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"Eugene Goes Bad" is an episode of Hey Arnold!.

Synopsis[]

Eugene finds out that his TV hero, The Abdicator, is just an overpaid, whiny, spoiled brat Hollywood star who doesn't do his own stunts, and without a role model, Eugene decides to go bad.

Plot[]

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The episode starts at Eugene's house, where Eugene, Arnold and Gerold are in Eugene's bedroom watching The Abdicator. Seeing the Abdicator catch the crook and saying his famous line, Eugene gushes how the Abdicator is his hero. Arnold admits that the Abdicator is kind of cool. An unimpressed Gerald informs Eugene that the Abdicator is just an actor. Eugene argues the Abdicator is real and he'll in town tommorrow, filming an episode and can't wait to meet him.

The next day, Eugene, Arnold and Gerald are on scene of the set. The Abdicator says his famous line and is about to fight. An excited Eugene tell his friends that The Abdicator is real and is really going pummel the bad guy. However, when the director yells "Cut!" , Eugene is shocked by two revelations: The Abdicator has a stunt double and he's a vain person. The Abdicator starts whining about his apricot juice not being present, his lunch and his costume making him too sweating. Eugene is devastated by this, while Arnold remind him that this is Hollywood. Eugene points out that the Abdicator is suppose to be honest, brave and polite no matter what, but now sees that the Abdicator is nothing more than a fake. Then Eugene marches over to the Abdicator and publicly ridicules him, shouting that the Abdicator stinks (while trapping over a wire). The Abdicator asks why nobody has stopped Eugene from crossing the barrier. Eugene continues to ridicule him, declaring him a fake. The Abdicator takes off his mask and informs Eugene that he's just an actor. But Eugene shoots back, saying that while it might just be a role for him, to millions of kids, he's a real hero they can admire. The Abdicator reminds Eugene that it's a role he plays, but Eugene, not wanting hear anymore of the excuses, tells him that he's a wimp and angrily storms off. As Eugene leaves, the Abdicator's agent tells him that kids will still be watching the show.

On the street, Arnold and Gerald runs after the fuming Eugene. Arnold attempts to talk some sense into Eugene, stating that the Abdictor is just an actor. However, Eugene claims if the Abdictor is fake, there's no point in being good or honest anymore. Arnold points out to Eugene that he's taking the whole "Abdicator being an actor" revelation a little too personally. Eugene shouts "Maybe I am!" and storms back to his house. At night, Eugene tears down all his Abdicator posters, throws away all his Abdicator merchandise into his Abdicator trashcan, which he throws that same trashcan into a dumpster outside his house. Then, Eugene paints his entire room black, reads a book about "How to go bad" and greases his hair. To complete his transformation, Eugene throws on some jeans, cowboy boots, and a black leather jacket with the collar popped. Eugene goes out, but not before he kicks and destroys his TV which had an ad with the Abdicator playing.

The next day at school, Eugene is seen standing in the hallway, next to the fire alarm. He then pulls the alarm and all the students runs out of the school in a panic. Principal Wartz shows up, turns off the alarm and asks Eugene if he pulled the alarm. Eugene smugly asks "So what if I did?". The principal asks if Eugene saw a fire, Eugene smugly states there was no fire. A furious Wartz informs Eugene that pulling the fire alarm without a reason will result in serious punishment. Eugene brushes off Wartz's warning and says "So? Sue me." Having enough of Eugene's attitude, Wartz tells him to head to his office right away. But Eugene just shrugs it off, saying, "Hey man, that's not my seat," and strolls away, leaving a blonde-haired kid watching him with a look of disappointment. Eugene then proceeds to litter outside and knocking down a bike rack. At the park, Eugene cuts in front of Arnold at the drinking fountain. Arnold tries to tell Eugene how he's doesn't like his 180 attitude, but Eugene tells Arnold to get straight to the point. Getting exasperated, Arnold asks why Eugene is being so aggressive, and Eugene replies, "Because it's there." Arnold tells Eugene that statement doesn't make any sense. Eugene tells Arnold that it's not that hard to understand, stating that at one point he used to be a nice kid, but somewhere along the line he changed. Arnold makes an effort to connect with Eugene, but Eugene just brushes him off, saying, "Later for you."and walks away, leaving a worried Arnold behind.

Later, Eugene comes out his house, looking to cause trouble. As Eugene walks down the street, the blonde-hair kid meekly greets him. In a rude tone, Eugene shoots back, "Move it or lose it, spud." The kid asks if that's all Eugene has to say to him, he retorts, "What else do I say to a punk like you?". The kid, following Eugene, wants some advice. The kid states that since he's younger and smaller than Eugene, he thought he would have a role model to look up to and emulate. Now that the kid sees Eugene has strayed from the right path, he feels like he has no option but to follow suit. He walks away feeling defeated, while Eugene, torn inside, glances back. At night, in a white limo, the Abdicator(real name Maruice) tells his agent that he couldn't sleep last night, stating that he couldn't stop thinking about what Eugene(he dubs the clumsy kid) said to him and how he looked up to the Abdicator. The apathetic agent informs Maruice that it's not his fault that Eugene was affected by what he saw, stating every big star has a few disgruntled fans. Maruice, still bothered, continues that he was so troubled that he woke up his neighbor just to borrow a dictionary to look up the meaning of Abdicator: "To give up responsibilities, to abandon you position without fulfilling your duties". The meaning of the word disturbed Maurice so much that in the morning he could barely work out. The Agent reminds her client that he's not a real hero; just plays one on TV. However, the guilt-ridden Maruice points out that he said the exact same thing to Eugene, but somehow that's not a good enough answer. He argues that kids need heroes to admire, and since Eugene looked up to him, he feels like he let him down, saying that he abdicated his duties. Maruice tells his agent that he needs to talk a walk and runs out, ignoring his agent's pleas.

Meanwhile, Eugene is seen throwing tomatoes at an Abdicator mural. Arnold and Gerald, just off the bus, hurry over to intervene. Arnold tells Eugene that he's acting crazy, only to tell Arnold that his actions doesn't concern him. Arnold insists that there are people who actually care about him, but Eugene doesn't believe him and walks away. While Eugene is walking, he hears the kid from before hanging from the fire escape, calling for help. Eugene goes up the fire escape to rescue the kid, but loses his balance and ends up hanging by his jacket. As the crowd looks on helplessly, Maruice rushes to the fire escape, grabs Eugene's coat collar and pulls the kids to safety, saving them both. Eugene thanks Maruice for saving him, saying he is a hero. Maruice reminds Eugene that he's a highly-paid TV actor, but he still cares about the kids who watches his show, look up to him and he wants them to do the right thing. As Maruice and the crowd dissolve, Eugene berates the kid for being out late and assumes it's past the kid's bedtime. The kid informs Eugene that he's suppose to be in bed by 8:30pm, after his favorite show Yo Ernest. Eugene offers to walk the kid home and the kid thanks him, saying Eugene is his hero. Looking on, Gerald still thinks of Eugene as a total jinx and a geek. Arnold is on the same page about the jinx and geek thing, but he also sees Eugene as a hero. The episode wraps up with Gerald calling the whole "Eugene being a hero" line super corny, and Arnold nods along, even though it sounded pretty cool in his mind.

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