Brain Gets Hooked

Summary
Brain gets hooked on the latest tween reality show "Junior Island." When he starts to ignore his friends and his schoolwork, he understands the significance of having a problem. But what can he do to break the addiction?

Plot
Arthur is in his living room, sitting on the floor and bursting bubble wrap and talking to viewers about what it is like when people become interested in something and then grow obsessed with it, like Buster when he heard a particular radio program during a test, or using so much electricity to decorate for Christmas that it causes a citywide power failure. But he stops when his mom calls him to dinner.

Brain Gets Hooked

Brain is in his house, holding a clock and a chessboard as he waits for his chess tournament, but his mom tells him that they will not go until a little later. To pass the time, he turns on his TV and stumbles upon a show called Junior Island. In it two kids are in a room and need to discover a code. After it is discovered, the room starts to close, but they escape. They hear a roar in the jungle, ending the episode. His mom tells him that they have to go to the tournament, but he wants to watch the show some more.

During lunchtime at school, Brain is telling Arthur about the show and how he's really into it. He also tells Buster, and Francine.

Later that day, Mr. Ratburn gives the class a history project. Brain is distracted, but decides to do a report on the Magna Carta.

While Brain is working on his report, he turns on the TV and starts to watch the show again. The three kids see a ship and think how to escape from the island. Brain remains distracted by the show and does not accomplish much work.

Passing a lot of time attending the show, Brain hears the doorbell and goes to see who it is. It's Arthur and Buster, who want him to ride bikes with them in the park. He doesn't and tells them he is doing the report, but they knows he is watching the show. He convinces them the sound that they have heard is in another house.

Brain heads back inside to start writing his report, but starts to watch the show again. At school, he discovers that Fern is a fan of the series too, but warns him that the series can be somewhat addictive and not to watch too many episodes at once. It is the day of presenting the oral history reports, Binky being the first one to do so. After he shows a lot of medieval accessories, Brain's turn comes. Brain gives a very brief and basic explanation on the Magna Carta, lasting only about ten seconds, and even getting distracted briefly in the middle by Binky's bow and arrow, thinking aloud to the class that it can be used as a way for the characters to escape the island. Mr. Ratburn gives the mediocre report a C grade, but since Brain is worried about the potential negative effective it could have on his GPA, Mr. Ratburn agrees to allow him to redo his report on Thusrday in order to earn a better grade.

Fern then reminds Brain about not watching too many episodes and to avoid the DVD boxset. However, this news only makes Brain want to check out said box set from the library.

Brain is at the library and checks out the DVD. But he takes the book too, as Ms. Turner mentioned.

Doing his report, Brain sees the DVD and chooses to hide it by putting it in a locked kitchen cabinet. He tries to do his report again, but the cabinet key is calling his attention, so he hides it in a cabinet in his garage, but he needs the key to that one, too. When he sees Buster and Arthur, he gives it to Buster to keep until the next day so he can finish his report.

Brain attempts to concentrate on writing his report, but his urge to know if the characters are rescued eventually gets the better of him and goes to Buster, begging him to give him the key back. Buster is reluctant to at first, but Brain tricks him and takes the key. He goes to his house, opens the cabinet, takes the key to open a box which holds a toy chest, where a magic cube (or polyhedron) is hidden which holds the key to the kitchen cabinet, where the DVD was hidden. When he puts the key in the keyhole, it falls down the sink drain, making him get a little mad but to his relief, the cabinet was open.

Fern goes to Brain's house that night. No one answers the door, so she decides to enter herself. In a suspense scene, Brain is desperate with his addiction, making her know that the case is more serious than she thought. When she takes the remote, he screams to her to give it back, but he is cured when she says that the show is not real and loans a book with a real history to him.

At school the next day, Brain presents a much better report than before, impressing Mr. Ratburn and conceivably earning a high grade. While leaiving class, Fern jokingly asks if he's just going to head home and watch six episodes of Junior Island, to which Brain promises he won't, but instead just one after he finishes his homework. The episode he choses is the season finale. However, he is so baffled by the ending (there was a bridge on the island the entire time) that he gets over his addiction.

Major

 * Alan Powers
 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Fern Walters
 * Nigel Ratburn

Minor

 * Francine Frensky
 * Binky Barnes
 * Mrs. Powers
 * Paige Turner

Cameo

 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Alex
 * George Lundgren
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)

Cultural references

 * The flashback of Mr. Read and Mr. Molina's competition over who had the best Christmas lights may be a reference to the 2006 Christmas film.
 * "Junior Island" is loosely a parody of the American TV series . Both take place on a deserted island, with the walrus being a parody of the polar bear, the science lab being a parody of the Swan Station, and the ship being a parody of the plane.

Home Video
Other Formats:
 * Arthur Favorites: Volume 1 (LeapFrog)