| "D.W., Queen of the Comeback" | |
| Season/Series: | 14 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 9a |
| Original Airdate: |  April 27, 2011[1] September 21, 2011[3] January 11, 2011[2] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Peter K. Hirsch |
| Storyboard by: | Greg Hill |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "All the Rage" |
Next "In My Africa" |
| Read transcript |
"D.W., Queen of the Comeback" is the first half of the ninth episode in the fourteenth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
The Tibbles tease, D.W. fires back, the Tibbles taunt, D.W. has a snappy comeback, and round and round they go! Will it ever end? Perhaps an ancient Indian fable about a turtle and a wisecracking duck will be enough to teach D.W. to just let it go.
Plot[]
In the introduction, Arthur mentions moments that you want to repeat again and again. For him, it is pulling the sword from the stone in “The Return of the King”, for Buster it is getting a balloon ride from his dad, and for Mr. Ratburn it is giving a pop quiz on the first day of third grade. Arthur assumes that D.W. would choose the day she saved the snowball, but D.W. instead chooses the day she got back at the Tibbles.
D.W., Queen of the Comeback
A long flashback follows: Mr. Pelato, the barber, messes up D.W.’s haircut, so she ends up with boyish short hair. Since even Emily cannot help giggling, D.W. tries to invent a disease as an excuse for wearing a hat. The Tibbles see her hair, however, and start calling her “Dennis.” D.W. cannot think of a good comeback.
Arthur teaches D.W. some comebacks, but the Tibbles outwit her, e.g. they unexpectedly pay her a compliment to which she replies “I’m rubber, you’re glue…”.
Arthur takes D.W. to Rattles and Binky, with Rattles's first suggestion being that D.W. should just try ignoring the Tibbles. But then they suggest calling them words like "bibliophile" and "philanthropists," which are not insults.
D.W. is then seen spending time with Grandma Thora and Mrs. MacGrady (plus Thora's dog, Killer), and explains her situation with the Tibbles. Thora suggests that D.W. should just ignore the Tibbles and Mrs. MacGrady ends up reading a story from India to D.W. called The Tortoise and the Geese, in which a tortoise is carried through the air by two geese by biting into a stick the geese are holding. When a duck makes fun of the tortoise, it cannot resist talking back and falls down.
D.W. does not understand the moral, but at night she dreams that the duck and tortoise are having a tea party in her room. They have been bickering for 2000 years, since neither can resist answering insult with insult. They are also chained together by the legs.
The next morning at preschool, D.W. wants to insult the Tibbles, but then she sees James with a toy tortoise and duck. She tells the Tibbles that she does not care what they call her.
Back in the present day, D.W. explains that the Tibbles eventually gave up teasing, and that she adopted the strategy of “keeping the stick in the mouth” when dealing with the Tibbles. She also mentions that revenge was sweet in that Ms. Morgan, who had witnessed D.W.'s exchange with Tibbles, had rewarded her with a brownie for handling the situation so maturely.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Arthur Read
- Signore Pelato
- Jane Read
- Binky Barnes
- Rattles
- Mrs. MacGrady
- Martha
- Thora Read
- Duck (story and dream)
- Tortoise (story and dream)
- Geese (story)
Flashback[]
- Buster Baxter
- Francine Frensky
- Muffy Crosswire
- Bo Baxter
- Mr. Ratburn
- Maria Pappas
- Jenna Morgan
- George Lundgren
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
Cameo[]
Trivia[]
Cultural references[]
- Signore Pelato is Italian for Mr. Bald.
- The Panchatantra is a collection of Indian fables from the 3rd to 6th century. Mrs. MacGrady retells The Tortoise and the Geese.
- Martha is in Bodh Gaya in India, which is said to be the place where Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, obtained enlightenment.
Episode connections[]
- El Boomerang from “Follow the Bouncing Ball” is seen in Bodh Gaya, India, on Martha's webcam.
- The introduction shows a flashback of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone in “The Return of the King”.
- Arthur would later bring this story up again in "The Best Day Ever."
- Another flashback shows Buster getting a balloon ride from his dad which he did in “1001 Dads”, although that episode finished with the balloon arriving and Buster's dad was not seen.
- Arthur mentions D.W.’s snowball which first appeared in “D.W.'s Snow Mystery”.
Errors[]
- When the duck is flying off, she flashes red for one frame.
Gallery[]
Screenshots
References[]