'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 8

Mudbowl

You know a cartoon is good when it can get you invested in the characters playing a sport even if you’re not into sports.  That’s the case with this cartoon which turns out to be highly entertaining and well-told because of what the characters involved get up to.  Arnold and his friends run into Wolfgang and his gang of 5^th graders again who crash the park they’re using to play football and challenge them to a game in exchange for it.  Rather than focus on the game itself which would limit the cartoon’s appeal just to sports fans, the focus instead goes for the idea of using strength or wits against those who are bigger than you.  I’d like to think that a strong, relatable theme is what people with all interests can get behind.  Anyway, at first the kids believe that strength is what’s needed to beat a group of kids who are considerably bigger and stronger than them, so they’re easily roped into Helga’s training methods that include grueling exercises and eating a bunch of protein shakes every day.  Not only do her methods make everyone miserable, but they don’t make any improvements to their strength.  Things get so bad that they have to resort to using Torvald, a 4^th grader who was held back making this his only other major appearance apart from his starring role in Season 1, to get through the eventual game…only for him to immediately hurt himself.  By the time the 5^th graders give the 4^th graders a major thrashing during the game, building on the unfortunate implications that all 5^th graders are psychotic bullies from “Longest Monday,” it becomes clear that feats of strength are not always the way to deal with stronger enemies.  However, when Arnold takes over as quarterback and leads the team with his smart, strategic plays he’s had for the whole cartoon, they put up a better fight.  This is especially true when it starts raining, and they still come up with a strategy that gets them a satisfying victory as well as give a good reason why this cartoon is called “Mudbowl.”  Given that we have to put up with the one-dimensional behavior from the 5^th graders as well as their aforementioned unfortunate implications for much of the cartoon, the 4^th graders winning makes their weak and annoying personas work here, unlike in “Longest Monday” where they were the victorious ones in the end.  Even if they still have problems, the strength and appeal of the cartoon as a whole lie within the inspiring theme that smarts and wit can be just as good as brute strength when surviving in this world. 9/10

Gerald Moves Out

Getting your own place to live is something anyone, young or old, can want to achieve.  I know want that to happen to me someday.  However, in life you have to learn that even when you get your own space, you have to take caution that things might not be as easy as you think.  This cartoon is a good tool to get this point across.  We open with a long sequence that gets Gerald to long for his own place which honestly presents little good from the life he lives.  His older brother, Jamie O, comes out of nowhere to tackle him when he least expects, his younger sister, Timberley, is always destroying his stuff, his dad never shuts up about the electricity bill, and his mom doesn’t seem to listen to his problems.  That’s got to be a hard life for him to put up with, and with his concerns being ignored, Gerald really has all the reasons he needs to want to move out.  He has an idealistic view of what life on his own will be like with a nice room, a maid and butler serving him, and eating nothing but his favorite foods for all his meals.  That’s a believable childlike view of what one might think getting your own place is like which slowly becomes fabricated as you get older and develop a more realistic mindset.  This slowly connects to Gerald’s conflict when he jumps on an opportunity to rent a room in Arnold’s boarding house.  Since Gerald’s been there before, and it’s where his best friend lives, you’d think he’s found the perfect home.  However, just as Gerald settles into the newly rented room, he starts discovering that hardships of your home can occur even if you live on your own.  His room is dilapidated and can’t keep out noises, the food isn’t as good as he expected, he has to take a number to use the bathroom, and most of all, he has to do his own laundry which he has no skill of which gets him involved in some memorable humorous moments of Mr. Hyunh complaining about cleaning his lint.  Even though Gerald does try to tough all these issues out, he slowly admits that he wants to go home though he’s hesitant to tell his family that.  So, when they come and he’s expecting them to ask him to come home, he feels dejected and bad for what he started when they just come, make small talk, and leave.  Gerald is then left to ponder that even if it’s not what he expected, he’s still living the life that he wanted and is forced to deal with it.  Thankfully, he gets out of it by finally swallowing his pride and admits he wants to go home in front of his family, and they gladly take him back, especially since letting Gerald live on his own was part of their plan to teach him a lesson.  This is a believable, thought-provoking cartoon anyone of any age should see to remind them that for all its strong points and weak points, there really is no place like home. 9/10

The Ranking

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

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Arnold and Gerald's movie-making gets them involved in a supposed murder plot in "Freeze Frame" and we learn that even the smart ones can break the rules every now and then when "Phoebe Cheats."

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

'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 7

Longest Monday

When you’re a kid, it’s a given that you’re going to come across bullies one way or another, and this show has proven this statement several times with characters like Helga and Harold.  However, imagine having to deal with bullies from a higher grade than you.  Encounters like that could easily turn out to be some of the scariest childhood traumas to deal with, and this cartoon puts Arnold and his class right at the mercy of the sadists of the 5^th grade.  It’s established that on the first Monday of June, the 5^th graders attack the 4^th graders by dumping them in the trash causing them great humiliation, and this year, it’s Arnold’s classes turn to endure, and it’s especially bad when their leader, Wolfgang, is the toughest 5^th grader in school.  They have a nice, inspiring plan to stick together to avoid the 5^th graders and get to safety, but that’s immediately dashed when the 5^th graders spot them and its every student for him/herself.  From here, everything we see is nothing but senseless bullying as 4^th graders are dumped into putrid trash and the 5^th graders getting senseless joy out of the humiliation they’re causing.  Even when the kids find some hope such as hiding out in a sanctuary or one 5^th grader wanting to help them, they’re always there to destroy it.  Through it all, we’re left with a lot of unfortunate implications about 5^th graders.  We’re left with the idea that all 5^th graders a sadistic bullies who want to make life miserable for anyone smaller than them.  This is far from a believable scenario because it’s easy to predict that there are 5^th graders out there who AREN’T like the ones we witness here, yet the cartoon doesn’t give a hint of that.  What’s more, Wolfgang and his cronies are so one-dimensional it’s hard to watch them torture Arnold and the gang.  There’s no reason given for why they’re doing what they’re doing let alone why it's a tradition, or in any of their future appearances, which further hinders the entertainment since no sensible human being would ever be as mean as this just because.  As a result, it’s mostly painful to watch them torture everyone and come out victorious in the end.  That’s not even counting the implication that Arnold and the others will do what they did to the next batch of 4^th graders when it’s their turn next year.  It’s not all bad since there are a few humorous moments from the bullying, and the fact that Arnold and Gerald end up enjoying getting thrown in the trash puts somewhat of a damper in the 5^th graders’ plans, even if they don’t notice it.  So with its moments, this cartoon isn’t all bad, but given its mostly painful overtones from the one-dimensional antagonists, it isn’t all that good either. 5/10

Eugene’s Pet

From what I’ve read in books and seen on other TV shows, a traumatic experience can really mess up the person who went through it.  You’d think that, in the case of the jinx in the cast, Eugene, he’d be a total wreck through constantly getting hurt and having other bad things happen to him.  Amazingly enough, he’s always incredibly positive about life despite how harsh of a toll it takes on him.  However, this cartoon shows where he has to draw the line.  We open at show-and-tell where Eugene talks about how much he treasures his pet fish, Henry, and how he’s the best pet he’s ever had since he never ran away or gave him nightmares.  After that affectionate statement, when Arnold goes next to show off his yo-yo, it gets loose and kills Henry.  Instead of positive and happy-go-lucky as he usually is, Eugene’s spirit is completely shattered by this moment, and rightfully so.  His usually injuries always heal eventually, but Henry was killed and has no hope of recovering, and given how attached Eugene was to him, it’s understandable that he’s completely traumatized.  His feelings are especially felt when he shows that he doesn’t have the heart to flush the fish.  The kids decide to give him a proper burial complete with a powerful eulogy from Gerald backed up affectionately by Arnold on harmonica.  From there, we get a huge glimpse of how harsh the world is for Eugene starting with Henry’s corpse getting eaten by a cat right after the eulogy.  Then, when trying to get a new pet, none of them fit his liking as shown in scenes that are humorous, yet sympathetic for Eugene at the same time.  Finally, Eugene resorts to having and eventually losing imaginary pets that just make everyone think he’s crazy.  At the same time, him going this far to cope with losing Henry is just as sad as his reaction to the death.  He just seems so desperate to break from reality.  It’s also easy to feel for Arnold, the unintentional murderer, who tries so hard to make things up for Eugene and all his attempts go wrong.  It certainly doesn’t help that he ends up seeing fish that remind him of his misdeed frequently.  Thankfully, there’s a satisfying conclusion for both him and Eugene when Arnold gets him his own fish from the aquarium that Eugene can see anytime.  The interesting thing about this is that even when the new fish is eaten at once, Arnold, accepting that Eugene is unlucky, hides that incident for Eugene’s sake which is helped by a group of the exact same fish living in that aquarium.  It’s a unique way to keep the jinx happy to say the least.  With its genuine emotion and sympathy and believable resolutions, this easily another strong entry for the season. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Harold’s Kitty
2. Monkey Business
3. Eugene’s Pet
4. Save the Tree
5. New Teacher
6. Ms. Perfect
7. Big Caesar
8. Ransom
9. The Big Scoop
10. Best Friends
11. The High Life
12. Hooky
13. Arnold Saves Sid
14. Longest Monday

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode featuring a much better encounter with Wolfgang and the 5th graders when a game of football turns into a game of "Mudbowl," and we'll get a unique perspective of what it's like to live in Arnold's boarding house when "Gerald Moves Out."

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