Recap / Arthur S1 E5 - "Arthur's Pet Business" / "D.W. the Copycat"

Airdate: October 11, 1996

Arthur has always wanted to have his own dog. When his parents find out he wants one, they are hesitant, but conditionally approve of it provided he can show he is responsible enough. This gives him the idea to start a new job: opening up a pet business. His first customer ends up being Mrs. Wood, who happens to have a dog of her own named Perky. Said dog is incredibly high-maintenance, needy, and above all else, perky. Several more customers show up with pets of their own, which leads to his business becoming a bit more than he bargained for, enlisting the help of D.W. when he discovers he can't handle it all himself. Once he reaches the end of his business, he leaves everyone else accounted for, but Perky is even angrier than usual even though he did everything right. Convinced that he wrecks dogs, he's assured he doesn't deserve one of his own. When Mrs. Wood returns, Arthur initially thinks that Perky has gone missing, only to run into her with a Surprise Litter of Puppies. Mrs. Wood offers him to keep a puppy of his own, which he happily obliges.

"Arthur's Pet Business" contains examples of:

• Beware of Vicious Dog: Perky, so much. Justified when it turns out she was having puppies.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mr. Read has a rare moment of this.
  D.W.: Hi, Mrs. Wood. Guess what? Arthur lost your dog.
  Mrs. Wood: WHAT!? Perky!? My poor hopeless baby is out in the world alone and unprotected?
  Mr. Read: I feel sorry for the world.
• Debut Queue: This is Pal's debut episode, and also serves as the backstory to how Arthur got his pet. "Arthur's New Puppy" serves as a Sequel Episode to this.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: When D.W. is running out of the bathtub calling for help due to the frogs, as she runs away from the camera her naked butt cheeks are briefly seen as her towel slides downward. Subsequent episodes would avoid showing such rear nudity, even if it was somewhat common in kids' animated shows from The '90s.
• Gilligan Cut: Arthur tells D.W. he's waiting for just the right moment to ask his parents for a puppy, and says she can be trusted to not spill the beans. The very next scene has them at the dinner table with her doing exactly that.
• Gone Horribly Right: Arthur puts up flyers for a pet business to earn some money and prove his parents he can take care of a puppy. At least twenty people respond, including the Brain, filling the house with pets. Eventually, Arthur has to put most of them in the basement so his family won't get mad at him.
• Long List: Perky's dislike list drops to the floor and rolls on from there.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Perky. The mailman thinks that's not even a fitting enough name, calling her "Jaws".
• Mood Dissonance: D.W. is extremely gleeful when she tells Mrs. Wood that Arthur lost her dog.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Mrs. Wood invokes this. She says that Perky is bad-tempered for some reason and is not normally like this. The mailman would beg to differ but even says that he's never seen her this angry. It turns out Perky was pregnant with puppies, and she looks much happier after they're born.
• Parental Obliviousness: Mrs. Wood seems completely unaware of how mean and grumpy Perky is, as she regularly builds her up like an angel and doesn't even seem to take note of how she growls all the time.
• Surprise Litter of Puppies: Exactly the reason Perky was so grumpy to begin with. Also ends up being where Arthur adopts Pal.
• That Poor Cat: Arthur accidentally steps on a cat's tail when chasing a bird around the house.

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Arthur hates playing with D.W., as he sees her as being boring and uninteresting. Arthur tells D.W. that he wishes she would do and enjoy "interesting things" like he does, which gives her the idea to start acting exactly like him. Initially, he enjoys it; she watches Bionic Bunny with him and also agrees to get ice cream. However, she starts cranking it up a notch by dressing exactly like him and copying everything he does. This grates on Arthur's nerves, especially when she begins hanging out with him and his friends. At the end of the episode, he tells her to quit doing exactly everything he does, and apologizes for calling her boring. She finally starts acting like her old self, which means he once again must put up with her demands to do what she enjoys.

"D.W. the Copycat" provides examples of:

• Batman Gambit: It turns out copying Arthur was all a plan by D.W. to get to watch more Mary Moo Cow: she knew that if she began watching Bionic Bunny, Arthur would watch it with her, and that their mother would allow her to watch Mary Moo Cow for as many days as he watched Bionic Bunny, which does indeed happen. It's a rather clever plan for a four-year-old.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Arthur wishes that D.W. would do more, in his words, interesting things like him. It backfires spectacularly when she begins doing everything he does. Lampshaded at the end when he gets her to cut it out.
  D.W.: And mom said I can watch Mary Moo Cow for as many days as you watched Bionic Bunny!
  Arthur: Why do I feel like I got tricked?
• Coordinated Clothes: D.W. dresses up exactly like Arthur in this episode, right down to wearing glasses.
• Eagleland: "This is America, Arthur, everyone's supposed to have an equal chance!"
• Eye Colour Change: A variant. D.W.'s eyes normally have whites, but when she's wearing Arhur-style glasses, they somehow become Black Bead Eyes like his. They even return to normal the second she takes them off.
• Hypocritical Humor: D.W. attempts to tell Arthur that she won't be annoying, only to do it in the most Motor Mouth-y way possible.
• Insult Misfire: Arthur initially doesn't realize that Binky's jab at D.W.'s clothes (who is dressed exactly like Arthur) was also directed at him.
• Motor Mouth: D.W., when Arthur tells her to not be annoying.
  D.W.: I won't be annoying, I won't do anything that's annoying! If I'm even the little teeny tiny eeny weeniest bit annoying, tell me and I'll stop because I don't want to be annoying!
  Arthur: Okay!
  D.W.: (quietly) Please notice that I'm not being annoying.
• Remote Control Ruckus: The conflict kicks off when D.W. and Arthur get into a fight over the remote; D.W. wants to watch Mary Moo-Cow while Arthur prefers Bionic Bunny. Their mother settles the argument by asking "Who got there first?", with D.W. winning.
• Stop Copying Me: The entire point of the episode.
• Suddenly Shouting: The waitress at the Sugar Bowl offers D.W. a baby seat, which leads to her response of "That would be a thoughtful thing to ask...IF THERE WAS A BABY HERE!"
• What's a Henway?: "Last one to the Sugar Bowl is a henway!"
  Buster: You're last, Arthur! You're a henway.
  Arthur: What's a henway?
  Buster: About 5 pounds.
• "Which Restroom?" Dilemma: D.W. doesn't even let going into the wrong restroom impede her trying to copy Arthur.