Operation: D.W.!

Summary
D.W. goes into the hospital for an ear operation.

Plot
In the introduction Arthur gives examples of how it helps to be prepared for things. However, he was not prepared for D.W.’s birth.

Title Card

D.W. fails to hear Miss Morgan in preschool. At home she has to turn the TV all the way up to hear it. Her dad notices something is wrong.

D.W. and her dad visit Dr. Tinnitus the ear doctor. She discovers that D.W.’s ears are full of gunk. Since D.W. has already had several ear infections that year, Dr. Tinnitus wants D.W. to come back for an operation to insert small tubes into her eardrums so the gunk will flow out instead of clogging the middle ear.

At home Arthur is especially nice to D.W. He lets her choose the TV program and brings her cookies. When she asks him why, her tells her that it is because she is being so brave. D.W. did not know that an operation was something you had to be brave about.

Mr. Read takes D.W. to the hospital the day before her operation. A nurse examines her and takes a blood sample. She gives D.W. a teddy bear for being brave and D.W. thanks her and tells her dad that they should go. The nurse tells D.W. that she's not done yet and still has to see more doctors.

At night D.W. tells Arthur about seeing an anesthesiologist. Both Arthur and her dad give her encouraging words.

D.W. dreams about being examined by Miss Morgan and the Tibbles and found to completely lack bravery. The next morning she claims to be able to hear the TV, not realizing that the sound is turned off. Her dad tells her that it is okay to be scared but the operation is necessary.

At the hospital the nurse gives D.W. a hospital gown and a “Number One Patient” sticker. Arthur gives her a good luck mark with his lucky pencil. Dr. Tinnitus arrives and she and Mr. Read bring D.W. to the operating room where she is put under anesthesia.

During the operation D.W. dreams that she is a superheroine with huge ears who protects a unicorn from a troll.

After D.W. wakes up, her parents take her home. D.W. now can hear Arthur whispering and while playing doctor she “discovers” that Arthur has no brains.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Jane Read
 * David Read

Minor

 * Kate Read
 * Dr. Tinnitus
 * Nurse
 * Ms. Morgan
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Mary Moo Cow
 * Bionic Bunny

Fantasy

 * Lisa
 * James MacDonald

Cameo

 * Liam
 * Maryann
 * Sarah
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Kyle
 * Edwin
 * Emily
 * Lucy

Trivia

 * Reruns of this episode are rare in the USA following the Lance Armstrong doping case, since it is paired with "Binky vs. Binky", which features Vance Legstrong, a possible parody of Lance Armstrong, as a special guest.
 * This is one of the episodes that focus on health. The others are Germophobia, Arthur's Knee, Binky Goes Nuts, Sick as a Dog, Arthur's Chicken Pox (episode), and Buster's Breathless.
 * The last part of the intro is actually a flashback of Arthur as a little kid meeting his baby sister D.W.
 * The official name for the tubes D.W. gets is tympanostomy tubes.

Cultural References

 * Dr. Tinnitus is named for a malfunction of the ear which causes the patient to hear sounds that are not there.
 * When D.W. is examined before the operation the other names on the nurse's clipboard are Nancy Simard, Mario Gailloux, Junian Huang and Rolando Chia. They are people who have worked on either Arthur or Postcards from Buster.

Episode connections

 * Arthur's lucky pencil from the episode "Arthur's Lucky Pencil" appears again. However, unlike in "Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked," where it is a small one in a plastic bag with its shavings, it is a full size one.

Home Video
DVD:
 * D.W., Bossy Boots (DVD)
 * Arthur: Season 10

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