Tongue in Cheek (Happy Tree Friends)

"Tongue in Cheek (Happy Tree Friends)"
Poor Sniffles...
Series: Happy Tree Friends Part of Season: TV Series (Season 1) Episode Number: 11b Air Date: December 10, 2006 Writer: Kenn Navarro Ken Pontac Warren Graff Director: Kenn Navarro Previous episode: Wingin' It Next episode: Easy Comb, Easy Go

"Tongue in Cheek" is episode number 11.2 of the Happy Tree Friends television series.

Plot

Sniffles creates a Robotic Ant in a last ditch attempt to defeat The Ants once and for all.

Why This Tongue Isn't In Any Cheek

1. The entire episode is a Sniffles torture episode. Sure, there are other Sniffles vs. Ants episodes that can end up as torture episodes for Sniffles, but this episode took it to the extreme.
2. Almost every character (minus Sniffles) hits rock bottom in this episode, as stated below.
   • The Ants are at their worst in this episode, as they torture Sniffles in the most sadistic ways and deliver arguably the most gruesome death in the entire series. Even worse, they never get punished for torturing Sniffles, making them some of the very worst among all the Karma Houdini characters out there.
   • Lumpy and The Mole are pointless additions who serve no purpose in this episode, as Lumpy is just there to play golf while The Mole is just there to take pictures, which makes both of them unhelpful. You could take out Lumpy and The Mole and nothing would change here.
   • Sniffles (while likable) is a bit stupid as he could not have put his hand into the anthill in order the kill them as they could just move to another place.
3. When Sniffles made an ant robot, you'd think he'd be able to kill The Ants, right? Well, that's where you're wrong because one of The Ants after Sniffle’s robot malfunctions, they manage to mind-control Sniffles and brutally torture him by forcing him to eat razor blades from on an apple, shred his tongue, hammer a nail into his tail, and tie his tongue with a double-sided paddle.
   • By the way, the scene in which Sniffles bites the apple with razor blades is extremely uncomfortable to look at, especially for the ones who have Odontophobia (fear of teeth).
4. Speaking of the paddle, to make matters worse, you can hear Sniffles squeal, "No!" twice, and under his breath as if he doesn't want to nail his tail on the ground. Also, you can even see and hear Sniffles cry while the ant mind controlling him has him twist the paddle before letting go, just to make you wish even more that the Ants would get eaten for once.
   • When Sniffles lets go of the paddle, his tongue and organs fly with the oar and out of his body, which is extremely gory and disturbing even by Happy Tree Friends standards.
5. In the end, the Ants create a home new home out of Sniffles' dead body, which is also disgusting and shows that they have no respect for predators.
6. Animation error: Sniffles' skin on his left hand seems to be torn, but it seems to be back later on in the episode. Then, near the end of the episode, Lumpy is shown to use Sniffles' skin on his left hand like a glove.
7. Due to its sadistic nature, it feels like a twisted fan-made creepypasta rather than an actual episode.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Sniffles' plan of killing The Ants with the ant robot was a pretty good idea. Too bad it was wasted potential, as his plan backfired.
2. The loch ness monster photo from The Mole is very interesting.
3. While it doesn't excuse him for being unhelpful, at least Lumpy apologizes to Sniffles for disturbing his picnic.
4. Sniffles is still a likable character.
5. Due to the extremely negative reception they received, the Ants have never again appeared in any episode since.

Reception

"Tongue in Cheek", along with "Wishy-Washy" and "Chew Said a Mouthful", is considered by many critics and fans to be one of the worst episodes of the show right behind "YouTube Copyright School" due to the ants' over-the-top cruel treatment of Sniffles as well as the death scene which was infamous for its dragged-out torture, and even the creators of the show have admitted that they went too far with it.^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

• The Ants were removed from the show altogether after this episode.

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