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"Mudbowl" is an episode of Hey Arnold!.

Synopsis[]

The 5th graders challenge the 4th graders to a game of American football, and Arnold believes the 4th graders can win by using their smarts, but Helga disagrees and takes over coaching the team.

Plot[]

Arnold and his friends play a nice, relaxing game of football. They're having a great time... until Wolfgang shows up to ruin their fun. 

Wolfgang and his posse of knuckle draggers tell Arnold and his friends to clear out so they can play, but Arnold says that they have a right to be at the park just as much as Wolfgang does. Seeing as the fourth graders aren't going to back down, Wolfgang proposes a football game--5th graders vs 4th graders this Saturday at 2:00. 

Anyway, Arnold straight-up tells Wolfgang that they're totally game, much to everyone's shock. Sid weasels over and suggests a good, wholesome game of chess since he's really not in the mood to get his head mistaken for the ball, and it's making everyone else look really bad.

Helga decides that Arnold's plan of practicing for the game is too complicated, so she takes the liberty of becoming the unofficial coach, handing out sugar-laden protein shakes and forcing everyone through hardcore drills that test their physical and mental limits.

At the end of the day, everyone walks home with more muscle aches and bruises than any pro football player has ever received. Gerald turns to Arnold and is like, "What's wrong with you, challenging Wolfgang to a football game?!" to which Arnold replies "Aw, come on. How bad could it be?" This is followed by Wolfgang running across the street after a football and body-slams a mailbox

The next day at lunch, everyone sits at the table miserably. It looks as if the kids are about to get let off the hook and be set free when Wolfgang comes over to the table to taunt the fourth graders, but then Arnold shuts everyone's excuses down with a speech to Wolfgang about how they're so going to cream the 5th graders.

It looks as if it's going to take a miracle for the fourth graders to win this game, and that's when Torvald walks by, inspiring an idea. At first, Wolfgang looks at Torvald and is like, "He ain't no fourth grader. He's huge!" but Arnold proves he is with the official class photo. So, Torvald is in. The plan is to give the ball to Torvald, and they should be golden. And when the game begins, Torvald really gets rid of his rivals with ease. While this may seem like cheating (it's kind of is), everyone seems relieved that they won't have to do much running around since Torvald seems to have this covered... except when he steps in a ditch and twists his ankle.

New plan: Harold takes the ball and runs. That fails, because when Helga throws the ball to him, Harold doesn't even try to make a grab for it, like he's afraid of touching the ball, and somehow the ball ends up in Eugene's hands.
Phoebe is keeping score, and the fifth graders are murdering the fourth graders. No surprise. Looks like it's time for a new plan. Arnold suggested to run his plays, but Helga doesn't want any of it. It's only when the vote to outsmart instead of outrunning the fifth graders becomes unanimous and the other players threaten to quit since it’s clearly obvious Helga’s plans of outrunning the fifth graders isn’t working. This makes Helga throws her hands in the air and lets Arnold be quarterback.

And Arnold's plans actually begin to work:

Everyone's doing so well, even Helga starts cheering. And the score ties 42 to 42. But then it begins to rain. But Gerald makes the catch, winning the game with a dramatic mudslide.

Arnold and his friends cheer, the fifth graders curse themselves, and now the fourth graders have sweet gloating rights any time any fifth grader steps foot into the park from now on.

Gallery[]

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