Idiotic Episodes 32

HEY ARNOLD!
Arnold Betrays Iggy

Hey everyone, and welcome to another Idiotic Episodes. Ah, Hey Arnold, the Nickelodeon show about the life of a kid with an oddly-shaped head as he interacts with a city full of people with oddly-shaped heads. I'd talk more, but that's really all there is to it. It's just a slice of life every episode, which gives this show its own identity among most other Nicktoons which prefer zany, over-the-top cartoon comedy. (some better than others, but I digress...) I loved this show growing up, and I would try to catch it every time it was on, and nearly every episode I saw gave me something different. I don't know if I'd call this my favorite Nicktoon of all time, as I still have Danny Phantom and Avatar: the Last Airbender to consider, but it's definitely in my top 5.

But don't get me wrong, there are the bad episodes. Most people would probably point to episodes like "Rhonda's Glasses" or "Harold the Butcher" which bring up changes to characters that are forgotten about in the next episode, but those don't really bother me all that much because they are entertaining to watch and the characters learn something in the end. (FYI, internal continuity is another reason why Danny Phantom is one of my favorite Nicktoons) Some ones I would call bad though are "Stuck in a Tree" (it's just "Roller Coaster" done worse), "24 Hours to Live" (let's not shut up about how long until some fight breaks out!), and of course, the Movie. (over-hyped and disappointing as sh**) But even those aren't as despised as today's subject, "Arnold Betrays Iggy," which may be this show's equivalent of "Putting Your Hoof Down" or "Everyone Knows It's Bendy." Everyone, from the creators to the audience, hates this episode with a passion. So what happens here to cause those levels of hatred? Well, let's find out...

We open on football-head himself walking down a street with his friends Sid and Stinky. (yes, that's his actual name. it's a family name, in fact!)

"Stinky: You're so lucky Mr. Simmons picked you to drop off Iggy's homework, Arnold.

Sid: Iggy's so cool. I bet he's not even sick!"

Oh yeah, Iggy! ... <_< ... >_> ...who's Iggy?

Oh, he's a background character who often appears in group shots of Arnold's class. And according to this conversation he's apparently the coolest kid there. I give them credit for adding personality to someone who didn't originally have any, but as the episode plays out you'll wish it had stayed that way...

"Stinky: Remember when he drew that funny chalk drawing of Principal Wartz looking like a circus clown on the school playground?

Sid: And Wartz got all mad and made Iggy stay after school for a whole week!

Stinky: That was so cool!

Sid: Yeah, I bet he's just faking being sick.

Stinky: He's so cool."

What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the repetitive dialogue.

Arnold makes it to Iggy's house but stumbles upon something very surprising.

"Arnold: *sees Iggy wearing bunny pajamas* Huh!?

Iggy: Arnold!?

Arnold: Iggy!?

Iggy: Arnold!"

Donkey: Donkey!

"Arnold: Are those bunny pajamas!?

Iggy: No of course not! I'm nine years old for cripe's sakes! Why would I be wearing bunny pajamas?"

Good question. Were they a gift from a dead relative? Are they something comfortable you wear when you're not feeling well? Do you like to cosplay as characters from Watership Down? This is a detail the episode didn't feel like telling us, he's just wearing bunny jammies for no reason other than to be an embarrassing secret. We are only a minute and a half into this and there's already so much incompetency on display!

Iggy makes Arnold promise not to reveal his secret, and we cut to the next day where Arnold is still giggling to himself, which piques Sid and Stinky's curiosity.

"Sid: What's so funny Arnold?

Arnold: It's nothing. Just, something that happened when I went to Iggy's yesterday.

Arnold: Well, it was just something he was wearing, but that's all I can say.

Sid: Well come on, how bad could it be? I mean, it wasn't like he was wearing bunny pajamas or something!"

Wow, you should probably consult a doctor before pulling something THAT big out of your ass!

Arnold's silence gives him away, but he makes Sid and Stinky promise not to reveal the secret. I'm sure they'll respect Arnold's wishes, right?

"Sid: It's true, Iggy wears bunny pajamas!

*kids on playground start laughing*"

YOU HAD ONE JOB!

The other kids start making fun of Iggy for this, with Stinky saying that Arnold was the one who told them. (great friends you have there, Arnold.) The best part? The episode actually believes this, as the entire rest of the episode focuses on Arnold trying to apologize for what he did, even though Sid and Stinky were the ones who blabbed! Just like "Putting Your Hoof Down," the person who truly deserves blame gets off scot-free! There were at least ten years between this episode's premeir and Fluttershy going bananas, I'd have hoped something would have been learned in all that time!

Arnold tries to apologize the next day, but Iggy is still understandably pissed off. We cut to Arnold's room, where his Grandfather comes in to try and give him some advice.

"Arnold's Grandpa: Well sir, some people would say you should buy his forgiveness with presents and favors, but I say you should just go to the boy and apologize and explain to him in a calm, rational way how it happened, and that you didn't mean to hurt him.

Arnold: And what if that doesn't work?

Arnold's Grandpa: Then buy his forgiveness with presents and favors!"

What great advice, if someone doesn't want to forgive you, bribe them! I can definitely see why Arnold looks up to you!

Arnold goes to Iggy's apartment where he tries to apologize once again.

"Arnold: Hi Iggy. I just wanted you to know I'm really, really sorry about what happened.

Iggy: ...

Arnold: And I brought you this. *hands Iggy box of candy*

Iggy: Deluxe chocolate creams? They for me?

Arnold: Yeah, I know they're your favorite. I asked around.

Iggy: I love these.

Arnold: So, does that mean you forgive me?

Iggy: No way. *slams door*"

Mickey Mouse: That accomplished absolutely nothing!

The next day Arnold practically stalks Iggy in order to get his forgiveness, while everyone on the playground is still mocking him about his jammies. (geez, can't they find something else to make fun of?)

"random kid: I'm Iggy the bunny boy! Hop hop hop!

Harold: I used to think he was cool!"

There was no reason for Harold to say that out loud. It's just there to try and make things worse. Good lord, the bad writing is reaching Merriwhether Williams levels!

We get a montage of the passing seasons, hinting that Iggy's been mad and Arnold's been hounding him for forgiveness for MONTHS. (seriously, did they mean to put in a "strange weather we've been having" joke but forgot?)

And at this point I realize someone's been noticably absent in this episode: Arnold's best friend Gerald. He's nowhere to be found in this entire episode except in the background when Harold said "I used to think he was cool!" Gerald would have been great help for Arnold in getting Iggy's forgiveness, or at least someone to comfort him about this, but no. For the purposes of this story, Gerald doesn't exist. It kind of feels like Gerald was originally meant to be the one Arnold supposedly blabbed a secret about, but then they realized "wait, Gerald wouldn't be this much of a dick!" so they changed it at the last minute. Well, if that is the case, this script needed a lot more changes than that to even be watchable!

Well, months later Arnold still hasn't given up on acquiring Iggy's forgiveness (seriously, at this point it pretty much is stalking), so he makes him a deal.

"Arnold: Look Iggy, I know you're still mad at me, but I've got an idea. What if I do your chores for a whole week? Would that be enough to prove to you how sorry I am?

Iggy: You're saying you wanna do my chores for a whole week, is that it?"

Well, that doesn't answer my question, but yeah.

So we get another montage of Arnold doing Iggy's chores for the week (less than 30 seconds after the last montage BTW), but even after all of that Iggy still doesn't want to forgive Arnold!

"Iggy: After what you did to me, how can doing a few chores possibly make me forgive you!?

Arnold!: Iggy, I thought we had a deal!

Iggy: I never said I'd let you off the hook!"

And there, any sympathy the audience could have possibly had for Iggy is now completely down the drain. And the episode still thinks he's in the right. I can understand holding a grudge, but when you exploit the other party for your own benefit you have no moral leg to stand on!

At this point any smart person would have given up, flipped Iggy the bird, and given him an atomic wedgie (and that's being nice), but not Arnold! He's been hounding him for months and he's not giving up now! So, what does Arnold have to do to get Iggy to let him off the hook? Oh, just wait...

We cut to just outside Arnold's boarding house, where Iggy sits on some kind of throne with a red carpet leading up to him, and Arnold is not looking too happy.

"Arnold: I can't believe I'm doing this.

Arnold's Grandpa: Arnold, I want you to know that when you go down there and walk that long, lonely embarassing walk, it's going to be all I can bear to watch... *holds up camera* and take pictures for the album!"

Yes, keep photos of what might possibly be the worst moment in your grandson's life! That won't make him want to hang himself ten years later! Seriously, what the hell?

Outside Iggy awaits the future humiliation, but then overhears a conversation by Sid and Stinky.

"Sid: I guess it's kind of mean of Iggy to make Arnold go through this."

Sid, Iggy passed "Kind of mean" a LONG time ago!

"Sid: I mean, Arnold really didn't spill the beans.

Stinky: Yeah, come to think of it, it was you and me who kinda pulled the truth out of him."

We could have said this to Iggy months ago and gotten our friend off the hook, but... we didn't.

Only then does Iggy realize he's been kind of an asshole. But unfortunately he's too late. It is now time for what many fans consider to be the show's absolute worst moment, right up there with Fluttershy insulting what her friends love to do most. Are you ready? Then take a deep breath and read on...

Arnold walks outside, in view of everyone on his block, wearing Iggy's bunny jammies. Everyone laughs at Arnold's misery, from his friends to his own family, a kid squirts water at him, and there's even a TV news crew there to film all of this! Okay, the TV news crew thing really bugs me. Firstly, wasn't Iggy's reputation supposedly ruined by everyone finding out his secret, did someone there owe him a favor or something? Secondly, why would a professional news crew take the word of a nine year old about a good story, was there really nothing else to report? Thirdly, even considering all that, it's just a nine year old in a rabbit suit, people see that every December when they put on A Christmas Story! Why would anyone really care about something like this? Even Nash wouldn't find this interesting enough to cover on WTFIWWY!

So, after the complete nuking of Arnold's self-esteem, We cut to later where Iggy sits on Arnold's steps wanting to apologize for all of this. Arnold, finally growing a brain after all of this, basically tells Iggy to screw off, the latter continuing to hound him asking for forgiveness of his own. And with Iggy yelling out his name like he just got a game over on Metal Gear Solid, the episode finally ends!

And thank god, because that has to be one of the most miserable experiences I've ever had to sit through! I can only think of two positive things to say on this episode: with Arnold hating him, the jerk of the episode gets some kind of comeuppance, which automatically makes this better than "Everyone Knows It's Bendy." And the backlash against this episode was so bad that Iggy never made another prominent appearance on the show again, going right back to being a wall flower. But those don't change how horrible this episode was! It's slow, it's lazy, it's incompetent, it has no idea who the protagonist is, it's just AWFUL.

Well, after that I think I need some levity... next month Teen Titans! Until then, this is mariomaster88, signing out!