Helping Helps

Helping Helps is an episode of the Happy Tree Friends internet series, and the third of the first season. This episode introduces Splendid, the superhero who does more harm than good. This is also the first episode that brings back a previously dead character.

HTF Episode Description
Poor Giggles has a broken leg and is limping along when she's nearly crushed and drowned in a tidal wave caused by a dam breaking. Luckily, Splendid the flying squirrel saves the day, but not without incident! This episode is the only time you meet Giggles' mom, one of the only adults in Happy Tree Friends. Do you know who the other adult character is?

Plot
The episode begins with Giggles happily walking through the forest, with an unexplained injured leg, and accompanied with a couple crutches. Suddenly, a water dam behind her breaks, and water is seen rushing towards her. Giggles begins screaming, and then the newest Happy Tree Friend, Splendid, a superhero flying squirrel, hears her screams. He puts down the acorn he was eating and immediately zooms off to save her.

We cut back to Giggles, who is seen desperately trying to outrun the tsunami of water. Splendid tries in vain to reach Giggles in time. With all hope lost and the tsunami reaching her, a tear runs down Giggles' eye as her death is just mere seconds away. But at the last second, Splendid swoops in and snatches Giggles just before the water crashes down.

Having been saved, Giggles begins cheering over her victory. Unfortunately, Splendid flies too close to a tree, and a protruding branch beheads Giggles. With blood spewing out of Giggles' dead body, Splendid begins panicking. When Splendid spots an acorn lying next to a tree, he gets an idea.

He picks up the acorn, and rings the doorbell to Giggles' house. The person who opens the door is Giggles' mother, who is seen crying at the supposed death of her daughter from the tsunami. When she opens her eyes after drying them off, she's suddenly surprised. Splendid then shows distraught mother Giggles' dead body with the acorn he found earlier on the neck. On the acorn is a poorly drawn face, representing Giggles' face. The mother, not noticing anything, picks up the Giggles' dead body and hugs it. Splendid then gives a salute to a job well done. As Splendid flies off, Giggles' mom bids farewell, and Giggles' "head" falls off splattering blood on the mother, still unaware of her daughter's death.

Moral
"Don't forget to stop and smell the roses!"

Deaths

 * Giggles dies when Splendid flies too close to a tree branch, decapitating her.

Goofs

 * 1) Giggles doesn't have her head marking in the opening credits, but it appears in the episode (this occurs in every Season 1 episode Giggles stars in).
 * 2) Giggles' bandaged leg changes several times, and disappears when she's being flown away.(Although her other leg may be behind Splendid).
 * 3) Prior to Giggles' death, the Pac-Man shaped pupil on Giggles' right eye is facing the wrong way..
 * 4) Splendid's tail disappears when he spots the acorn he uses for Giggles' replacement head.
 * 5) When Splendid holds up Giggles, his skin flaps disappear.
 * 6) When Giggles is shown from the back (when the flood finally approached her), her marking isn't visible from the back. This has happened on several HTF characters with markings on their head (like Petunia and Nutty), which only occur in early internet episodes.
 * 7) When Giggles' Mom is shown crying, one part of her arm switched colors for a very short time.
 * 8) When Giggles' "head" falls off, the blood on her mom is red, but the blood on the ground is reddish-orange.

Quick Shot Moment
When Splendid starts flying towards Giggles to save her, when a shot of the wave is shown, there's a brief shot of Splendid flying.

Trivia

 * This episode's title has no reference or pun.
 * This is the only episode that Giggles' Mom appears in.
 * This is the only episode in which Splendid is seen eating.
 * This is the first episode to show a main character's parent.
 * This is the first episode with a featuring role.
 * On the "First Blood" DVD, Splendid appears to be dark blue, as his tail was light blue. But on the internet version, he is completely light blue (with his tail being dark blue).
 * This is the first episode in which Giggles' diamond marking is shown on her forehead.
 * At the end, Giggles' mom said, "Thank you, bye bye!".
 * In the theme song, Splendid is put in as "Splendid the Flying Squirrel" but in subsequent episodes he is just "Splendid". What was used in this episode was possibly going to be used all the time, but it was shortened probably because it was a bit wordy; just like Russell was called "Russell the Pirate" in the first episode he appeared in.
 * From this episode onward, all HD remastered episodes of this season have "Mondo Mini Shows" replaced with just "Mondo" in the opening sequence (When the character pops up from the bushes). Also the title card have the entire episode title shown in one line, where possible.
 * If you notice, Giggles' mother has a darker shade of pink. It is possible that if we see the parents of other characters, they'll be darker shades of that character's color.
 * However, Pop appears to be the same color as his son, Cub. It may not be confirmed unless there is a future episode about the other characters' parents (and their colors).
 * This is the first episode in which there is only one death.
 * As stated above, this episode introduces the reincarnation concept in the show. This makes Giggles the very first character to come back to life in the show.