Binky Barnes, Wingman

Summary
During Bug Week, Binky becomes obsessed with catching a particular big blue butterfly.

Plot
The show begins with Arthur playing soccer with Binky in front of his house. He says that everyone has a favorite pastime, and that reading is his. All of a sudden, we hear the sound of a truck backing up; Binky calls “Hey, Arthur, your delivery’s here” and a truckload of books is dumped onto the lawn. Then Arthur remarks that sometimes, a person’s favorite things can get out of hand, with the scene then showing how Buster really likes eating; he eats what he calls the “ultimate chocolate sundae” but gets a big stomach-ache as a result. When the scene switches to Brain, Arthur says that the Brain really likes science; he tells his parents that he can’t go to bed now, because he’s on the verge of discovering a new galaxy with his telescope.

Arthur then wonders what Binky’s favorite pastime is; when he asks Binky, Binky says he doesn’t know, and then gets hit on the nose by the soccer ball.

Binky Barnes, Wingman

After the title card, Francine runs and tells everyone that Bug Week is here. A giant ladybug on a truck passes by, then, while Buster is listening to music, he sees a picture of a bee right through the school window and Arthur is walking through the hall and sees a dragonfly pulled by Mr. Ratburn which Arthur gets excited about and claims it can only mean one thing. Binky is confused and asks if it means a gas leak happened in the cafeteria, but Arthur explains that it means Bug Week (an annual event dedicated to bugs) is here. In Class, Mr. Ratburn shows a slideshow all about the annual event and tells the class to do a presentation on the bug or bug like creature of any choice. He then takes off the bug mask after turning on the light because he finds the mask too hot.

On the playground, Arthur is talking about his project: he will play a spider planning to eat a fly. Muffy is disgusted and Buster agrees with Muffy's not wanting to discuss the subject since he will play the fly. Binky says that he will do his report on bees, but Muffy has already chosen them, so he changes his mind and says he will do termites, but Buster is already doing his report on them. Binky asks what the bug is with heaps of legs and is asked "A centipede?" but he says, "No, the other one." The Brain says that he is probably thinking of millipedes, but Brain is already doing them, leaving Binky stumped on what creature to do his presentation on.

In class, Muffy shows them her honeybee project and jokingly asks what would royal jelly wouldn't be without royal peanut butter, but that only makes the whole class sigh. Then George presents his bug report on the stinkbug; however, the bugs he showed them makes everyone disgusted by the odor coming from them. Mr. Ratburn then asks George if he brought enough clothespins for the entire class. However, George admits that he didn't. So, Mr. Ratburn tells the class to leave in an orderly fashion, and everyone escapes from the smell.

Binky approaches Sue Ellen on the playground, wearing a karate uniform. Binky asks if she is doing that because of Bug Week and she affirms, saying that she is talking about praying mantises and how they inspired a fighting move. She asks to demonstrate but he nervously declines, then she asks if he found a bug for his report. When he says no, she suggests butterflies but Binky thinks they're for girls and rudely rejects her suggestion. However, when he sees one, he goes to the library to learn all about butterflies, but he is embarrassed so he covers the book with a comic book. He finds out that butterflies come from "creepy-looking worms" and decides to do his report on them after all. Binky begins to hunt for some butterflies for his project using a net and he actually becomes quite good at catching them until he sees a very rare blue one and tries to catch it, but it gets away. Meanwhile, Muffy and Francine are doing an experiment with some ants while figuring out which food they like the most, out of watermelon and lunch meat sandwiches, when Binky shows up chasing the blue butterfly and wonders which way it went. The girls point him the way. Sue Ellen goes to the tree house the next day to see if Binky is there, and Arthur and Buster, who are in their costumes, tell her that he's out hunting butterflies and wants to collect every one he sees, especially a big blue one since he's been chasing for days.

During class, Binky sees that butterfly out of the window and then Buster demonstrates his bug report on termites while using a log. It takes a long time for them to come out and Mr. Ratburn tells him to wrap it up before the termites have a chance to come out. Francine gives out her report about mosquitoes and everyone claps at it until the bell rings. Mr. Ratburn tells the class that most homework won't be this fun. Binky shouts, "Who has time for fun?!" and goes back on his search for the big blue butterfly. Sue Ellen arrives at Binky's house and sees a tent in his backyard, then he tells her not to let them out and shows her his neat collection and realized how great it is to have a cool hobby before and owes all out to Sue Ellen and tells him they can't last in this tent for long and he knows it's all for one day, and she knows that he'll set them all free after he finishes his project and he is going to tell her he that there going to move in a bigger tent and went on to his hunt again since his collection is not without big blue and he was ready for this. after leaving the tent, Sue Ellen warns Binky that he is going to hurt that butterfly and hunt him down like Captain Ahab from “Moby Dick” while showing him an Illustration from the book she was carrying. Binky doesn't want to read the book and says he's not like him from the novel. Sue Ellen is still apprehensive and wonders what she's "created".

At the Sugar Bowl, Brain is counting the legs on a millipede. He is up to 556 when Sue Ellen interrupts him about Binky catching that blue butterfly, and so Brain has to start back all over again. Then Arthur shows up in his spider costume and tells them that Buster got mad and quit playing as the fly because he was tired of being a free meal; Sue Ellen asks him if he ever gotten a chance to talk to Binky, but he tells her he was too busy hunting down that butterfly and he was just like Captain Ahab hunting down Moby Dick (which Sue Ellen agrees with and they say the characters’ names in unison). Binky still continues hunting down that big blue butterfly while in a boat at the lake; then George sets the stinkbugs free. Binky shows up and asks where he could find it. Just then Sue Ellen is walking and Binky runs over and tells her that he has finally caught “Big Blue”. He adds that they are going to the Elwood City Museum of Science to offer their collection to them and she comes along with him.

At the museum, Binky tells Sue Ellen he knows one place to put all his butterflies to live, but is shocked when he sees that none of them are moving and are all framed up instead. He notices one empty frame titled ‘Apatura Blue’ before running off from the museum in fear. Back in his tent Binky thinks that if he lets go of Big Blue, he’ll fail, as he worked really hard on his project. So, he decides to put all of the butterflies in a box to bring for school.

In Mr. Ratburn’s class, Arthur begins to tell his bug report about the spider eating the fly; Baby Kate is playing the part of the fly, with Mrs. Read in the audience; everyone laughs at it and thinks how cute it is, which annoys Arthur, since he thought his report was meant to be scary. Then Mr. Ratburn tells Binky that he’s the last to do his report; Binky wonders if they could go outside for it, and Mr. Ratburn accepts it.

Outside on the playground, everyone gathers around when Binky tells them about his bug report about his butterfly collection and this was the best way to see it, just as he opens out the lid and frees out all of the butterflies and everyone is amazed at it. He also lets Big Blue go as well.

Mr. Ratburn tells him that the presentation was very impressive and writes an A for his presentation. However, he then says he also expects the written portion of Binky's report. Binky then says he knew he forgot something. When he looks up on his ear, there is Big Blue; Binky smiles, and the episode ends.

Major

 * Binky Barnes
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Nigel Ratburn

Minor

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * The Brain
 * George Lundgren
 * Kate Read
 * Molly MacDonald

Cameo

 * Jane Read
 * Francis Haney
 * Ms. Tingley
 * Mr. Marco
 * Mrs. Fink
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Fern Walters
 * Alex
 * Maria Pappas
 * Miss Sweetwater
 * Coach Grimslid
 * Coach Bumpus
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * Beulah McInnerny
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
 * Kyle
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Maryann
 * Liam
 * Lucy
 * Edwin
 * James MacDonald
 * Brian
 * Luke

Trivia

 * Binky releases his butterfly collection at the end of this episode, although he is shown to have an interest in butterflies again in later episodes.
 * Moral: Dont force someone to release butterflys for your own personal benefits.
 * Although Brain is shown to be counting a millipede's legs upwards of 550, millipedes are only known to have at most 400 legs.
 * Timeline: Binky backing away when Sue Ellen offers to demonstrate the Praying Mantis style may be a call-back to the events of “Bully for Binky”.

Cultural references

 * Arthur references  when he says that Binky and the butterfly are like and Moby Dick.

Errors

 * At the beginning of the episode, Buster sees a large poster of a bee being carried past the window of the room of the school he is in. Yet when he looks out the window, the poster appears to be going into the school in the opposite direction. Additionally, when we just see the bee poster through the window, it appears much longer than when we see it being carried through the front entrance.
 * Once the poster is carried through the main door, it appears as if Mr. Haney and Miss Tingley (the two carriers) actually come into the music room immediately after entering, when they actually should have ended up in the hallway.
 * When Binky looks up at his butterflies in his tent as he says "I worked really hard on this!", you can see that there is a moth among the butterflies (the same blue-and-brown moth George pointed out when Binky asked if he's seen the large blue butterfly.) The moth is also seen flying amongst the rest of the butterflies when Binky sets them free during his presentation. If Binky was doing a report on butterflies, he should not have caught a moth in the process, as moths do have several differences from butterflies (they are typically nocturnal, have feather-like antennae, plumper bodies and rest with the wings spread out, as opposed to butterflies being active during the say, having slender clubbed antennae, thinner bodies and resting with the wings folded upward.)

Production notes

 * The events of this story were retold in the song "Fly, Butterfly, Fly!," Track 7 of the album Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix.