Prunella Sees the Light

Summary
To make everything perfect for her sleepover with Marina, Prunella happily styles her room to resemble a "Henry Skreever" book. But then she panics - since Marina is blind, will decorations she can't even see offend her... or worse, make her trip? Or will Prunella discover that her worries about protecting Marina - and their friendship - are more about Prunella's own perceptions rather than Marina's actual capabilities?

Plot
The episode begins with Prunella reading her crystal ball for Buster, predicting the upcoming math test. She tires before reading how well Buster will do on on it, so Buster offers her one piece of candy. This is not enough for Prunella, and Buster makes the excuse that he ate the rest of them during the long walk over to her house. As the buddies head downstairs get a snack, the camera zooms in on the crystal ball. The fog parts to show Marina shouting at Prunella before it cuts to the title card.

TITLE CARD

Marina and Prunella are at the Deegans' house watching a television ad for the upcoming movie ''Henry Skreever and the Brick of Wonders. ''The girls are ecstatic and think of hobbies to do before the movie premieres in theaters. Prunella comes up with something, but refrains from telling Marina, saying it is a secret. The girls to get into a fight as Marina tries to get Prunella to confess.

At a department store, Buster is begging Prunella to tell him how he will do on the math test, offering a batch of homemade Buster Clusters. Prunella declines and continues to shop for pink and white bedsheets to turn her room into a recreation of the Castle of Yes (from the third Henry Skreever book, The Pottage of Villany) for a surprise sleepover with Marina. Buster remarks that since Marina is blind, she would not notice it anyway. Regardless, Prunella insists that it must be so, as Buster runs off after his tongue turns black from eating the Buster Clusters.

Prunella goes to sleep after she finishes decorating her room. She dreams of being inconsiderate of Marina's blindness, as she cannot see that the room was decorated. Furthermore, it would not be possible for Marina to play cards or to make her way around the room on her own. The dream ends with Marina turning Prunella into a giraffe. Prunella wakes up and takes down the pink and white bedsheets.

The next day, Prunella meets with Muffy at the Sugar Bowl to get advice on how to make her room safe for Marina. Prunella exclaims that she does not have the money to remodel her room, and so Muffy gives her some budget ideas.

Prunella ends up padding up all the corners and rails of her house, putting away all of her playing cards and board games, and tying a guide string to the toilet lever. Rubella trips on the string as she comes up the stairs and points out how ridiculous Prunella is being, and instead suggests that Prunella just ask Marina about any special accommodations she would need. Prunella insists that she wants to surprise Marina with the sleepover, but gives in when Rubella points out that Marina may have a bad experience if Prunella does not actually find out what actual accommodations she would need.

Prunella walks over to Mighty Mountain Elementary to find and ask Marina about the sleepover and what she would need, but is surprised to find her playing soccer. Marina explains that the soccer ball has a beeper inside so she can hear where it is. Then Marina invites Prunella over to her house for a sleepover the night before the movie premiere, and Prunella accepts the offer.

Prunella arrives at the Datillo's house, and asks why Marina is not using her cane. Marina explains that she is familiar with where everything is in her own house. Mrs. Datillo serves the girls dinner, telling Marina how the food is laid out using a clock face for reference. Throughout the evening, Prunella tries to be overly helpful and asks many questions regarding how Marina copes with being blind. Marina initially tries to subtly tell her off, but eventually gets frustrated. When she trips and falls on a playing card, Prunella helps her up and asks if she should tell Mrs. Datillo what happened. Marina finally has had enough, and as seen in the crystal ball at the beginning of the episode, angrily yells at Prunella. Prunella is on the verge of crying and says that she should leave, and Marina reaffirms that she is not being forced to stay.

Back at home, Prunella is crying into her pillow as Buster comes up with a large bag of candy, again trying to get her to predict how he will do on the math exam. Prunella explains that she got into a fight with Marina, but does not understand what she did wrong, and was actually trying to be extra considerate. Buster then tells Prunella that Marina probably did not like her fussing over her blindness, relating it to how he would not like people fussing over his asthma. Upon this realization, Prunella tells Buster that he should do fine on the exam as long as he studies, and leaves in a hurry to call Marina.

At the movie theater, Prunella and Marina are sitting together watching the Henry Skreever movie. They discuss the movie after it ends, with Marina explaining that she heard the character descriptions through wearing a special headset, which she gives back to the theater usher on their way out. As they are walking home, they continue to criticize the movie as if Marina was not blind and could have visually seen it. The episode finishes with the 'WALK' signal beeping and Marina offering her arm so that Prunella can guide her in crossing the street.

Major

 * Marina Datillo
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Buster Baxter

Minor

 * Rubella Deegan
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Mrs. Datillo

Cameo

 * Mrs. Armstrong
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * The Brain
 * Fern Walters
 * Francine Frensky
 * Binky Barnes
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Patrick
 * Little Boy
 * Fletcher
 * Kiefer
 * Rattles
 * 4th Grade Male Rabbit
 * Unknown Male Rabbit
 * Otis
 * Henry Skreever
 * Lord Moldywart
 * Haggis

Trivia

 * Up until this episode, Arthur had appeared in every single episode of the series--this is the first of (so far) nineteen episodes that he doesn't appear in.

Episode connections

 * Buster mentions that he has asthma. It was revealed that he had it in "Buster's Breathless."
 * Marina appears again in this episode. Her first appearance was in "Prunella's Special Edition."
 * Buster Clusters return from "Buster's Sweet Success."
 * The pig statue at the All In One Mart from D.W. the Picky Eater makes a brief reappearance.
 * As revealed in this episode, Prunella has a night light, like Binky did in "Night Fright."

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur: Sleepovers, Sports and More