'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 5

Monkey Business

Whenever you hear about a certain disease, it’s only natural that you fear getting it.  I know I tend to worry a lot about that, which is why I make sure to take good care of my health.  This cartoon centers on an interesting sounding disease and nicely depicts the motions of how one may react to catching it.  The class learns about obscure ancient diseases, including one called monkeynucleosis where the victim develops monkey-like characteristics that later kill them after physical contact with a monkey.  At first, Helga mocks the idea of the disease, and for fair reasons since it does sound ridiculous.  Then, everything changes when she happens upon an organ grinder and his monkey, and the monkey gives Helga a nasty scratch.  Suddenly, everything Helga learned about the disease starts to haunt her leading her to look into it out of fear for her health.  Much of what we get from here on mostly consists of Helga reading up on the symptoms of monkeynucleosis, and the little moments she experiences as she goes about her life slowly convince her that she’s doomed to become a monkey.  With every symptom, Helga’s fear grows into something frightening capped off by a dream sequence of her reduced to a small helpless monkey feared by everyone, including Arnold, without a place to go.  While this may not be the outcome for most people with serious illnesses, Helga’s reactions to what seems like a confirmation for having this disease greatly mirror others who fear the worst.  All this drama doesn’t even stop there since it leads to a highly emotional moment when Helga realizes she has four of the five symptoms only leaving one of expiration.  Following is a very realistic scenario of Helga preparing for her death by offering her possessions to her friends who all arrive in black and don’t understand what’s going on since Helga is vague about the whole thing.  It’s a heavy scene that’s sure to bring memories of a sick friend or relative preparing for the inevitable.  Helga’s even willing to come clean with her love for Arnold at this low point, but at the last minute, Phoebe finds out what this thing is all about and points out that getting scratched by a monkey does not lead to the other reported monkeynucleosis symptoms, meaning that Helga is still in good health.  In addition to her relief, this moment leads to a nice moment for Helga and Arnold where she has the strength to tell him he’s ok, and Arnold responds positively, saying she’s ok too, leaving Helga in satisfying bliss.  It’s a good example of how this pairing can work if both are willing to show their good nature.  In the end, we have an emotional, dramatic, and relatable look at believing you’re very sick with an appropriately relieving payoff. 10/10

Big Caesar

This cartoon is one of those that focus on Arnold and his friends doing an average life activity made a bit more interesting by a hint of urban legend-spinning.  In most slice-of-life shows, it’s common for there to be plots about going fishing.  It makes for a good opportunity to get characters out on the water, and do an activity relaxing enough to fit the simple, easy-going tone.  That’s the activity in question here as the gang enters a fishing contest.  The urban legend angle comes in when Arnold and Gerald plan on catching a prehistoric fish called Big Caesar.  By prehistoric, this fish has been around since the dinosaur days, and remained in the lake that would become the city lake which grew smaller over time.  This creative background for Big Caesar is all we get to the urban legend, and it’s really all we need to know regarding what Arnold and Gerald are up against.  The background is further expanded when Grandpa reveals that he once tried to catch Big Caesar, ending up with a broken fishing line.  By the way, Grandpa’s story leads to a funny gag of Grandma constantly claiming that he made the story up that occurs later on.  As for Arnold and Gerald, they’re led to work on their fishing, and the scenes of their practicing may go on too long, but they do build up appropriate tension.  They show their less-than-masterful fishing skills, and the skills combine with them being forced to fish in a swan boat, lowering the chances of them catching Big Caesar.  When it comes time to fish, they’re led into a foggy part of the lake, and after a while, they find the fish they’re after, and we get a tense scene of the boys experiencing how much of a powerful fish Big Caesar is.  They ultimately come up with a creative plan to use the swan boat’s foot pedals to catch him and reel him in, and he’s successfully in their clutches.  However, Arnold feels bad for how sad Big Caesar is being caught, and decides that they should let him go, even if this will cost him and Gerald genuine fame and fortune for catching a rare, historic beast.  Seriously, why can’t he just let him go after people see they caught him?  Still, it’s nice to see him show consideration for Big Caesar, further showcasing that even frightening and destructive beings have feelings too.  Even if the story is of a mundane activity and the conclusion has a bit of a headscratcher, there’s plenty of merit in Big Caesar’s creative background, some exciting and humorous moments, and heart from the final decision. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Harold’s Kitty
2. Monkey Business
3. Save the Tree
4. New Teacher
5. Ms. Perfect
6. Big Caesar
7. Ransom
8. The Big Scoop
9. Hooky
10. Arnold Saves Sid

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Gerald is roped into the cliché of money making people stupid in "The High Life," and Arnold is roped into a grudge match between Rhonda and Nadine, two supposed "Best Friends."

If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.