Buster is lovestruck. And when he falls he falls hard.
Love at first sight was a common plot point in his silent shorts so why not carry the tradition over into his sound shorts? Keaton adds a visual joke to the first encounter by seeing the girl of his dreams through a distorted lens. The motif also allows Keaton to perform his tried and true looks of romantic longing - the droopy, dreamy eyes as he gazes at his beloved, the fluttery hand motions and his over eagerness to please. He's like a damaged puppy. Stop licking me!!
But in Keaton's world view love is fickle so in the time it takes for Buster to win her hand he loses it even quicker to a circus trapeze artist. Keaton's love of gadgetry comes into play as he creates his own makeshift high wire set in the back yard in an attempt to re-win his girl back. One of the key components missing from Keaton's film persona while at MGM was his penchant to pratfall. The studio was afraid he would get hurt and made him scale back his tumbles to the point where he would mostly just slip and slide around. The Educationals' freed him from that constraint. He could fall all he wanted as long as the films were released on time. And fall he does in the best sequence of this leisurely paced short.
