Friendship Couch

**Friendship Couch** is the first episode in Season 1 and series premiere of *I ♥ Arlo*.

## Synopsis

Living by himself may be more than lonely Arlo can handle — not to mention his neighbor Bertie, who could really use some time for herself.

## Plot

The episode begins with a sunrise over Seaside by the Seashore, before Arlo Beauregard comes in to say good morning to everything he sees, happy to praise the neighborhood as his new home since moving there and restoring it. He then greets his friends: Furlecia at her new salon, Teeny Tiny Tony at his new pizza restaurant, Marcellus at the fountain, and finally his best friend Bertie living next door to him. Arlo says he got something for them before Bertie reveals they're living door-to-door in separate apartments as neighbors, not roommates. In addition, the two agreed having their own separate places will be a good thing, which Arlo claims will be easy. Alia then drives up in her bus with a couch she and Arlo found on the beach, which is wet, soggy, and splits into two, and can now be used by either of them.

After moving both halves of the couch inside to each other's living quarters, Arlo suggests he and Bertie play a game together, but Bertie has to go back and finish unpacking. Arlo tries to cover it up as a test she passed and offers to bake a pie as the prize, but she leaves anyway, and Arlo is left alone and bored. He calls out to her if she could help him move the couch half to his room, but since it's his apartment, he's on his own. He then tries calling Tony at his restaurant, but keeps getting hung up because he wasn't ordering anything. When he finally decides to order, he gets hung up when trying to tell his living issues; Alia then comes over with the pizza Arlo ordered, but she ate most of it leaving only a single half-eaten slice. Arlo offers to share it with Bertie, but she does not hear him and he is left alone again.

Arlo goes to Furlecia's salon where she gives him a two-hour long pageboy cut, before he finally pours out his living issues to her. To help out, Furlecia suggests he throw a housewarming party to make it special. Arlo takes her advice and hosts the party, with his gang and a few strangers as his party guests. Bertie gives him a housewarming present, a picture of the two that can be hung on the shared wall, which Arlo loves. When Furlecia requests music, Tony and Alia bring in a family heirloom that has been tricked out with modern adjustments. Happy that everyone is partying, Arlo wants the housewarming to go on forever; three days soon pass, and the party is still going on, with everyone but Arlo tired and worn out. Bertie then declares the party over to Arlo's dismay, and everyone leaves him, with Bertie reminding they're still neighbors and will still see each other.

After his guests have left and thinking his house has been "housewarmed", Arlo realizes he doesn't like living alone and begins lamenting in song about his unwanted independence. Bertie hears him and has similar feelings, before deciding it's best if they live together. Using her half of the couch, she busts down the shared wall and reunites with Arlo, and the two happily declare they're a family before dancing with their housewarming guests, and the rest of Arlo's gang dances as well. Arlo and Bertie then proceed to break the wall down completely, combining their apartments into one big home, which Arlo now officially declares warmed.

Arlo then gets a delivery from Thao the mail carrier at the door, who gives him a package with someone unhappy inside. Arlo recognizes it as a care package from Edmée in the swamp, who promised to send him one every day. Opening the box, the gift is revealed to be Arlo's pet frog Jeromio, who decided to come live with him to Bertie's chagrin. Arlo teasingly tells Bertie if she can imagine should he have arrived earlier, then he and Jeromio would've been roommates and Bertie would still be living alone, and she agrees in resignation.

## Cast

* Michael J. Woodard as Arlo Beauregard
* Mary Lambert as Bertie
* Jonathan Van Ness as Furlecia
* Haley Tju as Alia
* Brett Gelman as Marcellus
* Tony Hale as Teeny Tiny Tony
* Fred Tatasciore as Jeromio
* Cathy Vu as Thao

## Trivia

* This is the first episode of the series.
* Arlo and Bertie's house is introduced. Their homes were originally separate, until the shared wall was broke down and the living rooms were combined.
* While Arlo is getting a haircut at Furlecia's, he has a bowl on his head; in the movie, he mentioned Edmée would put a bowl on his head whenever he needed a haircut.
* The music Bertie listens to on her headphones is an instrumental version of Even In A Garden.
* This is the first time Alia's hair is visible.

## Errors

* When the weary guests leave Arlo's house, Bertie says it has been three days; however, according to the time lapse shot of the house, it seems to occur at least five days.
* When Arlo is crying over the photo Bertie gives him, the tears on the left side of his face (viewer's right) are superimposed over his snout.