Only Child is the eighth episode of The Wild Thornberrys's first season which was first broadcast on October 1, 1998, and the eight episode overall.
Summary[]
Eliza finds out that a local teenage girl named Jao is actually a dolphin who's trying to abduct her sister, Debbie, into a watery world by turning her into a dolphin on the full moon so that she won't be lonely.
Synopsis[]
This episode takes place just a few miles off of Manaus near the Amazon River. The Thornberrys arrive there, and Eliza and Darwin get on a dock and look down in the river, but Eliza couldn't see anything. She then puts a scuba mask and dips her head in the water and sees piranhas. They then swim towards her, but Darwin pulls her out of the water before they could bite her. Meanwhile at the camp, Marianne made pastries, but Debbie doesn't want any. Marianne, with a suggestion, then asks Debbie to play with Eliza, which she doesn't mean play, but really "hang out". Debbie, however, tells her mother that she's a little unclear on the older younger sister thing. Nigel then shows up and shows Marianne he just found Jambo leaves, which were the missing ingredient for his insect repellent. Marianne thought she needed Jambo leaves for a stew she is making. Donnie then steals Debbie's juice, but it wasn't really juice, but Nigel's bug repellent and Donnie drinks it. When Donnie burps, it makes the bugs die and fall onto the table.
Back on the dock, Eliza wonders what animal she can talk to if Darwin won't let her talk to the piranhas. Just then, Eliza suddenly sees a Pink Amazon River Dolphin jump out of the water. Eliza gets excited to see one, and she tries to talk to the dolphin, but it doesn't answer her and the dolphin swims away. Eliza then jumps onto a log and runs after the dolphin with Darwin running after her. She then jumps onto a crocodile's head, and Darwin grabs her and pulls her back onto the log as he tells her the one rule about crocodiles: "Don't step on their heads". Back at the camp, Debbie was sitting at the table and eats a pastry, as Donnie watches her eat it, but Debbie tells Donnie to get his own pastry and life because hers is too thrilling for the both of them.
Suddenly, a mysterious girl named Jao appears from out of nowhere and says hi to Debbie and introduces herself. When Debbie sees Jao, she looks down at her shoes and finds them cool. Meanwhile, Eliza was still trying to find the dolphin, but it was nowhere to be seen. Eliza then hears a squeaking sound, but it turns out to be just Darwin's stomach. Darwin wants to get eat something, but Eliza wanted to talk to the dolphin first. Eliza, however, does thank Darwin for saving her life, so she decides to let them go back to the camp for one pastry. When arriving at the table, Debbie introduces Jao to Eliza telling her she's from Manaus meaning she knows more then she does. When Jao sees Eliza, she wishes she had a sister, and Eliza and Debbie say together, "Want mine?", casing Jao to laugh. Nigel and Marriane then arrive at the table, and Debbie introduces Jao to them and asks if it's okay if they go exploring, which they think would be great. Debbie and Jao then head off to see a bird, while Eliza and Darwin return to the river to continue to search for the dolphin.
Back on the dock, Eliza plans to barrow a canoe to take out to the river to search for the dolphin, when a fisherman arrives on his boat. Eliza tells him she's just borrowing the canoe, but the fisherman tells her she shouldn't go because there are terrible things out there that can't be explained. He then asks Eliza if she knows about the "Boto", which is another name for the Pink Amazon River Dolphin. When she tells the fisherman she wants to find one of the freshwater dolphins, he tells Eliza that this is the day the boto dolphin leaves the river and walks among the shores, turning into the form of a beautiful young woman, making Eliza surprised. Nigel, Marianne and Donnie then arrive on the dock and Nigel says hello to the fisherman and introduces himself, and his wife to him. The fisherman, Nigel and Marianne then get into the fisherman's boat and Marianne asks Eliza to look after Donnie, and she agrees to. The fisherman then takes the canoe Eliza was going to use to search for the river dolphin and he, Nigel and Marianne head off to the village on his boat, as he tells Eliza, "Beware the Boto.".
Meanwhile in the jungle, Debbie and Jao see a bird, and Debbie asks her what she and her friends from the village do around here. Jao explains to Debbie that she's really not from the village and when the rains come, she and her family are always someplace different. Debbie then tells Jao that she does too. As Eliza kept on searching for the dolphin, Eliza wonders if the Pink Amazon River Dolphin really could turn into a human. As Darwin trips on a branch, he suddenly sees something. Eliza notices it's footprints, leading out of the water onto the shores. Eliza follows the footprints and discovers they lead right to their camp. Eliza then remembers the only other person she'd seen at the camp was Debbie's friend, Jao, causing her to realize that Jao might really be the dolphin in the form of a human girl like the fisherman said. Eliza then decides to talk to Jao, but when they return to the camp, Darwin asks Eliza that didn't the fisherman tell her not to, as he seemed to be scared of the dolphin. Just then, Jao shows up, scaring Eliza and Darwin in the process. Eliza is surprised to see her, and she asks Jao where did she come from. Jao tells her, "Over there," and asks her if she's looking for Debbie. Eliza tells her she is, and asks Jao if she knows where Debbie is, and Jao tells her that she's in the ComVee. As Darwin gets nervous, Jao asks Eliza what's up with him, and Eliza tells her he's scared of her shoes. Eliza then goes into the ComVee to tell Debbie about Jao. Eliza tries to tell Debbie that Jao is a dolphin, and that the fisherman told her all about how the river dolphin turns into a teenage girl, and about the footprints she found that lead from the river to the camp, and the fisherman also said, "Beware of the dolphin", so they'd have to be very careful. Debbie however didn't believe her and laughed at her. She then opens one of the ComVee's windows and says to Jao, "Hey Jao, guess what my sister thinks!". Eliza then gets mad telling Debbie to forget it and she leaves the ComVee taking Darwin with her.
Eliza then thinks if there could be a way to prove Jao is a dolphin. When Darwin suggests a dolphin expert, this gives Eliza an idea. So, Eliza and Darwin hang from a tree's branch as Eliza decided to ask the crocodiles if they'd seen the river dolphin turn into a girl. After Eliza calls out to the crocodiles, they swim up to her. One of the crocodiles was the same one who's head Eliza jumped on earlier. Eliza asks the crocodiles about the dolphin they saw, and if they saw the dolphin turn into a girl. One of the crocodiles tells Eliza that dolphins think they can do anything, which makes Eliza think they really did see them change. They tell her they've seen them all by themselves, like they're so much better than them, just because they're more intelligent. They then tell Eliza they do disappear sometimes, but only for one day, and Eliza adds that today is that day. But the crocodiles then decide to eat Eliza. As Eliza tries to thank them, Darwin feet start to slip from the branch and they fall, but Darwin quickly grabs the branch and onto Eliza and pulls her back up to safety before the crocodiles could eat her.
Eliza and Darwin then see Nigel, Marianne and the fisherman come back to the dock. After Nigel and Marianne get off the boat, they thank the fisherman and head back to the camp. As they walk back to the camp to make Marianne's stew, Donnie shows up in front of them and Nigel says howdy to him. Eliza then runs onto the dock and asks the fisherman if she happened to see a dolphin who she thought turned into a girl, then how would she know. The fisherman tells her there are ways she could tell; the girl will eat only fish and always wears a hat to cover her dolphin's blow hole. Eliza however, knowing she eats fish and the fisherman is wearing a hat, then asks him if there's a more real way to tell. He tells her there is, as Eliza will have to know her thoughts, she'll have to speak to the dolphin inside of her. The fisherman then tells Eliza if she saw such a girl, she should tell him. After getting off the dock, Darwin asks Eliza if she told the fisherman about Jao, but Eliza decided she didn't need to and she could prove Jao is a dolphin by herself. Meanwhile inside the ComVee, Nigel and Marianne were busy making their stew.
From behind a tree, Eliza and Darwin spy on Debbie and Jao as they were sitting at the table, as Debbie shows her where she got chased by a lion. They then suddenly hear Eliza speaking in an animal's langue, making Jao asks Debbie where her sister lost her mind. Next, Eliza and Darwin hide behind a bush while she was holding a fish on a stick. As Debbie and Jao walk by the bush to smell flowers, the fish on the stick pops out of it right in front of Debbie, and she finds Eliza holding it. When Jao sees the fish, she says, "Oh, fish. I can't resist!", but Debbie then angrily stares at Eliza saying that "somebody" is starting to annoy her. When Debbie and Jao walk off, Eliza and Darwin next climb a tree, as Eliza plans to grab Jao's hat to take it off to see the blow hole on top of her head. As Debbie and Jao walk by the tree, Eliza reaches down to try to grab Jao's hat. But she was unable to grab it and she falls off the branch and onto the ground right behind them. When Debbie and Jao see her again, Jao asks Eliza if she found her dolphin yet, but Debbie angrily tells Eliza to back off. Eliza though refuses to give up trying to prove Jao is a dolphin.
Later back at the camp at the table, the Thornberrys and Jao were about to have their dinner, which was duck stew. When Eliza hears what kind of stew it is, Eliza claims Jao probably won't eat it, but Debbie states that she bets she eats all the time. Marianne, however, states that Debbie might be right and Jao might like something different, and Nigel knew just the thing. Nigel then takes out a plate full of fresh fish and puts it on the table. When the plate is put on the table, Jao grabs one of the fish and eats it, and she then eats all of the other fish on the plate as well, much to the Thornberrys' surprise. After Jao eats all the fish from the plate, Eliza shouts out, "That's it, you're not human!", and she tries to grab onto her hat to take it off to show her family the blow hole on her head. Eliza tries to tell the rest of the family that Jao is a dolphin, making her smile, but Debbie then asks Marianne if she could be excused. Eliza then squeaks at Jao, causing her to tell the Thornberrys maybe she should go, which makes Eliza tell her family that is what she said, as she told Jao to go in dolphin langue. Debbie apologizes to Jao and tells her that Eliza couldn't possibly be her sister. Marianne then gets mad at Eliza and tells her to go inside the ComVee, and Marianne goes in with her. Inside the ComVee, Marianne scolds Eliza asking her how could she treat Debbie that way and in front of a guest. Eliza explains to her mother that she was laughing at her all day. Marianne then believes Eliza must hate it not being around other kids her own age, but Eliza tells her they're okay and she really got mad at nothing. Marianne then thinks it's time they move back home, but Eliza then tells her it was just a faze and she's fine now, and she was just kidding when she squeaked like a dolphin. Marianne then tells Eliza to stay in the ComVee and think about it for a while till she's really to apologize to Debbie. After Marianne leaves, Eliza knew she now needed help, so she and Darwin jump out one of the ComVee's windows and they hurry to find the fisherman.
Inside a cottage as it started to rain, Eliza tells the fisherman about Jao. When Eliza tells him she tried to tell Debbie, the fisherman asks Eliza who Debbie is. Eliza tells him she's her sister and she became Jao's friend. When she tells him this, the fisherman tells Eliza that Jao is going to take Debbie to the river, which is why the boto dolphin is so dangerous. He explains to her that when in human form, the dolphin finds a friend and turns them into a dolphin too so they won't be lonely. Eliza then realizes Jao is going to take Debbie, and she runs out of the cottage and she and Darwin hurry to find them. Meanwhile, Jao apologizes to Debbie that she got stuck out in the rain, but she didn't mind and she wanted to say good bye to her, and tells her it must be nice to live in Manaus. Debbie and Jao then head off to the river together. Back at the camp, Nigel and Marianne were loading things in the ComVee when Eliza and Darwin show up. Eliza asks Marianne where Debbie is, and she tells her she left with Jao. Eliza tells her mother that she needs to apologize to Debbie right now, and she hurries off to find her.
When Eliza runs up onto the dock, she finds the flower that Debbie was wearing on her head, and it gets washed off the dock by the water. Eliza then calls out to Debbie and Jao, trying to convince Jao to not take Debbie and give her back. As she was calling out to them, Marianne calls out to Eliza as the tide was rising and there is going to be a flood. Eliza then quickly runs back to the ComVee and she and Marianne get inside it. Nigel then activates the ComVee's hovercraft mode, and it starts floating in the flood waters. As Marianne drives the ComVee through the flood, they start to look for Debbie. Debbie was floating in the flood waters, when the river dolphin suddenly shows up and rescues her. When Eliza opens the ComVee's top hatch and again calls out to Debbie, she calls out to Eliza as the dolphin carries her to the camper. Eliza climbs down the ComVee's ladder and reaches out to her. Debbie, however, was afraid to take her hand, and Eliza tells her she has to let go of the dolphin. So, Debbie let's go of the dolphin and Eliza grabs onto to her and pulls back up onto the ComVee to safety.
After Debbie was rescued, she explains to Eliza what happened, when she was saying goodbye to Jao, she slipped off the dock and then the dolphin rescued her. Eliza was relieved to find and save her sister, as she was worried she was going to turn into a dolphin. Eliza then sees Jao in her true dolphin form jump out of the water and thanks her for not taking her sister. Debbie then spots another dolphin and they both jump together, making Eliza happy to see that Jao has got a friend after all, and Debbie adds or maybe a sister.