The Perfect Brother

"The Perfect Brother"
Season/Series:	1
Number in season:	21b
Original Airdate:	November 4, 1996 February 3, 1997
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Stéfanie Gignac
Episodes
Previous "Sue Ellen Moves In"	Next "D.W.'s Snow Mystery"
Read transcript

"The Perfect Brother" is the second half of the twenty-first episode in the first season of Arthur. It was later adapted into the book Arthur and the Perfect Brother.

Summary

Arthur invites the Brain to spend a weekend, then regrets it.

Plot

Arthur tells the viewers that he loves having his friends come over while he is doing his homework in his room. He then flashes back about the time Buster came over to his house and remembers when he took a lot of food for dinner. Dad reminds Arthur to eat peas, but he realizes that there is one pea left. Buster eats the last one, but Arthur wishes he ate over every night since he doesn't have to worry about leftovers. Arthur also remembers about the time Francine caused a mess in the house just after she left. He wishes that all of his friends lived in his house, but then falls over on his chair. 

---Title Card---

We now see Arthur painting a picture in the kitchen. DW then enters and asks what the painting is. Arthur commands her to leave, but then Mom comes in and tells him that The Brain (in which she calls Alan) is coming over to visit his house during the weekend because his parents are going away to an ice cream convention. At first, Arthur doesn't understand who Alan is, but then realizes it's The Brain. He feels great that The Brain is coming over and it will feel like having a brother. Meanwhile, DW paints on Arthur's picture. Arthur tells DW to stop, grabs the paintbrush from her, and gets paint on his face. He feels that he is "stuck" with Kate and DW, his sisters. DW doesn't believe that he is stuck, and that he can leave whenever he pleases. Then Arthur thinks about the great things that he and The Brain will do, such as building a time machine or walking on the ceiling with Moonboots, pranking DW with a spider, and staying up late.

While Mom, Pal, and Kate are playing, DW feels jealous about The Brain coming over because she feels like there are two Arthurs. She then imagines herself being chased by two Arthurs, but one has the Brain's voice. They wrap her up in toilet paper since they are forcing her to play Egyptian Princess. After imagining what could happen, DW says that she'd much rather spend the weekend at Grandma Thora's than at home.

The next day, The Brain arrives and his father tells everyone that Brain's mother was nominated for her best new flavor, Cucumber Crunch, which disgusts DW. Dad wishes Brain's parents good luck and they drive away. Arthur then suggests that Brain should put his things in his room and they run into the house. Then the two play with their Bionic Bunny action figures with Pal playing along as well. Pal then jumps on the two and licks Brain. Mom then tells the boys that it's time for dinner. She also notices that the Brain is more neat than Arthur.

At dinner, Arthur finishes quickly since he and the Brain can play. Brain asks Arthur's parents to be excused. They say of course and says that dinner was delicious. Brain then asks Arthur if they should be doing homework, but he says that it's due on Monday. The Brain then says if they finish the homework now, they will have more time for next week's lessons, which surprises Arthur. Mom says that the Brain is a very sensible person and Arthur finally accepts Brain's advice.

The Brain finishes his homework before Arthur does, which shocks him since he didn't complete the questions yet. Insecurely, Arthur asks the Brain if he can look at his answers, but he says yes, however, he won't learn anything from looking. Arthur decides to finish his homework later and they go off to play basketball outside. Arthur is surprised at how good The Brain is at basketball. He gets tired and wants to do homework, but Brain tells him that he shoots 100 free throws for practice. Arthur asks if he was born good, but Brain says no.

Later that night, Arthur wakes up and quietly asks The Brain if he wants to watch movies. The Brain asks if his parents will be angry and suggests that they should sleep since it helps everyone grow. Arthur then says he'd rather be short and watch movies. The next day, DW shows Arthur new tricks the Brain taught Pal. Pal stands up on his feet, gets down low, and puts a piece of paper in the trash on his own. DW thought that Pal was dumb at first, but maybe it was Arthur who bothered him. He gets angry as a result.

In the garage, Arthur and the Brain are making model airplanes, in which Arthur finished first. Then the two go to the park to try out the planes. Arthur's plane flies unsuccessfully, while Brain's soars all over the place. Back home, Dad is preparing sandwiches, but Brain says that he can put on the condiments much faster. He combines the mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup together tied up with a rubber band and squeezes them all out at once. Dad thinks that is fantastic, but Arthur sarcastically says yes. Then Arthur wants to play a board game with the Brain, but he is too busy showing Mom how to reprogram her computer. Arthur is now starting to feel jealous and bored. After hearing "Rapuzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!", Arthur goes in and notices that the Brain is reading the story of Rapunzel to DW. Then Arthur tells him that the game that they wanted to play is set up outside. DW says that he's too busy reading, although Arthur never wants DW to read, but Brain is faster with reading. Then he says that he'll be outside as soon as he's done after DW closes the window curtains.

Then Arthur goes to Buster's apartment and Buster asks where the Brain is. Arthur says that he is at his house. Buster asks why he's not coming to the park, and Arthur says that he is very jealous of him being better than him. He then imagines the Brain using a fork and knife to cut his french fries. Then Arthur and Buster ride their bikes in the park. Buster says that the Brain is a nice person and that it's not a good idea to make him bad on purpose. Arthur agrees with his comment and doesn't blame the Brain for Arthur's family liking him.

Later that day, Arthur comes home and tells The Brain he had to go to Buster's for something. Then Pal runs over to the Brain, but then he brings him back to Arthur since he got confused thinking that the Brain looked like Arthur. Dad asks Arthur if he did his homework, then he admits he didn't do it and will finish it anyway. Then he notices the Brain playing the board game with his family.

Afterwards, it's time for The Brain to go home. Arthur says goodbye to him, and Mom and Dad says to the Brain that his parents are lucky to have him. Then Arthur says that they're gonna be happy to see him again. DW then announces that Kate said her first word, "BRAIN!" While Mom, Dad, DW, and Kate wave goodbye to the Brain, he asks Arthur if he wants to come over to his house to make popcorn. He says no hastily, but then Brain asks if he's mad at him. Arthur then replies by telling him that he is a perfect person. When Brain gets back to his house, he tells his parents that he's home. Then Brain's mother asks if he had fun. He replies yes and tells her that he and Arthur are going to unpack in his room. Arthur walks into Brain's room and is shocked because his room is messy. He says that Brain was so neat at his house, but he insisted that he had to be polite. Then the two go downstairs to the kitchen and make popcorn. Arthur offers assistance to Brain's dad and claims that he could take a few lessons from him. Then the episode ends with Arthur and The Brain eating wildly.

Characters

Major

• Alan Powers
• Arthur Read
• D.W. Read
• David Read
• Jane Read

Minor

• Buster Baxter
• Francine Frensky (does not speak)
• Mr. Powers
• Mrs. Powers

Trivia

• The plane that The Brain and Arthur built is a Boeing 747. 

Running Gags

• Baby Kate's first word is "Brain." in this episode.

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