It’s time once again for all Football Heads to come
together to look at more adventures in the big city.
Hey Arnold (Season 2)
BASIC PREMISE
When it comes to animated TV shows I really like, whenever I
start reviewing one of them on this blog, I can hardly wait to come back to it
after a while to look at another season.
One of these shows is the classic Nickelodeon show, Hey Arnold. As I’ve
discussed way back in my look of Season 1, this is one of the best
animated series out there mainly through how sincere and believable it is
through how it brings about different emotional responses through many highs
and lows of life. Amidst simple stories
of Arnold doing a fun kid-friendly activity, there are several times when the
show can delve into heavy, thought-provoking, and honest subject matter, which
makes the world of the show feel highly engaging. It also helps to have a cast of characters of
many personalities and ages that somehow fleshes out everyone commendably. Because of this, of course I really
want to discuss how these strengths continue into other seasons especially
since this old 90s cartoon show is relevant again thanks to The Jungle Movie.
I should probably point out that the order the cartoons are
reviewed in may seem confusing to some who look at the order in some major online
sources, and even the Complete Series DVD set.
That’s because in those sources, they’re listed in the order of how they aired. However, going in that order can create a lot
of continuity-related confusion, especially since this season introduces a
game-changing element to the series.
Heck, the airing order of this season even lists cartoons made for the
previous season. Well, even if the
cartoons aired in a certain order, I’ll be reviewing them in their intended
production order as sited from the official Hey
Arnold wiki, and how they’re listed in digital download sites like iTunes. Hopefully, this will help clear up the way
things are meant to unfold with every cartoon, and this practice will continue
well into reviews of the other seasons.
Now that we got this out of the way, it’s time to look at more Hey Arnold via its second season. So, let’s move it Football Heads.
Now on with the reviews:
The
Big Scoop
Newspaper stories don’t always seem to come out great. They usually focus on one character posting embarrassing articles on everyone they witness ,and their close friends, and in some cases their families, responding by posting an embarrassing article on the person or treating them like they’re a heartless monster because of that one misdeed. That never comes off as enjoyable, but the way this newspaper story is structured does justice for the characters involved. When writing the school newspaper, Arnold, the kid in charge, strives to post only the facts, but Helga feels that the stories posted aren’t exciting enough for the school. Given her aggressive nature, it’s fitting that she sets up her own school newspaper that posts nothing but what she feels the PS 118 students will like even if they’re completely fabricated out of photos of certain kids. It’s amazing how convincing the fake stories like Arnold kissing a tree and Gerald playing with dolls come out in an era before Photoshop was a thing. Clearly, the victims of Helga’s reports want to put a stop to this nonsense. At first, Arnold and Gerald are set up to solve everything the way most characters in these plots would by posting embossing stories of Helga, but soon after, Arnold points out that stooping to her low is not a good way to deal with this. Instead, they go in a much more mature direction by posting a story to flat out claim that one of Helga’s stories is completely untrue. The story they target is of a pretty huge supposed occurrence where Helga overhears Principal Wartz talking with Ernie, the demolition man, about walls coming down and claims that this means the school is going to be torn down and replaced with an amusement park. It’s really a ridiculous conclusion to come to and Phoebe's reaction to the claim is hard to believe, but given how much everyone bought her fake stories before, it makes sense for Helga to predict they’ll believe this one. As for Arnold and Gerald, they take the time to research what’s going on, learn that what Helga claims is completely untrue and post it in their paper. This, along with the subsequent scene of everyone demanding Helga to stop posting lies, effectively gets Helga to realize the errors of her ways and gives her a chance to change. It’s certainly a much better way around the issue than to make her a pariah because of this, and this way around the issue means a lot more given her bully status. While she still wants the news to be more exciting in the end, it’s great that she’s at last complying with Arnold’s leadership on being honest. Ultimately, of all the newspaper plots of any show, this will always be the strongest one to me for the mature way of dealing with the typical beats it comes with. 9/10
Harold’s
Kitty
Way back at the start of the show, Harold was seen as a one-dimensional big bully who just wanted to insult or pound anyone he felt was beneath him with occasional moments of softness. As the show would go on, his soft side would grow even more, making him a genuine human character. This cartoon is one of the best examples of his growing soft side. We begin with him doing his typical immature, brash things like banging along a fence annoying an old lady named Mrs. Ryle and being snappy at the kids which makes them not want to him to play with them. Then everything changes when he and Arnold find a lost kitten, and Harold agrees to take it home, and from there, we see a large display of Harold’s friendly side at work. As time goes on, Harold gets more attached to the small cat, happily playing with him, buying him treats and toys, and pretty much going anywhere with him. It’s interesting, and of course adorable to see a huge, mean-looking kid like Harold find a liking, let alone really bond, with a creature as small as a kitten who he names Cupcake. It’s hard to get enough of their moments together, and you can really feel for Harold when Arnold proceeds to put up lost kitten posters all over the neighborhood. Speaking of which, it’s also great that this cartoon doesn’t solely rely on cuteness from Harold and Cupcake, for in the second half, Arnold discovers that the kitten belongs to Mrs. Ryle. Considering how distressed Harold was at the sight of Arnold’s lost cat posters, he completely refuses to let Cupcake go, locking them both inside his house. This may be a simple action, but then it just grows in tension as a commotion arises first by a crowd of the neighborhood’s residents gathering around the house, then both of Harold’s parents demanding Harold to open the door, and then with the whole police force, including the air force, interrogating Harold to come out with the cat. So much craziness happens from this simple act that you just can’t help but get invested. Ultimately, after hearing how the cat, really named Thurston, is the only friend Mrs. Ryle has, Arnold breaks through to Harold’s room and informs him of this, and if he loves the cat as his only true friend, he has to get him home, which Harold does. Even with this separation of friends, it leads to a greater good with Harold and Mrs. Ryle reaching a truce over the cat, him being allowed to visit him, and everyone starting to get to know the real Harold. In addition to being cute and really building up on intensity at times, this is one of the show’s strongest entries for having Harold’s story prove that anyone can be more than what they seem. 10/10
The Ranking
- Harold’s Kitty
- The Big Scoop
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode featuring Sid's very first starring role in "Arnold Saves Sid" and Arnold and Gerald decide to play "Hooky."
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