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Tuesday, October 05, 2021

The Lookback: Arthur : Seasons 21 and 22 : Sue Ellen and The Last Page/ When Rivals Came to Roost

Arthur PBS 


    We've headed towards the 21st and 22nd seasons and this is nearly the end of our long marathon of posts. (If you are reading this when we do in order or something) 

  
        We head to season 21, with episode 3b, now we've covered episode 3a  .  This is "Sue Ellen and The Last Page" that first aired in October 2017. 



     
   Cold Opening:   YouwhoTube, their version of Youtube, that Muffy is on becasue I'm sure many people are just interested in Muffy's life, just like millions. Sue Ellen wants Muffy to show the library and Sue Ellen 

  
    The episode:  This is an episode from 2017 , that's important.  Since the show ebbs and flows with being with modern times, it was always has, the funny thing is that show had been on for so long that early episodes that were modern for their time have some outdatedness just by the factor of time. The funny thing is that Arthur ends every airing with a message to check out "Arthur" books and other books at your local library. 
        
Libraries are scary/ Copyright WGBH

            This episode is about the library possibly shutting down. The city council wants to cut the funding because there aren't as many patrons as before due to the internet. Sue Ellen wants the place to continue. Her idea is get many people in support of the library to the council meeting.
      
    Oh this episode isn't trying to present the new era is bad and that modern people should feel bad because they might have ignored libraries for a few years. (That'd be a different show)  They instead are showing civic investment.  That you, the viewer, (the kid viewers mostly) if they feel something   is wrong to work for what they feel is right.  In this case, work for the something you care about, like the library. 
 
       During the meeting, Sue Ellen gives a speech to plead for the library. (I like that she mentions that's been in town for just about a year, which is true for the series, but also feels funny since the show has been on the air so long)  Anyway, ironically Sue Ellen finds out from a newspaper that the library will be closing down.  
 
         Because Muffy likes internet hits, she's happy that her recording of Sue Ellen's speech got hits.  Sue Ellen sees that Muffy modified the speech  but says that are supportive comments about the library and  they get the idea to raise money for the library. (It's weird to see an episode mention hashtag)   They also find out that libraries also do other things.  (they do?) 

           Then Sue Ellen and Muffy find out that the library used to dances, and even though the place was saved, there's going to be some cutbacks, even with some of the money raised. Muffy, thanks to seeing the picutre of her parents dancing at the library gets an idea.  Her father has sponsored new computers for the place. Then there's dancing. 
          
         They kind of pull a big save for the episode thanks to having a rich guy help, maybe the moral is find a rich guy to help.  The episode was fine, it was presented more neutrally with the idea of working to save something you care about was  a good one.  

  More after the jump

                Doing season 22, which we have done before, with some episodes I thought were good for the age of the show. You can read that post here .  

    We now are doing episode 2a: When Rivals Came to Roost



    
 Cold Opening:  The Brain presents a history of their school's competition with Mighty Mountain school, he mentions that the biggest competition is the science fair. 

   The Episode:   The episodes starts with Ratburn's class looking at worms, which are the science fair project.  Then Mr. Ratburn announces that the third grade classroom at Mighty Mountain flooded and they will be staying at the school with them in the same classroom.  Kind of weird for just one class to stay at a different school, and why it happened that way but I guess we need this plot to work somewhere. 

We agree that our mobile companies are to merge/Copyright WGBH 


   
       This episode doesn't remember that they stayed at MM during "April 9th".   The students want to welcome the class, besides Allan wants to be a rival still and yes. (He's the Yankees to their Redsox)  His rival is called Los Dedos , which is weird, and not because it's Spanish because it's Spanish for The Fingers. (That's a little odd for a nick name)
       Los Dedos and Allan show each other their projects and it's not a good work.  Ladonna seems more understanding about the situation. Buster mentions that ants and worms are natural enemies. (The Great Wormo-Ant war of 1983 took over lands and wiped out millions, cost trillion of dollars)  Buster and the episode have time for a story from a comic book. 

       The next day, they wait for lunch with the  Mighty Mountain kids going first, causing them to miss out on pizza day.(pizza no!)  The Ratburn kids over a few days starts to feel annoyed by the MM Kids being around so long.   Then, the container falls on the ground and the only solution is to put the worms with the MM kids' ants.  
    
     Anyway, Los Dedos and Danny feel bad that the  Elwood kids don't trust them and miss their own school. Brain and Muffy were over hearing half of what they said and think they are going to do something with the worms and run to the Mighty Mountain school.   They do find out that it was to get tool to safely pick up and move worms. Sadly, the classroom still can't be entered.

     Brain and Muffy start to feel bad and Brain finds out that Los Dedos not her real name (well I knew that, but Brain is apparently an idiot) it's her nickname for chess, which the finger thing makes more sense now. Her real name is Isabella.  Buster says the ants and worms are attacking each other, but actually they are working together.  Thus placing the moral of the episode of working together.  

     The combined school project wins.  

      This is a fine episode, there's not more I can add than I've already said, the idea team work and sometimes there's more to things than rivalries. 

    Anyway, that's it for now , tune in next time when we have to recant the whole great Ant-Worm war thing.

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