Dinner With Darwin

Dinner With Darwin is the second episode of The Wild Thornberrys from season one.

Characters Present[]

Eliza
Darwin
Donnie
Debbie
Nigel
Marianne
Stone age tribe
Snapping turtle

Summary[]

Eliza accuses Darwin of losing his animal instincts, so, to prove her wrong, he wanders into the jungle where a stone age tribe feeds him well. But are they trying to help him or trying to fatten him up for a feast?

Recap[]

Years ago, Nigel, ever the curious and adventure-loving soul, dreamed of encountering indigenous tribes living in harmony with nature. His wish is realized when the family stumbles upon a tribe residing deep in the Amazon. The family, drawing from conventional ideas, envisions the tribe to be untamed and untouched by modern civilization.

This belief, however, faces a stern test when Nigel, attempting to express gratitude to the tribe, inadvertently devours their ceremonial meal. His innocent error is met with an understanding response from the tribe's chief who, to Nigel's astonishment, is fluent in English. The chief, displaying his forgiving nature, proposes to lend Nigel his English language tapes, hinting at the fact that the tribe is more advanced than what the Thornberrys had presumed.

The tribe's embrace of modern technology further compounds this revelation. Far from being ignorant of modern advancements, the tribe has seamlessly integrated it into their lifestyle — owning laptops, mobile phones, and even maintaining personal websites. The Thornberrys are taken aback by the tribe's familiarity with technology, challenging their initial assumption of the tribe as 'primitive.'

Simultaneously, Eliza and Darwin engage in a separate, lighter subplot. Eliza stumbles upon a rock during her exploration and decides to challenge Darwin to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The game turns serious as the winner gets to decide their next course of action — an adventure for Eliza's victory or a return to camp for Darwin. Eliza emerges victorious, leading to an adventurous conclusion to the episode.