This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the book. |
"Friday the 13th" | |
Season/Series: | 6 |
---|---|
Number in season: | 10b |
Original Airdate: | November 26, 2001[1] January 7, 2002[3] April 19, 2002[2] |
Credits | |
Written by: | Gerard Lewis |
Storyboard by: | Alex Hawley Lyndon Ruddy |
Episodes | |
Previous "Arthur Loses His Marbles" |
Next "Cast Away" |
Read transcript |
"Friday the 13th" is the second half of the tenth episode in the sixth season of Arthur. It was later adapted into the book Arthur and the Bad-Luck Brain.
Summary[]
While others are stepping over cracks or walking around ladders, Brain scoffs and defies all the superstitions—but then he has a run of bad luck. With Friday the 13th on the way, should he rethink these matters?
Plot[]
Brain arrives to a creepy, worn down location and hesitantly goes inside to see the group watching a scary movie. He questions the title and watches as a girl walks through a hallway. The others panic as Brain claims that he understands what is going to happen and Buster asks him if he has already seen the movie. But Brain just tells him it's predictable and everyone becomes bored as he reveals what's going to happen. The lights suddenly go out and Brain goes to investigate the dark house until he comes to a door. Slowly opening it, he stares in shock and gasps in fear.
During a baseball game, Francine is giving Brain a pep-talk as Buster keeps telling him to spit on the bat. Brain then tries to tell Buster how dirty spitting is and gains two strikes as a result. Suddenly, Brain hits the third ball, which then bounces off a light pole and a catcher easily gets it. The others tell Brain they probably lost because of him not spitting on the bat, and that none of them remembered to bring their lucky items with them.
Later, at his family's ice cream store, Brain is still trying to convince Buster that he is wrong with this luck nonsense when they leave, only to see a black cat. Buster tries to stop Brain, but fails to believe superstitions are not true. They watch as Mr. Ratburn walks around a ladder and Buster tries to reason with Brain using "reverse logic" until he sees a crack in the sidewalk. He then hops away as Brain plans on stopping this nonsense!
The next day, Brain has gathered his friends and shows them three exhibits, such as a crack (which he dances on), ladder (which he walks under), and mirror (which he drops and breaks). Arthur tells him that he just gained seven years of bad luck and Brain shows them his special chart that he plans to use as a graph. He is going to prove how wrong they are once and for all when a rain storm drives the others off. Brain tries to tell them it wasn't bad luck and his umbrella is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.
Later, during dinner, Brain soon learns his mother believes in superstitions also and asks her how she possibly can when someone rings the doorbell. Binky then challenges him with some math questions and Brain determines Binky only wants homework help, so Brain leads him to his room to discover his missing backpack and they resume doing Binky's homework.
That evening, Brain is having trouble sleeping, due to his leaky roof and thundering weather. That morning he is woken up to realize that he is very late for school and he rushes to get his bike until his mom says that he left his math homework and lunch behind. Unfortunately, Brain leaves the bike in the driveway and his father runs over it! So he is forced to run the rest of the way, but trips on a crack in the sidewalk, falls into a mud puddle and a dog eats his homework. A crow steals his lunch as well. Arriving to school around 10:30, Brain tells Mr. Ratburn how a dog ate his homework, but no one seems to believe him despite the mess.
Brain goes over his chart and fears that he will have even worse luck considering it'll be Friday the 13th soon. So he goes to Buster who is always crazy-prepared for this luck stuff. So Buster gathers him a box of salt packets, horseshoes, four leaf clovers, and finally, his "lucky hat".
Later, Brain hops on home to see his mother laying on the couch in pain. She explains how she hurt her back at the gym and Brain then chooses to be safe; he is not going to leave the house the following day.
That following day, with everyone at the baseball game, Francine complains about how Brain isn't there and berates him before she calls to ask why he hasn't shown up to the game. Brain explains why he didn't show up and then hangs up on her. After Arthur suggests giving up, it's then that Brain shows up! He tells them no matter what he does, bad luck will proceed to follow him, so he may as well just play. He spits on his bat and gets a home run, and the team manages to win the game!
As they leave the baseball diamond, Buster asks him for his good luck charms back, when Brain realizes he accidentally brought his mother's gym clothes. He is very happy to have proven his hypothesis correct, but the others don't buy this, saying it's the gym clothes that are lucky, and they proceed to take it. Giving up, Brain simply hops along the cracks in the sidewalk as the episode and season finishes.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
Cameo[]
- George Lundgren
- Oliver Frensky
- 3rd Grade Male Rat (Number 2)
- 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 5)
- 3rd Grade Male Bear
- Mighty Mountain Player
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- Fern Walters
- Mr. Barnes
- Mrs. Barnes
- Laverne Frensky
- Bitzi Baxter
- Millicent Crosswire
- Umpire
Trivia[]
- The Justin Bradley version of this episode story is available on the VHS and DVD editions of Arthur Gets Spooked.
Cultural references[]
- The episode references the common belief that Friday the 13th is a day of bad luck.
- The episode's title is a reference to the Friday the 13th film franchise.
- The address of the spooky house is 13 Elm Street, which may be a reference to the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise.
- The movie the group watch is a reference to famous novel turned horror film "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and its sequels. Like many people, Brain ended up getting confused over the title. Also supporting this is the woman who resembles Jennifer Love Hewitt, while the raincoat had been what the man wore in the real films, along with the odd ghost.
- Buster gives Brain Clydesdale horseshoes. Clydesdale horses are heavy draft horses.
Episode connections[]
- The black cat appears again in "The Great Sock Mystery."
- This is the second time the Brain falls for bad luck, but as the subject of the matter. The first time was in "Misfortune Teller" where he and his friends are under the control of Prunella's cootie catcher on whether if their fortunes are good or bad.
Errors[]
- If Brain hit a home run, it wouldn't make much of a difference since the team was down 10–0.
- When Buster is wearing his lucky hat, the bedroom closet background briefly changes to the preschool background. Interestingly enough, outside of this error, the preschool makes no appearances in this episode at all.
- In the beginning, Brain did not swing, which would be a ball instead of a strike.
- When Brain arrives late to class, Mr. Ratburn says, "Nice of you to join us, Alan." The closed captioning completely changes this line to, "You're late."
- During the shot of Buster shaking his head as Brain sits at his desk, he is wearing his regular gray sweater instead of the pale yellow dress shirt.
- When the camera views Brain from above during his demonstration, the red arrow on the sidewalk crack sign turns white.
- At first, only the glass is broken in the mirror. When the rain starts, the frame is also broken.
- When the camera cuts to the pitcher, Brain's orange cap immediately turns into a blue helmet.
- When the camera switches from Brain to Buster after the game, Mrs. Powers' gym bag turns from gray and red to black and red.
Production notes[]
- This is the last episode in which Justin Bradley voices Arthur (even though in U.S. reruns, his voice was redubbed by Mark Rendall).
- This is also the last episode in which Steven Crowder voices Brain.
- This is the last episode with techno remix credits.
Home Video[]
VHS:
- Arthur Gets Spooked (VHS) (original dub)
DVD:
- Arthur Gets Spooked (DVD) (original dub)
- Believe in Yourself! (re-dub)
Gallery[]
- Main article: Friday the 13th/Gallery
References[]