User Reviews

This is a great Hey Arnold episode with two really good and funny segments, although I do find the second one much better and it's one of my favourites. The first one is about Helga accidentally leaving her little book of obsessive love poems about Arnold on the school bus, which he takes home and begins to read, after which she desperately tries to get it back before he reads the poem on the last page and discovers that she's the one who's his secret admirer. It has some really good funny moments, like when everyone in sight stops to listen and laugh when Gerald starts to read from the book, including people on the bridge above! And I love the moment when Helga's all rough and exhausted after spending the entire night hiding in Arnold's closet and they play the creepy violin music as she staggers out! I also like when Arnold starts to embrace the idea of the poems at the end, very cute and a lot of fun, as well as the first of several good stories where Helga races to prevent Arnold from discovering her secret. The second story I really love a lot, it's funny and heartwarming and always takes me back to when I first saw it as a little kid. It's simple but so sweet and it really works, the kids go on a school trip to the city aquarium and Arnold takes pity on an old neglected sea turtle and he and his awesome grandma later infiltrate the joint after dark to free the melancholy sea reptile and return him to the sea. The field trip does figure into the story of course, but it's not the actual story, it should really have been called "Lockjaw" instead. A real laugh out loud moment is the security guard who likes to tease the animals when no ones around, his voice is priceless and makes for one of the series' all time great gags, and I love the quick hysterical shot of Lockjaw in the back seat of the car with the seatbelt on! The beautifully animated closing scene where they literally toss Lockjaw back on the road that leads to the sea is uplifting and for me represents what was the very best of the show and the heart and soul of it. To say it was only the second ever episode in the run of the show to air a lot of the real magic of it was there right from the beginning, and they got off to a fantastic start. I just love getting lost in the rich details of the animation, it's such a wonderfully urban style that gave Hey Arnold such a distinctive identity, as did the jazzy score that was particularly present in these earlier episodes. Always exceptional to me, it's like watching a little piece of my childhood again, and I'll always love this great and very special show.