User blog:Scrooge200/Season 9 Review

I generally liked Season 8. I'm hoping that Season 9 is just as good.

I will rate each episode on a scale from Vomitrocious, Bad, Okay, Good, Great. At the end of my review, I'll count up how many of each rating there are in the season, and give it a rating as a whole, alongside ranking every episode in the season from best to worst.

Castles in the Sky
I like seeing all the new designs for the treehouse. It's very creative and fun, and I like how the designs get modified and changed when brought to Frank Gehry. I don't like that they don't realize who he is until after he leaves, but that's a minor complaint. It's not really explained how the treehouse fell in the first place (I assume heavy snow), although I still liked the plot. They end up rebuilding the original treehouse, and this works as a kind of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" moral. Overall, this is a good episode.

Tipping the Scales
I like Dr. Fugue, and it's kind of disappointing that he only appears four times in the show (once every 2 or 3 seasons, in fact). I think it's kind of weird that the episode doesn't actually remind you of who he is and just assumes that you've seen "Arthur Plays the Blues" already. Ever since I saw this episode as a kid, it still kind of bothers me that Arthur's class doesn't actually get to sing at Crown City or go to the restaurant they were excited about. They do enjoy singing and eating at the diner they stop at, but it's still a bit disappointing. The rest of the episode doesn't feel like it has much of a conflict, either. They just do what Dr. Fugue tells them. Plus, the singing in this episode is so dull and not energetic (besides the ending). I'm a little confused on what rating to give this one, but it'll get an okay.

Francine's Big Top Trouble
Here's kind of a weird plot. I don't get why Catherine would be so good at circus tricks, or why Francine would struggle so much. This episode is pretty similar to "Francine Frensky, Olympic Rider," except this time, Francine wears a weird disguise instead of quitting. This doesn't amount to much because she's found out a minute later. The moral here is kind of strange, too, since Francine does succeed in circus camp, she just does it in a different way than Catherine. I liked the dream sequence where Francine is portrayed as an inferior sequel to Catherine, but other than this, the episode is just kind of okay.

George Blows His Top
I don't like Buster's behavior here and how he's obviously trying to guilt trip George. It's very out of character and there's no real reason for it (I understand him borrowing the pencil, but him taking George's dessert and jacket is just being a jerk). And although it's Buster that starts the problem, it's also him that ends it, since he apologizes and George ultimately doesn't get to learn to stand up for himself and say no. So there's no real moral to this episode. There are parts I like, such as Buster singing "Baxter Day" on the tape recorder and George's various fantasy sequences, but I'm going to call this bad.

Arthur Weighs In
This episode's plot moves very fast. First Arthur practices for the play, then he tries on his suit and it doesn't fit, he buys a new suit, Buster gives him dieting advice (which ultimately amounts to nothing), D.W. helps him avoid eating junk food, Mr. Ratburn tells Arthur about how he lost weight by playing ping pong, the class gets pedometers and Arthur realizes he's still really lazy, then he takes it seriously and is able to fit in his suit and act in the play. It's not a problem because all the scenes flow well and fit with the plot. There are some quick dialogue jokes in this episode I like, such as Buster saying that it doesn't matter which diet Arthur uses because none of them work, and Arthur being disappointed after he hasn't lost weight after just three hours of eating healthy. However, the first third of this episode is just fat jokes and I didn't really enjoy that, so I'll give this an okay rating.

The Law of the Jungle Gym
This episode has an interesting conflict. Muffy wants to take pictures on the Tough Customers' jungle gym, but Molly doesn't want her to use it or else everybody else will. Surprisingly, Muffy wins, but she realizes her pictures don't look good up there anyways, so she agrees to give it back to Molly. I think this episode is more plot-focused than comedy-focused, but I don't mind because the plot is really good, and there are still some funny moments like Binky wanting to listen to disco music and Molly's threats that get drowned out by loud noises. I'll give this episode a good rating.

Buster's Green Thumb
The intro to this episode is some old food in Buster's cabinet talking and arguing. It's not very funny and just kind of gross. Also, there's like a straight 90 seconds of characters talking about how good the tomatoes are, which gets repetitive. I don't get why Buster doesn't want to go back to the garden because Fritz got mad at him, he could easily offer to make up for it by helping him garden instead of just running off. Muffy doesn't do much in this episode even though it seems like she could've been a supporting antagonist here, trying to merchandise Buster's products even when he wants to give them away for free. At least Buster's fantasy of being a tomato-themed superhero is funny. I'm not sure how to rate this episode, but I guess it gets a low okay.

My Fair Tommy
I feel kinda bad for Tommy in the beginning of this episode, and I don't like how D.W. and Emily laugh at him. This plot is kinda cliche, and ultimately amounts to nothing because Tommy gets a vanilla cupcake instead of chocolate like he wanted, then just goes back to behaving like usual. It doesn't really address the problem in the first place, that he doesn't like being treated unfairly by Timmy. The scenes of D.W. teaching Tommy how to be good are kind of boring and not very memorable. I'll give this an okay rating.

Lights, Camera... Opera!
As a kid, this episode made me think that needing to go to the opera would be a much bigger part of my life than it really turned out to be. This episode's intro is really short for some reason. My favorite part of this episode is Muffy's dream set to Carmen; the lyrics are funny and the animation is pretty cool. Binky and Bailey are pretty good in this episode, but I don't like how Prunella just whines that she doesn't like opera, as if her opinion is the only one that matters. Muffy does enjoy opera in the end when she's encouraged to just try it to see. I'm going to give this episode a light good because I enjoyed the music and the plot is unique.

All Worked Up
So what's the point of this episode? It feels like it's supposed to teach a moral, but I don't get what that is. Arthur's mother works more, and Binky says that they got a new TV so technically that's good, but Buster just tries to worry him. Arthur comes off as really selfish here, he doesn't want his mother to work more, even though she clearly enjoys it. And in the end, Arthur gets one good grade (thanks to D.W. helping him study), and he suddenly thinks his streak is back? What if it goes right back to mediocre grades again, since this is just one grade? And again, he got this because he studied. His mother's new job had nothing to do with it this time. This episode is confusing and not very memorable, but I don't outright dislike it, so I'll give it an okay.

Arthur Makes Waves
''HEY, EVERYBODY! LET'S NAME THE STATE CAPITOLS!''

I like the opening sequence to this episode, where Arthur and D.W. try to find places to cool off. It doesn't feel like it goes on for too long and helps the episode's atmosphere, as well as addressing some possible "why couldn't they have done [X] instead" complaints. This, along with Arthur needing to be with D.W. so she can swim, helps the plot and emphasizes why Arthur would be swimming even with Molly there. I like how Arthur and Molly end up becoming friends and try to hide it from everyone else. There's some parallels between Arthur's friends and the Tough Customers that work really well and lead to some funny scenes. I think the ending moves a bit too fast, but I like that instead of ruining Arthur and Molly's friendship, everyone else becomes friends in the process. I'll give this episode a good rating because it has an interesting plot and a few good jokes.

It Came From Beyond
Grandma Thora adopts a dog named Killer who's mean to Pal, D.W., and Amigo, then changes her mind and acts nice, although Pal doesn't trust her anymore. She saves Nemo from a tree and Pal accepts her again. There's nothing really good or bad about this episode, it's just a generic moral. Killer's voice is kind of whiny and annoying. I'll give this an okay rating, but I have no interest in watching it again.

Three's a Crowd
Yeah, Prunella comes off as a jerk in this episode. Is yoga the only thing she does with her mom? She could've just talked to Marina about how she feels, and they could've worked something out like Marina doing yoga with them on certain days. But nope, Prunella tries learning quilting from Marina's mom and then lying that her mother isn't teaching yoga anymore. This is a bad episode.

A is for Angry
And then... and then... urgh-AAAAAARGH!

I really don't like Arthur's friends here. They pressure him into playing checkers even when he doesn't want to, support him while making fun of Brain, and begin antagonizing him when he says he doesn't want their support. Also, for some reason, Arthur admits he was wrong even though he clearly wasn't. He was trying to stop them from insulting Brain, he pointed out how mean it was. There are a few things about this episode that I like, such as Muffy's video narrations, George being the only person on Brain's team, and Binky screaming "A IS FOR AVERAGE!" as Arthur is about to make a move while playing, but these are small positives and don't help this bad episode.

The "A" Team
According to this episode, either you do something pathetically easy that you already know or you do it with ultra-demanding difficultly that takes up all of your free time. I don't get why Francine and Brain couldn't have joined some intermediate team if they're so dissatisfied with Mr. Crosswire's teaching. The conflict in this episode feels almost nonexistent because it's so vague, and the moral seems to be "losing with encouragement is better than winning with demands." Just another pro-losing moral, I guess. There's nothing interesting or memorable about this episode, I'll give it a high bad. Usually there's some humor that saves the episode, but not this time.

Emily Swallows a Horse
While this episode's moral is kind of generic, I enjoy how the plot is handled. Emily wants to keep D.W.'s ball for herself, and it escalates into a series of lies until she has to confess. I like how D.W. doesn't believe Emily's lies while the Tibbles do. I'll give this episode a light good since the plot is interesting and I like how the characters are handled.

D.W. Beats All
I like the scenes where D.W. tries playing different instruments, and there are some cool imagination sequences. This episode takes half of its runtime to get to D.W. making an instrument out of random objects and sounds, and when she starts playing it, it actually sounds... not very good. It's very repetitive and the noises don't fit very well together. It was an okay beat at first, but more noises get added on until it just sounds like a mess. D.W. ends up winning against the Tibbles and claims that she'll be making an even bigger machine (hopefully it sounds better), and I found that to be a satisfying ending. Otherwise, I'll give this episode an okay.

Buster the Myth Maker
I actually liked Arthur's story. Other than that, I think this episode wastes its plot. It would've been interesting to see a bunch of stories Buster believes being disproven, to make the reveal that the dognapper thing is actually true more surprising. Also, Brain feels forced in this episode. He did just, as Buster puts it, "went on the Internet and told lies" to see if people would believe them. There was no real reason behind it, he just wanted to see if people would believe it and knowingly told a harmful lie. This could've lead into a moral about recognizing reliable sources, but instead, the episode goes for a random healthy eating moral in the last 30 seconds. I guess this is meant to connect to the episode's intro, but it's not even what the episode is mainly about. There's not much that's memorable or funny in this episode, so it gets a low okay.

Binky Goes Nuts
Here's an episode I really enjoy for its educational value. Everyone is supportive of Binky to help him get through his allergy, from his mother, the Tough Customers, Jenna, and even Bionic Bunny. The topic is handled seriously, but it's optimistic and encouraging. There are a lot of good jokes in this episode, too, such as the increasingly ridiculous ways Mrs. MacGrady's dishes are connected to peanuts in Binky's dream, Binky thinking his mother is going to give him Brussels sprouts, and Binky being disgusted by the beef jerky. I consider this a great episode and I'd very much recommend it.

Breezy Listening Blues
I like this episode's concept, and how Brain thinks the music in his ice cream shop is impacting his grades. There's a very entertaining sequence near the end of the episode where each character plays their own music, which is all references to previous episodes. I also like Brain's dream about the "Swellwood City Mall" and how he's pressured into buying stuff there. The only real problem I have with this episode is the solution, where Brain just sells copyrighted music on a CD. That's illegal. I don't think it detracts from the episode too much because it's not the entire ending (they also set up a track playlist) and it's relatively minor. This is still a good episode and a nice way to end the season.

Season Notes

 * A lot of this season's episodes don't actually resolve the plot. It's a problem that I only noticed during this review.

Rating Counts

 * Great: 1
 * Good: 6
 * Okay: 9
 * Bad: 4
 * Vomitrocious: 0

Season Ranking

 * 1) Binky Goes Nuts
 * 2) Arthur Makes Waves
 * 3) Breezy Listening Blues
 * 4) The Law of the Jungle Gym
 * 5) Castles in the Sky
 * 6) Lights, Camera... Opera!
 * 7) Emily Swallows a Horse
 * 8) Tipping the Scales
 * 9) Arthur Weighs In
 * 10) D.W. Beats All
 * 11) Francine's Big Top Trouble
 * 12) My Fair Tommy
 * 13) Buster's Green Thumb
 * 14) It Came From Beyond
 * 15) All Worked Up
 * 16) Buster the Myth Maker
 * 17) The "A" Team
 * 18) George Blows His Top
 * 19) A is for Angry
 * 20) Three's a Crowd

Final Thoughts
I always remembered season 9 being much better than it really was. Still, overall, I didn't find these episodes too bad. The biggest problem is that they usually just aren't interesting enough for me to promote them to good. Even the bad episodes in this season, while I still don't like them, are pretty tame compared to some other seasons' bad episodes.

We're entering double digits with my Season 10 Review.