Nerves of Steal (Arthur)

"Nerves of Steal"
Moral of the story: If you know someone who steals, you could be held liable for no reason.
Series: Arthur Part of Season: 5 Episode Number: 2b Air Date: October 2, 2000 (U.S) January 9, 2001 (Canada) Writer: Bruce Akiyama Director: Greg Bailey Previous episode: Kids Are From Earth. Parents Are From Pluto Next episode: It's A No Brainer

"Nerves of Steal" is the 2nd half of episode 2 of Arthur.

Summary

Buster hates being the only kid without a CyberToy, so he plans to "borrow" one from the store... until his own conscience catches him.

Why It Doesn't Have Nerves of Steal

1. It's just another 11-minute torture episode for Arthur as he ends up getting in trouble despite doing nothing wrong.
2. Buster is a terrible friend to Arthur as he not only gets him trouble by writing the draft letter, but also puts his name on it, therefore implicating that Arthur was the so-called thief.
3. The way Buster steals the toy is absolutely pathetic and he also drops it in Arthur's bag without even noticing
4. Arthur's parents are also unlikable as they end up telling off their son despite literally doing nothing wrong in this episode.
   • David stated that Arthur covered up the crime, yet he was just trying to get Buster return the stolen toy back to Jim's drugstore.
   • Sure, Arthur's parents were not mad at him at the least but still.
5. Plot hole: How did Mr. Gage, the owner of Jim's drugstore, know the boys' parents' numbers?
6. Bad moral: If you know someone who drops the stolen item in your bag, you could get punished along with the criminal.
7. Weak ending: Buster ends up getting grounded for stealing, which doesn't fit the crime.
   • Having him being arrested would have been a much more suitable punishment.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Apart from the very bad moral, it's still true that stealing is wrong.
   • Even if someone returns the stolen toy, they shouldn't go scot-free for all the damage done.
   • Furthermore, Arthur's parents eventually do make a point that it would have been better if their son told them what Buster did.
2. The rest of the characters except Buster and Arthur's parents are still tolerable as usual.
3. Some later scenes where Buster became paranoid about the crime.
4. Decent voice acting and animation as usual.
5. The concept of Buster stealing sounded decent, just horrendous execution.

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