D.W. All Wet (episode)

Summary
The Reads go to the seashore to escape from the summer heat & everyone's having a wonderful time, except for D.W. who won't swim because she thinks there are octopuses in the water.

Plot
The episode starts with the Read family, along with Buster, at Bear Lake. David carries D.W., who is crying, screaming, yelling and kicking at him to put her down. Arthur tells Buster that D.W. has been acting strange and weird after her school trip to the aquarium. The prologue ends with D.W. begging Arthur to save her immediately.

D.W. All Wet

D.W. along with her other classmates from school, are sitting at a bench, being entertained by seals and dolphins at the aquarium. The host says that they will be taking a washroom break and then will see the sea monsters inside the aquarium. Inside the girls bathroom, the girls are taking long inside the stall where the toilet flushes by itself. Then, the host announces that they are reading to see the sea monsters. Everyone runs out with excitement.

As the group watches the sea creatures, they get scared, except D.W. But when a 'giant' octopus shows, D.W. backs away, screaming with fear, while everyone else is amazed. Back at the Read's house, D.W. tells a made-up story of how she attacked the octopus that she saw back in the aquarium to Arthur and her mother. Jane says that it's getting dark and that it is almost time for bed. Arthur teases D.W. saying that she got scared when she saw the octopus. She denies it, but is startled by Pal licking her leg, who jumps up and panics.

The scene changes to D.W., who is taking a bath in the bathroom. The door opens, that frightens D.W., and when she was not looking, Arthur scares her with a plastic toy spider, hanging by a string on a stick, yelling that it's an octopus. D.W. screams, running out of the tub, naked, except for well-placed bubble suds, and hides in her parent's closet. Her parents get Arthur in trouble and tell him to go to his room. D.W. dreams Arthur is being attacked by the octopus.

The next morning, the temperature rises up, so Arthur and Buster play soccer in the house, but got in trouble by the Read family and the old air conditioner went haywire and blows up because it wasn't built to last forever. David says the family can't take it anymore and Jane says that they had enough. D.W. says they are in really big trouble, but David says they can't take the heat. So they decided to pack their things and head off to Bear Lake to D.W.'s surprise.

D.W. refuses to go because she doesn't want to go in the water since she's afraid that octopuses swim there. Arthur tells her that octopuses live in oceans, not lakes. But D.W. says she is not going. But she is forced to come anyway. David says that he doesn't see any octopuses. She looks and she sees everyone turning into octopuses, especially Kate, but is just her imagination. David says she can just stay.

Jane finds D.W., hiding in a tent, saying that there are no octopuses on the beach, and D.W. says she is bored. Jane says that Buster and Arthur have 10 minutes to play with D.W. They play a game to save the princess, who is D.W., and they are both embarrassed. 10 minutes passed and they went back to the water.

D.W. asks David if they can stay on the beach, but he says it would be easier it she went in the water. But she doesn't want to. Francine finds Buster's bathing cap and pretend to have an octopus attack Arthur. D.W. freaks out and the lifeguard gives D.W. a ride to Arthur and his friends, the lifeguard says there are no octopuses here, which makes D.W. feel better. The children get in trouble by the lifeguard who says it's dangerous to yell for help unless they really need it, and she demands Buster to put on his bathing cap.

In the last scene, D.W. rides on Arthur's back and it is already getting dark. Jane tells them to go, but D.W. doesn't want to leave because she is having fun, but it is almost dark so they had to leave. D.W. tells her mother how her day went and she falls asleep in her mother's arms and as they left, the scene ends with the view of the beach in the evening.

Major characters

 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Kate Read

Minor characters

 * Emily
 * Marie-Hélène
 * The Tibbles
 * Pal
 * Kyle
 * Lucy
 * James MacDonald
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Ms. Albright

Background characters

 * Molly MacDonald
 * Fletcher
 * 4th Grade Male Rabbit
 * Brian
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Maryann
 * Liam
 * Unknown Male Adult Rabbit (Number 3)
 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 4)
 * Marie-Hélène
 * Edwin
 * Sarah
 * Lisa

Trivia

 * This episode marks the first appearances of D.W.'s classmates and Mrs. Morgan.
 * This episode also marks the appearance of the Bear Lake Lifeguard as well as some members of the Tough Customers, who will become prominent characters in future episodes/seasons.
 * This is the first appearance of Bear Lake.
 * This is the first time Buster wears a bathing cap.
 * This is the first episode where the setting takes place in summer.

Errors

 * If it was hot, D.W. was supposed to wear summer clothes. Though, at night, she was wearing her nightgown.
 * The master bedroom at the Reads' house had a dormer window in this episode, but was removed in subsequent episodes for unknown reasons.
 * When Kate grabbed D.W.'s leg, she was shirtless. But when Arthur and Buster raced into the water, she was wearing a red shirt.
 * After D.W. tells her story about the octopus she saw at the aquarium for her class field trip, it wasn't evening outside due to the fact it was still sunny outside.

Differences from the book

 * In this episode, D.W.'s refusal to swim in the lake is due to her fear of octopuses. In the book, the whole story took place at the beach and D.W. refused to get wet.
 * Arthur's friends including Buster, Francine, and Muffy, plus Molly and other Lakewood Elementary School students are seen in this episode. Neither one of Arthur's friends nor any other students from Lakewood Elementary School appeared in the book, since it focused on D.W..

Production Notes

 * This is the first episode to use "Super D.W." as a title card.
 * Although the title card has not been narrated when this aired on television, Binky does narrate the title when this was on the home video, DVD releases and television re-runs.

Home video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur Saves The Day
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One
 * Arthur Saves The Day