Arthur Unravels

"Arthur Unravels"
Main image Title card Title card 2
Season/Series:	14
Number in season:	8a
Original airdate:	April 26, 2011 September 20, 2011 November 15, 2010 December 19, 2012
Credits
Written by:	Susan Kim
Storyboard by:	François Brisson
Episodes
Previous "Muffy and the Big Bad Blog"	Next "All the Rage"

Read transcript

"Arthur Unravels" is the first half of the eighth episode in the fourteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

Grandma Thora teaches Arthur how to knit, but he tries to hide his hobby out of fear that someone will discover it.

Plot

Arthur, Buster and Binky are seen in a jungle, searching for the Temple of King Zut-Hamano. Arthur accidentally leans on a tower rock, which makes the temple of King Zut-Hamano appear. The temple guardian appears and starts chasing them. The trio reach a cliff, and they do not know how to get across. Buster and Binky think that if they had a scarf, they would be saved. Arthur pulls out a scarf with a knitting needle in it, but puts it back in his backpack and says, "Yeah, too bad we don't have a scarf." Then, the guardian appears and the trio screams.

Arthur Unravels

Arthur and D.W. are spending the day at Grandma Thora's house -- it's raining outside, so they're forced to stay inside for the time being. They're trying to watch a movie, but (much to the kids' frustration) it keeps skipping back to the beginning. Grandma Thora knits a sweater with some yarn, and when D.W. comes over to see what she is doing, Thora offers to teach D.W. how to knit. Thora also offers to teach Arthur how to knit, but he initially declines, saying that it seems kind of boring. Thora convinces him otherwise by telling him about a famous book in which a woman named Madame Defarge uses knitting as a code to transmit secret messages to spies during wars. Arthur is intrigued and decides to learn how to knit.

Arthur picks up on it quickly and still knits, even hours after the rain stops. Thora is happy that Arthur likes knitting and asks what he is knitting. Arthur admits that he is unsure at this point, but he claims that it will ultimately be a scarf or some kind of hat. When looking for more yarn to continue knitting, Arthur asks his grandmother if she has more purple yarn. Thora checks her yarn basket and says that she does not but offers to take Arthur and D.W. to a place that will most likely have more purple yarn.

Thora takes Arthur and D.W. to The Yarn Yurt, which has different types of yarn in various colors. While Arthur looks for the yarn he wants, he runs into his piano instructor, Dr. Fugue, and is surprised to see him there. Dr. Fugue explains that he is looking for some yarn to knit a pair of fingerless gloves for one of his other students, as the student's hands tend to cramp up when playing certain piano pieces. Arthur then takes a different ball of the same color, thinking it is pink, but Dr. Fugue explains that it is actually fuchsia, explaining the difference between the two colors.

After paying for the yarn, Arthur goes outside to wait for D.W. and Grandma Thora, but then he sees Binky walking his way. At first, he tries ignoring him, but when Binky notices Arthur holding a bag of stuff from The Yarn Yurt, he asks what it is for. Arthur claims he got some stuff for his grandma. When Thora and D.W. come out of the store and Thora hands Arthur some knitting needles, Arthur does his best to convince Binky that he is not into knitting. However, when Arthur leaves with his sister and grandmother, Binky seems to suspect otherwise.

At school, during recess, Arthur and Buster knit behind some bushes. Buster does not see what the big deal is, but Arthur admits that he is worried that if other people see them knitting, they will be made fun of, especially since knitting is seen as kind of a "girly" hobby. While Buster is trying to make a sandwich cozy and Arthur is making a scarf (and intends to attach mittens to it), recess ends, and the boys have to put their knitting away.

While in class, Mr. Ratburn is teaching his students about colonial times -- one of the things he explains is how, back then, you could've been severely punished for things that most people probably wouldn't even consider crimes nowadays. After class, Arthur knits privately in the bathroom stall, where he thinks no one will see him. However, he gets nervous when he sees Binky coming in to wash his hands. Later that night, Arthur has a nightmare set in colonial times, where everyone finds out from Binky that Arthur is a knitter, and he gets punished by the community for being one as a result.

The next day at school, Arthur tells Buster that he will give up knitting after he finishes his scarf. However, while walking away to the cafeteria, a ball of yarn falls out of his backpack, and when Alex steps on the string, Arthur's knitting project gets pulled out of his backpack. Arthur, however, does not notice that this happened.

While getting his lunch in the cafeteria, Mrs. MacGrady reveals that she has heard about Arthur's new hobby and reveals that she has been knitting something that she hopes will inspire kids to eat more vegetables. Arthur tries to claim that he does not knit, even though it's evident that Thora told Mrs. MacGrady about her grandson's new hobby. Brain soon enters the cafeteria with Arthur's knitting project, not realizing who it belongs to, and tries to return it to the original owner. Muffy notices this and offers to take it if no one else claims it, seeing the fuchsia in the scarf and calling it a beautiful shade of pink. Arthur, unable to contain himself, yells out that it is fuchsia and ultimately gives himself away as the original owner of the scarf.

As Arthur leaves the school later, Binky stands outside the school and steps with the Tough Customers, who reveal they know Arthur knits. However, Binky is the only one who makes fun of Arthur for it, and Dr. Fugue soon comes to Arthur's defense about his new hobby. Dr. Fugue notes that Arthur's scarf is very well-made and offers to let Arthur join his knitting club, which meets every Wednesday evening. Dr. Fugue also notes that his club could use more members anyway, as aside from himself, the only other members are Oliver Frensky (Francine's dad), Mrs. MacGrady (the school lunch lady), and Rattles (the latter of which the rest of the Tough Customers are surprised to learn about). Arthur is also surprised to hear that there are other boys in the club, and Dr. Fugue points out that activities like knitting aren't just strictly for girls or boys and that lots of people are into that sort of thing. As he is leaving, Dr. Fugue compliments Binky on his role in a production of Swan Lake the other night, leaving Binky speechless.

The episode finishes at a meeting of Dr. Fugue's knitting club, which Arthur, Buster, and even Binky are shown to have joined. Arthur and Buster are knitting with Rattles and Mrs. MacGrady while Binky is sitting in an armchair next to Mr. Frensky and knitting some leg warmers for himself, explaining how his legs get cold sometimes and asks if anyone else experiences the same problem.

Characters

Major

• Arthur Read
• D.W. Read
• Thora Read

Minor

• Binky Barnes
• Buster Baxter
• Rattles
• Molly MacDonald
• Slink
• Mr. Ratburn
• Mrs. MacGrady
• Brain
• Muffy Crosswire
• Frederique Fugue
• Endengorn (on DVD)
• Will Nobody (on DVD)
• Fern Walters
• Oliver Frensky (Does not speak)

Cameo

• Luke
• Alex Davidson
• Maria Pappas
• Sue Ellen Armstrong
• George Lundgren
• Jenna Morgan
• Francine Frensky

Mentioned

• Nadine Flumberghast

Trivia

• After Thora offers to teach D.W. how to knit, D.W. decides to knit a poncho for Nadine, claiming that her birthday is coming up soon.
• Dr. Fugue is revealed to run a knitting club in addition to his job as a music instructor.
  • Ironically, while this episode notes the stereotype of knitting being a "girly" hobby, in Dr. Fugue's knitting club, Mrs. MacGrady is said (and shown) to be the only female member.
• In the U.S, this is the last time the "D.W. Interrupts Arthur's Bath" title card is used.

Episode connections

• El Boomerang from "Follow the Bouncing Ball" lies near the Red Square in Moscow in Arthur's spy fantasy.
• Arthur and D.W. watch The Chronicles of Ahmayzzia at Grandma Thora's house. The voices of Endengorn and Will Nobody aka The Prince of Light are heard. Ahmayzzia featured prominently in "The Chronicles of Buster."
• Puritan America was also portrayed in the introduction to "Francine's Pilfered Paper." Francine had to wear a P for plagiarist like Arthur wears a K for knitter.
• Dr. Fugue mentions that his student needs gloves to play Bach's Invention in F Major. In "Arthur Plays the Blues," Arthur has to play the same piece and is also given gloves.

Cultural references

• Thora mentions Madame Defarge, a character in Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities. While Arthur's fantasy suggests a twentieth century spy story, Dickens' novel is set during the French Revolution. The knitting contained the names of French aristocrats that were to be killed.
• Forcing criminals to wear a letter representing their crime was an actual form of punishment in Puritan America. It was famously portrayed in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
• When Binky was in the bathroom when Arthur was in there knitting, we could hear Binky whistling the Overture of 1812.

Errors

• During Arthur's nightmare, the video description incorrectly says "Muffy points at Arthur," when it is actually Fern who does so. It then says, "She pins a 'K' to his shirt," but it is Brain's hand that is seen pinning it.
• Dr. Fugue comments that Arthur’s scarf reminded him of a Schubert concerto despite the composer never writing a concerto during his lifetime.

Home Media

DVD

• PBS Kids: Grandparents are Great!

Gallery

Main article: Arthur Unravels/Gallery