Math!

"Math!"
Episode number	Season 2, Episode 8 (#208)
Airdate	December 15, 1997 (US) August 12, 1999 (UK)
Written by	Angela C. Santomero
Directed by	Daniel Silverman John Rowe (UK)
Question in the episode	What does Blue want to buy?
Clues	Ice cubes A cup Lemons
Answer to Blue's Clues	Lemonade
Chronology
Previous episode	"Blue's ABCs"
Next episode	"Blue's Birthday" (Produced/Credit Order) "What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?" (Released)
Update in or theme concept made into	123's With Blue!

"Math!" is the 8th episode of Blue's Clues from Season Two. It was the twenty-third episode to air and the twenty-eighth to be produced.

Elements

• Question: What does Blue want to buy?
• Clues:
  • 1. Ice cubes
  • 2. A cup
  • 3. Lemons
• Answer: Lemonade
• Wrong Answer: The lemons wear a cup as a hat and slip around on the ice cubes.
• Living room picture: The Present Store (Same as Mailbox's Birthday, also the Skidoo location)

Summary

Steve and Blue teach the viewers about counting and doing the process of math.

Recap

Steve and Blue are counting along. Steve needed a new crayon because he cannot write very well since it is downright puny. He plans to get a new crayon later. Blue wanted to buy something too. Blue has Steve play Blue's Clues to figure out what she wants to buy. Steve gets his notebook from Sidetable Drawer. Now, Steve counts out how many clues he had to find which was three. He takes ten steps into the kitchen, near an ice cube tray with ten ice cubes and an ice bucket with five ice cubes (one was behind the other four, which were stacked in a two-by-two square). He counts out ten ice cubes in the ice cube tray. After counting the ice cubes, the stacked ones in the bucket collapses to reveal a paw-print on the other ice cube. Steve draws the first clue with a nubby crayon. Steve genuinely promises that he will get a new crayon soon, but he still needs more clues. But first, he helps Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper count their apples. Mr. Salt had three apples and Mrs. Pepper had five apples. He also had to find out who had more apples. Mrs. Pepper had more apples because five is less than three. Next, Steve made sure that both Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper had the same number of apples; four. Then, he had to figure out how many they had altogether to take to the picnic. Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper had eight apples altogether because four plus four is eight. After that, he counts how many steps it takes to get from the kitchen to the garden. Then, helps Shovel and Pail count their little pieces of graham crackers. Shovel had eight and Pail had seven. Now, Steve had to figure out who had more graham crackers. Shovel had more graham crackers because eight is greater than seven. Then, Steve had to figure out how many they had altogether to take to the picnic. Shovel and Pail had 15 graham crackers altogether because seven plus eight is 15. Steve heads back into the kitchen to the area near the sink. On the left side are one picnic basket with a picnic blanket and one baguette (or French bread) inside it, while on the right side there are five cups (one has a paw-print on it while the others are stacked) and stacked plates, and ten spoons in two rows. He asks how many picnic baskets there are, and the viewers answer one. He then asks how many paw prints there are, the viewers also answer one. When Steve says they are right, the viewers say it is a clue. Steve agrees (one paw print, one clue), before realizing that the viewers found the second clue. He asked where it is. They said it was on the cup. Steve finds it and concludes that their second clue is a cup. He gets his notebook out and draws the 2nd clue with the nubby crayon. In the Mailtime segment, Mailbox counts from 25 to 27. After saying hi to Mailbox, Steve asked 27 of what. Mailbox said there were 27 stamps in his stamp collecting book and shows them to Steve before giving him his letter. In the letter, a group of four kids each wanted the same amount of pizza. First, the pizza was cut into two slices, which was not enough, so the pizza was cut into four equal quarters. Each kid got a fourth slice of pizza. After that, Steve Skidoos into the present store. Steve pulls out his wallet and he had seven Blue dollars. He buys a new crayon which was worth two Blue dollars. He had five Blue Dollars left because seven minus two is five. Steve wanted to buy something else with what he had leftover. He thought he could buy a pair of green socks, but they were worth six Blue Dollars and he was one Blue Dollar short. He buys himself a green cap which was worth three Blue Dollars and he had two Blue Dollars left because five minus three is two. After purchasing the new crayon and green cap, Steve gets going but finds the third clue on one of two (the other was sliced in half) lemons. Steve draws the third clue with his new crayon into his notebook. After realizing that they have all three clues, Steve Skidoos back home with Blue and tries to put all three clues together. The clues were ice cubes, a cup, and lemons. Steve thought maybe Blue could have a lemon wear the cup as a hat and slip around on the ice cubes. That was the wrong answer. Suddenly, the viewers had an answer which was lemonade, because lemonade is made from lemons and ice cubes that are poured into a cup. After figuring out Blue's Clues, Steve and Blue head outside to figure out where they can find some lemonade. Sure enough, they see Shovel and Pail at the toll booth. They had lemonade to sell. Steve had to pay Cash Register one Blue Dollar for the lemonade. He did so and Blue got to enjoy it. Steve then declares that he only has one Blue Dollar left in his savings. Steve goes back inside and sings the So Long Song and the episode ends.

Characters

• Blue
• Steve (North America)
• Kevin (United Kingdom)
• Duarte (Portugal)
• HyunShup Shin (South Korea)
• Sidetable Drawer (Play Blue's Clues only)
• Mailbox (Mailtime only)
• Mr. Salt
• Mrs. Pepper
• Paprika (cameo)
• Shovel
• Pail
• Crows (debut)
• Stamp Book (Mailtime only)
• Cash Register (debut)
• Tickety (credits only)

Objects

• Apples
• Graham Crackers
• Pizza
• Blue Dollars

Sound effects

• The Gong sound effect is heard before skidooing back home.
• The Gong sound effect is heard during the Thinking Time segment.

Video releases

• ABC's and 123's (VHS, 1999)
• Back to Basics (VHS, 1999)
• Blue Takes You to School (DVD, 2003)

Gallery

From the Portugal Dub.

Ice Cube

Ice Cubes

Now Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper both have four apples.

From The UK Dub.

From the Portugal Dub.

Cup

Cup

From the Portugal Dub.

Post Time Season 2 Math

From the Portugal Dub.

lemons

Lemons

From the Portugal Dub.

Background

Watch Episode

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

Quote

Mailbox: 25, 26, 27.

Steve: Hey, Mailbox, 27? 27 of what?

Mailbox: 27 stamps in my book, see?

(Stamp Book opens the 27 stamps inside)

Steve: Woah! Look at all these stamps, that, that's pretty good collecting.

Mailbox: Thank you, oh, and I think there's a letter in there for you too, Steve.

(Steve getting letter out from Mailbox)

Steve: Thanks, Mailbox.

Trivia

• The video letter segment is directed by Hal Rifken.
  • The others were "Steve Gets the Sniffles" and "Blue's Surprise at Two O'Clock".
• Speaking of which, in the video letter segment, the pizza has no cheese.
• This is the last produced episode to use the drumroll after the third clue is found.
• This is the first of two episodes in which Steve draws clues with a broken crayon.
  • The other is "Blue Is Frustrated".
  • It is possible that this episode takes place after "Blue Is Frustrated". However, this may not make sense because Steve has shorter hair in that latter episode.
• When Steve gets a new crayon, it looks just like any crayon he always uses to draw the clues in his notebook.
• This is the second episode where Steve skidoos into the present store. Steve will skidoo there again in the next episode, but without Blue.
• This is Blue's second and last time to skidoo into the present store.
• This is the second last episode to use the Play Blue's Clues footage from What Does Blue Want to Make?.
• In the present store, one notebook looks like Steve's notebook. It costs 13 blue dollars.
• This is the first episode related to numbers.
  • The second is "Numbers Everywhere!".
• This is one of the few episodes to use the phrase "A Clue" from "Blue Wants to Play a Game".
• This episode is the second of two available on the ABC's and 123's VHS. This episode is available as a bonus episode on the "Blue Takes You to School" DVD.
• Sidetable's face appears onscreen before Steve interacts with her in this episode.
• The Mailtime Song footage is the same as "What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?" and "What Was Blue's Dream About?".
• There are 27 stamps in Mailbox's Stamp Book.
  • There are a few stamps from seasons 1 and 2's older letters.
  • The stamp on the upper left corner (with a pizza with a 1/4 slice cut from it) looks exactly like the one on this episode's letter, only it is on its right side.
  • There is also a stamp that looks similar to Face, Nick Jr.'s mascot from 1994 to 2004.
• This episode uses the same ice-skating music from the Season 1 episode "A Snowy Day" when the wrong answer is said.
• This is the first episode to use the "No, it's a clue" phrase line that is similar to "Adventures in Art", but it is different and in a high-pitched voice. This happens again in "Blue's Sad Day" and "Nurture!".
• This is the only time a clue is found in the present store in the original series.
• This is the fourth time Steve realizes that the viewer tells him there is a clue after he uses his listening skills. The first time is in Mailbox's Birthday, the second time is "Blue's Favorite Song", the third time is "Blue Goes to the Beach" and the fifth time would be "What Is Blue Trying to Do?".
• When Steve counts his steps from the kitchen to the outside garden, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper count their apples to 8 in the process.
  • When they count to 4 and 8, the numbers appear on the kitchen doormat.
  • In the process, a crow perches on the tree for each number counted until 12.
• Steve buys and wears a green baseball cap with a picture of the Blue's Clues house on it. He wears it again in "Geography", and it appears hanging on a hat stand in "Shy" and "A Surprise Guest".
• This is the last episode in production order where Steve gives out a wrong answer until "Blue's Big Musical".
• This episode was remade in Blue's Clues & You! as "123's with Blue".
• When Blue puts her pawprint on the screen, Sidetable Drawer's Season 1 design is seen. This is the only Season 2 episode where that happens.
• In the Portuguese adaptation, during the scene where Duarte is buying a new crayon and hat, the music from the lemonade scene plays in the background.
• The answer to Blue's Clues is the same as the answer to gold clues in the online game, "Blue's Gold Clues Challenge".

Goofs

• In the closing credits, Angela Santomero is credited as Angela C. Santomero.
• This is the last episode made/aired in 1997. However, the credits say it was made/aired in 1996 when it was really filmed in early 1997.
• In the Pistas Da Blue version of this episode, when Duarte gets spun by Blue, his microphone base is shown attached to the back of his pants.
  • Also in the Pistas Da Blue version, Duarte frowns during the "Play Blue's Clues" song.
• After Steve drew the last clue, the pawprint is still seen on the lemon.
• The Boom Mic has appears four times in this episode.
  • When Steve says "two" while walking to Blue, a boom mic can be seen on top of the screen
  • After Steve says "You wanna play Blue’s Clues!", the boom mic is slightly seen on the top of the screen.
  • When Steve gets the notebook from Sidetable Drawer a boom mic is seen on the right bottom screen
  • In the present store when Steve finds the third clue (lemons), the boom mic is seen on the screen.
• When Steve gets up and walks back to the kitchen, his head is cut off.
• In the mailtime segment, the letter disappears for a split second when he grabs it, then reappears after he pulls it out of Mailbox.
• A tiny portion of Blue's ears disappear under the bag containing the things Steve bought from the present store before he picks it up