I am sure this has been brought up at least once in this forum, but, after looking back at past episodes, I figured it was something worth bringing up again.
Remember how, in the earlier seasons, Binky was seen as a tough bully? Always taking kids' lunches, cornering kids in the hallway, all that stereotypical school bully stuff? But as the seasons passed, Binky's soft side has pretty much been overtly dominating. I mean, he's nicer to Arthur and to his sister Mei Lin,
<SPOILER> .....................his real name is Shelley......................,
and he even takes the sides of the younger kids at times (gently telling Muffy to back down from the Tower of Pain in The Law of the Jungle Gym).
And I'm quite surprised that, while he is still a Tough Customer, he, along with some of the other Tough Customers, aren't really as rambunctious and nasty as they used to be. Case in point: Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper: when was the last time you saw the TC's throwing food at each other or arm wrestle?
Okay, so Binky and the other TC's ocassionally DO push around other kids like they have been doing in the past. But it just doesn't seem as intimidating anymore.
Any thoughts?