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"All Thumbs"
Season/Series: 17
Number in season: 5a
Original Airdate: United States November 15, 2013[1]
Canada November 15, 2013
United Kingdom November 4, 2013[2]
Australia April 27, 2013[3]
Credits
Written by: Dietrick Smith
Storyboard by: Gerry Capelle
Episodes
Previous
"Just the Ticket"
Next
"Kidonia"
Read transcript

"All Thumbs" is the first half of the fifth episode in the seventeenth season of Arthur. It is also the first half of the 200th episode overall.

Summary[]

When Arthur catches Buster sucking his thumb, Buster worries that Arthur will tell the entire school. Can Arthur stay quiet? Or is this secret just too juicy not to share?[4]

Plot[]

The episode starts with Arthur walking to the Baxter's condo, where Bitzi notes he is right on time to pick Buster up to go see a movie. Arthur walks into Buster's room, where he is at his desk playing a computer game. The two friends head down the street for the movie. The scene pauses, and Arthur tells the audience that this is what would have happened if he arrived just one minute sooner. The scene rewinds back to Arthur at the condo. Bitzi points out he is one minute early. When Arthur gets to Buster's room this time, he catches Buster playing the game - and sucking his thumb! 

All Thumbs

Arthur backs out and runs. Buster becomes worried now that Arthur knows his secret. He imagines Arthur running home to tell his family about Buster's thumb sucking, and David and Jane telling all the parents while forbidding Arthur from hanging out with Buster again, to which Arthur puts up no fight and agrees he does not like Buster anymore. Buster sends Arthur an email saying it was not a big deal. Arthur reads the email, but overhears D.W. talking to one of her dolls and saying how sucking thumbs is a baby thing. He has a fantasy where people think he is weird for hanging out with Buster, who openly sucks his thumb. 

The next day when Arthur arrives at school, he sees Buster behind him. He panics and runs into the school. In the cafeteria, Arthur sits with Francine, Muffy, Sue Ellen, Brain, and Binky, who wonder why Buster did not sit with them. Instead, Buster sits with Jenna, George, and Fern, claiming he wants to hang out with them for a change. Arthur tries to act like nothing is out of the ordinary. Francine deduces something happened between him and Buster and prods Arthur. Arthur refuses to talk, but his reaction makes her realize he caught Buster doing something. Buster tries to eavesdrop, since he fears Arthur will tell everyone, but causes a scene after falling out of his seat. Later in Mr. Ratburn's class, Buster notices Francine and Arthur passing notes, with Francine trying to get information out of Arthur.

After school, Buster begins to bike home while Arthur tries to get away from Francine, who is still pressuring him to talk. Buster thinks Arthur has told everyone, and imagines himself leaving Elwood City to start a new life. He comes across an employment agency to try and get a job with a partial third grade education. However, the front clerk gets a call from Arthur, and quickly points Buster out as a thumb sucker (with Buster having a wrinkled thumb); the daydream ends as Arthur catches up to Buster, with Francine hiding behind a fence to listen. Buster thinks Arthur has blabbed and asks why he has been avoiding him. Arthur flat out asks why Buster still sucks his thumb at his age, to which Buster says he has tried to stop, but it is a hard habit to break, and he only does it in private.

Francine is shocked to hear this but does not laugh. Muffy arrives, asking Francine what she heard. Francine tells Muffy to be quiet and only says that what she heard was not cool. Afterwards, Buster catches Muffy and Francine listening, and still thinks Arthur has told, causing him to storm off. Muffy is confused but Francine surprisingly does not tell her and goes to catch up with Buster. She tells him she has something for him: a liquid to put on one's thumb to make it taste bad. Francine reveals that she also used to suck her thumb, but has not done so in a while thanks to the liquid. 

Buster goes over to Arthur's House and apologizes for jumping to conclusions and accusing him of blabbing. Arthur also makes an apology for overreacting and avoiding him. Buster realizes he has not sucked his thumb ever since Arthur caught him doing it the previous day. The two make up and are once again best friends. 

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Trivia[]

It is unknown of how Buster suddenly, out of the blue, starting sucking his thumb. Thumb sucking is generally a habit in babies, toddlers, and even young children that usually stops before the age of 4. Thumb sucking can sometimes happen in older children though, as a coping mechanism after stress, which can lead to age regression. It is unknown if Buster went through any kind of stress or trauma that caused him to start sucking his thumb.

Episode connections[]

Errors[]

  • During George's report, when the classroom is seen from a bird's-eye view, the 9 Story logo can be seen in a white bar at the top of the screen.
  • On the title card, Dietrich Smith's name is misspelled as 'Dietrick Smith' instead of Dietrich.
  • Buster imagining Arthur telling his whole family about his thumb sucking habit was just what Buster imagined happening; Arthur never really told anyone. So it is unknown how DW knew about Buster sucking his thumb, as she was telling her doll Suzy not to suck her thumb.

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References[]


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