D.W.'s Very Bad Mood

"D.W.'s Very Bad Mood" is the 2nd half of the 18th episode of Season 2 of Arthur. It originally aired on April 27, 1998, along with "Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard."

Synopsis
Arthur and Francine try to find out why D.W. has been in a bad mood for days.

Plot
In an alternate telling of his everyday life, Arthur (in a very obvious "Leave it to Beaver" parody) describes how great it is to have a "perfect" family: Two loving parents who cater to his every need, a great house (re-imagined as a mansion), and great friends who go with him to a great school where they're never late. Arthur seems very contented with his life, except for one thing: D.W. Imagined as a ferocious giant, D.W. chases her family away and she wreaks havoc on Elwood City in a Godzilla-esque fashion, sending the entire city into pandemonium as she takes out her latest temper tantrum on the innocent city dwellers.

Returning back to his normal reality, Arthur is baffled (and scared) because D.W.'s been in an especially bad mood that has lasted for days, ranting violently against everybody around her and not wanting to do anything she's told.

At the Sugar Bowl, Francine is inviting her friends to her birthday party, but Arthur is exhausted and says he can't attend. Francine explains that the party is two full weeks away, but Arthur explains that D.W. kept him up the entire night screaming at everybody that nobody loves her and that she would not feel any better about it the next morning, all while slamming doors. Francine tells Arthur to ask her what's wrong, but he says that maybe she should instead, and she agrees to it.

That night, Francine comes over for dinner with Arthur's family, but things quickly become unpleasant when D.W. snaps at Jane for warning her about her less-than-polite eating habits. D.W. is about to go into a rant against Arthur when Francine politely asks D.W. what's wrong with her. Shocked, D.W. runs off in tears, making Francine groan and Jane sigh. Francine excuses herself to try to smooth things over with D.W. upstairs, explaining to her that she didn't mean to hurt her feelings, but that she really was being weird, and that as a friend of Arthur's, she wants to help them when something's bothering him. But D.W. doesn't accept her explanation and in exhaustion, she tells Francine to leave.

The next day, Arthur is aggravated because D.W. spent the whole night slamming doors to the point where the police probably should have arrived to intervene. The gang imagines a show called Tantrum 911 (Temper Tantrum Patrol Squad) where the police apprehend children in the middle of violent temper tantrums. The police try to arrest D.W., but call in backup as her temper is too much to control. Coming back to reality, the kids discuss how to solve the problem. Francine gets the feeling something is really bugging D.W., but what does a 4-year old have to get completely upset about? Francine is determined to find out, but Binky and the Brain quickly chicken out on Arthur about soccer practice and Francine told Binky and Brain that the soccer practice is starting tomorrow, coming up with lame excuses to avoid confronting D.W.

That afternoon, Francine and Arthur spy on D.W. from the treehouse as D.W. is eating lunch outside. They see her eating a sandwich but spitting out the bologna, with Pal proceeded to eat it! Arthur tells Pal to stop it because it's gross, but he accidentally blows their cover as D.W. tells them off again. That night, Arthur spies on D.W. as she sleeps with Francine listening in on a walkie-talkie. D.W. is mumbling in her sleep that "something's wrong", but she wakes up screaming that Arthur is a "dodo brain", which he repeats into the walkie-talkie absent-minded, much to Francine's amusement and making her laugh, which Arthur angrily tells her to quit doing.

The next day, they see D.W. and her classmates leaving preschool when D.W. appears to be looking at a group of friends, among them her classmate Lisa talking about what appears to be her birthday party at the movies. Francine catches on to what's up and goes to Arthur's to talk to D.W. D.W. again is rude to Francine, but her mom tells her to control her attitude. D.W. admits that she'd feel much better if she could see Kwazy Kewl Kittens: The Journey Home at the movies, and Francine agrees that she (and Arthur) will take her.

At the movies, D.W. doesn't seem to be having fun, until she sees Lisa and her friends arrive, and she starts laughing almost maniacally. Lisa greets her (somewhat blankly) as D.W. goes on about her friends and how she goes to lots of birthday parties. Lisa says that that's nice, but soon, it appears that she and her party friends (among them Emily) are excluding her. Feeling sick, D.W. wants to go home, which Arthur eagerly does. Finally knowing what's wrong, Francine decides to watch over D.W. alone and she takes her to the Sugar Bowl for ice cream. D.W. finally admits that she was angry over not being able to go to Lisa's party as she wasn't invited, and she has a fantasy where she enacts revenge on Lisa and her friends by ruining the party. Francine doesn't care for the idea of revenge, and she asks if Lisa's a close friend of D.W. She admits that she isn't that close a friend, but Emily did get to go instead. Francine tries to explain that nobody can go to every party, but Francine has an idea to make her happy again.

The next morning, D.W. gets a letter in the mail, which she has Jane read to her. It's an invitation to Francine's birthday party. D.W. is thrilled and her bad mood finally goes completely away; but this is a 3rd grade party instead. All is finally well again, but Arthur's less than thrilled to be bringing his sister to his friend's party.

Trivia

 * The police sirens arriving outside the Reads' house is a very similar scene from "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers."
 * In the flashback where D.W. is trying to get to the door so that she would tell her father that she doesn't want to feel any better, her baby sister Kate's presence is totally ignored. Seeing as Kate sleeps in D.W.'s room, she would've been crying at the sound of the slamming doors.