Moments throughout the series make
Arnold and Helga’s relationship stand out, and this Valentine’s Day special has
some pretty strong ones.
They unfold when Helga hatches another plan to try and advance her relationship with Arnold who plans on setting up a blind date with Ruth McDougal. She intercepts a letter from Arnold’s French pen pal and works in a message saying she’s coming to visit him for a dinner date. While Arnold is left with the task of figuring out how to juggle the two dates, we see all the details of Helga making herself presentable for Arnold. The enjoyment value of her moments come from her setting herself up to look like someone she doesn’t know at all and learning French customs without really grasping them.
The most impactful stuff comes when we get to the actual dating portion of the special. Through going back and forward between adjacent restaurants, Arnold gets different experiences out of both dates. I mentioned in my review of “Operation Ruthless” that Arnold’s crush on Ruth isn’t a strong story topic because of how devoid of personality Ruth is. It’s this reason that make its presence in this special work. Arnold’s talked about how beautiful Ruth is on the outside, but doesn’t know anything about her on the inside. During his dinner date with Ruth, he puts up with Ruth talking about frivolous things, thinking he’s a busboy, and basically acting like a ditz.
With the disguised Helga, despite some initial awkward moments, Arnold’s time is much more meaningful. The most prominent part is when Arnold talks about how Ruth didn’t turn out the way he expected and Helga genuinely says something nice to comfort him. It’s an instance of her putting her bully cover aside and connect with the one she loves by being true to herself. It’s these traits that get Arnold to call this night the best Valentine’s Day ever. He even kisses her hand. It’s an interesting way of showing that Arnold and Helga’s relationship CAN work if Helga showed off her true self. Still, the reveal of this is very bittersweet since Arnold only likes Helga in her disguise and Helga is just unable to be her true self around Arnold. Basically, what we get is a play on emotions found in strong works of entertainment.
On the whole, this special also greatly portrays how love based on appearances (Arnold and Ruth) doesn’t really amount to anything. However, love based on mutual respect and good nature (Arnold and Helga in disguise) is what really works. I believe that's one of the most important bits of life advice for anyone to learn. This message, along with what it does for Arnold and Helga’s relationship make this special one of this season’s most powerful works. 10/10
They unfold when Helga hatches another plan to try and advance her relationship with Arnold who plans on setting up a blind date with Ruth McDougal. She intercepts a letter from Arnold’s French pen pal and works in a message saying she’s coming to visit him for a dinner date. While Arnold is left with the task of figuring out how to juggle the two dates, we see all the details of Helga making herself presentable for Arnold. The enjoyment value of her moments come from her setting herself up to look like someone she doesn’t know at all and learning French customs without really grasping them.
The most impactful stuff comes when we get to the actual dating portion of the special. Through going back and forward between adjacent restaurants, Arnold gets different experiences out of both dates. I mentioned in my review of “Operation Ruthless” that Arnold’s crush on Ruth isn’t a strong story topic because of how devoid of personality Ruth is. It’s this reason that make its presence in this special work. Arnold’s talked about how beautiful Ruth is on the outside, but doesn’t know anything about her on the inside. During his dinner date with Ruth, he puts up with Ruth talking about frivolous things, thinking he’s a busboy, and basically acting like a ditz.
With the disguised Helga, despite some initial awkward moments, Arnold’s time is much more meaningful. The most prominent part is when Arnold talks about how Ruth didn’t turn out the way he expected and Helga genuinely says something nice to comfort him. It’s an instance of her putting her bully cover aside and connect with the one she loves by being true to herself. It’s these traits that get Arnold to call this night the best Valentine’s Day ever. He even kisses her hand. It’s an interesting way of showing that Arnold and Helga’s relationship CAN work if Helga showed off her true self. Still, the reveal of this is very bittersweet since Arnold only likes Helga in her disguise and Helga is just unable to be her true self around Arnold. Basically, what we get is a play on emotions found in strong works of entertainment.
On the whole, this special also greatly portrays how love based on appearances (Arnold and Ruth) doesn’t really amount to anything. However, love based on mutual respect and good nature (Arnold and Helga in disguise) is what really works. I believe that's one of the most important bits of life advice for anyone to learn. This message, along with what it does for Arnold and Helga’s relationship make this special one of this season’s most powerful works. 10/10
The Rankings
1. Pigeon Man
2. Arnold’s Christmas
3. Harold’s Bar Mitzvah
4. Haunted Train
5. Stoop Kid
6. Arnold’s Valentine
7. Arnold’s Hat
8. Wheezin’ Ed
9. Spelling Bee
10. Helga’s Makeover
11. Mugged
12. False Alarm
13. Magic Show
14. Tutoring Torvald
15. The Baseball
16. Olga Comes Home
17. Teachers’ Strike
18. Four-Eyed Jack
19. The List
20. Das Subway
21. The Vacant Lot
22. Downtown as Fruits
23. The Old Building
24. Field Trip
25. The Sewer King
26. Tour De Pond
27. Coach Wittenberg
28. Hall Monitor
29. Sally’s Comet
30. Roughin’ It
31. Gerald Comes Over
32. Crush on Teacher
33. 6th Grade Girls
34. The Little Pink Book
35. 24 Hours to Live
36. Abner Come Home
37. Arnold as Cupid
38. Snow
39. Eugene’s Bike
40. Biosquare
41. Door #16
42. Heat
43. Helga’s Boyfriend
44. Part Time Friends
45. Benchwarmer
46. Operation Ruthless
47. World Records
48. Cool Jerk
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the last episode of the season: "Runaway Float/Partners."
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