Francine & the Soccer Spy

	"Francine & the Soccer Spy"
	Main image; Title card;
Season/Series:	21
Number in season:	3a
Original Airdate:	October 26, 2017; June 5, 2020 ;
	Credits
Written by:	Vanessa Wiegel
Storyboard by:	Bernie Denk; Allan Jeffery
	Episodes
Previous; "The Master Builders"	Next; "Sue Ellen & the Last Page"

"Francine & the Soccer Spy" is the first half of the third episode in the twenty-first season of Arthur.

Summary

When Ladonna befriends a new member of the Mighty Mountain soccer team, Francine becomes convinced she is leaking top secret team info.

Plot

Francine, as Agent 008, is sent to capture a spy. After playing in a casino with Buster, she notices the spy and drives after them. When Francine unmasks the spy, she sees that the spy is identical to herself.

Francine & the Soccer Spy

After the Lakewood team loses a soccer game, Francine encourages the team to practice more. At her house, Ladonna is told of a new student named Danny Torres moving to the neighborhood and going to dinner with them. Back at the soccer field, Francine shows a plan for her soccer game, and does not want anybody not on the team to know about it; Ladonna leaves practice to meet with Danny. Francine is suspicious and goes to Ladonna's house, finding Ladonna and Danny playing soccer, and suspects that Danny is "on the team."

At school, Francine tells Muffy that Ladonna is a spy. Muffy thinks that Francine is overreacting, and Francine goes to spy on Ladonna and Danny. Danny gives Ladonna a Mighty Mountain shirt, which Francine takes a picture of and uses as proof. In the Ice Cream Shop, Francine holds a meeting and shows a badly-taken picture that does not actually prove her point.

Francine gives Ladonna a fake plan for her soccer team, suspecting her to tell Danny about it. She follows her to the Elwood City Public Library and later sees her giving Danny a paper. At the soccer field, Danny reveals that the paper Ladonna gave her was an invitation to her house. Francine apologizes and shakes hands with Danny.

At Ladonna's house, she and her friends play charades. After Ladonna charades a soccer game, Danny and Francine go out to play soccer.

Characters

Major

Minor

Cameo

Gallery

Trivia

Episode connections

Danny Torres is seen again in "When Rivals Came to Roost."
The introduction resembles "Is That Kosher?," since if features an antagonist who is revealed to be Francine herself.
In the introduction, Francine Frensky aka 008 drives a red sports car with the license plate “FF*008”. In a fantasy in “Sue Ellen Moves In”, Sue Ellen the spy drives a red sports car with the license plate “SULN”.
Arthur denies having a teddy bear, but he fiddles his glasses when he does so, so he probably still has Stanley (see “Arthur Meets Mister Rogers”).

Cultural references

The beginning of the episode parodies the gun barrel sequence seen at the beginning of most James Bond movies. Double-O spies, the character “M”, the casino, the car with gadgets, the underground lair and the plan to blow up the world are also typical plot elements of James Bond stories.

Errors

There is a TV in the Compsons’ living room though Ladonna and Bud have mentioned in several episodes that they do not have a TV.^[3]

References

↑ https://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20002103/ (archive)
↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide/cbbc/20200605
↑ "After that, we gave the TV to the alligator sanctuary for good." -Ladonna

External links

Transcript: Francine and the Soccer Spy / Sue Ellen & the Last Page. TVOKids. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020.

[1] ttps://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20002103/ (archive)

[2] ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide/cbbc/20200605

[3] "After that, we gave the TV to the alligator sanctuary for good." -Ladonna

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