After winning coupons to a fancy French restaurant, Helga attempts to prove to Arnold she’s more sophisticated than Lila.
Synopsis[]
After seeing Arnold praise Lila as being sophisticated, Helga wishes to prove that she can be sophisticated as well. Nadine tries to show Helga her cockroaches to Helga’s disgust. Mr. Simmons then announces that Helga won 3rd prize in the school charity raffle with the Prize being a coupon for a free dinner for four people at a fancy French restaurant. Helga then decides this would be the perfect way to show Arnold that she’s sophisticated so she invites him, Gerald and Phoebe for some fine dining at Chez Paris so she can show Arnold her more sophisticated side. At dinner things go mostly according to plan except that Arnold just says that he was impressed with Helga’s sophistication instead of falling in love with her like she hoped.
Things go wrong when the check arrives and Helga realizes her coupon is actually for a free dinner at Chez Pierre, a different restaurant, which means she has no way to pay for the dinner. Helga brings Phoebe to the bathroom to inform her of the situation. Phoebe says they should tell the truth to the wait staff but Helga angrily shoots down that idea. In an attempt to stall for time, Helga orders more food, running up the tab well after everyone's had their fill.
Helga notices the A-health rating the restaurant received from the health inspector and gets an idea. She calls Nadine and tells her to bring over a cockroach to her at the restaurant. Nadine wants specifics but Helga tells her to bring the hairiest and worst cockroach she has. The waiter, Jacques, tells Helga he’s suspicious that she’s just ordering more food to distract him and that she actually can’t afford to pay for the meal. Helga makes a scene that what he’s saying is absurd and lies by saying that she’s actually Helga van Buren, the granddaughter of Helmet van Buren who is the richest man in the city. Jacques is taken aback and apologizes and offers Helga’s table a free chocolate mousse cake.
Arnold and Gerald are filled to the brim and can’t eat any more food while Helga is frantically waiting for Nadine. Just then, Jacques the waiter comes back to angrily confront Helga about a phone call he just received. Helmet van Buren himself called to place a reservation at the restaurant for tomorrow night. When Jacques brought up that they just so happened to have served his granddaughter that evening, Helmet said that was impossible because his only granddaughter was currently on vacation in Switzerland. Jacques determines Helga is an impostor and can’t afford to pay the bill so he called the police on her. Just as the police arrive, Nadine also arrives with a box of cockroaches. Nadine’s box of roaches are accidentally unleashed in the restaurant causing a mass panic. The police see all the cockroaches and shut the restaurant down while telling Helga she shouldn’t worry about paying the bill much to Helga’s delight.
On their way home, Arnold learns about Helga's scheme from Nadine and tells her to go back to the restaurant and tell the truth. After a little resistance from Helga, Helga and her friends went back to Chez Paris to tell the truth and are forced to wash dishes in order to repay the dinner bill. Arnold comments that Helga's decision to "do the right thing" was pretty sophisticated which surprises Helga. Arnold playfully sprays Helga with the dish sprayer and winks which Helga feigns annoyance at while secretly being happy.
