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This article is about "Night Fright". You may be looking for "Fright Night".
"Night Fright"
Season/Series: 2
Number in season: 7B
Original Airdate: United States October 28, 1997[1]
Canada December 2, 1997[2]
Germany February 1, 2002[3]
Credits
Written by: Joe Fallon
Storyboard by: Gerry Capelle
Episodes
Previous
"Arthur's TV-Free Week"
Next
"Arthur vs. the Piano"
Read transcript

"Night Fright" is the second half of the seventh episode in the second season of Arthur.

Summary

Arthur spends the night at Binky's and discovers a deep dark secret about the town bully: He can't sleep without a night light.

Plot

We first see Arthur’s house on a stormy night. Then we see Arthur’s bedroom where he and Pal are sleeping. However, it turns out that Arthur isn’t getting much sleep because of Pal’s snoring, which wakes up the monsters under his bed and in the closet. The monster under the bed gets annoyed and Arthur tells Pal to be quiet and stop snoring, but Pal doesn’t listen.

Arthur asks the viewers if they ever had one of those nights where they couldn’t get to sleep because of the monsters under their bed and in their closet. The monsters then start throwing Arthur’s things around, making Arthur sigh in annoyance.

Night Fright

We now see Binky happily standing on top of a mountain full of burgers. He says “The hills are alive with the smell of burgers... and they’re all mine! Yeah.”

He then picks up a cheeseburger and is about to eat him, but the cheeseburger screams for his Mom. The ground then shakes and the Mama Burger comes out, telling Binky to put him down. The cheeseburger then says, “Now you’re gonna get it!”. Binky gets so scared that he runs away, not realizing that he has stepped on the burgers. The Mama Burger then chases Binky throughout the town, but there is no escape, because the food and condiments have caught him. The Ketchup and Mustard squirt Binky and he runs away. He ends up surrounded by French Fries. Just as the Mama Burger is about to catch him, he pleads his innocence, saying that he didn't eat the burgers. He then runs off to the edge, flying. The cliff then causes Binky Barnes to fall, and he gets frightened. He then wakes up, realizing that it was only a nightmare.

Binky's parents come into his bedroom to check on him. His father says that Binky was yelling in his sleep. Binky says that it was the worst nightmare he ever had, and he didn't get a chance to eat the burgers. The reason Binky had the nightmare is because he forgot to plug in his night light. Then, Binky goes back to sleep, but calls for his parents. He asks them to never tell the others that he sleeps with a night light. Mr. Barnes assures him that they won't say a word and tells him to go back to sleep.

The next morning, Sue Ellen tells a scary story to Arthur, George, Francine, Buster, and Prunella. Binky walks over and asks what she's talking about. Francine answers it was all about the first Scare-Your-Pants-Off video, The Lunchbox of Notre Dame. Arthur thinks it's super scary, but then Buster screams. Buster didn't scream because of the story, but because he wrecked his homework. Arthur then laughs and jokes that bringing wrecked homework to Mr. Ratburn is super scary. Binky taunts them about how scared they are. Mr. Ratburn, overhearing the conversation, thinks about what he should discuss with the class.

Mr. Ratburn's thoughts are put into action as he and the class discuss their fears. Muffy says the roller coaster at Wonderworld scares her. Arthur says ventriloquist dummies scare him. Buster says a spoon scares him when it's stuck in pudding; it reminds him of when he heard about The Lunchbox of Notre Dame. Binky boasts that his only fear is he might get so strong the school will collapse when he slams the door. Other than that, nothing scares him. Mr. Ratburn is skeptical but lets it slide.

Later that day, a heavy thunderstorm comes in. Buster and Francine are picked up by their parents. Arthur's parents haven't come yet and Binky taunts that they forgot all about him. Arthur refutes this because they are coming from his Aunt Lucy's house. Binky says if they don't come, Arthur will be in the school all alone, trying to scare him. Arthur doesn't think believe that, but Binky does. Binky's parents then arrive and he gleefully leaves as Arthur's luck just went from bad to worse. Luckily, Mrs. Barnes says that Arthur's mom called her, explaining his family has to stay over at Aunt Lucy's because they had car trouble. Therefore, Arthur is spending the night at Binky's and he can share his room. Binky gets flabbergasted after hearing the news.

Later in the evening at Binky's house, the storm carries on. Mr. Barnes dresses up Arthur in Binky's pajamas, which are too big but "they'll do". After brushing his teeth, Binky is all set for bed. After his mom tells him that Arthur's already in his room, Binky panics. He rushes to jump into his bed, while grabbing his night light and hiding it behind his back. Arthur asks what Binky is holding. Binky shows Arthur the hand that isn't holding the night light, saying there's nothing in his hand, but Arthur asks about Binky's other hand. Binky lies that the night light is his reading lamp. He shows Arthur how he uses the light to read by leaning out of the bed, and Arthur comments it looks uncomfortable. Binky says he doesn't read much, and gets ready to go to sleep. Arthur reminds Binky that he left the light in the room on. Binky gets up and turns off the light, then gets back into bed. Arthur says the storm is scary, but Binky tells him to go to sleep.

Once again, Binky has a nightmare. He is downsized and stuck in his own night light, screaming in terror and shouting at anyone to let him out. Arthur mocks him by asking his friends if they are ready to see Binky's little night light in a childish manner and they all laugh at Binky. Binky then wakes up screaming. Again, he forgot to plug in his night light! Binky's mom comes in and plugs it back in. Then he finally admits the truth to Arthur, and he tiredly understands. Binky tells him to go to sleep again. The next morning, Mr. Barnes drives Arthur home. While he watches Arthur leave, Binky fears what his friends will think of him when Arthur tells everyone that he sleeps with a night light.

At school, Binky jumps out of the bushes and warns Arthur again that he must not tell anyone that he sleeps with a night light. But then, he is interrupted by Buster and Francine's conversation. Binky gives up and promises that he'll do anything Arthur wants. He carries his books and sharpens his pencil during class. At lunch, Binky even carries Arthur to the table and sets him up. Arthur repeatedly tries to assure Binky he won't tell anyone and doesn't care about the night light, but Binky refuses to believe him.

Back in class, everyone continues their discussion on what scares them. Mr. Ratburn asks the students what they do to make themselves feel less afraid. Again, Binky imagines Arthur telling the rest of the students his secret, taunting, “Binky has a night light!” and Mr. Ratburn even laughs along with the students. Sue Ellen talks about cemeteries scaring her, and how she whistles to deal with it. Brain uses a laser beam to shoot up to the moon. Francine talks to her old stuffed lobster, Bob. Arthur's up next, and nervously looks around the room. Binky gets nervous too. He worries that if Arthur tells everyone his secret, he will get laughed at. On the other hand, he doesn't want to forever be Arthur's "slave". Binky finally calls out and tells the whole truth about his night light. Luckily, no one laughs; Mr. Ratburn even says it's a common thing to do to feel less afraid. Binky is placated.

At the end of the day, Binky tries to apologize to Arthur for how he overreacted, but Arthur says it's okay. But Binky replies it's not because he paid for Arthur's lunch, and Arthur now has to pay him back and make up for all the things Binky did for him. Later that night, Binky has a dream where he is a giant, stomping all over the city in the middle of the night. He laughs in his dream and sleeps well.

Characters

Major

Minor

Cameo

Mentioned

Trivia

Cultural references

  • In Binky's dream, he says "The hills are alive with the smell of burgers." This is a reference to the first scene from the 1965 movie The Sound of Music where the main character Maria (Julie Andrews) sings "The Sound of Music".
  • The Lunchbox of Notre Dame is a reference to the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo.

Episode connections

  • This is the first episode where Binky threatens someone not to tell a secret about something "babyish." The second is "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."
  • The title of this episode is similar to "Fright Night."

Errors

  • Luke is briefly seen in Mr. Ratburn's classroom.
  • In Binky's fantasy sequence when the whole class makes fun of him, Fern has aardvark nostrils instead of her usual dog nose.
  • When Binky runs away from the fries and screams, his lips never move.
  • When lightning flashes outside the school, Binky and Arthur's silhouettes do not match up to the size, shape, or location of where they should be.

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