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I bought the tape because I'm trying to find the old episodes of Arthur again, to bring back good memories of my childhood. I loved that show, and still watch it to this day. As all should know, they still make it…and the new ones are nothing to brag about. The animation looks cheap and rather rushed, the stories are often dull and the focus on mental illness in children (like the one about the kid with Asbergers) feels out of place. Characters have changed; the bullies are now good guys, Francine is even more of a bitch and DW no longer has moments that make her seem like more than a spoiled brat. The show has been ruined.
To escape this mess, I went out to buy some old episodes on tape. Home recordings were of particular interest, so I could see some of the old commercials from the time. I bought about $5 worth of the old tapes, each at 50 cents. They all seemed fine at the time. Each was properly labled with episode times, recording dates and time stamps. The one of interest said "Death of Gramma", recorded 3/5/98 with a lone time stamp: ‘15'15:24 lost the channel'. It was an episode I did not know, from an airdate that seemed almost too old to be trusted. I noticed the title had been written on a patch of white out by decided against scraping it off. Perhaps it was a recording of something in the peoples lives? I decided to watch it first.
The begining was the opening of Arthur, the theme sounding a bit tinny, probably due to bad recording equiptment. The tape had issues that troubled me, mainly the tracking. I just couldn't get it to stop being jumpy and awkward to watch! I gave up, leaving it where there was a line of fuzz across the top, and sat down. There was no opening title for the episode. It showed the Elwood City hospital, something I wasn't very familiar with. The sad music was playing. There was only one car, the Reads. It cut to Arthur and DW in the waiting room. Arthur was reading a Scare-Your-Pants-Off book, while DW pestered him about the story. The volume was bad, making it hard to listen to. I'll do my best to recreate what they were saying, though it's hard to remember.
Commercials. Nothing amazing, just some adds for Chick-fa-lay and KSPS.
The next part did have a title. ‘Recovery'Recovery'. It was written on a plain white background. I could hear DW screaming, like when Arthur punched her, before the episode started up. The family was at home. It seemed a continuation of the previous part. DW was in her room, solemly playing with her dolls. The parents were reminicing over pictures. Arthur was in his room. Pal came in and started barking at him, wanting to play. Arthur got up and kicked the dog. He kept kicking him, the soundtrack now consisting of Pal's yelps, before slamming his door shut. Kate started crying. Arthur gritted his teeth and the scene faded out. It was night in the next shot. Arthur crept out of his room, a backpack on his shoulder. He walked past Pal, who whined and drew away, before grabbing his coat and sneaking out. He ran for a full three minutes, the streets all in shadow. There was music, very soft, the normal happy music. He ran to the graveyard. He stopped at his grandma's grave, staring at it. There was an owl hooting sound and he started digging, crying out in pain as he did. His bare hands were soon slicked in dark red blood and he stopped, finding the coffin. He was crying now. The coffin opened and it was Arthur inside it, his eyes closed, glasses shattered. His family gathered around, staring down and crying. Kate was screaming. DW threw Pal into the open grave. His body was unmoving, a still of him running. The screen went black and there was a low sound that rose to a high chatter, the Tibbles laughing. The grave started to spin in empty space, opening and sucking the world into it. I could hear DW yelling ‘KATE'KATE DID IT' over and over again, mixed with Pal's cries of pain. Stanley appeared, spiralling down through the blackness. His head tore off and the cartoony organs from the episode where Arthur cut his knee started trailing from the body. There was a series of loud thuds and it showed Arthur again, sitting there, in the Sugar Bowl. Buster was unmoving on the floor beside the booth, his eyes gone. The red sockets started to stream blood and Arthur screamed in rage. There was a few white flashes and it showed him in prison, wearing the black and white clothing the show always used, his face covered in the scars they showed on bad guys sometimes. His last words were louder than the other speech clips.
"I killed them all. I beat out Kate's brains and stabed DW. I killed my dog. My parents ate poison, but I didn't do it. SHE did it. Thora did it, she made me kill them."
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