Vomitrocious

	"Vomitrocious"
	Main image; Title card;
Season/Series:	8
Number in season:	5a
Original Airdate:	September 19, 2003; December 17, 2003; December 21, 2007;
	Credits
Written by:	Dietrich Smith
Storyboard by:	Julian Harris; Patricia Atchison
	Episodes
Previous; "D.W., Dancing Queen"	Next; "Sue Ellen Chickens Out"

"Vomitrocious" is the first half of the fifth episode in the eighth season of Arthur.

Summary[]

Francine and the others are having fun teasing George about his nose bleeding, but suddenly, Francine pukes in front of the entire school!

Plot[]

The episode begins with Arthur, Buster, Francine, and Sue Ellen discussing various disgusting topics during lunchtime at school. Francine expresses her distaste for Buster's meal, and the conversation turns to George, who happens to walk by with a bleeding nose. Francine jokingly imitates George's predicament, and the others join in the laughter. She then playfully threatens to "contaminate" her classmates. Unexpectedly, Francine's playful act takes a turn for the worse as she suddenly vomits in the middle of the cafeteria.

Vomitrocious

In the cafeteria, Mrs. MacGrady opened a window, Mr. Ratburn sprayed room freshener, and Mr. Morris moped the floor where Francine had thrown up. The kids all sat on one end of the room, far away from the scene. Meanwhile, Francine lay on a couch in the nurse’s room with a cold towel on her forehead. The nurse checked her temperature and pulse, and determined she likely had the twenty-four-hour bug that was going around. Francine wondered if it could be food poisoning, but the nurse assured her that she would feel much worse if that were the case. Just as Mrs. Frensky entered the room, Francine admitted that she had puked in front of the entire school. She buried her face in her hands as her mother comforted her, and she noticed several kids staring at the window. Prunella cleared her throat, and the kids gasped and scattered. That night, as Francine lay in bed and Catherine put away clothes, Francine insisted that the nurse didn't understand why she had gotten sick. Catherine alerted her that she might catch the bug at school the next day, recalling the time Lucas Hansen threw up in their fifth-grade math class. Francine memorized the nickname "Lucas Pucas" that everyone gave him. Catherine pointed out that people still used the nickname, even five years ago. Francine thanked her sister for her concern, but Catherine insisted she was only offering sisterly advice. She explained that there's always one child in every class who gets sick, and Francine had just become that child. Francine argued that her friends wouldn't make fun of her, unlike Catherine and her friends who enjoyed making fun of ill people. Catherine inquired Francine to imagine how she would react if someone in her class vomited in front of everyone. She warned Francine that the consequences would be even worse if she vomited again. With a sigh, Francine buried her face in her pillow.

That night, Francine has a dream. She dreams that Muffy and the rest of her class voted her as the most disgusting person of the year and that they had given her a nickname, "Barfine". When Muffy and the others see Francine, they quickly put on masks, then Muffy tells Francine "Sorry, Barfine, but we've got to think of our health." Then they laugh and Mr. Ratburn reprimands them and says "You should be ashamed of yourselves." Then he puts her in a quarantine room with George. George turns his head and says "Hi, Barfine, welcome to class." He has a bleeding nose and he has it covered with a tissue. Francine screams. Then she wakes up, only to find that it's time for school. At school, Mrs. Frensky drops off Francine and informs her to call her for a ride home if she's not feeling well. Then, Muffy, Buster, and Arthur come to ask her how she is, but she thinks they're setting her up to laugh at her. In class, Francine sees everyone whispering and assumes that it's about her. Buster comes over to her desk and drops a brown paper bag on it. Francine, thinking it's a barf bag, throws it back at him, ending the scene with her stomach gurgling.

At lunch, the girls are sitting together, and George comes and sits with them with his nose bleeding. The other girls scoot towards Francine. Francine pretends to start puking and they scoot towards George. This "proves her theory" that they think she's disgusting. She goes home, and Catherine asks how her day was and if anyone called her "Barfine", surprising her as that was the nickname in the dream. She then makes fun of Francine for the second time by calling her another, similar nickname "Pukine", and then Francine goes into their bedroom and sits down on the computer chair and melts down into tears.

Francine goes over to George's house and asks him if he wants to get a milkshake with her. George goes reluctantly because he's afraid of being made fun of. She asks him how he can take being laughed at, and he says they don't laugh at Francine because she's popular. Francine doesn't think this is fair; just as the rest of her friends walk through the door, Francine feels like puking. However, she accidentally hits George on the way to the bathroom, giving him a bloody nose; Muffy, Prunella, and others start laughing at him.

Francine comes out of the bathroom and tells them that they shouldn't make fun of George because they're now both disgusting and calls her friends out on their hypocrisy in laughing at him while doting on her. Francine storms out in disgust, as her friends are left in awe of what she just did. They start handing George tissues and begin treating him with more respect.

The episode ends with Francine riding her bike, and stopping to note that she doesn't feel nauseous anymore.

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Trivia[]

Running Gags:
- Francine pukes or feels the need to puke a few times in the episode.
- Every time Francine is about to puke, strange music ensues.
- Every time Francine is about to puke she says "Excuse me!" and runs to the bathroom.
When Francine throws up, the barf is not seen, but it is heard splashing on the floor. This could be because seeing barf is not right for a PBS Kids show, which also explains why Francine’s back is shown during this scene.
The surgical masks from the dream are worn by the kids again (after "My Dad, the Garbage Man") in Francine's dream sequence.
Mr. Morris can be seen in the cafeteria.
Food poisoning would have likely been the last thing Francine should have been "diagnosed" with, since the consequences of food poisoning would cause the person to have nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and Francine only had the first two; yet Miss Flynn states that Francine wouldn't be able to move if she had food poisoning, which is a hyperbole.
- Although, it is possible that Miss Flynn was saying that Francine "wouldn't be able to move" to mean that she would have nausea symptoms nonstop (and also, food poisoning can make one feel very dizzy and weak).
This is the first episode where Evan Smirnow voices George.
This is the first episode to feature Alexina Cowan as Catherine.
This is one of the two episodes of Arthur to show blood. The other is "Arthur's Knee."
Despite the title of the episode, Muffy does not say "vomitrocious" (a catchphrase of hers) in this episode.
- Muffy first says "vomitrocious" in "Arthur Cleans Up".
- The title card is, however, read by Binky, who commented on a glove going with his baseball uniform as such in Arthur Goes Crosswire.

Errors[]

In the first shot of the kids looking through the nurse window, Brain's inside shirt is brown. Then in the next shot, the inside shirt is back to normal.
In one shot while in the nurse's office, Francine is seen wearing purple socks, but in the next shot, she is wearing pink socks.
When the inside of the closet is being seen, Catherine's face color is a bit of an orange tint but then in the next shot it turns back to brown.
Fern's shoes turn clear as Francine says, "Aha! See!? I knew it!"

Main article: Vomitrocious/Gallery

References[]

[1] ttp://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000805

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur

[3] ttps://www.fernsehserien.de/erdferkel-arthur-und-seine-freunde/episodenguide/staffel-8/3906

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"Vomitrocious"
Main image Title card
Season/Series:	8
Number in season:	5a
Original Airdate:	September 19, 2003^[1] December 17, 2003^[2] December 21, 2007^[3]
Credits
Written by:	Dietrich Smith
Storyboard by:	Julian Harris Patricia Atchison
Episodes
Previous "D.W., Dancing Queen"	Next "Sue Ellen Chickens Out"