Friday the 13th

Summary
While others are stepping over cracks or walking around ladders, Brain scoffs and defies all the superstitions—but then he has a run of bad luck. With Friday the 13th on the way, should he rethink these matters?

Plot
Brain arrives to a creepy, worn down location and hesitantly goes inside to see the group watching a scary movie. He questions the title and watches as a girl walks through a hallway. The others panic as Brain claims that he understands what is going to happen and Buster asks him if he has already seen the movie. But Brain just tells him it’s predictable and everyone becomes bored as he reveals whats going to happen. The lights suddenly go out and Brain goes to investigate the dark house until he comes to a door. Slowly opening it, he stares in shock and gasps in fear.

Friday the 13th

During a baseball game, Francine is giving Brain a pep-talk as Buster keeps telling him to spit on the bat. Brain then tries to tell him how dirty it is and gains two strikes as a result. Suddenly, Brain hits the third ball, which then bounces off a light pole and a catcher easily gets it. The others tell Brain they probably lost because of him not spitting on the bat, and that none of them remembered to bring their lucky items with them.

Later, at his family's ice cream store, Brain is still trying to convince Buster that he is wrong with this luck nonsense when they leave, only to see a black cat. Buster tries to stop Brain, but fails to believe superstitions are not true. They watch as Mr. Ratburn walks around a ladder and Buster tries to reason with Brain using "reverse logic" until he sees a crack in the sidewalk. He then hops away as Brain plans on stopping this nonsense!

The next day, Brain has gathered his friends and shows them all three exhibits, such as a crack, ladder, and mirror. Arthur tells him that he just gained seven years of bad luck and Brain shows them his special chart that he plans to use as a graph. He is going to prove how wrong they are once and for all when a rain storm drives the others off. Brain tries to tell them it wasn't bad luck and his umbrella is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.

Later during dinner, Brain soon learns his mother believes in superstitions also and asks her how she possibly can when someone rings the doorbell Binky then challenges him with some match questions and Brain determines Binky only wants homework help, so Brain leads him to his room to discover his missing backpack and they resume doing Binky's homework.

That evening, Brain is having trouble sleeping, due to his leaky roof and thundering weather. That morning he is woken up to realize that he is very late for school and he rushes to get his bike until his mom says that he left his math homework and lunch behind. Unfortunately, Brain leaves the bike in the driveway and his father runs over it! So he is forced to run the rest of the way, but trips on a crack in the sidewalk, falls into a mud puddle and a dog eats his homework. A crow steals his lunch as well. Arriving to school around 10:30, Brain tells Mr. Ratburn how a dog ate his homework, but no one seems to believe him despite the mess.

Brain goes over his chart and fears that he will have even worse luck considering it'll be Friday the 13th soon. So he goes to Buster who is always crazy prepared for this luck stuff. So Buster gathers him a box of salt packets, horseshoes, four leaf clovers, and finally his "lucky hat".

Later, Brain hops on home to see his mother laying on the couch in pain. She explains how she hurt her back at the gym and Brain then chooses to be safe, he is not going to leave the house the following day.

That following day, Francine complains about how Brain isn't there and berates him before she calls to ask why Brain hasn't shown up to the game. Brain explains why he didn't show up and then hangs up on her. After Arthur suggests giving up its then Brain shows up! He tells them no matter what he does, bad luck will proceed to follow him so he may as well just play and the team manages to win the game!

As they leave the baseball diamond, Buster asks him for his good luck charms back when Brain realizes he accidentally brought his mother's gym clothes. He is very happy to have proven his hypothesis correct, but the others don't buy this, saying because the gym clothes that are lucky and they proceed to take it. Giving up, Brain simply hops along the cracks in the sidewalk as the episode finishes.

Major

 * The Brain
 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky
 * Binky Barnes
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Nigel Ratburn

Minor

 * Mrs. Powers

Cameo

 * George Lundgren
 * Mr. Powers
 * Oliver Frensky
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 5)
 * 3rd Grade Male Bear
 * Mighty Mountain Player
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Fern Walters
 * Mr. Barnes
 * Mrs. Barnes
 * Laverne Frensky
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Millicent Crosswire

Trivia

 * The Justin Bradley version of this episode story is available on the VHS and DVD editions of Arthur Gets Spooked.

Cultural references

 * The movie the group watch is a reference to famous novel turned horror film "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and its sequels. Like many people Brain ended up getting confused over the title. Also supporting this is the woman who resembles Jennifer Love Hewitt, while the raincoat had been what the man wore in the real films, along with the odd ghost.
 * An address shown in the episode mentions Elm Street, which may be a reference to the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise.
 * The episode's title is a reference to the Friday the 13th film franchise.

Episode connections

 * The black cat appears again in "The Great Sock Mystery."

Errors

 * If Brain hit a home run, it wouldn't make much of a difference since the team was down 10-0.
 * When Buster is wearing his lucky hat, the bedroom closet background briefly changes to the preschool background.
 * In the beginning, Brain did not swing which would be a ball instead of a strike.
 * When Brain arrives late at school, he is wearing a yellow shirt with the whole front covered in mud. But when Buster shakes his head after he says the dog ate it, it is, surprisingly, the normal gray. It is back to yellow soon.
 * When the camera views Brain from above during his demonstration, the red arrow on the sidewalk crack sign turns white.
 * At first, only the glass is broken in the mirror. When the rain starts, the frame is also broken.
 * When Buster shakes his head in the classroom, Brain is wearing his gray sweater when he is supposed to be wearing a yellow shirt.
 * When the camera cuts to the pitcher, Brain's orange cap immediately turns into a blue helmet.
 * When the camera switches from Brain to Buster after the game, Mrs. Powers' gym bag turns from gray and red to black and red.

Production notes

 * This is the last episode in which Justin Bradley voices Arthur.
 * This is the last episode in which Peter Moss is the executive producer.
 * This episode was produced in 2000.

Home Video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur Gets Spooked (VHS)
 * Arthur Gets Spooked (DVD)