MSB S2E09: Taking Flight

Are you ready for another review? Well then, it's time to take chances, make mistakes, take flight! Why? Because this episode I'm about to review is about how flying things move through the air. Blog, do your stuff!

22. Taking Flight.
Topic: Flight.
Written by: Kermit Frazier & George Arthur Bloom.

Aired: 3 December 1995.

Wanda and Tim have built a model airplane together for a model show. Ms. Frizzle decides to shrink the class, so they can fly in it. Tim, Phoebe and Liz stay on the ground to operate the remote control, at least until it gets smashed. The class learns all about flight. Meanwhile, Tim, Phoebe and Liz try to turn the bus into different airplanes (two of which cannot fly) to go rescue them.

Looks like Wildcat Wanda knows how to handle an aeroplane. Especially considering she's the tomboy of the class. 

Or at least in her imagination. This is merely a model jet plane Wanda designed with the help of Tim. 

"Streaking through thin air, you mean."
"Come on, Arnold! It would be pretty hard to streak through fat air!"
"Carlos!"

Carlos and his puns. Saying that fat air would be difficult to streak through, but Arnold only mentioned thin air due to Wanda's dream of her aeroplane. 

This is further proof Arnold dislikes going on a lot of these field trips. He turned out unlucky since Ms. Frizzle decided to let Phoebe stay with Tim. 

What is also creative about this plane is that Tim and Wanda designed the plane to make room for Dorothy Ann to put her book in the back of the plane where she's sitting. 

Something Ralphie always fails to obey. Hold on to his hat, or it'd fly off like it did here, luckily Carlos caught it. 

"I think I'm going to be sick."

I guess Ralphie easily gets airsick. 

This is the first moment where Tim accidentally breaks something. He tripped over the binoculars, and then let go of the remote control, which bounced off Liz and ended up breaking. 

"What are we going to do, Phoeb?"
"I don't know! This never happened at my old school!"

There's got to be something they can do to get the class down. 

Not a good idea, Ralphie. He just moved the wings up. 

Here's another piece of proof The Magic School Bus is sentient. It looked angry at Liz for causing it to crash. 

What is Tim and Wanda's aeroplane? Another Tarzan? It crashed into a tree! 

Oh man! Oh bad! Wanda told Arnold to untie the rope from the plane, and he didn't let go of it in time, and he's flying along with the eagle! 

"Whoooaaa! I knew I should've stayed home today!"

This is the part that emphasises one of the few headscratchers I've always had with this series, which I'll get to later in this review. 

Well, Arnold really knows how to steer this eagle! He's moving its tail around. 

"See us? This plane is so big, it could be a planet!"

Funny Tim should say this because "Plane" and "Planet" are spelled almost similar. 

Remote control or no remote control, Tim and Wanda won the trophy, all due to Wanda skillfully steering the plane and Arnold controlling the plane's tail. Wanda and Tim held it, then let Arnold and Dorothy Ann hold it. 

Now Liz is going for a fly on Tim and Wanda's plane! She was all surprised, but now she's enjoying the flight. 

Whoa! Liz isn't enjoying the flight one bit, and she's frightened of an eagle! 

Liz isn't happy with you, Producer. You made her fly about erratically, just to explain to the caller about flight. Roger!

This episode is also home to a reference to Charles Lindbergh, who flew the Spirit of Saint Louis from New York City to Paris in 1927, something The Magic School Bus first tried to fly as.

Then, it transformed into the Wright Brothers Plane, but it then fell to the ground and was angry with Liz for making that fumble.

Later, it turned into a smiling aeroplane when it was about to crash into City Hall. And lastly, at the air show, it turned into an aeroplane the size of a planet and had a runway on its roof.

Now, this episode emphasised a headscratcher I've always had with this series, even as a kid. Arnold went flying along with the eagle, uttering angrily "I knew I should've stayed home today!" Here's my headscratcher. If Arnold dislikes some of these field trips, why doesn't he ask the principal of Walkerville Elementary to move him to a different class? Or why doesn't he ask his parents to move him to a different school, like say Phoebe's Old School? Or considering his catchphrase, why doesn't he ask his parents to home-school him?

And I've been thinking. Arnold's name means "Brave Eagle". Could this be the reason Nelvana and Scholastic made him fly along with the eagle?

Notice that Tim and Phoebe worked together in this episode, as well as Tim building the pink plane with Wanda's help must be a reason some people like to ship the main kids of this series. I've seen that most people who don't ship Phoebe with Arnold ship her with Tim, and most of those who don't ship Wanda with Arnold ship her with Tim. Believe me, I'm one of those who ship Wanda with Tim.

While this episode did leave me with a headscratcher about Arnold's dislike of field trips, it was a very interesting way to teach kids about how birds and planes fly. But I'm confused as to why they didn't cover how helicopters stay in the air. I can understand why they didn't include bats or butterflies because they already covered those flying animals. Arnold flying with that eagle sure was a bit scary to watch, especially considering he's always using his catchphrase whenever things go bad. Interesting that they did cel animated stop motion with the eagle in the Producer Segment. Tim breaking the controls really drove the plot, plus Wanda did get her dream to fly a plane. And Liz getting angry at the producer in the end was funny, as well as The Magic School Bus getting angry at Liz for crashing it.

My rating: 9.5/10.

Season 2 scorecard:

1. Blows its Top: 10/10.

2. Flexes its Muscles: 10/10.

3. The Busasaurus: 10/10.

4. Going Batty: 9.5/10.

5. Butterfly and the Bog Beast: 9/10.

6. Wet All Over: 9.5/10.

7. In a Pickle: 9/10.

8. Revving Up: 9.5/10.

9. Taking Flight: 9.5/10.

Season 2 so far: 9.5/10.

MSB S2E08: Revving Up

I am ready to rev up another review on this series. Take chances, make mistakes, rev up your engines! I'm about to save this review from being sent to the junkyard. Blog, do your stuff!

21. Revving Up.
Topic: Engines.
Written by: Sean Kelly, Brian Meehl & George Arthur Bloom.
Guest star: Sherman Hemsley as Mr. Junkett.
Aired: 26 November 1995.

Mr. Junkett (Sherman Hemsley), a vehicle maintenance inspector, was so displeased when he inspected the Magic School Bus that he decides to take it to the junkyard to crush it. The Friz and the class have to do something to save their bus. Naturally, they have decided to shrink and go inside it. All the problems seem to be caused by peanut butter, as Mr. Junkett was eating a peanut butter sandwich while he was inspecting the bus.

Mr. Junkett should've known better than to eat a sandwich with dribbling peanut butter while inspecting the engine of a vehicle. An interesting fact about Mr. Junkett is that he's voiced by the late Sherman Hemsley.

Turns out Mr. Junkett is just as magical as Ms. Frizzle. I mean he took off his dirty outfit and it was magically replaced with a fresh clean one. 

How exactly does Ms. Frizzle do that? Change out of her vehicle inspector outfit and into her usual dress which changes depending on the subject, like this one being about engines of vehicles. 

Looks like something is wrong with The Magic School Bus. Judging by how exhausted it looked here, and it further reminds me of why I got into The Magic School Bus as a kid. 

This is funny. Liz covering Ms. Frizzle's ears so she wouldn't have to hear Mr. Junkett's junk. 

No. Mr. Junkett has declared the main character of the series condemned! 

"Ready, Set, Duck!"

What's funny about what Ms. Frizzle said here is not just how narrow the fuel pipe is, but because of the inflatable boat that looks like a duck. 

"TURN THE KEY, LIZ!"

This is what Liz was trying to do all the time. Get The Magic School Bus to move. Just putting her back foot on the accelerator, and turning the key to the bus. 

Whuh-oh. The tow truck driver is taking The Magic School Bus away to the junkyard! And interestingly, the tow truck driver's voiced by Gary Krawford.

"Now I know what a toss salad feels like!"

Especially when salad is tossed about. 

Here's why Liz wasn't turning the key when the tow truck arrived. Liz was hiding under the main character. 

"I knew I should've stayed home today!"

Considering this was a perfect time to panic, Arnold really should've stayed home in this episode. 

Well, looks like Mr. Junkett is in trouble. That's what he got for condemning the main character. Maybe Mr. Junkett should've stayed home today. But if he did, he wouldn't have gotten his award.

"Oh bad! Oh bad! Oh bad bad bad!"

Keesha was right to panic here. It was bad what's happening to the bus. It is bad. 

"It's a sticky job, but someone's gotta do it!"

Peanut butter is sticky. That's why Carlos said the job is sticky. 

"Anyone want a peanut butter sandwich?"
"Arnold!"

Well, that was Mr. Junkett's sandwich. 

That was a clever thing for the class to do. Help Mr. Junkett from falling, and Dorothy Ann temporarily blinded him by pulling his hat over his eyes, just to hide the fact the main character is magic. 

This is one reason you shouldn't mess around with leaf blowers. This is what Liz unintentionally did to the Producer. Flood his office with leaves.


As Dorothy Ann already said in this episode, we need to be very careful around petroleum because of how easily it burns. This gives me more reasons to get past the moments Dorothy Ann says "According to my research".

Sadly, Sherman Hemsley, who voiced Mr. Junkett, was taken away from us in 2012. Rest in peace, Sherman.

Well, even if Mr. Junkett didn't realise how drippy his peanut butter sandwich was, causing it to mess up The Magic School Bus, this was an interesting way to learn about the engines of motor vehicles. I find it strange that Mr. Junkett didn't chew gum instead of holding a peanut butter sandwich. That would've clogged The Magic School Bus' engines easier. It also shows that we need to be careful around petroleum. And Liz was very good with helping The Magic School Bus. It's interesting this episode was centred around the title character of the series. And Mr. Junkett got quite a comeuppance here.

My rating: 9.5/10.

Season 2 scorecard:

1. Blows its Top: 10/10.

2. Flexes its Muscles: 10/10.

3. The Busasaurus: 10/10.

4. Going Batty: 9.5/10.

5. Butterfly and the Bog Beast: 9/10.

6. Wet All Over: 9.5/10.

7. In a Pickle: 9/10.

8. Revving Up: 9.5/10.

Season 2 so far: 9.5/10.

MSB S2E07: In a Pickle

I'm now going to take chances, make mistakes, get pickled, just by tackling the episode that teaches kids about microbes and how they pickle food. Blog, do your stuff!

20. In a Pickle.
Topic: Microbes.
Written by: Jocelyn Stevenson, Brian Meehl & George Arthur Bloom.

Aired: 19 November 1995.

The kids have just come back from vacation and found that the vegetables that had won a contest have rotted. Keesha is particularly distressed, not because her first prize cucumber has rotted, but because it is gone and has been replaced with a pickle. Keesha reasons that the door to the classroom was locked over vacation and Ms. Frizzle had the key. To everyone's surprise, Ms. Frizzle admits that she did do something to Keesha's cucumber. The kids put Ms. Frizzle on trial and make Liz the judge. The Friz claims that Keesha’s cucumber was turned to a pickle by a group of microbes, which she nicknames "The Mike Robe Gang," and she takes the class on a field trip to prove it.

"I don't know about you, Phoebs, but I can't stand vacations."

"Why not? I mean how can you not like vacations?"

"'cause they always end! That's why!"

Good joke, Wanda. As a kid, that was my flaw with taking school breaks. 

Strange that Keesha thought that someone stole her prized cucumber. And funny that Wanda said that the one who stole Keesha's cucumber left her a pickle.

Funny that Ralphie immediately figured out that Keesha was already accusing him of stealing her cucumber, especially considering he loves eating the veggie.

"I admit that your cucumber is gone, but it isn't missing."

How could something be gone, but not missing? 

Funny that Ralphie and Carlos high-fived after hearing Arnold say Ms. Frizzle has the right to dismiss the class.

Something that is strange in this series. A classroom court room. With Liz as Liz Ard, a judge. A clever pun considering she's a lizard.

Further proof that Liz is partly here for comedic purposes, especially considering she never spoke in this series, although she did speak in some of the CD-ROM games.

"We're taking the court on a field trip! A field trip?! What am I saying?!"

Arnold further expressed his dislike of some field trips. Typical Arnold Perlstein. 

"As Sherlock Gherkin once said, cucumber thieves always return to the scene of the brine."

Ms. Frizzle makes puns a lot, yet she seldom gets called out for them, unlike Carlos. 

This is ascomycete, a type of fungus.

"I'd rather find one on your seat than my seat!"

"Carlos!"

Another Carlos pun, especially since ascomycete rhymes with seat. 

Who'd have thought we'd see Liz up close?! Considering she's a lizard, there are a lot of scales.

"I knew I should've stayed home today."

Arnold, if you did stay home today, then you wouldn't be able to help prove Ms. Frizzle's innocence. 

This is pickle bacteria. They help preserve pickled vegetables from microbes like fungi.

And there we go. Ms. Frizzle was innocent after all. She make the Mike Robe Gang turn Keesha's cucumber into a pickle. Cucumbers come, cucumbers go, pickles go on forever.

This is an interesting thing. Tim sketched up a picture of Keesha's cucumber as a pickle, showing it'd turned into a prized pickle.

Nobody would want to put rotten tomato on a pizza, not even Liz.


It's amazing that as Wanda and Phoebe returned to school after school holidays, they heard Keesha scream. I'm amazed Phoebe figured out it was Keesha, and she was right, and all because her cucumber was pickled.

This episode shows all kinds of microbes, like ascomycete that grow nearly everywhere, the bacteria in the hamster's water, such as amoeba and the bacteria they eat called paramecium. And there were fungi in Arnold's tomato. Maybe there were fungi in Wanda's carrot? And the pickle protectors killing the fungi.

It was funny how Liz tasted the tomato, and she hated the taste, and her wig hit the fresh cucumber, causing it to land in the pickle jar.

Also, The Magic School Bus got into a pickle, literally, as Carlos stated.

Luckily, the caller in the producer segment said there are other microbes, such as germs that make us sick. Luckily, Inside Ralphie covered that.

This episode was mysterious in its own way. Keesha thinking someone stole her cucumber drove the plot, revealing to later realise it'd turned into a pickle. And trust me, if Arnold did stay home in this one, he wouldn't have been able to help Valerie out with her testimony. I wanted to rush this review because as Dorothy Ann said as she returned from holiday, "Time waits for no vegetable!", but I wanted to make this long. And here's a saying to wrap this up. Cucumbers come and cucumbers go. Pickles go on forever!

My rating: 9/10.

Season 2 scorecard:

1. Blows its Top: 10/10.

2. Flexes its Muscles: 10/10.

3. The Busasaurus: 10/10.

4. Going Batty: 9.5/10.

5. Butterfly and the Bog Beast: 9/10.

6. Wet All Over: 9.5/10.

7. In a Pickle: 9/10.

Season 2 so far: 9.5/10.