The ninth episode of the fifth season of Hey Arnold!.
Suspended
When Harold wishes he didn't have to go to school, he gets the idea to get himself suspended when he sees Wolfgang get suspended for playing with the fire extinguisher. He soon manages to get himself suspended when he calls Principal Wartz a stupid dork, but when he realizes how boring being at home is, he tries unsuccessfully to sneak back into school.
Ernie in Love
Ernie falls in love with Lola, a beautiful magazine model, but she doesn't like him.
"Suspended" provides examples of:
- Accidental Public Confession: While Harold digs a hole to tunnel into school, Principal Wartz walks up behind him, and Harold, not realizing who he's talking to, foolishly blabs out his plan to break in, resulting in Wartz extending his suspension for another week.Harold: I'll be on school grounds in no time! What a great plan! (Wartz walks up behind him)
Wartz: Hello, son. You're digging quite a hole there, aren't you?
Harold: Yeah. See, I got suspended because I called the principal a stupid dork. And now he won't let me into the school. So I'm gonna tunnel in!
Wartz: Is that so? That's another week's suspension for you, Mr. Berman!
Harold: Awwwww! (the shovel falls on his foot) OW!
Wartz: And fill up that hole. (leaves) - An Aesop: Certain punishments can be worse than you anticipate them to be.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: After receiving a D+ on his test, Harold decides that he hates school so much that he wishes that he'd never had to go again. When he sees Wolfgang get suspended for playing with the fire extinguisher, he tries to do the same, but by this point, the extinguisher is empty and Principal Wartz thinks he's reminding him to refill it. After Harold calls Wartz a stupid dork in frustration, Wartz suspends him for a week. Overjoyed that his wish came true, Harold goes home and tries to watch some TV, but the only thing on all channels is news coverage of an economic summit in Japan, which Harold finds very boring. He then decides to go shoot baskets out in the basketball court, but realizes that he can't invite his friends because they're all at school. When he tries to shoot baskets by himself, he can't score a hit in the basket (ending with him accidentally tossing the ball out of the court and it bounces off and damages several cars offscreen). Harold finally understands the true misery of his punishment, and is desperate to return to school.Harold: I hate being suspended! And it's only Monday! I can't take it! I WANNA GO BACK TO SCHOOL!
- Being Good Sucks: Arnold ends up getting suspended for two days after trying to help Harold sneak back into school, depriving both of them of a formal education.
- Bland-Name Product: Harold pretends to be an employee from Danica's Pizza in an unsuccessful attempt to get back into school.
- Book and Switch: When Arnold takes Harold to the library to do some research for an appeal, only Arnold does actual research since Harold is revealed to be reading comic books under the books he is looking through.
- Brick Joke: At one point, Harold tries to dig a hole to get back into the school during his suspension. However, Principal Wartz catches him in the act and adds another week to his suspension, telling him to fill the hole back in. At the end of the episode, Wartz decides Harold has learned his lesson and waives the rest of the suspension, only to fall into the hole while chasing down Wolfgang, who was also suspended.
- Cheek Copy: While Arnold does actual research on an appeal to his and Harold's suspensions, Harold begins copying his butt (pants down and all) at the libary. The following scene shows Arnold and Harold running out of the library as the angry librarian yells "And don't you come back!" to them.
- Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs: After his parents leave, Harold is about to have a breakfast of Chocolate Cheese Munchies, only to find out that he has run out of them.
- Covered in Gunge: While Harold hides out in the school's dumpster, one of the workers dumps some rotten cheese that he left out in the sun into the dumpster, oblivious to Harold's presence. This results in Harold getting covered in the rotten cheese.Harold: Stupid cheese!
- Didn't Think This Through: Harold's plan to get a week off from school by intentionally getting himself suspended proves to have a few holes in it. For starters, he intended to spend most of his time watching TV and eating junk food and didn't anticipate that the programs he wanted to watch would be interrupted by an emergency broadcast or that he'd currently be out of the kind of food he likes to eat. He also tried to hide the fact that he was suspended from his parents so he could have the house to himself, but failed to realize that his parents would lock the front door if they thought he was at school.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Principal Wartz suspends Harold for calling him a stupid dork. When Harold repeatedly tries to sneak back in school, Wartz extends his suspension even further. Then when Arnold calls him out on how unfair he's being, Wartz snaps and gets Arnold suspended for two days.
- Foul Cafeteria Food: Discussed; Harold tells Arnold that one of the reasons he dislikes going to school is because he has to stand in line for cold, crappy food that they don't even give him time to eat.
- Gilligan Cut: The first time Principal Wartz catches Harold trying to sneak back into school, he makes Harold promise that he won't come back for the next two weeks. After Harold promises, the very next scene shows him disguising himself as a pizza man to sneak back into school.
- Get Out!: When the librarian catches Harold photocopying his butt, she chases him and Arnold out of the library and yells "And don't you come back!" to them.
- Getting Suspended Is Awesome: Played With; Harold deliberately gets himself suspended so he can get some time off of school. He quickly realizes that there's nothing fun to do and wants to go back to school.
- Guilt by Association Gag: Arnold was following the rules and doing actual research in the library, but because he was with Harold, who had photocopied his butt with the photocopier, the librarian kicks them both out and tells them not to come back.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: On the first day of his suspension, Harold tells his parents that he wants to get to school early to get a head start on his work. Upon hearing this, Jerry asks Marilyn if Harold has been eating the instant coffee again.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: When Harold discovers that being suspended isn't all it's cracked up to be, he repeatedly attempts to sneak back into P.S. 118. At one point, he hits upon the idea of pretending to be a pizza delivery man, and so dons what he dubs a "foolproof disguise": a fake black mustache, chef's hat, apron, and a striped shirt with his name on it. Unsurprisingly, Principal Wartz isn't fooled by the trick, even when Harold attempts a horrible Italian accent to convince him.
- Playing Games at Work: A non-adult example; after Arnold and Harold get suspended from school, they go to the public library do some research on an appeal to the school's constitution. However, only Arnold does any actual research on his computer, as Harold is seen playing a Rampage-like game on his computer, until an unamused Arnold sees it and shuts the computer off.
- Repeat After Me: This exchange:Principal Wartz: Repeat slowly after me.
Harold: Slowly after me.
Principal Wartz: No! Not yet. "I will not enter the school grounds for the next three weeks."
Harold: "I will not enter the school grounds for the next three weeks."
Principal Wartz: Good, I'll see you in three weeks.
Harold: "Good, I'll see you in three weeks."
Principal Wartz: Harold.
Harold: "Harold." - Rescue Equipment Attack: Wolfgang uses a fire extinguisher on a kid and gets suspended for it. This inspires Harold to use a fire extinguisher on Principal Wartz so he can get suspended and get out of school. This plan backfires however, as the fire extinguisher was out of foam at the time.
- Rule of Three: While at the library to do some research on an appeal to their suspensions, only Arnold does actual research while Harold goofs off. First, when Arnold looks through a book, Harold is revealed to be reading a comic book under his book. Next, when Arnold types a document on his computer, Harold plays a Rampage-like game on his computer. Finally, when Arnold prints out copies of the appeal, Harold uses the photocopier to make pictures of his butt, which gets him and Arnold kicked out of the library.
- Say My Name: This episode ends with Principal Wartz shouting "HAROLD!" after he falls into the hole that Harold had dug earlier in an unsuccessful attempt to sneak back into school and forgot to fill back up.
- Unishment: Subverted. Harold ironically mistakes suspension as this, as it means he gets to stay home from school. Unfortunately for him, he learns the hard way that staying home from school isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially with his luck.
- Your Television Hates You: Harold tries to spend part of his first day at home by watching cartoons, scary movies, and "those great talk shows with those dumb people yelling and throwing chairs at each other", but as soon as he turns on the TV a cartoon is interrupted by news coverage of the World Economic Summit from Kyoto, Japan. Much to his horror, he finds it playing on every channel.
"Ernie in Love" provides examples of:
- Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Near the end of the episode, Ernie and Lola break up with each other because the latter sees the former as a guy who came up short, as this was exactly what Ernie predicted would happen, he tells Lola that he expected her to the see him for the big man he is on the inside instead of the short man he is on the outside. The two make up when Lola thinks about what Ernie said to her and realizes she had him all wrong.
- Cannot Spit It Out: In a similar vein to Helga's crush on Arnold, Ernie keeps his crush on Lola a secret because he's afraid of rejection.
- Height Angst: One of the reasons why Ernie never got the courage to ask Lola (or any woman, for that matter) out on a date is because if she saw him, she'd just see a guy who came up short. When he goes on his date, he wears elevator shoes to make himself look taller. Despite them having a good time on their date, Lola and Ernie break up with each other because what Ernie said turned out to be true, though they do make up with each other at the end of the episode.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Lola resembles her voice actress Jennifer Tilly.
- Nice Girl: While Ernie's height is a deal-breaker, Lola is still appreciative of his company and makes a genuine effort to let him down while preserving his dignity. By the end of the episode she's decided that she can look past Ernie's height long enough to give him a second date.
- Stalker Shrine: In a similar vein to Helga's crush on Arnold, Ernie is revealed to have a shrine dedicated to Lola, which includes photos of her from magazines, a statue of her that he carved, and poetry dedicated to her.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Lola is at least twice as tall as Ernie.
- Toilet Humor: A literal example; when Ernie falls for Lola while in the cab of his crane, he accidentally pulls the lever to his crane's arm, causing the wrecking ball to knock over a port-a-potty that the Foreman is using. The Foreman is angry with Ernie when he finds out.
- Whack-a-Monster: At the boardwalk carnival, one of the attractions is a Whack-a-Mole game, which Lola is unsure about playing at first because she thinks the moles are real and she's against hurting animals. Ernie assures her that the moles are made of plastic.
