"Me and My Palfish" is an episode of the Playhouse Disney series Stanley.
Summary[]
Stanley and Lester learn how to work together to stand up against a bully.
Plot[]
Stanley and his classmates are all playing kickball at recess. Stanley throws the ball to Marci, who kicks it towards an older classmate named Ben. Stanley tries to get the ball back, but Ben refuses to return it and runs off. While doing so, Ben treads on Lester's chalk drawings, smearing them. This makes Lester upset, but he immediately gets scared after Ben threatens him and calls him a shrimp. Both Stanley and Lester report the incidents to their teacher. Ms Diaz then confronts Ben and Ben tries to lie his way out of it, but the boys don't buy it. Ms Diaz then scolds Ben and tells him to apologize to the two, which he does (much to his dismay).
After school, Stanley and Lester are walking home together when they suddenly run into Ben. Ben refuses to let them pass after they told on him. He then snatches Stanley's cap and walks off with it. Stanley tries to get it back, but Lester encourages him to just leave.
At Stanley's house, the boys have a talk with Dennis about their situation. Dennis suggests that they report to Ms Diaz again at school, but Stanley says that she won't be there for them outside of school. Lester considers moving out of state, but Dennis doesn't think that would solve anything. However, Dennis says that they can both protect themselves from Ben despite being small. He then tells them of two symbiotic sea creatures that are able to protect each other: the clownfish and sea anemones.
To find out more, the three decide to go into the Great Big Book of Everything and land beneath the sea. Dennis shows them the sea anemone, which looks like a plant, but is actually a sea creature related to coral and jellyfish. When looking at it, they find a clownfish hiding in it and the boys find that the fish is bright and colorful like a clown suit (hence the name). However, Stanley and Lester are still confused by how the creatures protect one another. Dennis explains that the anemone has tentacles that can sting and paralyze predator fish, thus protecting the clownfish. Once the clownfish is gone, a butterfly fish comes by and begins eating the anemone. Suddenly, the clownfish returns and scares off the butterfly fish. Both Lester and Stanley are amazed by this and wonder if they can both defend each other the same way.
Upon returning home, the two boys start thinking about how they can stand up against Ben. Lester thinks they can attach stinging tentacles to their arms (which is a rather ridiculous idea). Stanley then suggests they run away, which, while effective, would just let Ben know they're scared. Dennis suggests that they try to act brave and stand up for each other, that way Ben will just give up.
The next day, Stanley and Lester walk down the same street as before and once again run into Ben. Ben tries to chase them away, but the boys refuse to budge. Just when Ben calls Lester a shrimp again, Stanley immediately comes to his defense. Ben tries to egg them on again by showing off the worm cap he took from Stanley. Lester then comes in and teases him about a worm behind him, frightening Ben. Ben then feels discouraged, thinking the two think of him as a scaredy cat. Stanley assures him that's not the case, saying that he and Lester each use to be scared of Ben, but learned that together, they can stand up to anything. Ben is rather impressed and the three boys become friends.
Characters[]
Featured animals[]
- Clownfish
- Sea anemone
Other animals[]
- Butterfly fish
- Coral
- Jellyfish
- Worms
Quotes[]
- Stanley: Okay, how are we going to stand up to Ben?
- Lester: Let's get some stingy tentacles and tie them to our arms.
- (Stanley and Dennis give him a blank stare)
- Lester: Okay, maybe not.
- Harry: Psst! Hey Elsie, do you think we're symbiotic?
- Elsie: We'd be a lot more symbiotic if you stopped waking me up.
Trivia[]
- Morals:
- Two heads are better than one.
- When you face a bully, show that you're not scared.
- The best way to defeat an enemy is to make them your friend.
- This episode reveals that Lester once had a fear of macaroni.
- This is the only episode in which Marci appears without Mimi.
- The term ‘symbiosis’ was previously defined in the season 1 episode Hippo Helpers. Coincidentally, the aforementioned episode also mentions the symbiotic relationship between the Clownfish and anemone.
