George's new ventriloquist's dummy, Wally, makes him popular and starts a short-lived ventriloquism fad at school. He starts acting less rationally as Wally begins falling apart, and Arthur tries to convince George that he does not need Wally to make friends. Francine's family gets a new cat, who Catherine tries to name "Rose Petal" and pampers him, but the cat grows fond of Francine and she renames him "Nemo". When she tries to show Nemo to her friends, Arthur is shown to hate cats and believes they are evil, which jeopardizes his friendship with Francine, especially when Nemo and Pal become play-pals.