Shalini's Review- "Helga's Makeover"/ "The Old Building"

                                                                            

"Helga's Makeover"                                        

The episode begins at school, where Rhonda is handing out invitations to her girl-only sleepover. Noticing that Helga has not been invited to the sleepover, Arnold asks Gerald why Helga has not been invited, since she is a girl. Harold agrees that Helga is a girl, but in a tone of voice that suggests that he thinks she barely qualifies.

Phoebe tells Helga that she was thinking about going to Rhonda's sleepover. Helga is outraged; she doesn't understand why Phoebe would want to go to a stupid girly party instead of hanging out with her (maybe she's a little jealous?). Phoebe and Helga part on bad terms.

Later, Helga is playing baseball with the boys. Harold tells her that the baseball game is boys-only. According to Arnold, they decided to have a boys-only baseball game since Rhonda's having a girls-only sleepover. This prompts Harold to notice that Helga hasn't been invited and guesses that Helga wasn't "girl enough" to be invited. He and all the other boys start chanting,"Helga's not a girl!" and this predictably results in Helga chasing Harold to beat him up.

Still angry, Helga winds up at Rhonda's house and peers through the window. All of the girls, (including Phoebe), are gathered in Rhonda's bedroom. Helga watches and gets irritated when Rhonda does an impersonation of her. All of the girls, including Phoebe, laugh at the impersonation.

Hurt, Helga resolves to become more "feminine" with the aid of a magazine.

                                     
                                       ...more fashion disaster, than fashion model, ammirite?                                          
When she turns up at Rhonda's house, her makeover impresses the girls. Truthfully, she looks terrible, but I think it is realistic that a bunch of nine-year old girls would be awed by a peer attempting (and failing) to look like an adult.

 Sid tells the boys that Helga's all "dolled up" and heading to Rhonda's party. They decide (at Harold's urging) to crash the party. Meanwhile, just before the girls decide to do facials, Phoebe takes Helga aside to talk to her about her, bizarre, girly behavior. She says that she prefers the way Helga used to be- at least the old Helga was honest about what she liked and what she didn't like.

Helga is dismissive of Phoebe's assessment- until the girls try to give her a facial. Just before the green gloop is poured in her face, she screams and shoves it away from her face. Rhonda accuses Helga of not being as girly as they are. Instead of denying this, Helga agrees and points out that they don't need to do any of this stuff- they're nine years old so they don't need to have facials to "reduce signs of aging".

However, the girls believe that this is what girls are supposed to do for fun- what could be more fun than putting on makeup? Then, the girls hear a noise coming from outside the house. Still wearing their avocado face masks, they open the curtains and scream when they see the boys they scream. The boys scream too and they run. All of the boys except Harold get away.

The girls capture Harold, tie him to a chair, and give him a makeover.

                                         
                                     This looks infinitely more fun than putting on makeup!

Extra Stuff:

• I love Helga's speech at the end. They really don't have to do any of that stuff to be considered girls!
• I like how Arnold notices that Helga has been left out & that he considers her "girl enough" to attend the party. 
• I also like the fact that he joins in on crashing the slumber party afterwards. Arnold's a good kid but doesn't always have an unshakable moral center.

"The Old Building"

                                                                             

Arnold is spending the day with Ernie at his workplace (a demolition site). While Ernie is teaching Arnold how to use a wrecking ball, the radio is playing a song sung by Dino Spumoni (the Frank Sinatra of the Hey Arnold! universe). Ernie, in a heartwarming scene, asks Arnold to join him for his 500th demolition. This honor is usually bestowed on sons, but since Ernie doesn't have one, he asks Arnold join him. Arnold says yes.

At the boarding house, Grandma asks Arnold to help her protest against the demolition of the Circle Theater. The Circle Theater is a special place for Grandma because she and Grandpa had their first date there. There's a flashback to their first date and wow, Grandma and Grandpa look incredible (Grandpa looks especially suave, in his pin-striped suit and slicked-back hair). A young Dino Spumoni is serenading them (coincidentally, with the same song Ernie was playing earlier) while they dance. Grandma reveals that Dino Spumoni got his first big break there. Arnold agrees to help her.

                                                                   Don't they look great?!!!

However, later, Arnold finds out that Ernie's 500th demolition is the Circle Theater. He decides to turn to his grandfather for advice, but Grandpa dodges the question. Realizing that his grandfather is useless, Arnold decides to tell both Grandma and Ernie the truth and that he wants out. Naively, Arnold believes that since they're both adults, they'll understand.

Predictably, Grandma and Ernie are furious at each other and start fighting at the dinner table. Arnold walks out during the argument and inside Circle Theater, he finds the sheet music for "You Broke My Heart" by Dino Spumoni ( the song that both Ernie and Grandma like). Arnold gets an idea and makes a phone call at the phone booth).

The day of the demolition has arrived and both Ernie and Grandma are there, each believing that Arnold will turn up and be on their side. Arnold does turn up... but with the mayor and Dino Spumoni! The mayor declares Circle Theater a "city landmark" and Ernie is so excited to see Spumoni that he doesn't mind not being able to demolish the theater. He even goes as far to thank Arnold from saving him from making a terrible mistake.

My favorite thing about this episode is that it shows how adults can behave childishly sometimes, especially if it's something they believe strongly in. It's not right and it's immature, but it's pretty realistic. Arnold, on the other hand, displayed great maturity (even more than Grandpa), by trying to find a solution.

Extra Stuff:

• I enjoyed the way Grandpa dodged giving Arnold advice - "Shoot, time to take my medicine already. Don't call me, I'll call you!" *walks away quickly*
• In honor of Spumoni, here's a link to "My Way"  by Frank Sinatra. One of my favorites.      

                                                                                           

                                                                                                         
                                         





                                                                   

                           

Shalini's Review- "Arnold's Hat"/ "Stoop Kid"

"Arnold's Hat"                                                                

Arnold wakes up and gets ready for the day. When he goes down for breakfast, Grandma tells him   to take off his hat and tries to flip it off with her spatula. Arnold protests and says, "I never take off my hat!"

He heads to the the park to meet Gerald and they try to fly Arnold's kite. "Try" being the operative word- it doesn't seem to want to go up. As they discuss ways to improve the kite, Arnold takes out a wad of bubblegum from his mouth and sticks it underneath the park bench. Helga pops out from behind the bushes when they walk away and takes the gum back home with her.

Why does Helga need a piece of chewed gum? So she can stick it onto the statue of Arnold she made out of bubblegum! She's basically created a shrine to him in her closet (there are lights and candles surrounding the bubblegum statue). 

However, Helga realizes that the statue looks incomplete without Arnold's hat. So she sets out to rectify this by pretending to be a gargoyle statue and snatching it off his head (this fails).

                                                  Helga is fantastic at doing impressions
Then, she tries using a fishing pole to get it. Hilariously, the hook snags onto the back fender of a truck and drags her across the roof. She winds up in a bird shed, covered in bird poop. Dejected, she starts weeping in frustration. All is not lost, however. A gust of wind carries Arnold's hat away and it lands at her feet.

                         
She is ecstatic and races home to put the hat on the statue. Then, she puts on some romantic music and slow dances with the bubblegum shrine. Arnold, in contrast, feels dejected about losing his hat and has a flashback to his parents giving him the hat when he was a baby. He's so down in the dumps that he refuses to come outside when the Jolly Olly Man gives away free ice cream. Helga feels guilty about taking his hat when she overhears this and goes back home to get it.

To her horror, her mother has thrown away the shrine. While Helga is screaming her head off, Grandpa dispenses some words of wisdom to Arnold- it's what's on the inside that counts, not the outside. It works. Arnold feels better and starts going outside again.

Back at the dump, Helga gets lucky again and finds a bird wearing the hat. She then bumps into Arnold who is so overjoyed about having his hat back, he hugs Helga! She pretends to be disgusted by this, but is secretly pleased.

Extra Stuff

• The flashback to Arnold's parents giving him the hat is particularly poignant. Apart from Grandma and Grandpa, the hat is his one other connection to his parents. I'm surprised they didn't play up the angst by  focusing on this more. But maybe they didn't construct Arnold's backstory at this point.
• The fact that Helga's mother didn't ask her any questions about the shrine (which is really weird thing to find in your kid's closet) is an early clue about Miriam's neglect/flakiness.

"Stoop Kid"

                                                                    

Arnold and his friends are playing football in the street. Arnold kicks the football so hard that it lands on the stoop of  the infamous Stoop Kid. Gerald explains that Stoop Kid was left on the stoop as a baby (possibly by aliens) and left to fend for himself. He's really protective of his stoop (which he never leaves) and lashes out anyone who comes near his stoop. All of the kids are too afraid of him to get the football off the stoop. Arnold makes an attempt to retrieve it, is too afraid to go through with it. Instead, he decides sit in an empty garbage can (which is conveniently located across the stoop) and wait until Stoop Kid leaves to snatch the football.

                                                                                                                     

The only problem is that Stoop Kid never seems to leave. Arnold realizes that if Stoop Kid never leaves his stoop, then he can't chase him if he decides to take the football. He snatches the football and while Stoop Kid yells at  him ( "Come back and face me like a man!"), his hypothesis is proven correct; Stoop Kid is afraid to leave his stoop. All of the kids laugh and jeer at him.

                                                                   

Later, Arnold hears Stoop Kid crying and offers to help him leave the stoop. After various methods fail, Arnold shows Stoop Kid pictures of all the other stoops in the world and tells him that he could see all of them, if only he could get off of his stoop. This seems to work- Stoop Kid loudly declares that he will get off of his stoop.

The mailman overhears his declaration and tells everyone else. The media swarms to the stoop and a huge crowd gathers, cheering Stoop Kid on. Encouraged, Stoop Kid finally gets off the stoop!

However, Stoop Kid decides not to leave the stoop since it his entire identity. He thanks Arnold for teaching him that he can harass people on and off the stoop. Right at that moment, Harold begins  mocking him and gets a nasty surprise when Stoop Kid jumps off the stoop and chases after him.

Extra Stuff 

• How old is Stoop Kid anyway? He seems older than Arnold, but his favorite book is The Little Engine That Could
• Stoop Kid is mean and annoying, but I like how this episode makes us feel sympathetic towards him. He may have an unpleasant personality, but he's also isolated and (until the end of the episode) afraid. The thing I like about this show is that it's willing to look more deeply into unpleasant characters ( like Helga or Harold) and is not afraid to paint them in a more sympathetic light.

                                                    

                                       

                                              

     

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.. 😍

Shalini’s Review - “Little Pink Book”/ “Trip to the Aquarium”

Shalini’s Review - “Little Pink Book”/ “Trip to the Aquarium” 

 

“Little Pink Book”

The episode begins with Helga throwing spitballs at Arnold in class and her playing innocent when Arnold turns to glare at her. When he turns away, she pulls out a little pink diary and writes a sickeningly sweet poem about him that would make first-year Ginny Weasley gag.

The kids head off to board the bus and while she’s waiting, Helga cuts off a bit of his hair to put in her diary. She writes a poem rhapsodizing about (who else?) using the first letter of her name for every line. BIG MISTAKE, HELGA!!!

As she gets off the bus, the diary falls onto Gerald’s pile of books- a fact that she realizes a few minutes later when she searches through her bag. Helga’s face, when she realizes this, is a sight to behold.

                                    See this? This is the face you make when your life is about to end.

Meanwhile, Gerald finds the diary and begins reading the poems aloud in front of the entire neighborhood.  Arnold and Gerald decide to find out whose diary it is by letting Abner (Arnold’s pet pig) sniff it and follow the scent. As they follow Abner out of the boarding house, they miss Helga breaking  into Arnold’s room. She is immediately distracted by the fact that she is in his room. She even smells his pillow and proclaims, “Omigosh, what is that shampoo?!!!” Then, she spots the diary on the bookshelf, but just as she reaches for it, Arnold and Gerald return and she winds up hiding in the closet. 

Arnold and Gerald try to figure it out the diary’s author by testing out various items (like hair and a retainer) against the diary’s contents. Arnold hopes that Ruth McDougal, his sixth-grade crush, wrote the poems. Hilariously, Helga growls ominously every time her name is brought up.

Ruth McDougal-how many times did Helga fantasize about punching her in the face, I wonder?

When their efforts fail to produce any conclusive results, Arnold suggests comparing the handwriting in the yearbook to the writing in the diary. Fortunately, they stop before they reach Helga’s name. Gerald leaves and Arnold gets ready for bed.

Helga makes a call to “Grubworm” (who is really Phoebe) and tells Phoebe to call her mom and tell her that she is sleeping over at Phoebe’s place. She spends the night sleeping in Arnold’s closet.

 After a conversation with Grandpa, Arnold decides that it’s flattering that someone cares so much about him. Unfortunately, this does not prevent him from reading the poems aloud for his classmates’ amusement. Just as he reaches the last page (where Helga wrote her name), Helga, in a moment of sleep-deprived brilliance, rips out the page, chews it, and uses it as spitball against Arnold. She feels triumphant about averting a near disaster and she even managed to save Arnold’s hair.

Extra Stuff: 

 Arnold’s eyes are green, according to Helga’s poem

“Name poems” are actually called acrostic poems (the more you know!)

-           Ruth looks a lot like Arnold’s mom, minus the braces

-           Helga’s codename is “Mighty Falcon” 

“Trip to the Aquarium”

Arnold and the rest of the class are on a field trip to the aquarium. While the rest of his classmates have been to the aquarium before, Arnold has not. They keep going on and on about an animal called Lockjaw, who is apparently the scariest sea monster ever.

Unfortunately, Lockjaw (a giant sea turtle) doesn’t live up to the hype. He looks tired, his shell has been graffitied, and the kids laugh and jeer at him (Harold even throws his ice cream at him). Arnold is clearly shaken by what he has seen.

Back home, Arnold confides to his grandmother about Lockjaw and she is so angry that she comes up with a plan to free Lockjaw. On their way to the aquarium, Grandma (who apparently likes codenames as much as Helga does) calls herself “Chief” and Arnold “Agent 9”. They walk right past the security guard, clean Lockjaw’s shell, and roll him out on a skateboard to the car.

 

Wheeeeeee!!!!

Once there, they push Lockjaw out into the harbor. Arnold tells his grandmother that she is the best and Grandma says that he is too (Awww!). Then Grandma proclaims that she has a hankering for turtle soup… ruining that heartwarming moment. Thanks, Grandma (sarcastic voice).

Extra Stuff:

-          Grandma’s affinity for codenames and sneaky plans makes me think she and Helga would get along perfectly.

-          The AV Club posted two articles about Hey Arnold’s debut in 1996- you can read them here and here.

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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. 

Shalini's Review" “Downtown as Fruits”/ “Eugene’s Bicycle”

Welcome to the first Hey Arnold!  recap! Like you, I grew up on Nickelodeon and Hey Arnold!  was a particular favorite of mine. Not only was it wildly entertaining and hilarious, but it was also capable of tearing your heart right out of your chest (who could forget the emotional “Helga on the Couch” episode ?).

             

So as you can imagine, coming back and re-watching these episodes after the original series ended a little more than a decade ago has been a treat. It also caused me to notice a few things I hadn’t before; for instance, Arnold’s head looks a lot more oblong in this episode than in subsequent seasons. Also, both halves of the episode begin with Arnold daydreaming- I’m not certain, but I think that this happened with less frequency as the series progressed.

            

The storyline in the first half of the episode is centered on a play about the food pyramid that the class is performing later that night. Weirdly enough, Miss Slovak and Mr. Simmons don’t appear in this episode - even though it is a school play. Instead, directing duties fall on the irreplaceable and irascible Helga G. Pataki. The opening moments of the show quickly establish Helga as both a bully (“If anybody is late, they’re gonna have to answer to old Betsy *shows fist*”) and a huge nerd (“I want to hear what’s in your souls!”). In fact, Helga is so invested in this play, I’m going speculate that she probably wrote the play herself (it’s certainly within her capabilities).

She orders everyone show up early so they can have another run-through before the play. Later, Harold and Arnold (dressed as a strawberry and banana, respectively) get on the bus to get to the school. Both Harold and Arnold are less than thrilled with this, so when Harold suggests that they skip out on the whole thing, it’s not surprising that Arnold goes along with it (albeit after a few moments of indecisiveness). They get off on the last stop and realize they are stuck downtown with no money. This problem is easily solved when a random dude (mistaking them for the goons he works with) tosses them a bag of money. They ditch their costumes, get new duds, and let loose.

Meanwhile, the food pyramid play is falling apart and Helga wants to rip them both into pieces. However, she takes a break from her rant to do her standard back-and-forth “I-love you’s” and “I-hate-you’s” speech to Arnold’s picture. And then ends it by punching Brainy in the face. Classic Helga.

Arnold and Harold are chased out of a bar by the goons who should’ve received the money. They run into a fortune teller who asks them if they have wronged anyone. Arnold immediately feels bad about what they did to Helga and decides to fix things. They get their costumes, give the money to a random family, and head back to school. They perform their song and the play is a rousing success.

In “Eugene’s Bicycle” we’re introduced to the perpetually unlucky Eugene Horowitz. In this episode, he shows off the bike he received for Flag Day. However, his moment in the sun is cut short when Arnold accidentally sends Eugene’s “dream bike” into the path of an oncoming street cleaner. The bike is completely destroyed.

Arnold tries to make it up to him by fixing it for him. Eugene is elated- at least until the bike falls apart and he crashes into a car door. Later, a guilt-ridden Arnold visits him at the hospital and vows to make things right. After a trip down memory lane (during which he remembers how he’s indirectly responsible for all of Eugene’s bad luck moments), Arnold decides to take Eugene out for an action-packed fun day. However, Eugene keeps getting injured. He falls down a manhole, gets hit with a baseball, chokes on a hot dog…it’s safe to say that all of Arnold’s noble efforts have been in vain. 

But since Eugene is an optimist who sees a glass half-full, rather than half- empty, he warmly thanks Arnold for giving him such a great day. 

So, based on these two episodes, what kind of person is Arnold? He is a person with a moral compass, who makes mistakes (what kid doesn’t?), but is also capable of fixing them. I couldn’t think of a more worthy protagonist.

The Bubblegun Shrine: An Introduction

Hi everyone! Welcome to our blog - The Bubblegun Shrine! We created this blog to recap, review, and cry over old Hey Arnold episodes. We are both huge fans of the show and it was a big part of our childhoods. We were thrilled to learn that Hey Arnold: the Jungle Movie would finally become a reality and with our hype we decided to make this blog. We hope to finish the entire Hey Arnold series by November 23, 2017 which is when the new movie comes out. That's 100 episodes plus the movie! We'd love to have you on this journey!

This is a shared blog between two friends - Saira and Shalini. Expect 1 posts each week from both of us (usually on a Sunday) where we give our recaps about the episode of the week.

Here's some information about us:

Name: Saira
Age: 23
Location: New Jersey
Likes: Harry Potter (proud Hufflepuff!), Sitcoms (The Office, Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Middle, and many, many more),  Gravity Falls, Harry Styles, alternative music, writing.

Name: Shalini
Age: 23
Location: New Jersey
Likes:   Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Harry Potter, Great British Bake-Off (Nadiya is my hero!), The Middle, writing, and grilled cheese sandwiches,