Too Much of a Good Thing

Summary
Buster enlists Binky's help to prevent gorging on delicious biscuits. Will he manage to keep his self-control or crumble?

Plot
The episode starts with Arthur mentioning how everyone loves engaging in specific activities, such as D.W. watching her favorite show, Mary Moo Cow, or Mr. Ratburn giving quizzes. He wonders if enjoying too much of a good thing makes it a bad thing. In the background, Pal keeps playing fetch with a robotic Fetch machine that frequently shoots out twigs for him to catch — until he becomes fatigued.

On the morning of April 22, Arthur wakes up to find Buster in his room. Buster has come to to tell Arthur of the Kid Scouts' annual cookie sales, where they are selling the delicious Tuvaluna cookies, Buster's favorite brand. Arthur agrees to go with him, but when he discovers of being short on money, Buster offers to share. Arthur disagrees - the last time Buster bought Tuvaluna cookies, he ate them all in one sitting and got a stomachache. Arthur even took photos to prove it. Buster assures him that matters will be different this year.

As Buster buys a Tuvaluna cookie box at the Sugar Bowl, Arthur is skeptical of Buster's assurances. Buster explains he has something called "willpower" that prevents him from eating more than he should - he just forgets to use it. When Arthur points out he ate already three cookies while talking, Buster realizes what he did and tries giving Arthur the box, swearing to eat one cookie a day. Arthur knows that Buster will end up bothering him about the box, so they try to think of a solution.

They plan to enlist Binky to help Buster with his cookie cravings. Binky agrees to help, on one condition: he be allowed to eat ten Tuvaluna cookies in return. Buster reluctantly agrees to the deal, after which Binky puts the cookie box in a lockable wooden chest for safekeeping.

The next day, Buster's cravings cause him to be distracted in class, where he hallucinates a Tuvaluna cookie talking to him. He ends up getting a math question wrong, to the confusion of his classmates. During recess, Buster rushes out to meet Binky at the Tower of Pain, only to be stopped by Rattles, who demands his name. After clarifying his name, Buster is let up to the top, where he begs Binky for a Tuvaluna cookie. Binky allows him to eat him one, on another condition: Buster has to eat the cookie where he got it, at the Tower of Pain. Buster rushes to eat it, due to Binky's impatience, before leaving.

The pattern continues for a while. During woodworking classes, Buster carves a Tuvaluna cookie from wood and tries to eat it, but realizes to his disappointment that it is made of wood. His hopes get up when he sees George with a cookie box, but when he learns it is empty, he calls George out for taunting him. George tells him he only likes the box's design, and wants to use it as wallpaper for a house he's working on for Wally, but he doesn't have enough. Buster explains his dilemma, causing George to suggest that he should take his own cookie box back - although Binky currently has it, Buster still owns it since he bought it. Buster realizes that Binky won't hand the cookie box over so easily, so he asks George to help him with a plan in exchange for giving George his own cookie box.

The next day, Buster and George successfully diverts the kids' attention away from the Tower of Pain by telling them of an ice cream truck nearby, using a bicycle bell to imitate the sound, but Rattles refuses to go, saying he is lactose intolerant. Buster convinces him to leave by telling him the ice cream truck has peach-flavored sorbet; while skeptical, Rattles buys it. After Binky gives Buster his daily cookie, Buster drops it on purpose and ropes Binky and Molly into helping him look for it, allowing George to sneak in and switch the real chest containing the cookie box with a fake one George made.

In Buster's bedroom, Buster and George unlock the real chest, finding Buster's Tuvaluna cookie box inside. Buster empties the box of its cookies and gives the box to George, who leaves him to enjoy his cookies. His conscience, in the form of Arthur, tries to remind him how he got sick from overindulging himself, but Buster tells his conscience to go away. Then Binky comes in with a paper bag of Tuvaluna cookies, which he gives to Buster because of his peanut allergy. Binky compliments Buster and George's sneaky plan before he takes off.

Buster realizes he doesn't want to eat Tuvaluna cookies anymore, so he gives the rest to Arthur. Arthur is surprised that his friend is willing to give his cookies away. Buster tells his buddy that he is not hungry anymore and leaves... except he plans to take one cookie home with him. He chooses to put the cookie in his food box where it will be preserved with his other food scraps, but he chooses to take a bite out of it before leaving it in there.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Binky Barnes
 * Arthur Read
 * George Lundgren

Minor

 * Slink (doesn't speak)
 * Molly MacDonald (doesn't speak)
 * Rattles
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Pal
 * D.W. Read

Cameo

 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * The Brain
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Maria Pappas
 * Alex
 * Vicita Molina
 * Alberto Molina
 * Ramón Molina
 * Marie-Hélène
 * Emily

Episode connections

 * The plot of this episode is similar to "Buster's Sweet Success." Both episodes deal with Buster losing self-control over snack food.