Lend Me Your Ear

Summary
Arthur, Buster, and Brain become worried when Mr. Ratburn is not behaving like himself. Normally, he is always pleased to see them. The real reason why comes as a surprise to the boys.

Plot
Arthur, Buster, and Brain become worried when Mr. Ratburn is not responding to them when they talk to him. When he ordered sorbets and Brain asks "cone or cup," Mr. Ratburn answers "yes." Brain adds cones on top of the scoops in cups. After discussing it, the boys decide to go try to help Mr. Ratburn. They find that Mr. Ratburn has suffered hearing loss. Mr. Ratburn teaches them about the inside of the ear in an imaginary visit.

Afterward, the boys ask him how he lost his hearing, and he introduces them to his rock band, The Lost Teachers. They play a great rock song (after providing everyone with earplugs to protect their hearing) called "Pop Quiz." Lyrics include "No begging and no pleading, cuz you didn't do the reading, pop quiz!"

As Mr. Ratburn's doing his guitar solo, Buster turns to Arthur and Brain, and asks "NOW do you believe he's an alien?" and they both nod yes.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Brain
 * Nigel Ratburn

Minor

 * Jane Read
 * Vladimir and Estragon
 * The Lost Teachers
 * Trevor Brown
 * Hope Locke

Cameo

 * Molly MacDonald
 * Rattles
 * Angie Vanderloo
 * Bailey
 * Mrs. Powers
 * Mr. Powers
 * Rafi
 * Teenager
 * Peter
 * Unknown Male Bear (Number 6)
 * Caroline or Mrs. Lancaster
 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 7)
 * Unknown Female Brown-Haired Rabbit

Mentioned

 * Dr. Conway

Trivia

 * The teenage boy from the episode "Bleep" appears as a background character at the beginning with another boy with him.
 * Timeline:
 * In Brain's room, Buster plays with a hurricane on Brain's weather globe. This is the same globe from "Shelter from the Storm."
 * Arthur notes Buster's previous theories about Mr. Ratburn, including being an alien (a running gag throughout the series), a nail-eating vampire ("Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn"), and a secret superhero ("Mr. Ratburn's Secret Identity").

Episode connections

 * Arthur, Buster, and Brain "traveling" into Mr. Ratburn's ear to learn about his hearing impairment is similar to "Buster's Breathless," when the class traveled up Buster's nose to learn about his asthma.
 * Mr. Ratburn is seen reading "A Brief History of Copper Smelting". He assigned his class a copper smelting diorama project in "Best of the Nest."
 * This is the second time Mr. Ratburn has been seen playing in a band. The first time was in "The Buster Report." It was revealed that he went to band class in high school in "The Butler Did... What?"

Cultural references

 * The episode title is based on a quote from Willam Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.