Arthur and the Square Dance

Summary
Binky convinces Arthur that Francine has a crush on him.

Plot
The episode starts with Arthur dreaming that he is an adult, running a catering business and having a chauffeur and a son at the age of eighteen when he arrives home to find out that his wife is Francine and she tries to kiss him. Then, Arthur wakes up and says that nightmares like that make him never want to grow up.

In the episode proper, Francine and Arthur are partners for Mrs. MacGrady's square dance class. Muffy is shown struggling with Binky as her partner. Then Binky inadvertently gives Muffy a high five too hard, inadvertently pushing her into Sue Ellen and The Brain, which causes everyone to fall over like dominoes.

Outside, Muffy asks Arthur if the next time they square dance he'll switch with her. Instantly when Arthur agrees, Francine interjects and says that Arthur is her partner before the pair hitch a ride in Mr. Frensky's garbage truck. While Binky and Muffy are left alone on the steps, Muffy jokes that Arthur and Francine are acting like they're married, but Binky thinks that they're actually together. He teases Arthur about it the next day at school.

Arthur assumes this is a joke at first until he goes on to tell Francine what Binky said to him, but she stops him and tells him about the two cowboy hats she found in the basement for them to wear the next time there is a square dance. They start dancing randomly, as a joke, but when Arthur sees Binky and a few other kids looking at him, he leaves.

Later on, as the kids get ready to play baseball, Muffy comes out onto the field and gives him Francine's old baseball glove to Arthur, since Francine has a new one. This time, Arthur starts to think that maybe Francine is in love with him. They are later seen at the Sugar Bowl, and Arthur wants to ask Francine if she likes him or not, but then he sees Binky through the window making smoochy faces, panics and leaves, confusing Francine.

Arthur later calls Buster, who says that he should avoid Francine. Arthur initially objects, but then changes his mind after imagining that he had been diagnosed with "cooties", due to Buster saying that girls kiss boys they're in love with. Later, Arthur does weird activities because he's distracted, like almost going into the girls' restroom and when Francine saved a spot for him in the cafeteria, he refused and mentioned he wanted to sit with new people and older kids and told the older kids that she was not his girlfriend despite them not bringing it up. After that, in recess, Francine tells Prunella that Arthur is behaving in a weird manner lately.

Prunella asks Francine questions like whether or not his cheeks go red when he is around her and whether or not he stutters when he talks to her. When Francine says yes to all of these, Prunella suggests he likes her. She gets confused and dismisses that suggestion, but Prunella tells her it just might happen. When Mrs. MacGrady tells them it is going to rain which means square dancing, they tell each other they shouldn't dance with each other. When it is time for square dancing, they accidentally end up together despite initially having different partners. They tell each other to stop dancing with each other and then they both say, "I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU!" and they question each other. Concluding this episode, Francine and Arthur promise to each other to not let a stupid thing like love come between their friendship.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Binky Barnes

Minor

 * Leah MacGrady
 * Alex
 * Buster Baxter
 * Jane Read
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Muffy Crosswire

Cameo

 * The Brain
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * George Lundgren
 * Fern Walters
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog
 * Mary
 * 4th Grade Male Dog
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Oliver Frensky
 * Maria Pappas
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
 * Coach Grimslid
 * David Read
 * Kenny
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
 * Jessica
 * Fletcher
 * Rattles
 * 4th Grade Male Rabbit
 * Kiefer
 * Billy
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat
 * 3rd Grade Male Cat

Trivia

 * This is Buster's first cameo appearance since he left in "Arthur's Faraway Friend."
 * In this episode, Arthur calls Buster, who is playing a video game, although he was still traveling with his dad. Because of the room Buster is in appearing different than anywhere in his house, it is likely Arthur called Buster while he was staying with his dad.
 * The boys' and girls' restrooms switched sides from "Arthur's Eyes".
 * The painting seen at Buster's house is the same as Binky Barnes, Art Expert.
 * The "cooties" that are on Arthur are really lipstick marks.
 * It's been implied in the Arthur-franchise that Arthur and Francine do have feelings for each other and that they may end up getting married as adults.
 * Although this episode aired in 1998, it was produced in 1997, according to the credits.

Episode connections

 * When Arthur asks if Francine ever wanted to kiss him, she says she'd rather have head lice. The entire school suffers a lice outbreak later in "The Lousy Week".


 * Arthur accidentally entering the girls' restroom is a callback to Arthur's Eyes, but in that episode Arthur went inside the girls' room, while in this episode Francine stops him.

Errors

 * Arthur and his friends mention that the worn-out glove was a "glove that won last year's championship". However, Arthur did not have the talent for baseball until in "Arthur Makes the Team", which took place in his and his classmates' third grade year.

Home Video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur's Best School Days (VHS)
 * Arthur's Best School Days (DVD)

Gallery
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Screenshots
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