MSB S4E06: Goes Cellular

Let's take chances, make mistakes, go cellular! We're going to see what's made Arnold's skin turn his favourite colour. Blog, do your stuff!

45. Goes Cellular.
Topic: Body Cells.
Written by: Jocelyn Stevenson.
Aired: 9 November 1997.

Arnold is about to have the honor of being the first kid to receive one of the Rocky Awards at the annual Granite Awards. However, he has an embarrassing predicament. For reasons that are never exactly explained, Arnold has eaten only Seaweedies for a month and has consequently turned orange. ("It's my favorite color; except when it's my own skin.") He then asks, "What's the difference between my skin and say, Phoebe's?" So, of course, the class goes on a field trip to compare their skin, but they get nowhere since none of Phoebe's cells are orange. The class has to learn about cells and how they get energy to solve the mystery before Arnold is forced to accept the award. It turns out the Seaweedies are high in carotene and Arnold's exclusive eating them has pigmented his skin.

Welcome to Walkerville Hotel. The place where people can stay when visiting Walkerville.

These 7 kids are once again wearing the same outfits they wore at the end of Holiday Special. Their smart formal outfits. It turns out they're here because Arnold is going to be winning an award.

Meet Jasper C. Grit. President of GRANITE. Great Rock Admirers' National Institute of Tectonics Experts.

Whoa. Does Ms. Frizzle look dazzling or what! In this bright red gown.

"Pst!"

"Ralphie!"

"It wasn't me!"

Why would Wanda think it was Ralphie making that whisper? But then, they hear another whisper. 

That whisper came from behind the curtain and it's Arnold. He's eating Seaweedies, and he's orange all over. If you ignore the colour of his skin, does he look smart in his formal outfit or what?

"Today's the day! Today's the day! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

So it was only this morning Arnold realised he's orange? As it turns out, he wears orange pyjamas with Mallow Blasters and Cheezy Wheezies. 

"To the bathroom!"

"No! Someone might see me!"

Maybe Dorothy Ann could've found a bathroom with nobody inside and the entire class tried to wash the orange off Arnold's skin in there. 

They're trying to wash the orange off of Arnold's skin, but it isn't.

As Dorothy Ann suggested, the orange is in Arnold's skin.

"Give me some skin. No, I mean really!"

That's the mega magnifier. 

If you look at Arnold's eyes, you can see his irises are brown.

If you see Phoebe's eyes, you can see they're hazel.

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

One quote I've always loved no matter who said it. And Ralphie, Keesha and Liz were on Arnold's glasses. 

Isn't that creative? The Magic School Bus looks like a decoration on Phoebe's headband.

Judging by the colour of these skin cells, Phoebe's skin is the normal skin colour of white people.

And you can see the colour of Arnold's skin. He was a normal skin colour until something made him orange.

One time a dog stole something from Arnold. This sheepdog is stealing Arnold's Seaweedies, similar to The Busasaurus when Arnold and Phoebe chased after an Ornithomimus who stole Carmina's egg.

"Maybe I should've stayed home today."

Er, Arnold. If you did stay home, you wouldn't be able to accept your award. 

Don't mean to be a Ralphie, but....is it just me, or is Phoebe flirting with Arnold?

This could've been a good idea. Phoebe covering Arnold in flour to get rid of the orange, but he disapproves because he would "look like a pumpkin pie".

This is a good idea. Keesha suggested using Arnold's hair piece to go into his cells.

If you see here, Phoebe's cells remained a normal skin colour.

Yet Arnold's skin cells remained orange.

Now Arnold's down to his last Seaweedy he stole from the table.

"Not again!"

Yes again, Arnold. A callback to For Lunch, the first time he ate the class, only this time, Phoebe told him. 

Even Arnold's stomach and stomach acid is completely orange. And there's seaweed in his stomach acid.

Here's why Arnold's skin is orange. He's been eating nothing but Seaweedies. They're made out of carrot, which is an orange vegetable.

"Isn't he the kid who is vinning the avard?"

Even this chef has noticed Arnold under this trolley. 

Now they're in Arnold's cells that grow to his skin. And it's all orange too.

Ride on The Magic Villus Bus! It's sucking up all the orange that's turned Arnold orange.

It's alright, Arnold. You're not orange anymore. You're back to your normal skin colour.

Arnold must be a proud kid to win that award.

And Keesha is showing Arnold why his skin was orange. He'd been eating nothing but Seaweedies, which are green on the outside, but orange on the inside.

"Hey, Arn! Orange you glad you're not orange anymore?"

"Carlos!"

Even Carlos can't help but make a silly pun. 

Now Liz is serving the Producer something. And might I say, she makes a good waitress.

Liz was going to serve the Producer Seaweedies, but she decided not to because of what happened to Arnold.

But why would the Producer want to eat a Mega Magnifier?

Oh, Liz. We all know worms, caterpillars and grasshoppers aren't people food. Maybe lizard food, but not people food. Looks like the Producer should go and have pizza for dinner.


As it turns out, Arnold's skin was orange because Seaweedies are made out of carrots carved into fish and wrapped in seaweed. You might think that by that logic, if you ate nothing but grapes, your skin would turn purple, nothing but broccoli turns your skin green, nothing but bananas turn your skin yellow, or nothing but tomatoes turn your skin red. But carrots have carotene, a pigment that turns your skin orange if you eat so much.

I hear that carrots are good for you, as they do contain Vitamin A, which improves your eyesight the more you eat. Maybe Arnold's vision improved ever since he heard he'd be getting his Rocky Award.

The part where Phoebe flirted with Arnold I take is more proof she has a crush on Arnold. Wanda begging for Arnold to stop eating Seaweedies and telling him about his skin made of cells must be more proof she has a thing for Arnold. And Dorothy Ann smiling while trying to take Arnold to the bathroom, I'm not too sure about this, but I think it might be more proof that, in spite of her moments with Carlos, she kind of likes Arnold. Man, all this talk about these girls having a thing for Arnold really does prove he is, as TV Tropes depicts him as, the Chick Magnet.

I find it quite odd that Arnold would blame his cousin Janet for turning him orange. He'd have thought Janet coloured his skin orange with texta?

Well, this was a very interesting way to learn about body cells, and how our skin turns out after all the food we eat. This shows we shouldn't be eating nothing but food with carotene. And might I say, Arnold really looked fancy in the outfit he wore in this episode. As did the other kids in their outfits. Though it was funny that Arnold said he "should've stayed home today" because if he did, he wouldn't be able to get the Rocky Award. And it was all thanks to Dorothy Ann and her idea of the orange being in Arnold's skin that Arnold's not orange anymore. Well, this is another reason Dorothy Ann's my favourite of these kids. Now before I end this review, I want to ask anyone who's been reading this a simple question. Orange you glad Arnold's not orange anymore? And another question. Orange you glad I've reviewed this episode?

My rating: 10/10.

Season 4 scorecard:

1. Meets Molly Cule: 9/10.

2. Cracks a Yolk: 10/10.

3. Goes to Mussel Beach: 9/10.

4. Goes on Air: 9/10.

5. Gets Swamped: 9.5/10.

6. Goes Cellular: 10/10.

Season 4 so far: 9.4/10.

MSB S4E05: Gets Swamped

I'm going to take chances, make mistakes, get swamped! With this episode about swamps and a debate about a mall. Argued between Carlos and Janet. Blog, do your stuff!

44. Gets Swamped.
Topic: Wetlands.
Written by: George Arthur Bloom and Robert B. Schechter.
Aired: 2 November 1997.

Walkerville is debating whether to build a mall where the swamp is now, or to build it somewhere else. With the toss of a coin, Ms. Frizzle's class finds themselves defending the swamp and Janet arguing against them. However, the class finds out that the swamp is home to several organisms, an argument Janet finds little more than a joke, with which the city agrees. That is, until a tree gets knocked over by lightning, blocking off the swamp and flooding the city. After the crisis is resolved, the city realizes that if it were to build a mall on the swamp, then that mall would be washed away.

Judging by how bad the wetlands can smell, Carlos sure dislikes it.

This is proof that Ralphie hates mosquitoes. Pretty much anyone would hate mosquitoes.

Come on, Valerie! Ride on The Magic Row Boat!

This is why we don't see Tim for the first minute or so. He's using a camera to film the swamp to show how disgusting it can be.

This has brought us to the debate. The entire class are going to argue about the mall to be built on the swamp.

And lookie here. Carlos is going against someone who is debatable, Arnold's know-it-all cousin Janet.

Judging by Arnold's embarrassment, I guess he should've stayed home today.

Heads or tails?

Tails! Carlos called heads, so he lost the coin flip to Janet.

This is one reason to keep the wetlands. A marshmallow plant, which makes marshmallows.

And as Arnold summarised, they make Mallow Blasters!

This is where the class went! They shrunk.

Another reason to keep the swamp. Snapping turtles!

Musk rats. They build nests like beavers.

A marsh hawk!

"According to my research, that's a marsh hawk!"

"According to my research, that was a close one!"

Funny to hear someone use Dorothy Ann's catchphrase. In this case, Carlos. 

A bird feeding its nestlings a Swallowtail caterpillar.

Frogs that eat mosquitoes.

Funny that Tim said "Duck!", making the rest of the class think he ordered them to duck, but there were actually Wood ducks.

And this is why ducks live in swamps. Mosquito larvae.

And the swamp water eats away dirt.

That odorous gunk is enough even for Liz to faint!

"Gas is right, Ms. Frizzle. As a matter of fact, it smells like somebody just--"

"Arnold!"

We can tell what Arnold was about to say. 

"What a gas!"

"Carlos!"

Funny that Carlos would mention gas. 

Here's a callback to In a Pickle. Back when the Mike Robe gang turned Keesha's cucumber into a pickle.

And something mentioned in Wet All Over. The waterworks, also a callback to the book that started the entire franchise.

And Carlos is doing a very good job trying to argue against the mall being built on the swamp.

"Why do I have the feeling I should've stayed home today?"

"Same reason I have the feeling we've lost, and not just the debate either."

Not a good sign. 

Another reason to keep the swamp. If something blocks the way, the whole town will get flooded.

Liz is trying to explain what's happening to Walkerville.

And she's right! It's flooding!

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?"

"I was just wondering the same thing!"

Funny Mr. Popple should use Wanda's catchphrase.

"No way you're going to find out something important without me!"

Now it's Janet's time to prove it. See if Carlos' idea is worth it. 

"At my old school, we used a bulldozer to move heavy things."

Funny Phoebe should use her phrase at this time. 

Phoebe was right to use her catchphrase here. This encouraged The Magic School Bus to turn into a bulldozer and move the tree.

And Carlos won the debate! That's the way!

"Surely it's not okay to deliberately dump oily water and gunk in a wetland because the wetland helps to get rid of it."

"Good point. It's never okay to pollute. And don't call me Shirley."

A funny callback to Spins a Web. That reference  to Airplane!. 

Liz is so thirsty, her tongue is all dried up.

Liz was about to drink the water, but the Producer mentioned that swamp water is unhealthy, even for humans and lizards.

I've noticed a little animation error. Phoebe was at normal size, but in the next shot, she was shown to have shrunk with the rest of the class sans Arnold, and Wanda was missing.

Who would've thought swamps were important? They can help stop flooding, and they get rid of dirt in water.

We can tell what Arnold was about to say after smelling that gaseous mud. That's why everyone called him out.

Now this was a very good way to teach kids about wetlands and why they're important. It did seem like Carlos was going to lose, but after that flood, he won! And it was all thanks to Phoebe for helping out by mentioning a bulldozer, only for Ms. Frizzle to turn The Magic School Bus into a bulldozer. Now that's high praise for Phoebe, and even Carlos. Phoebe because of her bulldozer idea and Carlos because of his argument against the mall being built on the swamp. Well, I'm one of the rare Carlos/Phoebe shippers, so I guess I'm being biased.

My rating: 9.5/10.

Season 4 scorecard:

1. Meets Molly Cule: 9/10.

2. Cracks a Yolk: 10/10.

3. Goes to Mussel Beach: 9/10.

4. Goes on Air: 9/10.

5. Gets Swamped: 9.5/10.

Season 4 so far: 9.3/10.