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In a Pickle |
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In a Pickle (Microbes) is the seventh episode of the second season of The Magic School Bus. It first released on all PBS stations in the USA on October 21, 1995.
Plot[]
As the class returns from vacation, Wanda jokingly tells Phoebe that she hates vacations "because they always end." They are then startled to suddenly hear Keesha scream and it's shown she is horrified to find that her prize winning cucumber has been somehow changed in to a pickle (she believes her cucumber has been stolen). The rest of the class's vegetables have also rotted away during their vacation. When Ralphie walks into the classroom, Keesha begins to accuse him of stealing it (much to Ralphie's disgust) until Ms. Frizzle, who is eating a pickle, walks in. When Keesha enters a storage full of pickles, she begins to suspect the teacher. Ms. Frizzle admits that the cucumber is "gone, but not missing", telling Keesha that the pickle used to be a cucumber. Keesha, however, doesn't buy it, and attempts to eat it, only to be stopped by Arnold, who states that there would then be no evidence that Keesha's cucumber has changed to a pickle if she were to eat it. When Keesha reluctantly begins to interrogate their admired teacher, Arnold tries to stop her and tells Ms. Frizzle that she can remain silent and even dismiss the class. Ms. Frizzle, however, refuses to shy away and instead gets the idea to stand trial with the rest of the class acting as her prosecutors, defenders, and jurors.
The class holds up a court in the classroom, with Keesha as the plaintiff and the Frizz as the defendant, Arnold as her lawyer, Dorothy Ann as the bailiff, and her honor, Liz, as the judge. Tim also acts as the court scribe while Ralphie, Carlos, Wanda, and Phoebe act as jurors. Keesha starts off by showing everyone the key differences between a pickle and a cucumber. Arnold is shocked that Keesha would even suggest she did it. Ms. Frizzle admits she had something to do with the missing cucumber, but it was the "Mike Robe Gang" that changed it. She also adds that they are invisible because they are too small to be seen with the naked eye. She gets Arnold to suggest a field trip, and they learn first hand about microbes, which is what changed the cucumber in to a pickle. The class boards the Bus, as Ms. Frizzle makes necessary modifications to pilot it inside the classroom.
The shrunken blimp-Bus lands onto the Frizz's desk as the class walks out to find some lost material inside the lost and found box. They come across a flower covered in an ascomycete (Ascomycota), a common type of yeast. The cells of the ascomycete start to undergo mitosis as Carlos jokingly states that "I rather find it on your 'cete (seat) than my seat". Arnold then comes to a conclusion that if anyone could see it when they're tiny, they're a member of the Mike Robe Gang. Keesha, however, is still not convinced, so she and the class board the Bus and head to the vegetable garden in her deference, but after seeing Liz roaming around with their Mega-Magnifier, Keesha changes her mind and decides that the Bus should land on Liz instead.
Ms. Frizzle complies and lands the bus on Liz's nose, where the class views a number of microbes on the reptile's scaly skin. Liz, oblivious to the Bus' appearance, thinks it is just a pest and flicks it off of their face, sending the class in the hamster's water bowl. They view strange things in the water, the fat, juicy ones being amoeba and the ones with the appearances of hot dogs are paramecium, more "members of the Mike Robe Gang". Despite this, Keesha is still adamant of not believing Ms. Frizzle's explanation of the cucumber changing into a pickle since the water the hamster was drinking didn't change like the cucumber. So Arnold suggests that the class should go to his rotten 3rd prize tomato.
On the tomato, Arnold reluctantly suggests to Ms. Frizzle that they shrink even smaller and the class dress into their anti-fungus suits offered to them by Ms. Frizzle. The class exit the bus and watch the fungus fall apart. they start sprouting roots as they land onto the tomato juice. Even though they see more members of the Mike Robe Gang, Keesha is still unconvinced about the cucumber changing into a pickle, much to Arnold's annoyance. Suspenseful music plays and arises, when the tomato juice erupts and bubbles like a volcano. Ralphie on the other hand, slips on the tomato juice and notifies the class of a "tomatoquake", and the class, the Bus, and the fungi microbes spills along with it inside a jar of lactic acid fermented water or in Ms. Frizzle case "pickle juice".
They end up in the jar with the pickle and find a number of microbes inside. They find that the fungus are being destroyed by the pickle bacteria on the cucumber. Outside of the jar and creating more disgusting humor when Liz gives the rotten tomato a taste and spits it out in disgust, causing another cucumber to fall into the jar. The class finally learn that the pickle bacteria is what kept the cucumber from rotting like the tomato, thus they get rid of the fungi. They also learn that the pickle bacteria are part of the Mike Robe Gang as well, prompting them to realize that Ms. Frizzle was talking about microbes. Keesha finally learns that the pickle in her jar is really her cucumber transformed into a pickle thanks to the pickle bacteria. Then, Carlos jokingly states The Magic School Blimp "is in a real pickle" since it was pickled.
Back inside the classroom, Ms. Frizzle is acquitted and Keesha thanks Ms. Frizzle for putting her cucumber in the jar to keep it from rotting like Wanda's carrot and Arnold's tomato. Tim also provides a drawing of the cucumber, turning it into a prize pickle. Ms. Frizzle concludes that, "Cucumbers come and cucumbers go, but pickles go on forever" (which she derived from her great uncle). The case is dismissed and the class laughs as Liz's gavel falls apart and one of the pieces hits the skeleton in the classroom.
Allusions[]
- Victor Hugo's Les Misérables - Professor Frizzle's mugshot has Jean Valjean's inmate number, #24601. The Jean Valjean number is also used in other media as the "default" prisoner number, similar to US telephone numbers with 555.
Trivia[]
- It is revealed that Tim draws a picture of the scene featuring Ms. Frizzle, Dorothy Ann and Keesha during the trial when Ms. Frizzle talks about the "Mike Robe Gang".
- Arnold recalled the events in "Wet All Over" when he said, "I hope we're not back on the water cycle".
- It is revealed that Arnold despises pickle juice.
- The title of the episode is likely based on the idiom that means "in a difficult situation".
- Going by production order, this is the 6th episode of Season 2, and the fourth to be switched in streaming order.
- Tim's contribution to the class's saying "quake" in unison during the tomatoquake is archived audio from his part of another unison line, "It's an earthquake!!!" in "Blows Its Top".
- Archived audio from "Gets Ready, Set, Dough!" of the class yelling for help is used during the tomatoquake.
- This is the second episode that shows bacteria, the first is Inside Ralphie.
- However, the bacteria in this episode, unlike the former, are harmless to humans and help preserve food.
- Despite this being a Season 2 episode, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers aren't credited for their financial contributions on the original PBS broadcast version.
- Just like the remastered version of "Gets Ready, Set, Dough" that is used on DVD and digital, this episode's colors were also darkened in its remaster, looking different than other episodes in its season.
- This episode's only VHS release in Region 1 was the three-episode compilation, "Greatest Adventures". However, the episode has been released to DVD and to streaming services.
Goofs[]
Wanda's legs are missing.
- When Liz is eating pepperoni in the Producer Says segment, she turns slightly red with each bite.
- During the tomatoquake, Tim, Phoebe, DA, and Wanda are missing.
- When Keesha and the class discuss the trip on the Bus before the Frizz drives it into the lost-and-found box, Wanda's legs are missing in one scene.