MSB S1E12: Gets Ants in its Pants

Now I am ready for this. I am going to take chances, make mistakes, get ants in my pants, although in reality, I would never want to. Just reviewing this episode that teaches kids about those itchy creepy crawlies. It should be effici-ant. Blog, do your stuff!

12. Gets Ants in its Pants.
Topic: Ants.
Written by: Jocelyn Stevenson, Kristin Laskas Martin & Brian Meehl.

Aired: 27 November 1994.

The class is going to make a movie about ants, and Keesha is the director. She finds an ant to be the star, but the ant runs away to an ant hill with hundreds of other ants, leaving Keesha increasingily frustrated at her inability to find an ant to serve as the focus of the movie.

Am I the only one who thinks it strange for a student to bring an insect to class and let it roam instead of putting it into a protective case? Something Keesha could've done to protect this ant she brought in. 

For a specific reason, I kind of wanted Liz to catch that ant with her tongue, yet Keesha had to stop her from getting her meal.

"According to my research, where you find one ant, there's usually more."

What Dorothy Ann said here is true. It's like that in real life. One reason I always get past the number of times Dorothy Ann uses her catchphrase. I mean this is a series meant to teach kids about science, am I right?

What's funny about Liz here is that she's using a camera to make a movie. Funny since she was trying to get the same ant Keesha brought into class, but to no avail. 

"It'll be about an ant with a long nose called 'Eleph-ant'! Get it?"
"Carlos!"

Get used to this. This isn't the last ant pun you'll hear. Of course Carlos made an ant-ics pun. 

How does Ms. Frizzle do that? Change her clothes like that? Earlier, it was implied she's magic, like the main character of this series.

Er, Keesha. You'll never find your ant if there's so many of the same species, unless she's a different size compared to the other ants in the colony. 

Now these ants are to be afraid of. Guard ants. If you dare go near their nest unless you're an ant yourself, prepare for the worst. 

"They wanna know if we're wearing the same deodor-ant!"

"Carlos!"

Welp. Another ant pun Carlos has come up with. He's the class clown, so it's to be expected. 

"Yuck! These 2 are kissing!"

Here we go. A movie about these creepy crawlies in love called a Rom-ants.

"The star can be the presid-ant! Get it? Presid-ant?"

"Carlos, stop!"

These kids are already annoyed with Carlos' puns. I bet some of you would be like that if someone spent their whole time making puns like Carlos.

This proves how much Phoebe loves nature, thinking that ant larvae are cute, just like newborns of other animals. 

"Flor-ants Nightingale."

Er....Florence Nightingale, anyone? This time, everyone but Keesha is amused.

"Docum-ant-ary."

Is there no end to Carlos' ant puns? Proves that so many words have a syllable that sounds like ant.

This is what queen ants do. They just sit there.

If you look at The Mallowblaster Bus's expression after seeing how Keesha had given up on her film, this is further proof that The Magic School Bus may be sentient.

This was a clever thing for Liz to do when warning someone. Knock someone on the head like she did to Arnold. 

That was a clever thing to do. Have the magnifying glass block the mudslide. Now that's action. 

Turns out everyone enjoyed the ant film. And have a look at the girl closest to Ms. Frizzle. She's wearing the same outfit as Dorothy Ann. Same skivvy and the same skirt. Same shoes? Not sure. 

I know that feel, Liz. I would be the same way if I never got the credit for something I did, especially if it's so signific-ant. 

Yep. The female Producer is just like Liz was at the end of the episode. The male Producer acting like he's the only producer. 

Here's one of the few kiss scenes of the series. Strangely, an animal kissing a person. Liz is kissing the Producer for the phone call he received, saying that Liz should win an award. 

I assume the only ants featured in this episode are the common black ants. (i.e. the ones we almost always see outside) There are more ants than that. There are bulldog ants of Australia, aggressive flesh eating army ants of South America, Africa and parts of Asia, and the extremely dangerous fire ants accidentally introduced from South America.

Something the producers forgot to mention is that some ants are considered pests, like the Argentine ants that have been widely spread, and ants invade our homes sometimes. Plus, some ants we have to stay away from like army ants, bulldog ants and worst of all, fire ants. Maybe they want to see if the buildings are vac-ant?

And there is a fun fact about ants that many already know. An ant can lift 10 times its own weight. It is amazing for such a small bug.

When you look into this episode, Keesha and Carlos were working together. I take it in spite of his moments with Dorothy Ann, Carlos kind of likes Keesha. I take it this is one reason some people who grew up with this series ship the 2.

Another interesting thing about this episode is that there's a reference to The Godfather, right when they got to the guard ants.

Well, for someone who dislikes ants as pests, as much as anyone would dislike rats, mice, spiders, any animal easy to be afraid of, this was an interesting way to learn about the itchy little bugs, and how they work together. I'd have been in Arnold's shoes in this, wishing I'd stayed home. However, Carlos' puns and Phoebe's tree hugger moment and Keesha's determination let me ignore that. So overall, this episode was brilli-ant Oops! Being quite a Carlos, aren't I?

My rating: 9/10.

Season 1 scorecard.

1. Gets Lost in Space: 9/10.

2. For Lunch: 10/10.

3. Inside Ralphie: 9/10.

4. Gets Eaten: 8.5/10.

5. Hops Home: 10/10.

6. Meets the Rot Squad: 8/10.

7. All Dried Up: 10/10.

8. In the Haunted House: 9.5/10.

9. Gets Ready, Set, Dough: 10/10.

10. Plays Ball: 9/10.

11. Goes to Seed: 9/10.

12. Gets Ants in its Pants: 9/10.

Season 1 so far: 9.2/10.