Brain's Biggest Blunder

"Brain's Biggest Blunder"
Season/Series:	16
Number in season:	7b
Original Airdate:	May 7, 2013 May 7th, 2013 April 18, 2013 December 18, 2012
Credits
Written by:	Matt Hoverman
Storyboard by:	Robert Yap
Episodes
Previous "Baseball Blues"	Next "Buster's Book Battle"
Read transcript

"Brain's Biggest Blunder" is the second half of the seventh episode in the sixteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

When Brain gets teamed with Buster and Binky in the annual Arithmattack competition, he immediately enrolls Buster in binomial boot camp. Can Brain transform Buster into a mathematic marvel? Or will he be forced to eat humble pi?

Plot

Brain explains to the viewers that he doesn't take getting 'A's for granted, contrary to popular belief; his mom puts them on their refrigerator, just like other kids. Brain then shows the viewers his secret warehouse of refrigerators with 'A's on them, when Brain hears and sees a monster (Buster) inside a cage with a sheet over it. Brain tells the viewers not to look, because it's his only failure.

Brain's Biggest Blunder

After the title card, Mr. Ratburn repeats a math question to Buster. Buster tries to concentrate, but he still gets the answer wrong. Mr. Ratburn then turns to Brain for the answer, and Brain gets the answer right. Mr. Ratburn tells Buster that he should review his long division before the upcoming Arithmattack competition, or as Arthur likes to call it, "The Brain Wins Again Competition". Mr. Ratburn tells the class that they will be doing something differently this year; instead of competing individually, they will be in randomly assigned teams. Brain is shocked and gasps when he finds out that Mr. Ratburn teams up Brain with Binky and Buster.

In the cafeteria at lunchtime, Arthur asks Buster if he is nervous to be on Brain's team, but Buster doesn't think that Brain cares about another math award. Just then, Brain is seen talking to Prunella about how his team, Brain's Binomials, will turn her team, The Wizardly Order of the Fourth Grade, into "a null set". When Brain comes over to Arthur and Buster's table, he sees Buster putting butter on his hand, and asks him why he is doing so. Buster nervously laughs. Brain plans to tutor Buster after school, and has some ideas for tutoring, to which Buster nervously gulps and continues to put butter on his hand.

Later, after school in Brain's bedroom, Brain tutors Buster for five hours, and Brain is pleased with the studying session afterwards. As Buster leaves Brain's house talking to himself about the formula for pi, Brain imagines himself winning an award for making Buster smarter than RoboCount, the world's most sophisticated supercomputer.

The next day at school, during the Arithmattack competition, Buster gets one of the questions wrong, but Brain's Binomials make it to the Arithmattack finals against Prunella's team after Binky gets the last one right. Brain is happy that Binky got the question right, but when he looks for Buster, he can't find him.

After talking with Prunella once again in the cafeteria, Brain comes over to the table where Arthur is sitting, and he asks Arthur where Buster is. Arthur tries to lie, until Brain finds Buster hiding under the table. Buster thinks that Brain is upset with him for getting the question wrong, but Brain says that it's not Buster's fault, but rather his fault for not tutoring Buster hard enough. After Brain dumps a glass of water on Buster's head when he gets another question wrong, Buster gets mad at Brain for being a terrible tutor and leaves the cafeteria.

That night, Brain has a dream where he wins an award, but when he goes to ask Buster (who looks like a monster) a question, Buster gets mad, and even throws RoboCount off-screen. When Brain wakes up from his dream, he dumps a glass of water on his own head.

The next day, Binky takes Buster to the Tower of Pain to tutor him, because he had a lot of trouble with math the year before, just like Buster. When Binky tells Buster how he figured out his multiplication tables by imaging the equation as little dancers, Buster tells Binky that he isn't into dance, claiming that the only dance he knows is the hokey-pokey. Binky tells Buster to find something that works for him, and Buster finds that cake works for remembering multiplication.

The next Monday, at the Artithmattack finals at school, Buster gets the multiplication question right, and Brain's team wins the Arithmattack competition.

Afterwards, Brain is shocked that Binky was a better tutor to Buster than he was, but Buster says that he needed someone to tutor with that struggled with math like he did. Buster then offers Brain some suggestions on how to be a better math tutor, finishing the episode.

Characters

Major

• Binky Barnes
• The Brain
• Buster Baxter

Minor

• Nigel Ratburn
• Arthur Read
• Prunella Deegan
• Alfonz
• Steve

Cameo

• Mrs. Powers
• Jenna Morgan
• Fern Walters
• George Lundgren
• 3rd Grade Male Rat
• Alex
• Maria Pappas
• Mrs. Bickles
• Mr. Bickles
• Rattles
• Molly MacDonald
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Jack Weasel
• Nancy
• Slink
• Bitzi Baxter
• 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
• Ladonna Compson
• Carl Gould (possible; without glasses)

Trivia

• Timeline: Buster mentions his Dark Bunny buggy, which featured prominently in “Buster the Lounge Lizard”.
• In this episode, Steve speaks for the first time.

Cultural references

• When Brain dreams about himself winning an award the second time, Buster looks very similar to The Hulk.
• RoboCount refers to RoboCop. While calculating, he sits in the pose of Rodin's The Thinker.

Errors

• In one scene, Prunella appears twice in the background.

Home Video

DVD

• Arthur Goes Back to School

Gallery

:Main article: Brain's Biggest Blunder/Gallery