“Arnold Betrays Iggy”: The Worst Episode of Hey Arnold!

Courtesy of Nickelodeon

Hey Arnold! is considered one of the best Nickelodeon cartoons of all time. The series had the perfect balance of humor, as well as serious and emotional moments, and had a wide range of funny, interesting characters. The story of Arnold, a fourth grader with a football-shaped head who is smart, does what he believes is right, and tries to find the good in people and give them second chances has entertained audiences for years. Many episodes could be considered the best episode of Hey Arnold!. There’s “Arnold’s Christmas” where Arnold is doing all he can to reunite Mr. Hynn with his daughter. There’s “Helga on the Couch”, which goes into Helga’s rough childhood and how she fell in love with Arnold. There’s “The Journal” where Arnold finds his father’s journal and reads it with his grandparents. While everyone may disagree on what’s the best episode, everyone seems to agree that the worst episode of Hey Arnold! is “Arnold Betrays Iggy.” What would make this episode the most hated episode of a great cartoon like Hey Arnold!?

The episode starts with Arnold, Stinky, and Sid talking about another kid named Iggy who they consider as a friend, and how cool he is on the way home from school. Iggy missed school that day so Arnold is bringing Iggy’s schoolwork to him. When Arnold arrives at Iggy’s place he discovers Iggy in bunny pajamas. Iggy feels embarrassed and makes Arnold promise not to tell anyone. Arnold promises not to despite finding it funny. The next day Arnold chuckles to himself and when Sid and Stinky ask, Arnold just tells them it’s just something Iggy wore. Sid mentions bunny pajamas and that gives Iggy’s secret away without Arnold saying it. Again, Arnold never said it. Sid commented that it’s not like Iggy wore bunny pajamas coincidentally guessing it. Sid and Stinky tell the whole school and Iggy becomes the laughing stock of the school. Stinky tells Iggy that Arnold told them when Arnold never officially did. Arnold denies telling everyone, but Iggy doesn’t believe him and is mad at Arnold.

Taking advice from Grandpa, Arnold tries to earn Iggy’s forgiveness by doing chores for him. Iggy still refuses to forgive Arnold. The episode shows that for months Iggy is mad at Arnold. For Iggy to finally forgive Arnold, he tells Arnold to wear the bunny pajamas in front of not only the other kids but the whole neighborhood. Even Arnold’s Grandpa, who is always on Arnold’s side, is ready to take pictures of Arnold’s humiliation. As Iggy and everyone are waiting for Arnold to come out, Iggy hears Sid and Stinky reveal they told everyone about the bunny pajamas and that Arnold didn’t tell them.

Before Iggy can stop Arnold from coming out, Arnold already steps out and the humiliation happens. Most of the characters laugh at Arnold, with one boy squirting water at the tail of the pajamas. Even people from Arnold’s boarding house are laughing at this humiliation. A news broadcaster is filming this and showing it on TV. Even characters like Stoop Kid, whom Arnold helped in the past, laugh at Arnold. Arnold looks so broken and embarrassed and doesn’t realize Iggy learned the truth and tried to stop it. Later in the day, Arnold comes out and is upset. Iggy tries to apologize, but Arnold gives him a glare that is rare to see from the usually forgiving and calm protagonist and walks away with Iggy following him and trying to get Arnold’s forgiveness.

This episode made Hey Arnold! fans mad, and sparked theories that the creator of the cartoon, Craig Bartlett himself, hated it. Rumors grew that he forced his staff to apologize to the fans. Bartlett would debunk these rumors years later. Still, the creative team took the fans’ anger to heart and no longer gave Iggy a role beyond being a background character in later episodes or would just never appear. Many fans believed Sid and Stinky should have gotten punished or felt the humiliation Arnold did as they were the real bad guys in this episode. A lot of characters feel so out of character in this episode, mocking Iggy and later Arnold. Even Arnold, who did nothing wrong, does feel a bit out of character at finding Iggy in bunny pajamas funny and chuckles to himself about it when Arnold is usually understanding of other characters’ interesting habits. Sid and Stinky had a chance to be redeemed before Arnold came out, as it seemed both characters were beginning to feel guilty. It’s then ruined when Sid and Stinky join in laughing at Arnold and taking pictures.

The episode does more to paint Iggy as a bad guy than Sid and Stinky as well. True, Iggy is frustrating with how he treats Arnold after his secret is out, but with his reputation destroyed and being made fun of, it’s easy to understand why Iggy acts the way he does. Also, this happens after Arnold catches him in bunny pajamas, so it does make sense for Iggy to suspect Arnold. When Iggy learns the truth, he does regret his actions, and Iggy wouldn’t have been mad and humiliated in the first place if Sid and Stinky had kept their mouths shut about Iggy’s secret. The episode is seen as mean-spirited, and when watching it, you feel bad for Arnold as he looks embarrassed, broken, and defeated as everyone laughs at him in bunny pajamas. It makes me upset to even see the adults in Arnold’s neighborhood laughing at Arnold in the bunny pajamas. Yes, it’s a cartoon, but come on, that’s just even more mean-spirited than the kids laughing at him. Seeing TV cameras filming Arnold like this is infuriating. One positive to take away is Arnold’s best friend, Gerald, isn’t seen laughing at Arnold’s humiliation, showing at least Arnold’s best friend is loyal.

Additionally, the episode had several opportunities to turn this whole thing around. Unlike other Hey Arnold! Episodes, “Arnold Betrays Iggy” failed to rectify the situation. The writers could have made Iggy run to the house and stop Arnold from coming out in the bunny pajamas. Iggy could have also called out Sid and Stinky for not only revealing his secret but lying about Arnold revealing it. During Arnold’s humiliation, Iggy could have yelled for everyone to stop laughing and apologized publicly to Arnold, and perhaps chased after Sid and Stinky for being the real culprits in revealing Iggy’s secret. Instead, we have this distasteful ending that feels so unlike Hey Arnold!.

Have you watched “Arnold Betrays Iggy” and if so, did you think it was the worst episode of Hey Arnold!? Let us know in the comments below.