SUMMER LOVE

Hey Arnold!

Season 4 (2000)

This special, extra-long episode of Hey Arnold! starts with some catchy surf music and the classic “bell ringing as students burst out the school doors on the last day of school” opening.  Arnold heads to the beach with his grandparents and their tenants/surrogate family only to discover his stalker Helga is sharing the other half of their beach house duplex.  The central story concerns a love triangle between Arnold, Helga and new girl Summer (her name is what the episode is!  Get it?!) but there are also about a hundred subplots that I’ll get to below.

But first for the A story-- the alluring Summer (the girl, not the season) approaches Arnold on the beach, complimenting his sand castle (FORESHADOWING!).  Summer and Arnold begin to while away the days together, but Helga soon discovers that Summer is only interested in having Arnold build her a winning sand castle for a local contest so she can win a role on “Babe Watch”, after which she will promptly dump him for her real boyfriend, aptly named Sandy.  Boy, the writers really threw in the towel when it came to naming characters for this episode.

Helga does her best to convince Arnold of Summer’s wicked ways, but due to her history of horribleness Arnold doesn’t believe her.  Eventually the truth is revealed and Arnold and Helga team up to build the winning sandcastle together and then film a slightly creepy CPR-kiss scene on the aforementioned “Babe Watch.”

Overall it’s a cute storyline but it’s somewhat overshadowed by the gazillion B stories going on simultaneously.  The best part of the episode is Summer, who makes for a very attractive summer romance-- and I write that as a human adult gay man (as opposed to a cartoon pre-teen straight boy).  She’s every pre-teen boy’s fantasy: tan, blonde and belly-shirted.  I don’t blame Arnold for falling for her and I’m surprised Helga doesn’t either (I so get future lesbian vibes from Helga).

The many subplots are a bit more fun, if not overwhelming.  Grandpa gets stranded on an island and is rescued by two Rastafarians.  Grandma surfs, discovers a nude beach and then surfs nude.  Oscar combs the beach with a metal detector, eventually stealing people’s belongings.  Ernie gets buried in the sand (and then sat on) while Mr. Hyunh searches for him.  Big Bob, Helga’s dad, is sunburned and forced to stay inside while his wife is wooed by a Latin dance teacher.  Whew!  They really cram a lot in.

Hey Arnold! always did a good job of mixing the kid and adult characters, but in this episode the adults are far more interesting.  Helga’s drunken mom, who clutches a blender to her chest for most of the episode and later drinks some sort of red concoction directly out of it, steals the show for me.  I also really like the glimpses we’re given of the beach town, which looks so cozy and picturesque I’m ready to move there.

Summer Quotient: 4

Further Reading: I recently learned that several novelizations were made of certain Hey Arnold! episodes, including this one.  I haven't added it to my holiday TV tie-in book collection as of yet, but used copies are out there if you're interested!

See It, Skip It, Own It?

This is perfect TV viewing for that wistful, end of summer, youth-is-fleeting, nostalgia vibe (especially for those of us raised on the Golden Age of Nickelodeon).  See it!