The Big Dig

Summary
After Grandpa Dave shows them a secret map, Arthur and D.W. hunt for buried treasure and learn some family history.

Plot
Grandpa Dave is sleeping, and Arthur and D.W. are getting upset that they aren't having fun.

One day, when Dave wakes up and notices that D.W. had won a game of checkers, he smiled proudly at her and told her she won. When a folded piece of paper falls out of his pocket, Arthur asks Grandpa Dave what it is; he initially says it's “nothing for little children to worry about,” but Arthur says he's not little; he's eight. Then Grandpa Dave replies it's for grown-up children to worry about. D.W. says, “I’m a grownup in spirit. Mom says so” in reply and smiles. Finally, Dave says that maybe it is time for D.W. and Arthur to hear the story about their “Great-great-great-great-great-great... great... whew... Uncle Blacktooth.”

In Dave's story, Blacktooth, who was shown to be a pirate with bad breath, was the most fierce pirate to sail the seven seas, but Arthur (who is the cabin boy in the story) steps in and says “Actually, there are eleven seas, sir.” Blacktooth turns to him and breathes into his face, which causes Arthur to fall overboard.

Arthur takes the map while Grandpa Dave is asleep and convinces D.W. to take an oath, which she refuses. They discover that the treasure should be buried by the tree house, but they can't find it. Grandpa Dave shows up, and tells them there was no treasure, and that it was just a story. The kids are sad about this, and Grandpa Dave follows them home.

At home, the kids are still disappointed. Grandpa Dave is still feeling bad, and tells the kids the truth. The two forgive Grandpa, and he tells them the story about their Great Great Great-Uncle Matthew after giving them a gold compass with a chain attached (which Grandpa Dave calls a real treasure). According to Grandpa, Matthew and his crew were caught in the “storm of ’88, the worst of the century,” and ended up drifting for days in a tiny lifeboat; all they had was water, the gold compass and a checkerboard. When Arthur asked if this story was true, Grandpa said that it was, and then remarked that “Matthew was a fiend for checkers, just like me.”

The episode finishes on a good note.

Characters

 * Dave
 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Blacktooth
 * Jane Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Bionic Bunny(cameo)
 * Patty Jones (cameo)

Trivia

 * This is the last episode to use the Arthur gasp sound.
 * Foreshadowing:
 * Arthur and DW both have wildly different ideas on how Dave is going to entertain them while staying with them; Arthur thinks he’s going to wrestle alligators and go on adventures with him, while DW thinks he’s going to give her piggyback rides for hours on end. Both extremely over the top fantasies can quickly tip off a viewer that Dave isn’t going to be doing anything remotely that exciting.
 * Anyone can quickly put together that Dave’s story about their pirate ancestor was a lie since pirates never pillaged candy. The treasure supposedly being in front of the treehouse is also a good sign it’s a fake since even though Elwood City is a stand-in for Boston, it’s not really a place pirates would’ve buried treasure at
 * Moral: Don't lie for your own benefits.

Episode connections

 * The doll head Arthur pulls out of the couch bears resemblance to Grandma Thora's doll Clarissa from "Clarissa is Cracked".

Production notes

 * This episode had a working title called "Grandpa Dave's Great Big Fib".
 * As of June 2014, this episode holds the record for most storyboarders for a single episode, with 5.

Home Video
DVD:
 * Hooray for Health