Saira’s Review: "Little Pink Book"/"Field Trip"

“Little Pink Book”

Helga's obsessive crush

As you guys know, I am a huge Helga/Arnold shipper so I was very excited to watch this episode of Hey Arnold because I knew it would be very Helga/Arnold-centric. I like how it gives more detail to Helga’s crush on him. She bullies him in class by throwing spitballs at him but secretly she’s in love with him. One thing I like is how it subverts the trope that “boys are mean to girls they like” by flipping the script and making Helga be the mean one to Arnold.

"Arnold – what a boob- and yet, what a dream boat. You’re eyes, like two green jelly beans, are pools I want to bathe in. In the classroom my heart doth swoon and yet I want to beat your face in."

I love how Helga thinks Arnold’s eyes are green when they clearly are not. Though her poems may be corny, they are pretty good for a fourth grader.

Helga's corny poetry

When Helga accidentally drops her little pink book into Arnold and Gerald’s vicinity, she immediately freaks out which is to be expected.

"Why? WHY did I sign my name?! I was too bold! Those poems weren’t meant to be seen until I’m dead and buried and worms have consumed my flesh!"

I agree - signing her name was a bold move, and now she must recover the book before Arnold and Gerald get to the last page. Being revealed as the author of the little pink books would be the most embarrassing things to ever happen to her. Her secret crush would be revealed and she’d be mocked relentlessly for it.

Helga proceeds to break into Arnold room, gets trapped, and forced to stay the night in a closet. I loved Helga’s reaction to being in Arnold room. “A place I have often visited in my dreams” – haha. She lays on his bed, sniffs his pillow and says "what is that shampoo." She is so cute. 

I also loved the literal growl Helga mutters every time Arnold shows his affection for Ruth.

Arnold and Gerald get to Helga’s name in the yearbook and burst out laughing at the thought of Helga crushing on Arnold. I mean there’s no way Helga could like Arnold when she’s constantly teasing him, right? They are so blind to it.

Arnold/Helga shipper goggles: 😍 “You know it IS kinda cool - obsessive - but cool” – Arnold accepting the Helga's crush on him. 😍

The episode ends with Helga doing some quick thinking to prevent Arnold from reading the entirety of the last page. I mean, Arnold got through almost half of that page. I was at the edge of my seat, thinking "oh no, Helga was too late, What's going to happen." But then Helga does something genius. She runs in, rips the page out, chews it up and makes a spitball to throw onto his head. Brilliant. And so in character with who she is as a person. "First spitball of the day, Football Head."

“Field Trip”

I remember the episode, “Field Trip,” was a very moving episode for me as a child. There’s just something beautiful about watching that turtle swim away from the city filled with pollutants, litter, and a factory in the background. This episode highlights Arnold’s empathy and maturity in contrast to his classmates. The classmates are super crazy on the school bus while Arnold and Gerald muse that hopefully they get to the aquarium soon. 

Arnold’s classmates hype him up about all the cool creatures in the aquarium – one of which is Lock Jaw.

I have to admit – I was disappointed in the reveal of lock jaw. He did look tiny in the first frame. All of Arnold’s classmates are disappointed and Harold shows his lack of empathy by throwing ice cream at him. Arnold, being a sweet man, puts himself in Lock Jaw’s shoes. He wouldn’t want to be trapped in a cage, graffiti all over him, in a dirty environment, with kids constantly mocking him.

When he comes home he keeps on thinking about the turtle. The Girl Scout selling the chocolate turtles, Grandpa wearing a turtle neck and looking for his tortoise shell glasses – Arnold just looks so sad in these scenes. Arnold tells Grandma about his feelings, and Grandma does some empathetic thinking of her own. She keeps on focusing on how Arnold called the turtle old, and realizes that they must act to break Lock Jaw out of the aquarium.

As a kid, I never noticed how cooky Arnold’s grandma was. “I haven't seen you this down since Von Kluck swept through Belgium back in August '14.” As a person writing this recap in 2016, I was confused. 2014?? Nah, she obviously means 1914. Now I don’t know much about history, but I do know Arnold wasn’t around during that time. Is grandma confusing him with someone else? It can’t be Arnold’s dad, because he probably wasn’t born then. It had to be a peer of Grandma because she was probably Arnold’s age in 1914.

Grandma is VERY cooky. She finds a red sweater for Arnold for the heist? That doesn’t make sense. Red is so easy to see. “From now on, call me, “Chief,” and you’re “Agent Nine.” – Grandma making code names from them. She throws gear at Arnold and it’s just knitting supplies. And of course this gem:

Grandma, do you know how to drive?

Overall, I thought this was both a heart-felt AND funny episode.

Stray Observations:

• It took me a few seconds to get why sushi chefs were banned in the aquarium lol 
• At the end the security guard fell in the aquarium – oh no, he’s gonna die. But then again, he was exhibiting animal abuse by forcing that penguin to throw up cookies for his amusement.
• Grandma using a grappling hook on that tiny wall. I love Grandma.

Arnold/Helga shipper goggles: 😍 When Arnold asks Helga who Lock-Jaw is. It shows that maybe Arnold is a little friendly with her.. 😍

Saira’s Review: "Downtown As Fruits"/"Eugine's Bike"

“Downtown As Fruits”

Welcome to my first recap in which I’ll be talking about the first Hey Arnold episode ever – Downtown as Fruits. It’s been a real treat starting this project. I was so excited just hearing/seeing the Hey Arnold theme song so let’s get started. 

I think this episode does a great job depicting the setting of the series. One of my favorite things about Hey Arnold is that it takes place in a city environment. I grew up in Jersey City, NJ and I always loved how Arnold’s city was very similar to my city. I felt that most shows would depict either a suburb or a recognizable city like New York. No other television show depicted a city that felt authentic – a city that was a little gritty or a city that was low-income class. I will obviously be relating to Arnold’s city experiences throughout this recap series.

Hey Arnold starts these city references by taking a public transportation bus to their school play which I love. In 6th grade, I would take the NJ Transit buses with the rest of the Jersey City population to get to my middle school. 

fave fruits

“Downtown As Fruits” is a very catchy phrase just for its absurdity.  I’m not sure if Downtown is supposed to be the sketchier area of town. It seemed like it with the way people were saying “Wow, people downtown sure are friendly.” And, of course, being thrown loads of cash out of the blue is sketchy af. It was incredibly brave and a little stupid of Arnold and Gerald to not get off at their correct stop. If I was in 4th grade I would be terrified of getting lost, not knowing where I am, and having to stay alive in a dangerous neighborhood.

groovy af

I thought it was hilarious how those two older criminal guys were wearing the SAME EXACT costumes as Arnold and Gerald.  What a coincidence – amiright?  At the end of the episode, when those two guys got arrested, you can hear the police radio say “Officer shot in the-“. Very sketchy and very dangerous.

Arnold and Gerald’s banana and strawberry costumes were visually hilarious. So were their funky outfits.

I thought it was great how Helga was so invested in her play. “I ate nothing but dairy products for two weeks!” she says about her role as milk. It shows that right from the beginning, Helga really cares about her art. I was delighted to see that the Helga-punching-Stinky meme was evident as far as the first episode. 

I like how in the end Arnold gives his money to a woman whose car has broken down. I thought that was super sweet and generous. As a 23 year old, I know a broken down car can cause a lot of stress and money problems. 

Arnold/Helga shipper goggles: 😍 when Arnold realized he had hurt Helga and knew he had to go back and make it right 😍

"If I ever get my hands on that Arnold I'll-I'll soothe his fevered brow. Oh my poor lost sweetheart. How I love you. And yet I hate you. And yet I love you. And yet I hate you. And yet I love you" - Helga

Stray Observations:

• Payphones: Every-time I see a payphone in older television shows I’m like omg wow a payphone lol.
• “The journey is the destination, man” – Gerald. He is so cool.
• “Sodas for everyone.” - Arnold. My kind of party.

“Eugene’s Bike”

In this episode, Arnold accidentally breaks Eugene’s bike and spends the entire episode trying to make up for it. I was very impressed with how Arnold took apart Eugene’s messed up bike and rebuilt it so expertly. I think if Abner hadn’t taken away the brake cable, the bike might have been good as new. I was very impressed with Arnold’s kindness throughout the episode. When fixing the bike didn’t work, he tries to give Eugene a fun filled day by taking him out to a ballgame and other fun activities. Of course, Eugene gets hurt in all of them. I’m a sensitive soul so it was discouraging seeing Eugene get hurt over and over again. Like Arnold, I also believe every geek should have his day.

Stray Observations:

• Eugene got his bike for Flag Day? What a hipster holiday haha.
• I never noticed that Eugene underwear sticks out from his pants until today. 
• Eugene got his tonsils AND spleen removed accidentally at the hospital. I cringed the most when this happened.  
• “Stuff like this always happens to the geeky kids.” – Gerald.