| "The Wheel Deal" | |
| Season/Series: | 14 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 1a |
| Original airdate: |  October 11, 2010[1] October 20, 2010[3] January 6, 2011[2] October 8, 2010[citation needed] December 26, 2012[4] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Raye Lankford |
| Storyboard by: | Daniel Miodini |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "The Secret Origin of Supernova" |
Next "The Buster Report" |
| Read transcript |
"The Wheel Deal" is the first half of the first episode in the fourteenth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
Brain is put in a wheelchair after a leg injury and copes with the encouragement of Lydia, a girl who uses a wheelchair too.
Plot[]
Buster and Francine report from the Lakewood Elementary Gymnasium, where Brain is practicing throwing hoops for a charity fundraiser against Mighty Mountain to raise money for the library. Brain falls over a banana peel that Buster threw away.
At the hospital, Brain learns that he will have to sit in a wheelchair for a week. During physical therapy, he meets a girl named Lydia, who is permanently in a wheelchair and plays in a wheelchair basketball team. She challenges him to throw hoops with her. At first, Brain refuses, but when he has difficulty getting around in his wheelchair, Lydia helps him. She turns out to be as good at physics as Brain is.
Brain accepts Lydia's challenge, and they meet the next morning at the Lakewood basketball court. Brain warns Lydia that he is good, but he has never thrown from a sitting position and so Lydia beats him easily. She offers to coach him so he can compete in the fundraiser.
Over the next several days she makes Brain throw hoops and lift weights. She also teaches him the physics of throwing. Brain invites her to his parents’ ice-cream shop. They come to a high curb and Lydia teaches Brain to ask for help from people who are not in a rush.
The doorway of the ice-cream shop proves too narrow for Lydia's wheelchair, so they go to the Sugar Bowl instead. They meet Francine there, who recognizes Lydia from watching her play. Francine offers to do the fundraiser for Brain, but Lydia assures her that Brain will win.
The night before the fundraiser, Brain dreams that he throws horribly and that the library is demolished as a result.
At the fundraiser, Brain does well, but the Mighty Mountain champion takes the lead in the last round. Lydia takes over for Brain and wins the game for Lakewood.
A few days later, Brain is on crutches and the Powers have enlarged their door, so Lydia can go through. Lydia challenges Brain to a game of chess. Brain warns her that he is good, but Lydia just remarks that she has heard that before.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
Cameo[]
- Muffy Crosswire
- Binky Barnes
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- Fern Walters
- George Lundgren
- Jenna Morgan
- Mrs. Powers
- Alex Davidson
- Maria Pappas
Trivia[]
- This episode reveals the name of one of the kids from Mighty Mountain during the beginning of the episode.
- This episode could take place before "April 9th," because Buster said in that episode that he knew a kid that lost his cast in three weeks.
Episode connections[]
- Buster's reaction to a squirrel references his fear in the episode "The Squirrels."
Cultural references[]
- Lydia mentions writers Virgil and Marcel Proust, as well as the Pythagorean theorem.
- This episode is similar to The Smurfs episode, "Hefty and the Wheelsmurfer".
Production notes[]
- When Lydia says, "Much you have learned, O big-headed one", the 4:3 version adds a slow pan to the right to keep her in view as she says her line. However, this moment is shown in Brain's version of the Which ARTHUR Character Are You? bumper in 16:9 widescreen without the pan.
- This is the first episode where the title cards are changed to a scene from the episode (barring "The Good Sport" and "Buenas Noches, Vicita").
- This is the first episode since "When Carl Met George" to have two title cards.
- In the US, this episode is the first and only episode to use the Brain variant of the Slot Machine title card.
- This is the first episode in which D.W. narrates the title card.
Home Video[]
DVD[]
Gallery[]
- Main article: The Wheel Deal/Gallery
References[]