Arthur Accused! (episode)

Summary
Buster opens a detective agency, and the chief suspect in his first case is Arthur.

Plot
We enter Buster's home and into his bedroom. We see Buster drinking a soda and dressed up like a detective. He tells the viewers about how he solved his first mystery. "It involved my pal Arthur, some missing quarters, and a whole lot of trouble." he says.

He shows us a flashback of Arthur in detention, when all of a sudden, a seemingly angry mob begins to crowd around the entrance to the classroom. In fear, Arthur hides behind the table as the doorknob begins to turn open. Not wanting to spoil anything, Buster decides to start back at the beginning of the story.

---Title Card---

Two days ago, on a Wednesday, Binky walks down the school hallway and sees Arthur with a bowl full of quarters. Arthur explains that he is trying to save quarters as a fundraiser to buy a puppy for the fire department. Binky thinks if he should give a quarter or not. He eventually decides to give one.

Just after Arthur adds it to his fund, Buster arrives (wearing his detective outfit) and asks Arthur if he wants to go to the arcade with his mom. Arthur agrees, but has Buster wait, for he has to give the quarters to Mrs. MacGrady. Arthur notices the outfit and Buster explains that it's part of his new detective kit.

He further explains that he was snooping around for any mysteries, but has no luck so far. He also tells Arthur that there's a 3rd Grade Annual Picnic next Friday. Yet Arthur already knows, for there have been posters about it for two weeks. Buster yet stays determined to find one. Arthur hurries off to Mrs. MacGrady's kitchen to give the quarters, but Mrs. MacGrady is talking on the phone about what the new fire department dog should be named.

Arthur tries (unsuccessfully) to get her attention, but since he's in a hurry, he leaves the bag of quarters on the counter and leaves. Later that day, Buster and his mom walk to the arcade, while Buster looks around with his magnifying glass to find anything suspicious.

His mom, as usual, is over-concerned about him getting eyestrain. Buster sees Arthur playing a pinball game and notices that he has beaten the high score.

Buster is very proud of him. The next day when they both are at school again, Buster is still rather proud of Arthur's accomplishment as they walk down the halls. They suddenly meet up with Mr. Haney and the other school staff.

Mr. Haney reminds Arthur to give the quarters to Mrs. MacGrady. Arthur says that he already did, but to their surprise, Mr. Haney claims that she never received them. Buster suspects they were stolen. Mr. Haney asks Arthur if he brought them home by accident. Buster explains that Arthur and he went to the arcade and that Arthur beat the high score on pinball.

He further talks about how he did that once and that it cost him all his birthday money, a large amount of quarters. Instantly in reaction, this story has Mr. Haney and the others suspect Arthur stole the quarters.

Arthur is sent to the principal's office, where Mr. Haney and Miss Tingley punish Arthur by giving a week of detention, starting that day, and that he couldn't go to the picnic. That afternoon in the cafeteria, Arthur exclaims to Buster how everybody thinks he's a criminal, and demands a lawyer.

Buster thinks that's a preposterous idea and claims he needs a detective, like himself. Not sure if he can do it, Arthur decides to let him investigate.

The first person that Buster questions is Mrs. MacGrady. He asks about her whereabouts yesterday. She says that she was in the cafeteria, making brownies for the picnic. Buster suggests he should taste some of the brownies, but she knows what he's thinking and won't let him until the picnic.

Mrs. MacGrady also tells Buster that Mr. Morris came over to mop up brownie mix when it overflowed. She suggests he should ask him if he knows anything.

Thanking her for her information, Buster leaves while snitching some whipped cream off a slice of pie she was making. Mr. Morris goes to his closet to grab a bag, while Buster disguises himself as one of the mops in his closet.

Mr. Morris notices him and Buster begins to question him, but he promptly trips over a mop. While Mr. Morris is washing the windows, Buster comes along. Mr. Morris explains to him that he went to Mrs. MacGrady's kitchen to clean up a spilled mix.

Buster further asks if he cleans after her often. Mr. Morris claims that she's actually quite tidy. While he walks away, Buster hears jingling in his pocket. He suspects that it's quarters.

Mr. Morris shows him that it's just his keys. Stumped, Buster decides to go to Arthur's house for more information. He begins to question D.W., although D.W. doesn't help much, but suspects Arthur buried the quarters somewhere and suggests to dig up the lawn. Buster begins to leave just at the same time as Arthur returns home.

He asks how the mystery is going. Buster nervously claims it's going fine, but Arthur is desperate to be proven innocent. Walking home, Buster looks over his information, but is disappointed to see that everything seems to claim that Arthur is the criminal.

Buster thinks it is possible that he is really a mastermind and that he did steal the quarters. Later that evening, Buster doesn't eat much as usual for he is too busy thinking. He goes to his room and looks over the suspects: Mrs. MacGrady, Mr. Morris, and Arthur.

Suddenly, his mom walks in and tells him to get to bed. "You need your sleep, you're not a robot," she says. This gives Buster an idea. The next day, Buster goes to Arthur's house and tells him that the quarters were taken by an army of robots.

He thinks that they need metal for fuel and no one ever sees them because they can change into any shape. But by now, Buster doesn't think that's probable. On their way to school, Buster apologizes to Arthur for being a bad detective and comforts him by knowing he's innocent. Arthur thanks him for trying and admits he's a bad detective, but a good friend. All the students are already lined up by the bus for the picnic.

Buster gets in line, but Arthur is sent by Mr. Ratburn to the classroom for detention. As the kids are getting onto the bus, Buster is rather sad that he couldn't think straight enough to figure it out. Brain tells him that he feels the same way when his brain is overflowing with data when working on a difficult math problem.

At the mention of overflowing Buster gets another idea and runs into the school with Mr. Haney. They run down the hall into the kitchen where Mrs. MacGrady is preparing food. Buster asks again about her brownie mix overflowing.

She claims that she just made too much, but Buster knows the answer, "There was too much because there was one extra ingredient: Quarters." He takes hold of one of the brownies, breaks it in half and out flies a quarter. Mrs. MacGrady realizes that she accidentally mixed the bag of quarters Arthur left with the bag of flour.

Back at the parking lot, Buster announces that Arthur is innocent. With joy and excitement, all the students run to the classroom, where Arthur was in detention. Arthur hears the crowd of students (from the intro) and hides behind the table.

The doorknob turns and opens with all the kids, including Buster cheering for Arthur and they take him to the school bus. Arthur is happy too for Buster's accomplishment. The kids get into the bus and they leave for the picnic. Back in Buster's bedroom, Buster is finished telling his story.

He further tells the viewers that Mrs. MacGrady is now more careful with her job. Each time she finishes baking a pastry, Mr. Morris comes and checks for any metal with his metal detector. Thankfully, there's nothing in it.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Arthur Read
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Francis Haney
 * Mr. Morris (debut)

Minor

 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Binky Barnes
 * Ms. Tingley
 * D.W. Read
 * The Brain
 * Nigel Ratburn (does not speak)

Cameo

 * George Lundgren
 * Maria Pappas
 * Alex
 * Mary
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Molly MacDonald
 * 4th Grade Male Rabbit
 * Fletcher
 * 4th Grade Female Aardvark
 * Rattles (debut)
 * 4th Grade Male Dog
 * Kiefer
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Fern Walters
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
 * Mr. Marco
 * Brian
 * Otis
 * Francine Frensky
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * Luke
 * Jessica
 * 3rd Grade Male Cat
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * Kenny
 * Muffy Crosswire

Trivia

 * When Arthur pours the bowl of quarters into the bag, there seems to be a hole in the bottom.
 * Mrs. MacGrady says that her first husband was named Chester. This hints that she has had more than one husband.
 * This is the first episode Buster introduces.
 * Curiously, when the brownie mix overflowed apparently the quarters in question never surfaced when it was cleaned up.
 * This is the first episode where the setting takes place in autumn.

Cultural references

 * At school, Buster refers to Arthur as the pinball wizard. This is a reference from The Who's song, "Pinball Wizard", and the 1975 movie, Tommy.
 * Arthur diving into the pile of quarters in Buster's fantasy is very similar to Scrooge McDuck's iconic money dive from the Disney animated series Ducktales.

Errors

 * When Mrs. MacGrady says "Nice try, but nobody touches them until the picnic", her position briefly flips back and forth.
 * The first time Arthur is in his cave with the quarters, his tongue is colored properly. The second time, it is not.
 * In one scene where Buster is suggesting to Mr. Haney that the quarters were stolen, Miss Tingley is right behind Mr. Haney. In the next scene however she is not seen behind him.
 * At the end in the detention room, Arthur is wearing his yellow shirt but when his friends come in, he is wearing his jacket.
 * When Mr. Morris asks Buster if there's anything else he'd like to know, Mr. Morris's eyes stay in place for a second while his head moves away.

Episode connections

 * George mentions Buster solving the missing quarters case later in "The Buster Report".
 * Buster plays detective in episodes later on in the series, including "Binky Rules", "Dueling Detectives!" and "Cereal".

Storyline analysis

 * Buster dresses up as a detective again in "Binky Rules", yet he acts much more odd than he does in this episode.

Home video
VHS:  DVD:
 * Arthur's Mystery Files


 * Arthur: The Complete Series One

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