MSB S4E09: Makes a Stink

I'm going to make a stink with this review. Walkerville Elementary is going for a smell competition. But Janet is the main opponent to Ms. Frizzle's class. Blog, do your stuff!

48. Makes a Stink.
Topic: Smell.
Written by: George Arthur Bloom.
Guest star: Bebe Neuwirth as Flora Whiff.
Aired: 30 November 1997.

Flora Whiff, the famous expert on smell--whose "nose knows"--comes to school to judge the First Annual Smell Search. Ms. Frizzle's class creates a unique smell which is bound to take first prize, but Arnold's cousin, Janet, determined to win by herself, evilly corrupts their smell to a stench that even a skunk would hate. The kids discover the secret to what makes things smell...now they have to make sure their creation will not make a big stink.

Here's the winning smell Carlos found. Mothball.

It's a smell competition known as Annual Smell Search, hosted by Flora Whiff.

Oh man. The girl who claims to know everything. Arnold's cousin Janet.

Uh-oh. Janet. You shouldn't have done that. You broke Carlos' mothball!

Er, why would the class have a skunk in the first place?

"I can't believe Janet totaled my moth ball!"

"I can!"

"Me too!"

Even Ralphie and Keesha know what the audience thought when watching this episode. 

Here's a lot of smells Ms. Frizzle brought. Wanda's bananas, Ralphie's' gym socks, Dorothy Ann's cinnamon, Keesha's rotten eggs, a rose and a mint leaf.

These are the molecules of a mint leaf smell. They're green.

Great continuity from Meets Molly Cule, back when they helped fix Molly's hood ornament.

These are cinnamon smell molecules. They're orange.

Here's a useful thing for Flora to smell. Mix all things together!

Come on! Ride on the Magic Smell Bus!

I don't like what Janet's about to do here. She's going to do something I just know it!

"Is that stuff what I think it is?"

"It's snot!"

"It's not what?"

"Not 'what', Arnold. Snot!"

"Carlos! Yuck!"

More proof that Carlos' puns can be gross sometimes. If you remember that short cut pun he made in Inside Ralphie, then you'll remember the class reacting the same way they did here. 

Now the bus has been covered in snot!

"According to my research, snot, or mucus, is a slimy liquid made by the nose, that traps dirt and germs, and keeps them from entering our lungs."

What Dorothy Ann said is true. Snot or mucus does trap dirt and germs. 

These are smell molecules coming from a rose smell. They're red.

"I smell a rat, named Janet!"

Yep. What Carlos said is true. Janet is a rat. 

These are off white molecules coming from Ralphie's gym socks.

Time for Dorothy Ann, Carlos and Wanda to clean the snot off the bus.

I don't like what Janet's doing here!

No! She can't! She can't! She did it! She ruined the class's smell!

Even the class found out! As Ralphie found out!

There's a way to stop the smell entering Flora's brain.

Flora likes Janet's smell so much, she decided to give her and her class 4 and a half.

That's the way to get rid of the skunk smell! Destroy the molecules!

Because of that, Flora gave the Frizzle Science Class 5 out of 5!

Because of this, they win the award!

Even Janet learned the hard way. Smell is made up of molecules.

Now Liz is looking for smell. She's blindfolded and smelling around.

Get this! It's Arnold calling the Producer.


There is a little voice error in this. When the class get blown out of Janet's nose, when Ralphie said "I can't believe Janet put skunk smell in here!" and then "But, she did!", he had Arnold's voice.

Get this! One of the callers was Arnold. Funny how All Dried Up had Phoebe answering the calls, yet this one had Arnold as a caller.

Also, Flora Whiff was voiced by none other than Bebe Neuwirth.

Amazingly, Janet either made an appearance or was mentioned 5 episodes in a row. In Gets Swamped, she appeared, Goes Cellular, she was mentioned, Sees Stars, she appeared, in Gains Weight, she was mentioned, and in this one, she appeared.

This episode stunk and was tewhiffic at the same time. Stunk because of Janet being a bratty cheater, breaking Carlos' mothball and sabotaging the Frizzle class's smell! And Carlos' snot pun didn't help either. But the positive was how it teaches kids about how we smell things, and how the class won without Janet realising they found a way to win the contest. So overall, how many noses does this episode get from me? 4 out of 5.

My rating: 8/10.

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.

7. Sees Stars: 10/10.

8. Gains Weight: 9/10.

9. Makes a Stink: 8/10.

Season 4 so far: 9.3/10.