Blabbermouth
Buster is alarmed to find that Arthur considers him a blabbermouth.
All Grown Up
In the
Grand Finale of the show, a peek is given to the future of Arthur and his friends.
- As Himself: The special guest for this episode is Marc Brown himself, author of the original Arthur picture books and series showrunner.
- Back for the Finale: Patrick, Mr. Ratburn's husband, has a brief cameo in the opening scene.
- Bookends:
- The series begins and ultimately ends with the opening scene of the very first episode, "Arthur's Eyes", this time with the scene being still panels in Arthur's graphic novel.
- "Arthur's Eyes" started with D.W. showing Arthur a picture book. The series finale ends with Arthur showing D.W. and his friends his illustrated graphic novel.
- Arthur's adult self is voiced by Michael Yarmush, the original actor for the character who had long since retired from the role but stayed on to voice other, older characters. Furthermore, Michael Yarmush (as Arthur) has the first and last lines of the entire series.
- By-the-Book Cop: D.W., who has become a traffic cop as an adult, comes across a motorcycle driver parking in a no-parking zone outside the Sugar Bowl and tells the driver to either move the vehicle or she’ll write him a ticket. When the driver reveals himself as Bud, who decided to come back to Elwood City to visit, D.W. is excited to reunite with her childhood friend and offers to buy him some coffee so they can catch up—but she still writes him a ticket for parking in a no-park zone.
- Call-Back: Binky uses wrestling metaphors as a weatherman, having learned in "Binky Wrestles With a Story" how to make his reporting exciting.
- Continuity Nod:
- Buster tells Arthur that Kate has written a short story about a baby who communicates with pets, recalling the episodes of the series in which she herself was depicted doing just that.
- Muffy is now a politician running for mayor of Elwood City. She had previously taken the mock class election in "The Election" far too seriously, taking her loss to Binky hard enough that Arthur and Buster hoped she never lost an actual election.
- Distant Finale: Most of the episode takes place in the present day, but the last few minutes skips to 20 years in the future to show what several characters are doing as adults.
- Furry Lens: Implied. The series ends with the revelation that the entire show has been a graphic novel written by a now-adult Arthur, who comments that "I just like drawing animals".
- Grand Finale: The final episode of the series proper, with the franchise continuing on in other formats such as a podcast and shorts.
- Lampshade Hanging: Buster sees a drawing of an actual, non-anthropomorphized aardvark and is surprised to see how he "never knew their noses were so long". Arthur himself is an aardvark, albeit one with a much shorter nose and ears.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: 20 years in the future, Muffy is running for mayor against the long-standing incumbent Mayor Hirsch. Peter K. Hirsch has been the show's head writer since season 5.
- Mailman vs. Dog: Muffy's Imagine Spot of her adult self as a postwoman ends with her being chased by a dog.
- Recursive Canon: It turns out Arthur has turned his life into a graphic novel in the future, and the cover has the show's logo on it. Not only that, but the panels shown on the first page are taken from the show's first episode.
- Shown Their Work: In Buster's Imagine Spot, Brain mentions the long-standing cryptozoology theory that Bigfeet are descendants of the prehistoric ape Gigantopithecus, if not actual surviving Gigantopithecus. The same imagine spot shows an illustration of Bigfoot with white fur. While one might assume the illustration is actually of a Yeti, there has actually been an eyewitness report of a white-furred Bigfoot in Pennsylvania (ironically, the white fur popularly attributed to Yetis is actually a case of Sadly Mythtaken, as Yetis are described to have brown or red fur instead).
- Time Skip: Towards the back half of the episode, the plot jumps 20 years ahead, and we see what all the characters have accomplished.
- George has inherited the Sugar Bowl from Carl and added a cafe.
- Francine has a company where she makes and sells sneakers.
- Muffy is running for mayor of Elwood City.
- Binky is a weather reporter for a local news station.
- Buster is a college professor and a 20-to-21-year-old Kate Read is one of his students. She has recently handed in a short story about a baby who can communicate with animals (something she was able to do in the series itself).
- D.W. is a traffic cop (ironically).
- Arthur, inspired by his encounter with Marc Brown, is about to publish a graphic novel about his childhood.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Downplayed. The final scene only shows the futures of a handful of characters. Among the prominent characters who do not appear are the Brain, Sue Ellen, Fern, Prunella, the other members of the Tough Customers, the Tibbles, Emily, Jane and David, Grandma Thora and Grandpa Dave, Pal, and Mr. Ratburn or, since Bud does appear, Ladonna.note Given the Time Skip, it’s entirely possible the grandparents have passed away and their parents (along with Mr. Ratburn) have retired (or perhaps passed away too) in the interim, and Pal almost certainly has by this point.
