Mei Lin Takes a Stand

"Mei Lin Takes a Stand"
Season/Series:	12
Number in season:	8B
Original Airdate:	April 22, 2009 April 29, 2009
Credits
Written by:	Peter K. Hirsch
Storyboard by:	Nick Vallinakis
Episodes
Previous "The Blackout"	Next "Home Sweet Home"

"Mei Lin Takes a Stand" is the second half of the eighth episode in the twelfth season of Arthur.

Summary

Binky's baby sister Mei-Lin isn't keen on learning to walk and would rather stick to crawling.

Plot

At the beginning of the episode, Pal and Kate announce to the viewers that this is Mei Lin's first time to announce the show. Mei Lin says she likes the show, but according to her pie graph, only sixteen percent of the characters are babies. Pal is offended by her saying that "even" pets get more screen time. Kate notes that Mei Lin is cranky, and suggests that maybe they woke her up from a nap. Mei Lin is offended that Kate implied that babies only get grumpy when they are tired and says that Kate is acting like an adult and even walked one time. The babies object to this, and then Pal starts the show.

At the Read house, Binky and Mei Lin are visiting. Mei Lin almost walks to play with the TV remote but falls down. Binky is sad that Mei Lin has almost walked five times in a row, but never walked. Arthur suggests maybe she is not ready, as Kate has learned to walk a month ago and is still an awkward walker, crawling most of the time. Mei Lin is looking through some glasses. Kate wants her to walk, but Mei Lin thinks crawling is safer. Pal says you also find more leftovers while crawling and eats a dirty biscuit. He then gets an itch, and while inspecting him, Kate finds the fleas Pepe and Sale. Mei Lin wants the fleas to be squashed, but Kate says no, they are their friends and asks for a story. Pepe starts to tell the story about his long-lost brother, but Kate and Pal have already heard that one, so instead he tells another story.

In the story, there was an ancient kingdom where no one walked, everyone crawled. In this kingdom was a rich, lazy princess named Lemini, who was about the same age as Kate and Mei Lin. Princess Lemini asked her servant who was a cat named Meno for a grape. Meno grumbled to himself about having to peel Princess Lemini's grapes. After eating the grape, she called for her best friend, a dog in a jester's outfit named Lap, who entertained her by walking on his hind legs. This was entertaining as everyone crawled in this kingdom, so walking was a novelty. But Meno was jealous of Lap, so he fed him a cursed doggie treat, which turned him into stone. This made Princess Lemini crestfallen. Seeing as no one in town could cure Lap, she went off into the desert. Just as she was running out of milk, Princess Lemini ran across a camel, who was surprised to find a baby in the desert. After Lemini explained about Lap, the camel gave her a ride to a beach, where a doctor named Baba Katie was treating a crab. Dr. Baba Katie listens to Princess Lemini's story and concluded that Lap was under an evil spell. She couldn't cure him, but there was a fruit that could, and it was over the sea, so Princess Lemini set off in a boat. A sea monster came, so the princess had to row. She had never rowed before, but got good at it, and came to the fruit's island. Trouble was it was on top of the mountain, but with all her determination and sympathy for Lap, Princess Lemini managed to climb all night and get the fruit at the top of the tree. Then the branch broke.

At that point, the story ends, but the babies and Pal don't like the ending, so Pepe adds more.

After the branch broke, a pelican caught Lemini in its beak and flew her back to her palace. The trouble was, Lap was standing up, so Princess Lemini had to stand up too to cure him, but she did. And after standing up, Princess Lemini taught everyone to walk, except for Meno.

The story finishes and everyone liked it, but Mei Lin wants to know what the moral was. Pal says the moral was don't trust cats. He is about to ask what happened to Meno, but Pepe and Sale have left. Then Binky and Mei Len leave the Read House.

That night, Mei Lin finally stands up, and notes that older people are impressed by the little things.

Characters

• Mei Lin Barnes
• Kate Read
• Pepe
• Pal
• Sale
• Arthur Read
• Binky Barnes
• Princess Lemini
• Meno
• Lap
• Camel
• Dr. Baba Kety
• Pelican
• Sea Monster
• Jane Read (cameo)
• Mrs. Barnes (cameo)

Trivia

• The main image was wide-screen which is rare for season 1-13 or 15 to have this.
• This is Pepe and Sale's second appearance on Arthur, after their debut in "Flea to Be You and Me".
  • This is also the first time they meet Sale in person.
• Moral: Dont be picky for your own benefits.
• 4th Wall Break:
  • Mei Lin breaks the fourth wall in the intro.
  • The names of Princess Lemini, Lap and Meno are anagrams of Mei Lin, Pal and Nemo, respectively.

Errors

• When Mei Lin calls to Binky after Pepe finishes his story with an unhappy ending, the closed captioning displays "Stinky!" instead of "Binky!"

Episode connections

• Uncle Slam appeared in a fantasy in “Thanks a Lot, Binky”. He is seen on TV in "The Good, the Bad, and the Binky" and appears in person in the remake of The Great MacGrady (replacing Lance Armstrong, who was written out of the original episode due to Armstrong's real life doping scandal.)

Cultural references

• Sale communicates by blowing a horn while his brother speaks with an Italian accent. This could refer to Harpo and Chico Marx
• The red crescent on Dr. Baba Kety's tent is a symbol of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
• The stork carrying Princess Lemini looks like a folkloristic depiction of a stork delivering a baby.

Gallery

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  Kate Presses a button

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  Mei Lin's Pie chart

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References