By now, the non-familial residents
of Arnold’s boarding house have made a big name for themselves. We already discussed Ernie, the short
demolition man with a short temper but somewhat good heart. However, in other previous entries, there was
Mr. Hyunh the Vietnamese immigrant whose appeal lies in his friendly
personality despite being an outsider in this country, and Oskar Kokoshka the
lazy, self-centered middle age man who somehow comes off as likable (to the
audience anyway). The boarder this
cartoon focuses on however is a man simply known as Mr. Smith, a very private
resident who never personally interacts with anyone else, or even shows his
face. His private nature makes the
boarders believe that he’s no good and that he thinks he’s better than everyone
else. This is why, when a package
arrives for him, they all want to see what it is so they can expose Mr. Smith
for who he really is. Arnold, however,
has too much of a heart to get involved in this dispute, so he strives to keep
the package away from the boarders and instead get it to Mr. Smith. The mission to get the package to Mr. Smith
features Arnold and Gerald go all over the city to find out where he’s gone to
work so they can turn in the package and be done with it, especially since the
boarders just won’t keep away from the dang thing, holding onto their
preconceived notions about a guy they don’t even know that well. The thing is though, despite all the trouble
Arnold and Gerald go through to get the package, including attempting to get the
address of Mr. Smith’s workplace from a hat shop, they get very little
accomplished mostly because Mr. Smith is changing locations faster than I can
suspend disbelief. First he’s at work,
then he’s in a taxi, then he’s leaving on a helicopter of all things. Plus, through it all, we as an audience never
really learn much about what Mr. Smith’s like, let alone why he’s so
private. Because of this, it’s hard to
feel for him when the boarder’s make accusations on him. That said, they’re still pretty unlikable for
wanting to open the package so badly for the purposes of spiting him,
especially towards the end when they straight up attack Arnold and Gerald for
something so petty. It’s after that
though that everyone sees a side of the real Mr. Smith when their scuffle
reveals a picture of them all, the people Mr. Smith calls his family. It’s nice that we see a nice side to Mr.
Smith and everyone, including the boarders notices this. Still, we don’t learn much about him, and
what’s more, after this season, Mr. Smith disappears from the cast altogether
which kind of deprives this cartoon of a reason to exist. Despite that, if you can get past the
behavior of the boarders, this is still a decent watch. 7/10
Arnold
as Cupid
Let’s talk about Oskar Kokoshka. Ever since childhood, he was the resident of
Arnold’s boarding house that stood out to me the most. Sure, he may get on everyone’s nerves, mooch
off of other people’s property, and care only for himself, but he’s still
somewhat likable. Despite technically
being a bad person, Oskar never really feels like one. His mannerisms and interactions with everyone
around him make him seem like someone who tries to be friendly, but doesn’t
know the socially acceptable way to act.
Plus, his voice is appealing, and he gets some of the funniest moments
in the show, although his funniest moments won’t appear until later
seasons. With that in mind, though Oskar
is pretty fun to watch here, it’s not exactly his best starring role. His mooch-like and lazy ways finally reach a
breaking point with his wife, Suzie, and she kicks him out. He ultimately invites himself to bunk in with
Arnold and shows off his inconsideration by taking the bed, making Arnold late
for school, disrupting Arnold from studying for a test, and losing Arnold’s CD
player in a poker game. These scenes are
pretty frustrating since Oskar is oblivious to how Arnold is negatively
reacting to him as a roommate and everything he does. He’s still enjoyable for mostly seeming like
he’s trying to be a likable person despite doing these selfish things, but him
being this dense makes his performance pale in comparison to others that will
appear later on. Then we have the part
where Arnold sets up a date to get Oskar back together with Suzie so he can get
his room back. Even with a chance to get
back to his old life, Oskar can’t keep from being inconsiderate. He makes bad
conversations with Suzie, doesn’t care that he’s stepping on her feet as they
dance, and to top it all he eats a sole cherry tart instead of giving it to his
wife. The scene kind of begs the
question, why did Suzie marry this guy?
Even if Oskar can’t help not acting socially appropriate, he’s still
only caring for himself. Their
relationship really doesn’t seem healthy, so why support this couple? Well, it’s good to know that after that date
disaster, Oskar shows that he truly does have a heart by deciding to go out
into the world on his own to better himself, turns down money Suzie offers him,
and she’s really moved by him putting her before himself. It’s a nice ending to show that for all his
selfishness, Oskar does still have some good in him, but is it enough to
justify Suzie wanting him around? Well,
that’s certainly debatable, but Oskar is still a fun character despite being
frustrating at times. The appeal of this
selfish jerk alone is enough to make this cartoon worth at least one watch. 8/10
The Rankings
1. Haunted Train
2. Stoop Kid
3. Arnold’s Hat
4. Helga’s Makeover
5. Mugged
6. The Baseball
7. The List
8. The Vacant Lot
9. Downtown as Fruits
10. The Old Building
11. Field Trip
12. Roughin’ It
13. 6th Grade Girls
14. The Little Pink Book
15. Arnold as Cupid
16. Snow
17. Eugene’s Bike
18. Door #16
19. Heat
20. Operation Ruthless
Craig Barlett has suggested Suzie married Oskar to piss off her parents. Sounds like the only reasonable explanation to me.
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