. They suddenly realize that they have all three clues. Steve says you know what that means and Joe says "Actually, I don't" and Steve tells Joe that it is time to sit in the thinking chair. Steve and Joe skidoo back home together. Once they got to the thinking chair, only one could sit in it. Steve lets Joe sit in the thinking chair while he kneels down on the floor. Now that Joe was in the thinking chair he was not sure what he had to do. The viewers tell him, think. Steve tells Joe that they had to think about all three clues. Joe gets out Steve's notebook and reviews the clues one at a time. the first clue was paper, the second clue was a crayon and the third clue was a spiral. Steve and Joe had to think about what Blue wants to give to Joe that has paper, a crayon, and a spiral. Joe thought he could use the crayon and draw on the paper. Then he realized that he has to figure out how to put the spiral together. Joe thought he could use the spiral to hold the paper together. He asks himself about what Blue wanted to give Joe where you draw on the paper using a crayon that is held together with a spiral. The viewers told him a notebook. Steve and Joe said in unison right. Because a notebook has paper for pages, a crayon to draw with and a spiral to hold the paper together. Joe proudly declares that they out all of the three clues together. They just figured out Blue's Clues. Steve told Joe we did it, nice job. Steve tells Joe not to move while he and Blue went to get out Joe's surprise. Steve thought that Joe played an amazing game of Blue's Clues, he decides that it was time for Joe to have his very own notebook as his reward. Joe looks at the notebook and it was shaped like the thinking chair. Joe likes it and now he can play Blue's Clues whenever he wants.

Elements

• Question: What does Blue want to give to Joe?
• Clues:
  • 1. Paper
  • 2. A Crayon
  • 3. A Spiral
• Answer: A Notebook
• Skidoo location: A shaped board
• Living room picture: An outline of the Blue's Clues House, then an envelope, then a notebook and crayon, then The Thinking Chair

Joe's Ideas

The first clue:

• Paper
• Paper Airplane
• Paper Doll

The first two clues:

• Drawing
• Coloring Book
• Card

Trivia

• This episode was the second part in the primetime special, "Joe's Scrapbook".
• The episode starts outside the Blue's Clues house when Joe is looking for Steve, and Steve is looking for Joe.
• Horace and Boris made cameo appearances twice. First, when Steve and Joe are finding the first clue, we see them both next to the lamp. Second, before the skidoo segment, we see them in a picture in the bedroom.
• This is the last episode to feature the Season 3 & 4 quiet opening if an episode began outside the house.
• This is the second and last time in a row to have them both in one episode, after Joe's First Day.
• We don't see Boris in the next episode Steve Goes to College, however, Horace did.
• We see him again in Can You Help?.
• This is the only episode out of the whole series where both Steve and Joe play Blue's Clues together from start to finish. However, in the next episode which is the season four finale, they played together but just for a short time.
• Steve and Joe both spoke and sung in unison. They both said "right" and "because they're Blue's Clues, Blue's Clues", just to name a few.
• Although Joe and Steve are both looking for clues, Steve still picked up the Mail.
• Joe never got the Mail until season five.
• Joe did not know that he was supposed to duck down after singing "we can do anything" (so Blue can leap onto the TV screen) and then get back up after singing "that we want to do". But in the next episode, he remembers to do these actions.
• Joe tells the viewers that this was indeed the first episode where he got to skidoo for the first time.
• Joe got a turn at drawing in Steve's notebook after the viewer found the third clue which was the first time. It is revealed that Joe is left-handed.
• This episode holds the record for the shortest time that two clues were found in a fast time between each other. The third clue was found just seconds after discussing the first two clues. (about less than one and half minutes after the second was seen).
• This is the third episode where Blue skidooed off-screen.
• Steve lets Joe sit in the thinking chair for the clue review while Steve sat on his knees on the floor.
• This is the last in the original version of the series episode where "We Just Figured Out Blue's Clues" was sung after figuring out Blue's Clues until "Meet Josh!" in Blue's Clues & You!. In fact, it is the only episode Joe sings it too but only with Steve instead of him alone.
• Joe said "Wonder where they are" instead of singing it.
• This is the second of two episodes on the video "Meet Joe!".
• Throughout the episode, Joe speculates on what it is that Blue might want to give him, a task which is normally left to the audience. Steve did something similar in Snack Time, the very first episode of the series, only speculating on what Blue wants for a snack.
• This episode was the second of three episodes designed to introduce the Joe character and was shown during primetime. It was also included in the Meet Joe! Scrapbook.
• Joe and Steve sing the "We Just Figured Out Blue's Clues" song together at the end of the game.
• Sidetable and Mailbox are the only credited main animated characters other than Blue.
• This episode uses the "Thinking Chair!" phrase from Bugs!.
• The video letter segment is related to the Season 1 episode "What Time Is It for Blue?".
• This marks the final time the original Handy Dandy Notebook would be used but makes two more appearances in the next episode. And the very last appearance in the season 5 finale Blue's First Holiday.
• This episode also marks the final time Steve draws a clue in his notebook, which is a crayon. As a result, this marks the final time to hear the bass play whenever Steve draws clues in the notebook.
• The third clue would use the bass, but then because Joe wrote the clue, a tuba was heard instead.
• This episode marks the first time a tuba plays whenever Joe draws clues in the notebook.
• This marks the debut of Joe's Handy Dandy Notebook.
• This is the second episode where Steve has someone else thinking with him. The first was in Magenta Gets Glasses.
• This is the last episode in which Steve plays Blue's Clues from start to finish in terms of his regular form. The official finale time was in Blue's First Holiday, when we play the game when he was little (the first time ever when he played the game). His last time in this regular form was only for a short time in Steve Goes to College.
• Steve mentioning using a squeegee to clean the pawprint recalls the time he pretended to be a window washer to clean the pawprint from Occupations.
• When Steve and Joe skidoos to the shape picture and when both of them skidoo back home, the toy plane that appeared in Mechanics! appears on top of the purple bookshelf.
• This is the only time Joe sings We Just Figured Out Blue's Clues.
• In the video letter, when the kids play a game of Kierstin's Clues, it is similar to the episode Joe's Clues, because of the handprints.
• This is the last episode where Steve uses his notebook.
• Slippery Soap is introduced to the credit characters. But the action in this episode only appears two more times, in Blue Takes You to School and I Did That!.
• When the kids say, "Bye, Steve!" in a quiet way while they sleep, lullaby music plays instead of the ending of "We Just Figured Out Blue's Clues".

Goofs

• The name of Kierstin Carroll, one of Steve's friends who appears in the Mailtime segment, is spelled incorrectly as Kirsten on closed-captioning throughout that segment.
• The rectangle in which the third clue was in and the square where Joe goes in after he skidoos are swap colors after he skidoos.
  • Before Skidoo: third clue rectangle: Orange
  • Square Joe goes in: Green
  • After Skidoo: third clue rectangle: Green
  • Square Joe goes in: Orange
• After Joe has skidooed in the picture with the shapes, the picture with the shapes can still be seen on the rug in the bedroom on the bottom left of the screen even though Steve, Joe, and Blue are inside of it.

Gallery

Paper

A Crayon

This is what Joe drew; a spiral.

Watch Episode

This episode is available for streaming on ViacomCBS' video streaming service Paramount+.