That's Weird

"**That's Weird**" is Episode 16 in Season 2. It originally aired on February 5, 1996.

## Plot

Leon, Kiki, and Julie are playing Simon Says (only as "Leon Says"), but Kiki is out for spinning (well) when Leon didn't say, "Leon says". She says that she is so dizzy. As they are playing, Ben comes out in a Norwegian costume and does a strange dance. He explains the dance and the costume. The others do not find it cool, but he proves his denial of this by doing it again. They pretend to go into the kitchen for a drink of juice, but they are really using that as an excuse to laugh and make fun of Ben's dance and costume behind his back. Julie points out that Ben usually dances well, and that the costume is weird. Kiki mocks the singing. Leon mocks that the funny part is that Ben finds it great. They all call it so weird and mock his dance...until Leon finds out and stops the rest. Unknown to them, Ben overhears it all...at least until Leon asks how much he had heard. Julie criticizes his outfit. Before Leon is about to point anything out, he and the others leave.

Meanwhile, Nuzzle is chewing on a plastic toy car (that the kids had thrown away due to the wheels getting lost), much to Sizzle's dismay. She understands him chewing bones and stinky sneakers, but not cars. He says it's crunchy and tender, but she says it's weird, much to enough of *his* dismay to howl.

Ben laments how his friends made fun of his dance, and asks real-life kids if anyone has ever given them the same sort of hard time. The others explain hobbies they have that get them made fun of. Ben decides this means he should go ahead and do what he likes no matter if anyone else makes fun of them, but that he is still mad at the others. He understands not liking it, but says it doesn't mean they have to call it weird...so he sets off to tell them that.

Down in the basement, Ben witnesses Kiki working on some work that uses paper and scissors. She explains she is making papel picado (which means "cut paper"), meaning that she, like those in Mexico, cut paper into colorful ornaments, like for parties. In a short video, a man narrates how he does so, such as by making a flag, and that it is like a daily routine for him. Upon Kiki's asking, Ben says he thinks it is very nice, but adds that some people might say it's kind of weird. Kiki resents that. Ben says that someone would think so because it's "spending a lot of time just cutting up pieces of paper." Kiki denies it, saying that people have done it for a long time, that they are beautiful, and they take a lot of skill. Ben points out that the same thing about skill and long time can be said about his Norwegian dancing, which makes it unfair of her (or anybody else) to call it weird, and that it is pretty mean. They get into an argument, and Kiki tries defending her opinion, only to regret what she and the others had said about his dances.

Back in the living room, Leon is collecting old rocks from Earth's history. Ben tells him some people might call the rocks weird. Leon denies it and says they're all different. Ben says they're rocks. Leon tries proving they are not weird and shows him a fossil, a mark made by an animal long ago, which is probably a million years old. Ben says it still looks pretty weird. Leon denies it again, saying it's part of Earth's history, and that it means something. Ben returns the same defenses, only that his dances are from the history of a specific place on Earth: Norway, and they are no weirder than his rocks. They argue again. Leon tries defending his opinion, but regrets his negative feedback, but he decides he has to make it up to Ben.

Up in the greenhouse, Julie is playing a strange-looking stringed instrument. Despite not even looking, Julie somehow knows Ben is around. He asks if she can tell him what that thing is. She gladly says it's called a yehu. He says some people might find it weird. She doesn't get why that is. Before he can explain why, she says it's been played on instruments like this for thousands of years. Over another short video that Julie narrates to Ben, a man named Len Ching Pen (may not be the correct spelling) playing it. It is shown to have only two strings and be played sort of like a violin. Julie expresses pride in hers. Ben again says some wouldn't like it, and they'd call it weird. Before finishing her own defense, she comes to the decision it is about his Norwegian folk dancing and costume. He confirms it and tells her she has no right to say it is weird. She disagrees, saying she can think something is weird if she wants to and that she doesn't have to like it. He agrees with that, but says it doesn't make it weird, and then he walks away. After a moment, Julie regrets what she had said about his dance and decides to show him she is sorry.

Back in the basement, Sizzle laments that he must be a bad dog just because it must be bad to like weird things. He decides to leave.

Back in their respective areas, the kids decide to learn Ben's Norwegian dance and do it for him as an apology, but neither one wants the rest of them to see it out of fear that they will think it is weird. They rush into the living room, but they find out they have the same purpose. They ask Weebus to show them a video on Norwegian folk dances. In the video, a lady plays a fiddle called a hardonchu and plays the clap dance, which the children are dancing to.

Nuzzle catches Sizzle doing something passive: staring into space. He says it's doing nothing, but she says when a cat is staring into space, it is important. He calls it weird. She is dismayed about it. When she defends her hobby, he retorts by saying that the same is true for him chewing his plastic car. She then decides it's true that it wasn't nice to mock his hobby, so they both do their respective hobbies, promising neither one would call the other one's hobby weird.

Julie talks Ben into coming into the living room, and she and the others have Weebus play some music for it so they can show themselves doing the same. When Ben sees it, he is astonished, and the others apologize for their feedback, acknowledging that the costume and dance weren't weird, just so new that they didn't understand it, and that they have to respect others' choices (especially their friends') even if they don't like it themselves. They apologize again. Ben forgives them and understands all the trouble they went to to learn it. Upon request, Weebus plays the music again, and Kiki and Ben dance together in one group, and Leon and Julie in the other.

## Note

* Skye and Jody do not appear in this episode.
* Usually, as noted in Weebus' video, Norwegian folk dances are done with partners.
* Except for Ben's scat-singing near the beginning, there is no song.