Beaned / Old Iron Man (Hey Arnold Season 5 Episode 7) - 'Toon Reviews 34

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Beaned

A new season simply cannot go without new ways for Arnold and Helga to get closer.  For all their differences in behavior and customs, this seems to happen with every new season.  There has been more of them getting involved in each other’s personal problems by choice, but now things go a step further. 

The cartoon’s opening features Arnold in his usual good nature by helping other kids with their problems.  They usually amount to small gestures like sharing his umbrella, holding doors, and carrying heavy loads.  While observing these acts though, they mean a lot to Helga who laments over Arnold apparently never noticing her.  Given how often in these recent seasons where Arnold’s taken interest in her issues by choice without being told beforehand, I feel this is a slight exaggeration.  Maybe it can work when you consider that Helga’s still too timid to be honest about her feeling for him and they’re still not an item.  Either way, their relationship starts going to an area broader than simply helping in simple tasks. 

When Arnold hits a baseball, it hits Helga in the head and she can’t remember a thing, not even her name.  It’s a case of amnesia as clear as day, and because Arnold was the one who hit her, he feels the need to be by Helga’s side to help her home and get settled.  By doing so, his great efforts show as he not only guides the way, but gives her good treatment too.  He makes her nice hot soup, and makes sure she’s comfortable as he reads her an assigned homework chapter.  All this may just be a nice gesture, but it’s very remarkable that Arnold would do more than truly necessary to treat someone who’s usually mean to him like Helga. 

Speaking of her, while she doesn’t really notice the treatment while without her memory, Helga is quick to recover as she’s back to normal the following morning.  When she hears that Arnold was taking care of her when she had amnesia, she just has to get more of it.  For that, she fakes still having amnesia just so Arnold can take care of her more.  The experience is somewhat amusing with the ways Helga keeps up the charade with a ditzy tone of voice and quick solutions to cover up any progress to recovery.  It makes her look infantile to others, but it still gets her what she wants.  In fact, the other kids start showing concern over Arnold paying more attention to Helga than them.  Helga may seem to need all this attention more than them, but if his efforts in doing so are an indication, it feels like Arnold is going all out through more than just obligation.  It also helps that while she’s faking amnesia, Helga is putting her usual mean behavior aside, making her seem more deserving of Arnold’s affection. 

In fact through doing so, it seems that Helga naturally grows to feel bad over Arnold not devoting time to other big things in his life.  This selfless observation is the best way to convince her to finally drop the act and act normal again.  Despite this, Arnold decides to walk her home anyway, knowing he doesn’t have to, and only doing so because he wants to.  Even if he was unknowingly tricked into thinking Helga had amnesia, something genuine was gained from the experience.  For Helga’s sake, it’s just as nice as their relationship seems to actually be moving forward. 

Unfolding in an interesting story concept, natural character development is a key factor in this cartoon’s appeal.

A+

Old Iron Man

This season being the final one, it’s natural for its works to bring often-mentioned plot threads into the spotlight for one last chance to showcase their background.  With Grandpa, he’s often mentioned his old best friend Jimmy Kafka, whether it’s recounting a good memory, or their past falling out they never made up for.  However, their fallout over Jimmy being difficult during a part time job of theirs is never mentioned.  When Grandpa hears that he’s coming to visit, it seems like their fallout is over something as minor as rivalry in physical activities.  He keeps insisting to Arnold that he hates his old friend because of this, but Arnold’s not having any of this. 

When Jimmy arrives later on, his dynamic with Grandpa is pretty much all set.  They constantly argue and bicker over being the best at something while constantly showing some friendly affection which never really left.  There are some humorous moments to come from this setup such as being led to one up each other in the most ridiculous of contests as pea-flicking.  Also, little moments of friendliness amidst their rivalries do make theirs stand out from others.  However, this happening a lot does make the cartoon feel very monotonous and repetitive.  It soon reaches the point where you just wish they’d just realize that they don’t hate each other nearly as much as they say they do and that Arnold is right. 

As fate would have it, they both find out about the perfect way to settle who’s the best and strongest of them both.  They see an ad for a physical challenge for old men consisting of running, biking, and swimming.  The catch is that the swimming portion involves man eating sharks to face while doing so which is simply mad.  Also, this show grounds itself enough in reality. For that it’s hard to suspend disbelief long enough to think that the people running this competition would think that adding sharks is ok.  Won’t they get sued if the sharks actually kill someone?  Either way, Grandpa and Jimmy are too obsessed with winning to even think of the repercussions, and ignore Arnold’s worries of the danger. 

Considering that they have a history with fighting in wars and the army, well Grandpa anyway, when the contest comes, they start performing commendably.  They do, at least, until they both decide to play dirty.  This is something Grandpa has been hard-pressed to prove about Jimmy, but why would he do the same and end up not looking any better than him?  They both soon reach the swim portion of the contest, but end up lost out at sea with elder-related injuries in certain places.  They’re all set up to restore their friendship in their darkest hour with a fitting cloudy weather and cold sensations all around.  After awesomely knocking out one of the sharks, it seems that all is well with them as they work together to reach the shore, even if they both lose the contest.  Declaring that they’re no longer going to fight seems like a good place to end the cartoon, but that’s not so.  They just find another reason to argue and nothing changes, making for a big waste of development.  It’s not enough to really diminish the fun moments throughout the cartoon, but if the newfound respect stuck, it would be a lot stronger. 

As it stands, it makes the long awaited appearance of Grandpa’s old friend good, but not great.

B

The Ranking

1.      Beaned

2.      Helga’s Locket

3.      Rhonda Goes Broke

4.      Sid and Germs

5.      Phoebe Breaks a Leg

6.      Principal Simmons

7.      Fishing Trip

8.      Sid the Vampire Slayer

9.      Old Iron Man

10.  Gerald’s Game

11.  Stuck in a Tree

12.  Big Sis

13.  New Bully on the Block

14.  Bag of Money

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode looking into the show's fright factor with a story of a ghost bride, and Gerald's jerk older brother Jamie O is back in the spotlight.

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