'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 9

Freeze Frame

The most appealing stories to me are those that start off with a character or characters minding his/her business doing a nice, pleasing activity only to get involved in something bigger, which is usually dark.  That’s what happens with Arnold and Gerald when they’re busy making a movie of the folks of their neighborhood and, through observing what they filmed , they catch something big on camera.   It’s a strange sight of a man in a porkpie hat putting a note in a tree, and they’re prompted to investigate this occurrence.  Their quest to make sense of what was in their video leads them to several different locations like a porpoise carousel next to a slaughterhouse and a secretary’s desk at a taxi station.  However, it’s not just the unique locations Arnold and Gerald go to during their search that are noteworthy.  Another major factor is what the information they pick up from the porkpie man and his friend which consists of talks about getting someone named Marty and doing him in which is further fueled by them getting a rope, and saying what sounds like getting a gun.  In other words, Arnold and Gerald’s simple filmmaking activity appears to have gotten them involved in two guys’ murder scheme, and it’s up to them to stop the murder from happening.  This is a clear example of how life is full of different types of events.  One moment you’re having the most fun ever, and the next you’re involved in something serious, and this kind of thing happening here makes what goes on relatable thus increasing its appeal.  Speaking of serious, Arnold and Gerald later find out that Marty is the first name of the popular butcher of the neighborhood, Mr. Green.  Since the target of the impending murder is now shown to be a friend of them, that just makes the implications of what they picked up from the men even darker and heavier.  The strong part about this reveal is that Mr. Green is willing to face them knowing that the men have been trying to get them for years, so when he enters the place where the men are set on getting Marty, it’s a tense scene of him willingly walking to his own demise.  Then, after so much time devoted to the belief that the men were setting up for a murder, it turns out that all this time, they were talking about throwing Mr. Green a surprise birthday party. It’s a clever, humorous, and even relieving twist to cap off all the dark foreboding we’ve been picking up.  Though you have to wonder what the men mean when Arnold and Gerald pick up that they’re really going to get Marty in a few weeks.  Is it really fitting after they threw a nice party for him?  Even with that, the true-to-life tone, strong humor, and character moments make this cartoon great and memorable. 9.5/10

Phoebe Cheats

As an aspiring artist, I strive to come up with my own material to leave my own personal mark in the entertainment world.  I know that one thing you should never do in that regard is take the work of another artist and claim it as your own.  That will never get you anywhere, not to mention it robs the original artist of credibility.  This is a practice known as plagiarism, and while I may be strong enough not to fall into that trap, kids around the ages of Arnold and his friends are believably more easily persuaded, including the smart ones like Phoebe.  When other kids start to one-up and pressure her to win something, she enters a poetry contest.  Unfortunately, despite her intellect, she’s not creative enough to come up with a poem, unlike Helga who has endless ideas for poems from her love for Arnold which forces her to keep herself anonymous.  Anyway, Phoebe ultimately comes up with a poem, not by basing it off her own ideas, but by copying one out a book and claiming it as her own.  It’s seen as the best in the class and gets Phoebe the award she wanted though since the poem was someone else’s work, you have to wonder why no one finds Phoebe’s poem familiar.  However, this leads the cartoon into an eerie direction when Phoebe is plagued with guilt that she plagiarized someone else’s poem thus stealing the credit of the original author who actually worked hard to create it, short and fluffy as the poem may sound, at least to me.  The guilt starts off simple with Phoebe wanting to be alone and being unable to look at her new Emily Dickinson trophy.  Then after she’s chosen to recite “her” poem at an open house in front of the whole school, her guilt really hits a high point when she imagines the trophy talking to her in a creepily shrill voice against darkly lit scenes.  It’s an effective way of visualizing her guilt and showcasing how much of a frightening emotion it is for anyone to feel in real life.  It gets even scarier when the trophy seems to find its way back to Phoebe when she tries to lose it.  However, it’s during her guilt storm where Phoebe finally takes it upon herself to end it by admitting her plagiarizing and offering to read the original “anonymous” written poem that should have been named the best at the open house much to the actual author’s embarrassment.  With its genuine human emotion, explorations of heavy issues, and effective atmosphere, this is a cartoon sure to encourage, but mostly scare, aspiring artists to stick to their own visions and never even think about claiming other people’s creative talents. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Harold’s Kitty
2. Monkey Business
3. Eugene’s Pet
4. Freeze Frame
5. Save the Tree
6. Phoebe Cheats
7. Gerald Moves Out
8. New Teacher
9. Mudbowl
10. Ms. Perfect
11. Big Caesar
12. Ransom
13. The Big Scoop
14. Best Friends
15. The High Life
16. Hooky
17. Arnold Saves Sid
18. Longest Monday

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Helga tries to rid herself of her Arnold obsession with interesting results in "Helga's Love Potion," and when Arnold learns "Gerald's Secret."

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