Best Enemies

Summary
D.W.'s parents think she will become best of friends with a 4-year-old girl named W.D., but it turns out they have nothing in common.

Plot
Arthur and Buster are seen playing catch in the park. Arthur talks to the viewers about how some friends like different things. When the ball goes over the fence, Arthur says that he hates climbing fences, but Buster says he loves climbing fences. He climbs over, grabs the ball and throws it back to Arthur. Then, at The Sugar Bowl, Arthur says that he hates pickles, but Buster loves them, and dips one into his milk. Arthur groans. Then the food comes to life. Such as one burger loves being covered in mustard while the other one doesn't. The the ketchup says he hates when sandwiches talk during TV shows. The mustard sprays him while the ketchup returns the favor. The ketchup and mustard point at each other and laugh. Arthur finishes up by saying how even though that happens, they are still best friends.

Best Enemies

One day at the Reads' house, Mrs. Read asks Arthur for a flower vase. Arthur hands it over, and asks why she's stressing out. She replies that she wants everything to be perfect for her new tax clients. A few seconds later, she asks again where the vase is, and Arthur reminds her that he had already gave it to her. D.W. comes running in, saying that the Merkles (the new clients) have a little girl her age, and that they're going to play unicorns, trolls, and Over the Rainbow Treasure Hunt. The doorbell rings, and D.W. rushes over to the door. The Merkles arrive. Herman Merkle introduces himself and his wife Ursa. Then finally he introduces W.D. D.W. is surprised that her name is switched around, but Arthur interrupts and says D.W.'s full name, much to D.W.'s dismay, and she frowns. Ursa tells Arthur that W.D. stands for Wilhelmina Dagmar. W.D. then sarcastically says, "Nice for embarrassing me in front of the whole universe, mom!"

After that, Mrs. Read tells D.W. to show W.D. some of her toys, so D.W. grabs W.D. by the arm and runs upstairs to her room. Later, D.W. brings over a game called Over the Rainbow Treasure Hunt. Because W.D. isn't interested in unicorns, she asks if there's anything with race cars. D.W. responds "No", much to W.D.'s disappointment. While Ursa and Jane hanging out in the living room, they soon hear the two girls arguing. Arthur goes upstairs to see what is going on. He sees them arguing about unicorns being real, and Arthur says to W.D. that it's a touchy subject for D.W. D.W. says that unicorns are real and that's the end of the story. Arthur suggests that they should go downstairs, because dinner is almost ready. W.D. weakly replies that she is sorry for what she had said. D.W. says that she's lucky that there were no unicorns in the room to hear her. W.D. scowls.

At dinner, W.D.'s mother tells her to show D.W. the toy she brought, a race car track. W.D. likes it, but D.W. is siting there bored. Then the two girls wonder why grown-ups think that just because they are the same age, they're going to have lots in common. Then it's nighttime, and W.D. and her family go home. Before they leave though, Herman says that they have a house up north, and invites the Reads (except Arthur) to stay with them, much to D.W. and W.D.'s horror. Later that night, D.W. has a nightmare where W.D. sets her up in a race car, while W.D. has a dream where she takes a unicorn ride when the two of them meet up. Their nightmares end at the same moment.

On the car ride, D.W. sits in her seat worried. Nadine comes along in her rocket car and tells D.W. a plan. Meanwhile, at the Merkles' house, W.D.'s imaginary friend, an elephant named Maxine, gives her advice. Then the two of them laugh. Soon, the Reads arrive, and Ursa tells Jane that the girls will have to share a room. W.D. sarcastically says, "Why would we mind?"

When the Reads and the Merkles go on a nature hike, the girls talk about their plans. Jane sees them talking and hopes that a weekend will be enough for them.

Later, in W.D.'s bedroom, the two plan to dump out the toy box. Herman and David hear the girls arguing, and they run upstairs to see them bickering about who dumped out the toy box. Herman suggests that they should go out on the porch to paint, because they need a creative activity.

This seems to work, until they get into a paint fight. All the parents hear the splashing, and see them covered in paint. Each girl points at each other and says "She started it!"

Then they go canoeing. The two girls argue about sitting in the front of the canoe, and they get into an arm fight, which causes the canoe to capsize. D.W. and W.D. then splash each other.

Before the Reads leave, Jane and Ursa realize that even though their girls are the same age, they don't have to get along if they have nothing in common. W.D. and D.W. then say that they actually had fun in the process. Then the car leaves, but D.W. changes her mind, and says that there must be something they have in common. The episode then finishes.

Characters

 * D.W. Read
 * W.D. Merkle (debut)
 * Herman Merkle (debut)
 * Ursa Merkle (debut)
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter (cameo)
 * Nadine Flumberghast
 * Maxine (debut)

Trivia

 * This is the last time the title card "Fairy D.W. Turns Arthur into a Frog" is used (in the U.S.)
 * D.W. says she and W.D. have nothing in common. This is false, as they both don't like being called by their full names and have imaginary friends.
 * Moral:
 * Don't interfere with someones problems for your own benefits.
 * Dont make up stuff for your own benefits.

Errors

 * At dinner time, Mr. Read tells Herman he has never been fly fishing before. But in "Cast Away" from Season 7, he was teaching Arthur how to fly fish and had plenty of flies. In that episode, he also says that his own father took him fly fishing when he was a kid, so this error cannot be explained by saying "Best Enemies" took place before "Cast Away". It's a minute detail, and the show has had many writers over the seasons, so it is understandable.
 * If you look closely at the very beginning of the episode intro, D.W. can be seen playing on the Lakewood Elementary school grounds with the third graders.

Production notes

 * In the American version of this episode, the stinkhorn fungus is redrawn to have larger caps. This was likely done because the phallic shape of a real stinkhorn fungus (accurately depicted in the international version of the episode) was deemed inappropriate.

Episode connections

 * When D.W. shows her dolls to W.D., D.W. is holding one of the Pretty Pioneer Dolls from the episode "Muffy's Classy Classics Club."