D.W. Flips (episode)

Summary
D.W. wants to take gymnastics class after seeing a gymnast on television, but her mom gives several examples of D.W. never finishing what she wants to do. She gets her way and goes to her 1st class. Emily is there and D.W. doesn't like her because she seems to do everything perfectly. D.W.'s determined to be better than her.

Plot
We see D.W. at a gymnastics class proving to Emily and the others that she can really do a cartwheel on the balance beam. After stretching and being warned by Emily that she could really get hurt, the Tibbles lift D.W. up and then ask her if they can have her toys if she can't make it. D.W. loses her balance on the balance beam when she attempts to do it and almost falls.

---Title Card---

Back at home, Arthur and D.W. are watching the Olympics where a bobsled speeds 50 miles per hour. Arthur thinks it is interesting, but D.W. doesn't think so. Arthur and D.W. then get into a remote control fight where the channels change. Then, when D.W. sees a gymnast do a perfect combo on the balance beam, she asks her Mom if she can do gymnastics. Arthur, in worry and distrust, replies with, "Here we go again."

Then D.W. explains to her Mom why she wants to do gymnastics and that she will do so good that she will star in cereal commercials and get really rich. D.W. begs to her so hard that she even said that both her and her father will never have to work again. Then, Mom reflects on the activities D.W. did (such as t-ball, ballet and violin lessons). She wanted to do all those activities, but not want to practice.

D.W. begs even more at her mother and states that she really wants to do this. Plus, she is already good at jumping. Mom finally approves and D.W. hugs her hard. The next day, we see the gymnastics class where kids are doing different exercises. After surveying the gym, D.W. sees the Tibbles and hides behind her mother. Mom thinks Ms. Morgan will handle them. Ms. Morgan then blows her whistle at the twins.

Then D.W. sees Emily (AKA Miss Perfect) and her mother. They are both in the same class. Just because Emily is a showoff, smart, pretty, and polite, doesn't really mean she's perfect, according to Mom. After Mom says goodbye, D.W. sees the balance beam. She then daydreams about herself in the Olympics doing an amazing combo. She receives a 10 from the judges and gets first prize. Emily gets second prize and the Tibbles get third prize even though they should have gotten disqualified.

Immediately, without thinking any longer, D.W. runs up and tries to get up onto the balance beam, but Mrs. Morgan catches her. Mrs. Morgan states that they will not be using the balance beam for at least a year. So D.W. manages to join her class and start with basic routines. After Ms. Morgan demonstrates a somersault, Emily and D.W. partner up. D.W. tries to do it, but really does a half sault. Emily does it right, but D.W. doesn't think so. D.W. said that she didn't jump high enough, the roll was too slow, and she didn't smile at the end.

Ms. Morgan praises Emily for a job well done, but tells D.W. to try to hold the knees. D.W. gets humiliated and then ticked off when Emily said, "I guess she didn't realize you were doing a half sault." After the somersaults, the kids do handstands. Everyone is doing great, but D.W.'s back is not straight enough. She then loses her balance causing everyone else to fall down.

After demonstrating a cartwheel, Ms. Morgan reminds everyone to bring their feet together when they finish the cartwheel. When D.W. sees Emily stretching, she walks off, feeling jealous. After the Tibbles tease her, D.W. attempts to do the cartwheel, but fails. At home, D.W. encourages her mother to watch her doing a cartwheel, but she is not ready yet.

D.W. really hits the horse by cartwheeling in her house and at the supermarket, wreaking tons of havoc. Back at gymnastics class, D.W. stretches out. Then Ms. Morgan announces that it is cartwheel time and reminds everyone to look before they leap. After Edwin goes, D.W. gets her turn. This time she does successful and everyone applauds at her. But Emily comes in showing off, cartwheeling from one end of the gym to the other. D.W. says it is not fair for her to do something like that.

After class, Emily apologizes for what she did. D.W. accepts her apology and says that she could've done a better cartwheel, but she didn't want to. She thinks cartwheels are for babies, but Emily thinks they're hard. Then D.W., looks at the balance beam again, which leads back to the opening scene. D.W. loses her balance just like in the opening, but then she screams, which causes her mother, Ms. Morgan, and Emily to rush to the balance beam. D.W. then jumps into her mother's arms and then her mother asks what she was doing. She then says that she was doing a cartwheel.

Then The Tibbles taunt Emily, but D.W. tells them to leave her alone and maybe she wants them to do a cartwheel. The Tibbles run away and Emily thanks her for being a real friend. After all, Emily did save her life and maybe she could teach her. On the car ride home, Mom tells her that she really could've gotten hurt. D.W. understands and she will be more careful. After she sees a horse passing by, D.W. begs again, but she's too young for horseback riding. Then after she imagines herself riding a pony, she begs even more when they are driving home.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Jane Read
 * Emily
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Ms. Morgan

Minor

 * Arthur Read
 * David Read

Cameo

 * Sarah
 * Lucy
 * James MacDonald
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Maryann
 * Kyle
 * Lisa
 * Edwin
 * Tina Trampolina (debut)
 * Unknown Male Adult Bear
 * Cheryl Featherfoffer
 * Liam
 * Ethel (debut)
 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 9) (fantasy)
 * Ms. Tingley (fantasy)
 * Otis (fantasy)
 * John (fantasy)
 * Brian (fantasy)
 * Alex (fantasy)
 * Mayor Hirsch (fantasy)
 * Kindergarten Teacher
 * Renee

Mentioned

 * Mrs. Tibble

Trivia

 * Miss Tingley is one of the judges in D.W.'s fantasy.
 * In D.W.'s fantasy, the sports reporter refers to Emily as “Emily, uh, what's her name”. Prior to "Arthur's First Day," Emily was one of very few major characters whose last name had never been revealed. At the swimming event in "D.W. Swims with the Fishes," Buster declares the winner of the swimming contest as “Emily, whose last name I don't know.”
 * At the beginning of the episode, Arthur and D.W. were watching luge. As D.W. and Arthur fight over the remote, a soccer match was seen and then gymnastics.  In real life, luge, soccer, and gymnastics would not be played at the same time since luge is part of the Winter Olympics and gymnastics are part of the Summer Olympics. However, gymnastics World Championships are held in non-Olympic years, and winners are given gold medals.
 * Moral: Don't overreact just because someone is showing off for your own benefits.
 * Karma: Emily showed off to D.W., so she got called out.
 * D.W. Wrecking the store is similar to when Lincoln's sisters would ruin the store in Cereal Offender

Errors

 * When D.W. is cartwheeling in Aisle seven, she bumps into an object and the items are rolling in Aisle eight.
 * On the drive home, D.W. is sitting in the front seat. In reality you have to be at least 10 years old to sit in the front, due to car safety regulations regarding young children.
 * Also, the station wagon is red in one scene but purple in the others.
 * Tommy and Timmy were colored lighter in some scenes.
 * In one scene, Lisa was colored purple.
 * In another scene, Tommy has rabbit ears although Timmy has normal ears.

Differences from the book

 * In both versions, the girls in D.W.'s class are wearing slip-on shoes. For the boys in her class, they are wearing shoes and socks in the TV adaptation but just socks in the book.
 * D.W.'s class has more students (including the Tibble Twins) in the TV show than in the book. Also, the Tibble Twins weren't introduced to the franchise until Arthur Babysits that was published four years later.
 * The book concludes that Ms. Morgan will introduce her students to do backward rolls. This idea is scrapped in the TV version and instead concludes with D.W. riding home with her mom, and Jane giving her a lecture.

Home video
DVD:
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One
 * D.W. Rides Again (DVD)