Arnold
Betrays Iggy
This show has such an amazing track record of strong
cartoons, but the crew behind this show are only human, so it’s natural for
them to miss the mark of a good quality work every now and then. I’ve covered weak material from this show
before, but they were redeemable in parts.
This cartoon, however, doesn’t have a lot of redeemable qualities, and
ends up as an actually bad watch. It’s
not the worst thing for an animated series, but the story choices keep the
experience from being pleasing on the whole.
When Arnold brings homework to a kid named Iggy who was out sick for the
day right after being told how cold he is by Sid and Stinky, he notices the
strange and embarrassing sight of Iggy wearing bunny pajamas. Iggy begs Arnold to not tell anyone that he
was wearing them, and Arnold keeps his promise, but then Sid and Stinky keep
asking questions about Arnold’s visit to Iggy. They themselves guess by chance
that he was wearing bunny pajamas and tell everyone after promising not
to.
When Iggy is laughed at for
this embarrassing secret, he’s understandably mad, but it doesn’t feel like
Arnold deserves the scorn. He didn’t say
the secret, two random kids guessed it out of the blue. Yet while they don’t have to suffer anything
bad, Arnold gets torment for his misdeed which isn’t really a misdeed because
he never revealed anything. Iggy shuns
him, gives him death glares, and every time Arnold tries to make amends, he
stubbornly refuses to forgive him no matter how much Arnold shows that he’s
sorry. It would’ve been better if at
some point Iggy demanded to know why Arnold broke his promise and find out the
truth about Sid and Stinky. Instead, the
story makes Iggy look like a total jerk for putting Arnold through hardships
and staying mad for a very long time, and it’s not a pretty sight.
It is admirable that Arnold is willing to do
anything to get Iggy to forgive him though, even if it means even bigger
humiliation. You see, Iggy reveals that
the only thing to make everything ok is if Arnold goes out in public wearing
the bunny pajamas. Considering that Arnold wasn’t really at fault in the
matter, this is a disproportionate punishment, especially since we don't see a lot of
Iggy getting teased. Sid and
Stinky then state what really happened, and Iggy finally hears the truth and
somewhat redeems himself by trying to stop Arnold. It’s too late though, and we’re treated to
merciless humiliation from everyone, even his friends and Grandpa, towards
Arnold in the pajamas. From the
incessant laughing to Arnold looking sad, there’s no entertainment to what goes on. Even if Iggy now knows the truth, it doesn’t
change that Arnold is put through torture he didn’t deserve, making it near
impossible to enjoy anything about the scene.
To me though, Arnold getting rightfully mad at Iggy for putting him
through said humiliation does soften the pain a little bit, giving Iggy a taste
of his own medicine that could’ve been avoided if he just listened. In this regard, this cartoon can be seen as
something to teach the importance of listening to those who disappoint you, but
it’s hardly worth the relentless mean-spirited moments the whole thing is
filled with. It’s not the show at its
worst (that will come in looks at later seasons), but it’s still one cartoon I
simply can’t recommend. 4/10
Helga and
the Nanny
When you look into Helga’s background, you can easily see
that her home life is a sorry sight. Her parents make little effort to show love
and care for her and lead unhealthy lifestyles in general. It’s an interesting direction to take when
developing characters and with the detail we see of Big Bob and Miriam’s
neglectful parenting, Helga almost always is sympathetic.
This cartoon attempts to give Helga someone
in her life to take the sting out of her neglect. When her mom takes up a job of her own,
leaving no one to look after the house during the day, Big Bob hires a nanny
named Inge. Inge turns out
to be the very person the Pataki household needs. She’s passionate about her job showing clear
effort in her responsibilities. She’s
also incredibly kind with everyone and quickly wins over Helga’s friends.
However, Inge’s role as nanny brings a
conflict. For all the good she does for
her lifestyle, Inge also enforces certain things onto Helga, like what to eat,
how to dress, and what activities to do.
In other words, Inge is molding Helga into something she’s not which
honestly is not ok. Everyone should be
free to express themselves and not fit certain molds. It robs individuality and identity. Sure, Helga’s true identity may seem like
it’s in need of change, but her mean behavior is just a cover for her true
decent self, resulting from the stress of her bad parents. For that side to shine should be under her
power at her own pace, not at someone else’s power.
This is why Helga’s side of the conflict is
understandable as she tries to stage incidents to get Inge fired who happily
finds a solution around them. So not to
make Helga’s attempts repetitive and one-sided, she succeeds in her plan by
making it look like Inge stole Big Bob’s lucky beeper emporium belt. Regarding the conflict, while Helga’s side is
perfectly understandable for what Inge’s caretaking methods have done to her
individuality, Inge is understandable to an extent.
Her passion for her job is clear and genuine, and her scenes make it feel like she wanted
to help Helga better her attitude. It’s
even made clear how problematic the house is without her around. Even if she was forceful with customs, Inge
was probably the most caring authority figure Helga has had at this point, and
certainly did not deserve to lose her job.
It’s great that Helga realizes this on her own and strives to fix
everything. The outcome, however, turns
out to be somber when not only does Inge accept being blamed for a crime she
didn’t commit and return home without hope for another job, but Helga is left
with consequences of her own. She may
have gotten away with framing Inge, but now she’s driven away the only person
who’s truly cared for her, and is stuck being as mean as always. At least the last moments show her cope with
this by trying some of the activities Inge taught her.
The conclusion would’ve been better if what
Inge did wrong was recognized and show that Helga could still improve while
also keeping to her true interests, since forcing Helga to be someone she’s not
wasn’t good either. While this makes the
overall conflict significantly weaker, what we have is still impactful. The message is thought-provoking, some
character moments are strong, and it’s overall fascinating to see the depths of
Helga’s poor upbringing. 8/10
The Ranking
- Helga Blabs it All
- Harold the Butcher
- Crabby Author
- Curly Snaps
- The Aptitude Test
- Pre-Teen Scream
- Olga Gets Engaged
- Oskar Gets a Job
- Rich Kid
- Helga and the Nanny
- Stinky Goes Hollywood
- Arnold Betrays Iggy
The next Hey Arnold review covers a baseball-themed cartoon that presents Arnold with an interesting challenge to get through, and a cartoon with an interesting concept of Mr. Hyunh becoming a country western star, featuring one of the best songs put to TV animation.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is Episode 7 of Steven Universe Season 2, "Rising Tides Crashing Skies."
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If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
ABI is the worst episode by far
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