"Tough Love" is the twelfth episode of The Powerpuff Girls Season 1.
It first aired on Cartoon Network in the United States on December 23, 1998.
Plot[]
When Him gets jealous of the Powerpuff Girls' constant attention, he invents an evil gas that spreads around Townsville and causes the citizens to turn against the Girls.
Synopsis[]
On one of the finest days in Townsville, the Powerpuff Girls are seen helping the townspeople with everything; they are shown rescuing a cat from a tree, being on class on time, helping the Mayor open the pickle jar, and helping Professor Utonium with his science project. While everyone falls asleep during nighttime, Him complains about how he is tired of the Powerpuff Girls helping everyone, so he creates a gas and spreads it across Townsville to turn the people against the girls.
The next day, the girls are shown in the same situations they were in before. Bubbles attempts to rescue the cat from the tree again, but the angry cat yowls and swings its paw to fend her off. The old lady is also angry as well, and her cat shreds Bubbles in pain. The old lady beats the girls with a cane. Once the school bell has rung, the girls make it on time, only for their teacher, Ms. Keane, to mark the girls tardy. This triggers a kid named Billy to throw a paper ball at Bubbles. When she tried to tell that to Ms. Keane, the teacher tells her students to throw everything at the girls. The hotline buzzes and the girls take off and arrive at the Mayor's office. When Blossom tries to open the pickle jar again, the Mayor sends a S.W.A.T. Team to corner the girls. After that, the Mayor declares that Ms. Bellum should fire first.
Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup leave, while Buttercup complains this has been a freaky day, much to the Narrator's irritation. They head to the Professor's Lab to find out more about the situation, only for Professor Utonium himself to try to catch the girls and beat them up in anger. The girls manage to escape through the front door, only for the townspeople to appear (including the old lady with her cat, Ms. Keane, the Mayor, Ms. Bellum, and several of the S.W.A.T. Team members), with their eyes glowing bright red and their faces frozen in scowls, and getting ready to destroy the girls (the Professor's eyes have also gone red like everyone else). Him reveals himself and his evil plan and orders the townspeople to attack the Girls. At first, the girls do not even try to fight as Buttercup did, but soon realize they have to fight their friends and loved ones to revert them back to their normal selves. They manage to do so, and warn Him that if he tries something like this again, it will be his last. Him assures them that he does not give "repeat performances", and disappears into the sky.
At the hospital, the Girls explain the situation to the townspeople, and apologize, saying "It hurt us a lot more than it hurt you!", although their now-injured friends and loved ones agree to the contrary. The Narrator, who was also part of the pummeling, says they forgive the Girls, and calls for his sponge bath.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- Moral: Sometimes you have to hurt your loved ones to help them.
- The Narrator calls Townsville "The City of Brotherly Love, or should I say 'Sisterly Love'". This is a reference to the nickname of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, "The City of Brotherly Love".
- This episode was the last episode to air in 1998.
- This is one of the episodes where the Hotline changes expression, the other being in Abracadaver. In this one, the Hotline has a wide smile on its face during the opening scene, and when HIM spreads the hate plague all over Townsville, the Hotline gives an angry scowl.
- This episode has its music reused the most in future episodes.
- HIM sowing a hate plague in the form of a fog over Townsville is a reference to Faust where Mephistopheles appears in the sky and spreads his plague across a town in the form of a fog.
- At the end of the episode, the townspeople all say "Well now, we wouldn't say that!" This is a reference to The Great Gildersleeve, particularly Richard Q. Peavey's catchphrase "Well now, I wouldn't say that!"
- MsMojo ranked this as the #7 darkest episode of The Powerpuff Girls.
- The face that Professor Utonium pulled when he shouted "IT'S NOT NICE!!" and when he menacingly walks towards the girls is often described by many fans as one of the scariest moments in the franchise's history.