Hey Arnold!/Fridge

Fridge Horror

 * Not outright scary, but the home life of the Pataki family on Hey Arnold gets a lot creepier when you think back to it years later with a better understanding of how much Abusive Parents can screw a person up. When you're 12 years old, you don't think about how sad it is that Arnold is the first person to ever show kindness to Helga, because she is The Unfavorite in her father's eyes and her mother (who used to be talented enough to make a name for herself in the world, and, in one episode, showed that she could be that way again if it wasn't for her husband) is heavily implied to be an alcoholic who got that way from being unhappily married to a Jerkass, so naturally she develops a massive infatuation for Arnold. But since she fears losing the first source of happiness she has ever known, Helga treats Arnold like crap and lavishes the affection she would like to give to Arnold on an inanimate fetish made out of garbage she hides in her closet.
 * Her most tear jerking day in the limelight was where her heartbreaking Freudian Excuse was shown in full. On her first day of preschool, her parents were so enamored with Olga's piano playing that they didn't realize they had to take Helga to preschool, so Helga had to walk there herself; on the way, it began to rain and her lunch was stolen by two rottweilers. Then Arnold gave her his umbrella, possibly the first kind action toward her in her life. So if that's how neglectful her childhood was, how was her her mom's pregnancy and her overall infancy?
 * Helga's photo was always recent. She had to have sneaked into the apartment and rummaged through their photo albums.
 * Or just managed to get a hold of one of Arnold's school photos... or possibly take one of her own, covertly.
 * In the first episode featuring Olga, Helga changes one of her grades from an A to a B+ out of jealousy. Olga goes into a depression, spending days doing nothing but lay in bed with Lacrymosa playing on repeat, sobbing and verbally abusing herself. Years later, upon rethinking that episode, this troper had a thought: if that's Olga's reaction to a B+, what would she do if she got an F?
 * The Fridge Horror deepens when you realize that Olga's life pretty much revolves around her grades, for which she receives praise from her parents. On some level, she must realize just how miserable Helga is, and know that if her grades ever slipped, she would suffer the same fate. While that's horrifying enough on its own, one has to wonder: what exactly did her parents do to instill this sort of thinking in her?
 * More Fridge Tear Jerker than horror, but the episode where Helga wakes up in a world where she never existed. The entire town is celebrating her disappearance complete with a parade in her 'honor.' Her parents are actually happy and loving to each other. Phoebe has a new, more caring best friend, Gloria. And Arnold is now world famous for 'getting rid of her' (i.e. making her disappear as part of a magic act) and engaged to Ruth. Helga then wakes up and realizes it was all just a dream, then goes to apologize to all the people she's hurt or bullied over the years. Seems simple enough, but think about it. That whole episode was all in Helga's mind, which means that at least on a subconscious level, she truly believes the world and everyone she knows would be better off without her.
 * A TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL is suicidal? Pass the tissues, please...
 * Consider the Patakis' home/family/social situation, then add the issue that their only solid source of income is a technology that had almost completely dissolved by the end of the show's production run. Even if Olga manages to make it in the real world without an expensive college to occupy her attention, they would still need for Bob to convince someone to hire him (absurd, given his violently Alpha Male personality) or build up a new self-employment opportunity (economically unfeasible unless he's astoundingly lucky or buries the family in loans for years to come) or for Miriam to give up the Tabasco milkshakes and risk becoming a job-centric power freak again.
 * Actually it might not be so bad if the mother got a job. The mother was happy and good at it and it gave her the confidence to try to turn the other aspects of her life around, like giving up her "milkshakes" and at first being a better mother. The problem is she really couldn't balance being a buisnes woman and a mother, and Helga's father did not step up and take her place.
 * In Olga's Fiance, Olga fell for someone who appears to be a sociopath that would have ruined her life and came way too close to marrying him.
 * If we start on Arnold's side, what do we have? If that prophecy of his family older members dying at age 91 is true, it means he only has 10 more years to spend with his grandpa, after he ends up alone, with a loony grandma on his shoulders. He'd be 19.
 * We know that Phil is a very strong man and that he doesn't seem like an old man at all. And I'm willing to believe Pookie's crazy lady act is just, well, an act to make everyone think about something else than Arnold's missing parents. Even Word of God stated that he'll eventually find his mom and dad. But does Arnold know all of this?
 * Probably not for a while; he's Oblivious to Love, or at least Helga's very Tsundere approach to his affection, and hasn't put two and two together yet that his grandparents had the same situation as kids, and ended up married no less.
 * Doubled with Meaningful Name: Helga means "hell/underworld girl", while Olga means "heavenly girl". Their parents were unfair from the very beginning!
 * Pookie's Flanderization over the course of the series from an eccentric but still respectable adult figure in Arnold's life to a crazy old lady is due to senile dementia.

Fridge Brilliance
"Craig Bartlett: We made her (Lila) kind of a monster in the end. It was for laughs, but I really like Lila and think we should give her a break, they’d (Helga and Lila) be funny together. Yes, Lila was actually a lovely person."
 * Shadow Archetype: Helga is an Hypocrite with Hidden Depths who denies her feelings. Brainy is a guy with Hidden Depths who always try to say her feelings (but cannot for the asthma). Why Helga is continously giving OffhandBackhands to Brainy? Because Brainy is the one thing Helga wants and fears to be. Brainy is Helga's Satellite Character because Helga is his Shadow Archetype.
 * 'So...you're not going to destroy our tree?' 'Guess I'm not, am I, kid? Crazy old lady in a Tarzan suit stole my bulldozer.' Awww - it looks like Helga's dad does have a Heart of Gold.
 * Fridge Brilliance nothing, he outright shouted at Vermicielli "BUT MY KID'S UP THERE!" when he was going to bulldoze the tree anyway. As much of a Jerkass as he is, he does really love Helga deep down.
 * At first, Lila's relationship with Arnold seemed odd. She went from wanting to be his girlfriend, to not liking him the minute he liked her back, to still hanging out with him despite his obvious affection for her. But, ever since Craig mentioned that Lila had a repressed dark side, her actions actually start to make a lot of sense. When Arnold broke up with Lila, it broke her heart, so when Arnold realized he liked her back, she wanted to break his heart. When she learned Helga was crushing on Arnold, she started leading Arnold on to give him a false hope that her affection could still be won, and make Helga jealous, presumably for kicks.
 * To be fair, remember that this is all repressed. Lila's situation in life has led her to be The Pollyana, so the less-than-pleasant actions she takes aren't a conscious choice, which makes it all the more unhealthier for her. Craig confirmed Helga and Lila become friends when they become teenagers, so hopefully that'll help Lila to loosen up and act out her negative emotions like a normal human being.