Season 3 Episode 15b
Well, that time of year is upon us once again. Seasonal depression is in the air, and this Arthur episode surely didn’t take our minds off of the gloominess outside our windows. Kudos to the storyboard and writing team (Joe Fallon and Jeremy O’Neill) for creating such an effective atmosphere in the opening scenes of the episode. Arthur first sits in the classroom as time seems to go by so slowly, but can’t seem to put his finger on why and how it feels. Which is exactly how this time of year feels to me.
After the cold open, the scene pans to the playground full of Arthur and the gang, not playing but sort of just moping around, and looking quite miserable. When I was in elementary school, I would always have this feeling. Every Christmas I would visit my family in Mexico for two and a half weeks. But after riding the high of winter break, I always had to return to school and the terrible weather. Only to make matters worse, snow on the ground would usually be sparse. For people who live in the northern hemisphere, we know that there is nothing worse than a below freezing day without a sheet of snow on the ground. Just dead grass and the bone chilling breeze, which is how it is like outside for much of this episode. On the playground, we finally check back in with Arthur, who still doesn’t know why he feels like he does. Francine brings out the observation that he is in love (nahh, but true to Francine’s character), and Binky states that it could be due to a lack of roughage in his diet (Which the Brain would say is a highly plausible theory, because we all do need more roughage in our diet). The true problem with how they feel isn’t revealed until Buster draws the connection to how they felt good during the holiday season. I mean who wouldn’t want to watch The Kid Who Got Clothes for Christmas, “[It] was one of the saddest shows I ever saw, It was Great!” Buster also adds another one-liner here which is really good, when he describes the season as “like being dead, only with homework!” It is then that Arthur and the gang take on the task to create a new holiday.
Yet again the writing team comes up with a really creative way to delve into the subject of seasonal depression. After Arthur and Buster do some brainstorming at an avante-garde movie, the team come up with some ideas. Buster’s idea is a real original take, where people trick-or-treat at his house, and give HIM candy instead. After Buster balloons a couple hundred pounds over his recommended BMI, he’ll share all the candy with the children of the world. On the other hand, Francine has a more commercial take, where voice actress Jodie Resther shows off her vocal talent in the theme song of the Nothing to do Today Day TV Special. Honestly, I could get on board with this holiday, even though I would have to see Francine’s face every time I turned on the TV for 24 hours straight. Brain comes up with Igneous Rock Day (yawn), and lastly, Binky comes up with Garschmalterer, 24 hours of fireworks with free soft pretzels. A whole day of fireworks to me sounds like one of the worst things for us to listen to, and draws many environmental concerns. However those soft pretzels may be too tempting.
After much debate, and Muffy obtaining the license for the holiday’s merchandising, the team just could not decide on what the holiday was truly about. Arthur challenged all his peers on the commercialism of holidays and said the beautiful line, “Isn’t it still your birthday even if you don’t get any presents.” A really great way to tie a mish-mosh of an episode together. Just after their meeting, Muffy realized that it was nearly Valentine's Day, which officially ended the dry spell, so there was no need for a new holiday. A kind of abrupt way to end the episode, but hey, it had to end somewhere!
Before the cutaway to credits, Binky gets in one last pitch for Garschmalterer, where he gives Arthur a warm smile and a muffin. Maybe it isn’t such a bad idea anyway, heck it beats D.W.’s idea for Pony Day!
By Nicholas DeMarco
Total Visits
HOME