Recap / Hey Arnold S 4 E 73 Weird Cousin Baby Oskar

The thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Hey Arnold!.

Weird Cousin

When Arnie, Arnold's boring country cousin comes to visit, Lila falls head-over-heels for him. Arnold becomes jealous when they begin to spend time together, so he tries to make Lila jealous by hanging out with Helga.

Baby Oskar

Oskar, a grown man who can't even take care of himself, has to take care of his infant nephew, Baby Oskar, for a day while Suzie has to work. Oskar initially resents Baby Oskar, but soon becomes fond of him.

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"Weird Cousin" provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Arnie becomes this to Helga after breaking up with Lila at the end.
• Big "WHAT?!": Helga says this after Arnie tells her he loves her.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Arnie's hobbies include collecting lint and reading the ingredients off of packaged products.
• Country Cousin: Arnie lives in the country in contrast to Arnold, his city cousin.
• Family Theme Naming: Arnold's cousin is named Arnie.
• Kavorka Man: Arnie isn't that good looking and has a very boring, creepy personality, yet Lila would rather be with him than Arnold.
• Love Triangle: More like Love Square; Arnold likes Lila, who likes his cousin Arnie, who likes Helga, who likes Arnold.
• No Accounting for Taste: For some unexplained reason, Lila like likes Arnold's weird cousin Arnie, even though she only likes Arnold.
• Oddball Doppelgänger: Arnold's cousin Arnie looks similar to him, but is definitely far weirder in behavior.
• Operation: Jealousy: Helga somehow convinces Arnold to pretend to be with her to make Lila jealous. It does work, but with the wrong person: Arnie.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Arnie bears a striking resemblance to Arnold.

"Baby Oskar" provides examples of:

• Babysitting Episode: In this episode, Suzie and Oskar have to look after Baby Oskar for Nancy, Suzie's cousin.
• Big Honking Traffic Jam: When Oskar, believing Baby Oskar to be sick, rushes him to the hospital, the taxi he takes gets caught in a huge traffic jam. The Pope is visiting and traffic is so backed up that Oskar leaves the taxi and has to find another way to get Baby Oskar to the hospital.
  Oskar: Oh, great! Why does the pope have to be in town today? We'll be here forever!
• Blanket Tug O' War: Oskar once again pulls the blanket away from Suzie, leaving her to shiver from the cold. It doesn't last too long, though, as Oskar is awakened by Baby Oskar's crying and pushes his crib out of his apartment. An unamused Suzie pulls the crib back in.
• The Determinator: Oskar stops at nothing to rush Baby Oskar to the hospital when he believes him to be sick, even after finding out that there's a huge traffic jam, the subway is closed for repairs, and he missed the bus. When he sees that the hospital is four blocks away, he runs there, past some marathon runners, and not stopping until he arrives.
• The Diaper Change: At one point, Arnold helps Oskar change Baby Oskar's diaper, saying that if they don't, he's just going to keep crying. Oskar faints after Arnold opens up the used diaper, then when Baby Oskar poops in the middle of his change, Arnold faints.
• The Dog Bites Back: When Oskar rushes Baby Oskar to the hospital, he pushes an elderly lady so that he can ride in the taxi that she was going to ride. Then, when he arrives at the hospital, he pushes the elderly lady again to tell the receptionist that Baby Oskar is sick. After Oskar prays for Baby Oskar to get better, the elderly lady whacks him with her crutch, resulting in him becoming hospitalized (fortunately for him, he was already at the hospital at the time).
• Hiccup Hijinks: When Baby Oskar appears to be sick, Oskar rushes him to the hospital. It is later revealed that Baby Oskar had a minor case of the hiccups.
• Hypocritical Humor: Oskar's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Baby Oskar describes him as being lazy, whiny, and expecting everyone else to take care of him, all of which Oskar is guilty of.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Oskar constantly refers to Baby Oskar as "it" before he starts warming up to the tyke. Suzie calls him out for this.
  Suzie: Stop calling him "It". He's not an "It", he's a "He" and his name is Oskar!
  Oskar: That's another thing; he took my name! And now every time you say "Oskar" I think you are talking to me, but it's always that little brat!
• It's All About Me: Although Suzie makes it very clear to Oskar that as long as Baby Oskar is staying with them, he's going to have to come first, Oskar insists that Suzie take care of him.
  Suzie: You're not the only person in this house. All you ever think about it yourself!
  Oskar: What's wrong with that?
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Oskar is uncaring, lazy, and leeches off of his wife. However, in this episode, when he's forced to look after Baby Oskar, he initially resents him but grows protective over him. When he believes Baby Oskar to be sick, he rushes him to the hospital, feels guilty about not taking proper care of him, and prays for him to get better. When the doctor reveals that Baby Oskar just had the hiccups, Oskar is overjoyed that Baby Oskar isn't sick after all.
• Laziness Callout: When Oskar becomes impatient waiting for Suzie to bring him his breakfast, Suzie calls him out for being so lazy and unhelpful; she's the one taking care of the cleaning, the bills, and the baby, and all he does is whine, moan, and ask her to make him a sandwich.
• Lazy Bum: Oskar, as usual. In addition to doing all of her usual chores, Suzie is the only one taking care of Baby Oskar while Oskar whines, moans, and asks her to make him a sandwich. She calls him out for this when he tells her to make him his breakfast while she feeds Baby Oskar. When Suzie's boss, Mr. Budnick wants her to work at the department store, Suzie has no choice but to leave Oskar to take care of Baby Oskar until she gets back, and Oskar enlists Arnold's help in doing so. Arnold is only able to help Oskar for a short time since he can't miss his school science fair.
• Lost Him in a Card Game: Defied; at one point, Oskar bets Baby Oskar in a poker game he, Vic, and Morrie have after he realizes he's out of chips. This horrifies Arnold, but fortunately, Vic and Morrie refuse to accept Baby Oskar and storm out. It later turned out that Oskar had a royal flush (the best possible hand), so it wasn't as bad as it looked.
• Manchild: Despite being a grown man, Oskar is lazy and childish and expects Suzie to take care of him, making him not so different from his infant nephew. Suzie calls him out for this when she tries to feed Baby Oskar his breakfast.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Oskar feels guilty when he believes Baby Oskar to be sick, feeling it wouldn't have happened if he had taken better care of him like he was supposed to. After rushing him to the hospital, he prays for him to get better.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted; This episode introduces Oskar's infant nephew, Baby Oskar. Nancy mentions to Suzie that she named Baby Oskar before she really knew her Oskar. One of the reasons why Oskar resents Baby Oskar at first is because he thinks that Suzie is talking to him (Oskar) instead of Baby Oskar.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Suzie gives one to Oskar when he doesn't help her take care of Baby Oskar. Oskar just kind of sits there and agrees with her.
    Suzie: When are you going to grow up and be responsible?
    Oskar: I'll do it tomorrow.
    Suzie: Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow! That's all I ever hear from you!
    Oskar: What's wrong with tomorrow? It's a good day.
    Suzie: Sure, it's a good day for you! Tomorrow's a grand day for you, because tomorrow's the day you'll get a good job! Tomorrow's the day you'll pay the bills! Tomorrow's the day you'll grow up and start acting responsible! But tomorrow never comes for you, does it, Oskar? Because it's always so conveniently a day away.
    Oskar: That's right, it's always a day away. Just like that song the little orphan girl sings!
    Suzie: What about today, Oskar? And what about yesterday? When I needed your help, you just loafed around the house! When I was trying to take care of the cleaning and the bills and the baby, all you could do was whine and moan, and ask me to make you a sandwich!
    Oskar: That's right, and you never did!
    Suzie: Because I was busy! You expect everyone else to take care of you!
    Oskar: Oh, come on, I don't expect everyone else to take care of me! Just you.
    Suzie: Oh, Oskar!
  • Later, Oskar gives Baby Oskar one when he is forced to look after him by himself, since Suzie has to work at the department store and Arnold has to go to the school science fair.
    Oskar: What are you looking at? Why don't you say something? You can't do anything! You expect everyone to take care of you! What are you good for? nothing! What can you do? Nothing! Just cry and whine and moan and make a mess for other people to clean up!
    (Baby Oskar giggles.)
    Oskar: Oh, you think that's funny? Maybe it's funny for you, but it's not funny for me because I'm the one who has to take care of you now!
• Running Gag: Oskar telling Suzie to make him a sandwich.
• Woken Up at an Ungodly Hour: When Oskar and Suzie try to sleep, Baby Oskar wakes them up in the middle of the night with his crying. An annoyed Oskar pushes Baby Oskar's crib out of his and Suzie's apartment to get some peace and quiet, but an unamused Suzie pulls the crib back in and scolds Oskar.