Waiting to Go

Summary
Binky and Brain have a collision on the soccer field that severely strains their friendship, then find themselves stuck in the school parking lot together after everyone else's rides have come and gone.

Plot
The episode begins with Brain showing his high-tech watch to Arthur during a soccer game. When Binky is about to score a goal, Brain runs into him on accident, as Brain was looking at his watch. The watch breaks and Binky and Brain are angry at each other.

The soccer game ends, and the kids are being picked up by their parents. Ed Crosswire offers Binky and Brain a ride, but Brain states that he's fine and his mom is coming. Binky claims that his mom is picking him up and taking him to the movies. They argue over who can wait longer, and Ed drives away. Binky then asks Brain what time it is, which upsets Brain.

Waiting to Go

Binky starts getting worried, as he and Brain have been waiting for a long time. He is afraid that his parents have forgot about him. Binky imagines his parents deciding to not pick him up, selling his stuff, going on a cruise, and forgetting his name.

Brain tells Binky that their mothers are probably just stuck in traffic. Binky asks "On a Sunday?" Brain goes on to explain that something might be causing the traffic, such as an ostrich or a wormhole. He imagines that, a bunch of years in the future, their parents will finally arrive after being stuck in the wormhole. Binky dismisses that as impossible, but Brain replies that they must examine every possibility.

Binky thinks that their parents will feel guilty from being late and they could take advantage of it. He imagines that they gave him just a birthday cake since he had 13 birthday parties a year alone, but Binky reminded them that how long he waited for them to pick him up and threaten to tell the local newspaper about. That’s when they agreed will buy him a bunch of presents and ice cream. The imagination ends and Binky said the longer that he and Brain wait, the more guilt their parents will get. Brain agrees to this plan, and Binky claims that he was held back not because he wasn't smart, but so he could give tips to the third graders. They both lie down.

Binky comments that "without TV, waiting is really boring." Brain would rather have a book, but they don't have a book either. Brain suggests that they watch the clouds, and starts naming them scientifically. Binky tells Brain that's he's cloud-watching wrong, and points out a cloud and asks Brain what it looks like. Binky thinks it looks like a stickless cotton swab, and Brain says that it looks like an amoeba. They argue over this, and Brain eventually agrees that the cloud is a swab.

Binky and Brain are playing tic-tac-toe with sticks and rocks, but they get bored. Binky asks Brain what an amoeba is. Binky then gets the idea to rearrange the rocks and sticks to spell out "HELP". Brain tells him that writing a message would only help if they were trying to signal a plane, not a car. Binky spots a pair of cleats, and realizes that somebody will come back for those, and "they're saved".

Brain and Binky get hungry, and Brain has a bag of carrots for lunch. Binky responds, "Your mom works in an ice cream parlor and all she packs are carrots?" Binky takes out some peanut butter crackers and Brain takes out some juice boxes, which they agree to share. They apologize for fighting, and Brain decides to ration his food and drink. Binky consumes it all at once. Binky tackles Brain and steals his juice, and Brain argues that the fight wasn't fair because Binky is bigger than he is. Binky tells Brain about a wrestler who is small but always wins because his moves are good, and then he teaches Brain a wrestling move.

Brain sees his peanut butter crackers being eaten by a dog. He gets the idea to attach a rescue note to its collar, so he and Binky chase after it. A car pulls up, and it's revealed to be Arthur, Buster, and Mrs. Baxter. Arthur picks up the cleats that were left behind, and Buster questions the word Binky wrote using rocks, which is revealed to be "KELP". Brain and Binky come back from chasing the dog, only to see the car drive away.

Binky and Brain give up and lie down. Brain says "Binky, we're going to die!" Just then, Brain's and Binky's moms appear and apologize for being fifteen minutes late. They are carpooling together. The episode finishes with Binky telling his mom about wormholes and Brain tells his mom that he doesn't want to go to the bookstore and instead go home so he can watch "World of Wrestling".

Major

 * The Brain
 * Binky Barnes

Minor

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Mrs. Powers
 * Mrs. Barnes
 * Ed Crosswire
 * Mrs. Barnes

Cameo

 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Trevor
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 2)
 * Fern Walters
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat (Number 2)
 * Mighty Mountain Player
 * 3rd Grade Male Aardvark
 * Sam Scarborough

Episode connections

 * This is the second time Binky has broken someone else's watch. The first time was in "Meek for a Week," when Binky broke Francine's watch that Muffy gave to her.
 * The dog on the soccer field also appears in "Friday the 13th."
 * Binky eats peanut butter crackers; he would later develop an allergy to peanuts.

Cultural references

 * The letters "PBs" on the Peanut Butter Crackers wrapper could be referencing PBS.
 * The title is a reference to the Samuel Beckett play . Other references to Waiting for Godot in the series include Mr. Ratburn's pet fish Vladimir and Estragon and the title of "Waiting for Snow."
 * There also seem to be similarities between the episode and play: For instance, both have two male characters waiting together for people and wondering if they will arrive.

Home Video
DVD: VHS:
 * Arthur Gets Along
 * Arthur: Sleepovers, Sports and More
 * Arthur Gets Along

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