Buster's Secret Admirer

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"Buster's Secret Admirer"
Season/Series:	15
Number in season:	3a
Original Airdate:	October 12, 2011 May 13, 2013 October 11, 2010
Credits
Written by:	Allan Neuwirth Peter K. Hirsch
Storyboard by:	Elise Benoit
Episodes
Previous "Whistling in the Wind"	Next "The Last King of Lambland"

"Buster's Secret Admirer" is the first half of the third episode in the fifteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

Buster receives chocolates in the mail from a "secret admirer" and tries to uncover who it was sent by asking everyone.

Plot

In a fairytale forest, Buster is seen sitting at the base of a tree, plucking the petals off a flower as he talks to the viewers about how great love is. The flower then suddenly comes to life, and starts talking back I hate love! How would you like to have your petals plucked out! Then, squirrels in the tree start throwing strawberries at Buster, who is now very frightened and runs away into a clearing. A flock of flying cupid-pigs suddenly appear and shoot at Buster with arrows. He screams as he wakes up, realizing it was only a dream. He looks at the camera from his bed and says, "Isn't it weird how sometimes the nicest dreams turn out to be the worst nightmares?" Then he suddenly realizes that an arrow from the dream is in his bed. He gasps.

Buster's Secret Admirer

One day in the Baxters' dining room just before school, Buster is finishing his cereal when his mom comes in with the mail. There's a package for Buster with no return address. Buster is almost late, so he chooses to open it up at school.

At school later that day Buster shows the mysterious package to Arthur. Buster is afraid that it came from someone playing a trick, so he has Arthur open it. It turns out to be an expensive box of chocolates with a valentine themed card inside. Buster starts on the chocolates as Arthur reads the card:

"For someone I adore, A boy who's never a bore, Likes a good joke, loves to eat, Let me treat you with something sweet. ~Your Secret Admirer"

Buster immediately looks around for students who could be his secret admirer. Not able to figure out who it could possibly be, he starts researching the meaning of the word. He discovers that if he scrambles the letters of 'secret admirer' the words 'dream reciters' can be made. Buster makes up what dream reciters are: hooded beings that create his dreams, who also gave him the chocolates. Arthur doesn't agree but gives Buster a big lead. Since the chocolates were expensive, perhaps the secret admirer is Muffy. Buster sends a thank you package to Muffy filled with a poem, a pickle, and a bologna sandwich. The food is (of course) rotten when it arrives at Muffy's house and Muffy is disgusted. She marches angrily towards Buster the next day and makes sure he understands that she would never be his secret admirer.

Buster's next guess if Fern since she is so good at poetry, but Fern says she isn't. After asking Sue Ellen and Molly, Buster begins to doubt he'll ever find his secret admirer. The next issue of The Frensky Star is titled "Who is Buster's Secret Admirer? Who cares!!" It appears that the whole school has heard of Buster's search and is tired of it. Buster chooses to stop looking.

That night, Buster has another dream. In it, a forklift delivers a giant box of chocolates to his front door. Driving it is one of Buster's hooded Dream Reciters. Buster chases it around Elwood City until it vanishes in front of Buster's classmates. They all make fun of Buster, saying how they'd never be his secret admirer. Suddenly the dream changes and three dream reciters appear around a cauldron. They give Buster a big clue about who the real admirer is: the first letters of the original poem spell a word.

The letters spell "fall." Buster realizes that the secret admirer was his own mother since they celebrate a little holiday called Fall Day every September. Buster makes his mother a breakfast the next morning, and gives her another poem back, signed "Secret Admirer." "I wonder who that could be," his mom says.

Characters

Major

• Buster Baxter

Minor

• Bitzi Baxter
• Arthur Read
• Binky Barnes
• Bailey
• Fern Walters
• Muffy Crosswire
• Prunella Deegan

Cameo

• Molly MacDonald
• Francine Frensky
• Mary
• Helen
• Sue Ellen Armstrong
• Maria Pappas
• The Brain
• George Lundgren
• Luke
• Steve
• Alex
• Jenna Morgan
• Kenny
• 3rd Grade Male Rat
• 3rd Grade Male Cat
• Mr. Higgins

Trivia

• Moral: You have to search for clues to solve a mystery instead of jumping to conclusions.
• 4th wall Break: After Binky hands Buster the issue of The Frensky Star, as Buster reads the front page of the newspaper, it can be seen that the issue number of The Frensky Star is "180A." This is a reference to this episode's original production code, as well as its broadcast order number outside of the US.
• At the end of the episode, there is a real photo of two people on the calendar on the wall. It is unknown who these two people are.

Cultural references

• In the second scene with the Dream Reciters, it features music recycled from the show "Redwall TV." This piece was used in the show's final episode.

Errors

• Buster mentioned Baxter Day, but as this episode takes place in September, the events of Arthur's Perfect Christmas have not happened yet.

Episode connections

• Muffy is seen playing with one of her World Girl dolls from "World Girls."
• Pinchman's chocolates also featured prominently in "Buster's Sweet Success." That episode also had Binky taking much more than he was offered.
• Buster mentions Baxter Day, which was first mentioned in "Arthur's Perfect Christmas"

Gallery

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  1503a Title Card

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