|
|
Tears Are Not Enough II
The second part begins on a close-up of Sully, wearing a Hawaiian flowers collar around his neck and reminding students from the dance committee that they have first period off to make the gym ready for the Hawaiian-themed dance. The camera pans out, and we're in Snake's grade 9 classroom where all the students chatter happily about, I suppose, said dance, while Snake turns off the TV looking sombre. He lets the kids chat for a few seconds, then asks for their attention and announces that Craig's died over the week-end. I'm not really sure he should have done that: supposedly it's to inform them that Craig won't be coming back for the last week of school, but did everyone but his friends really needed to know the reason why? It's not like it was the middle of the year and the teachers wanted everyone to be careful around him when he came back in a few days. I know Snake had good intentions, but it really bugs me that teachers would take the liberty to reveal such personal news.
Pan to the students looking concerned. Marco raises a hand and uncertainly asks if Craig was also in the car which seems weird, considering Marco knows Craig lives with Joey and had no idea he'd been seeing his father. And wouldn't have Ashley, who obviously knew about it, told him and the guys? And last but not least, I would hope that if Craig had been in the car accident, Snake would have mentioned it without needing to be asked. But, it does set up a scene from later on in the episode and they at least choose Marco, who's the Token Concerned Friend, to ask the question, so I'll let it go. In the background behind Marco, we can see four students, including Ashley, Spinner and Jimmy. Good way to let us see all of their reactions without doing a close up on each of them.
Snake reassures Marco that Craig's fine, even though he won't be back for the rest of the term, and Ashley speaks up to announce she'd like to send flowers from all of them. Snake thinks it's a great idea; I don't. Couldn't they sign and send him a card, instead? It'd seem a tad more personal. Ashley asks everyone to give what they can, and she'll make sure Craig gets the flowers safely and so of course just then Craig comes into the class, apologizing for being late. I'm apparently the only one who saw that coming from a mile away, because Snake and the students all stare at him as if he'd come in naked, but with less lust and more shock. Craig, sensing the awkwardness, looks around and asks if something's wrong. Snake, recovering from this shocking turn of event, assures him that everything's fine and that they "just weren't expecting him." Craig says light heartedly that it isn't summer quite yet, and Snake, obviously not knowing how he should act in front of this chipper orphan, agrees and forces a smile.
Paige whispers a question to Hazel that I can't understand (crappy images, crappier sound), and Craig sits down looking as if his life is the most perfect it ever could be, and we fade to what I suppose would be the theme song if The N hadn't patched together the two parts.
Cut to the gym during what I assume is first period, where students are arranging the decorations for the dance. Paige walks up to Ashley and gives her money for the flowers, then goes back to sit down next to Hazel, passing by Craig and Mr. Radditch on the way. Mr. Radditch wants to make sure Craig realizes he is in no way expected to attend classes, and Craig assures him that he understands. Paige commiserates with Hazel, "What a happy way to end a happy year," and I snicker when I think of what's waiting for them all in Season 4. "I know," says Hazel, looking about just as concerned as I did when she was accused or racism and violation of personal property in Don't Believe The Hype. "Poor Craig," she adds, and they thankfully cut away from Andrea Lewis before witnessing her horrible acting causes my eyes start bleeding, and pan onto Ashley, sitting with Terri a few feet behind. "I just wish that I could do something," she says, and Terri gets her first line in about seven episodes to remind us and Ashley that she understands perfectly well, as her own mother died. "Remember?" she asks Ashley, and while I sincerely hope Ashley, who's been friends with her for almost ten years, does, this line makes it extremely obvious that TPTB had forgotten all about it and are certain we had, too. And to be honest, considering CS's acting capability and the little they're doing with her character, I'd rather they hadn't reminded us of it and had used Sean instead of her at the end of the episode.
"Just don't hesitate to ask," Mr. Radditch finishes, holding Craig's hands between his own. Craig thanks him as he leaves, then just stands alone in the middle of the gym, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he stares at nothing. Are we supposed to believe that Craig is also part of the dance committee, or that he got a free pass just to have a five minutes talk with Mr. Radditch that they could have had during lunch break?
Ashley, even after having been assured by Terri that there's nothing she can do, decides to try anyway and gets up to go talk to him. She stands next to him for a few seconds before he realizes she's there, and when she asks him how he's doing he smiles and assures her that he's doing great. "I was going crazy staying at Joey's doing nothing, so I'm here." He looks around and notes that the gym looks amazing and that he "can't wait for the dance," which surprises Ashley who'd figured he would rather not go anymore. "You still want to go?" she asks, and he asks her why he wouldn't, obviously not realizing that even though he doesn't care, at least at the moment, about his father's death, people around him figure he should. That, or he's too shaken up to pretend that he is while pretending he isn't - er, you know what I mean.
But it's time for Plot B to start, so we cut back to Paige and Hazel. Paige wants to make sure her year ends on a positive note, and asks if Hazel has noticed anything, moving her face around to indicate where she should look. Hazel thinks she's talking about the pimple she's getting on her nose (which makes me realize that these kids are pretty pimples-free, considering they do their own make-up), but Paige was talking about her tan. Turns out she wants to be elected Queen of the dance, with Spinner as her loyal King (and when did these two become an item, exactly? Just after she told him about her rape? I get that Spinner would 'forgive' her for not having 'cheated' on him, but she never seemed to be the least interested in him, either before or after the rape). To win, she explains, she needs to look the part and thus be tanned. Hazel thinks it won't matter, since the dance is open to kids from Grade 7 to 11 and one of them will win, not a Grade 9. (Why is the dance closed to Grade 12? I know they're probably getting their own prom, but why can't they come to this one, too?) Paige figures if she can get all the Grades 7, 8 and 9 to vote for her, she'll be the happy winner, which sounds - actually like good logic, now that I think about it.
Cut to Miss Sauge's class, where she's handing out the graded papers. We see that it's Craig's turn: he's at her desk while she hides the result from the paper and tells him she was very surprised by his results (God, I hate teachers who don't simply hand you the paper and let the nightmarish wait be over). We pan over to Marco and Jimmy, sitting at their desks next to each other and watching the scene. Marco leans down to whispers to Jimmy the he can't believe how well Craig is taking it and Jimmy agrees, certain he wouldn't be that cool if it were him. We see Miss Sauge smile and finally hand Craig his paper, shaking his hand as he looks at his grade. It's obvious it's a good one but I couldn't tell you what it was, because all I see is a big, blurred red spot as Craig shows Jimmy and Marco his paper, all proud of himself and grinning like a fool. Jimmy and Marco congratulate him and Craig, either not realizing or not caring that they know about his father's death, says: "Yeah, my dad finally made something worthwhile for me. He's a good study partner." Jimmy says they were all really sorry to hear about his dad, and Marco agrees, asking uncertainly if he's okay. Craig's more than fine, though: he's the lucky one, he says. His dad died, and all he got was a scratch. He gestures to the cut on his cheek from the slap his father gave him, and I'm not sure if he's already playing them at this point or not. When Marco says he thought Craig wasn't in the car, though, he definitely starts: "Friday night. We're like, speeding down the highway. My dad's mad. He won't slow down." The camera goes back and forth between Craig, who looks like he's telling a scary story to kids on Halloween, and Jimmy and Marco, growing more uncomfortable with each words. Craig finishes his story ("And we hit it. Hard."), stays silent for a couple of seconds then starts laughing as he admits that he was at Joey's when it happened. "I had you going, though," he adds, still laughing. Just then the bell rings and he leaves, while Marco and Jimmy stay behind, looking shocked and not completely sure of what just happened.
We cut to them walking in the hallway as Marco says that "It was like he was joking about it." Jimmy speaks my mind when he says that it wasn't like: he was joking about it. He spots Spinner ahead of him, though, and forgets all about Craig to start taunting Spinner about his "Cafeteria Boy" outfit. They bicker back and forth, Jimmy making a snide remark about "Gavin" not having stolen his sense of humor, then mocks his job. Spinner tells him to laugh it up while he can, as he won't be laughing when Spinner will be crowned king of the dance. At this point they're standing chest to chest and looking ready to start fighting; Marco gets between them and asks them to stop. Spinner leaves, but Jimmy can't let it go even after that, so to shut him up Marco tells him to give it up: "He and Paige will make an amazing luau King and Queen."
Not liking that idea one bit, Jimmy finds the perfect way to get revenge when he spots Hazel eating her lunch (weirdly alone). "The dance, you're still going solo?" he asks. "'Cause you're not anymore." Wow, smooth, Jimmy, really smooth. How could Ellie resist such charm, I wonder? Hazel, even though she seems to agree with me, accepts Jimmy's offer, but Jimmy's not done: he wants them to become the King and Queen. Hazel refuses: Paige wants that crown, and she's her best friend. "And you've been in her shadow for how long?" asks Jimmy. He tells her it's maybe time to change that, and to think about it. We immediately cut to Toby and Kendra adding Jimmy and Hazel to the list of candidates, and I realize the face Andrea Lewis made at the end of the previous scene was supposed to make us understand she thought Jimmy had a point and had taken her decision. I just figured she liked to move her eyes around.
Paige and Spinner choose that moment to enter the classroom, witnessing the proof that "Rumor's true." Jimmy tells her it's nothing personal (and he's right: for Hazel it's personal with Paige; for Jimmy, it's only with Spinner), as there are more than 20 couples on that list. "But only one from Grade 9," says Paige, and Spinner adds that they're splitting Paige's and his votes. "People can vote for who they want," Jimmy answers, probably not wanting to fight with Spinner in front of Hazel and reveal to her he's the only reason Jimmy asked her out and put them on the list. Paige and Spinner leave, not happy about this new development. Kendra, having witnessed the whole exchange, wonders out loud why it even matters as "It's just a stupid luau." "That's why I love you," says Toby, not thinking about his words. He immediately realizes what he's said, though, and tries to do damage-control: "Not love you," he says, "Like you. A lot." Hee! I couldn't care less about Toby, but he and Kendra are adorable together.
Cut to Joey's convertible driving up to Dr. Manning's house - there's already an On Sale sign in front of it. Craig gets out of the car, and this is when I realize that he's been wearing that leather jacket since the beginning of the episode. No wonder I love this episode so much. We pan into the house where we see various papers and a recent-ish picture of Craig with his dad; Craig's smiling weirdly in it, looking like he just came back from the dentist. Joey and Craig come into the house, Joey holding up empty boxes; he asks if Craig's okay and Craig, probably tired of lying to everyone, doesn't answer the question but instead says he's going upstairs. We hear tinkling piano music start to play as Craig goes up the stairs and into his dad's bedroom and we hear his dad say "You leaving was a huge wake-up call for me. I got into Anger Management. I've gotten better. I've gotten a lot better." Craig looks around the bedroom, lost, and finally sits on his dad's side of the bed, the only one where the sheets and cover are unmade. An open magazine lies on the bed, and Craig just stares at it, then notices himself in the mirror. He's seeing the left side of his face reflected, but it of course looks like the right side of it and there's no cut there. Nice touch.
While he's still looking into the mirror, we begin to hear a priest recite a prayer, and just as he says Amen the camera fades from the wall of the bedroom to the Church's one, and to Craig sitting there. In the background on the left, I notice, for the first time, Sean, and I squee madly. The priest finishes his prayers, then calls up one of Dr. Manning's co-worker to say a few words. "I knew Albert Manning for almost twenty years," begins Co-worker Steven, and we see Craig look at his father's picture sitting on his casket while Steven continues that he was a good friend and a top notch surgeon. And this picture, I have to say, is awful. It's just a very badly-done close up that makes his nose look ridiculously long, and it's just very bad. Couldn't they at least have chosen one where he was smiling? "[He was] an absolutely devastating squash player," Steven goes on, which makes the assembly, including Joey and Mr. Radditch, chuckle just loud enough for it to be socially acceptable (and what is Mr. Radditch doing sitting just behind Joey and Craig? There are at least 50 people there; am I supposed to believe a school principal Dr. Manning had never met and who's had almost no contact with his son is deserving of a seat on the second row? What about NBN? And his Anger Management pals?). "And [he was] a dedicated father," finishes Steven, which makes Craig almost smile.
"But if you were to ask him," Steven goes on, "this last one was the most important." And that's too much for Craig who rolls his eyes and mutters "Please," prompting Joey and Caitlin, sitting on each side of him, to look at him - pityingly in the case of Caitlin, and almost sternly in Joey's one. Steven's not done, though, and goes on to say that Albert told him time and time again - and at this point the camera does a huge close-up of Steven's lips as he talks, and the music starts to swell-up - how Craig was the greatest gift he'd ever received. Craig, looking highly amused, tries to smother a laugh, but when Steven says that "[He] was a gift [Albert] cherished, a gift he never wanted to relinquish," Craig can't hold himself anymore and just laughs out loud. People start whispering and Caitlin watches him, shocked, as he continues laughing. She suggests to Joey that maybe Craig needs a little air, and Joey makes Craig get up as he whispers that he's sorry, still laughing. Steven keeps talking and saying how he's going to miss Dr. Manning, and Craig keeps laughing as Joey escorts him out of the Church, putting a hand over his mouth to try to stop the giggles from being heard. We see people looking back at him, including Sean, Ashley and Emma, who all look worried. Sean, I should note, is wearing his usual jean jacket, while Ashley is in full Goth mode. Emma is the only one who seemed to realize that you're supposed to dress up a little when you go to the church, and especially so when you go to funerals, even for an asshole like Dr. Manning. And I find it a little weird that neither Spike nor Snake appear to be here; Snake's Craig's teacher, they're both Emma's parents and Joey's friends. If Mr. Radditch came, why didn't they?
Cut to outside the church, where Craig, finally free to laugh and voice his thoughts, does just that: "Can you believe that idiot?" he yells, then does an imitation of Steven, all "Albert Manning was a dedicated father." Joey, obviously in way over his head, tries to calm Craig down by telling him that he and his father had a "complicated" relationship, but Craig interrupts him to agree that yes: "He beat me. Not gonna do that again now, is he?" "Come on," Joey says, and I don't get it at all. Does he think Craig should forgive and forget now that his father's dead? That he should at least pretend he's feeling sad so as not to shock everyone? At the very least, he should understand that Craig himself is too shocked to act the way 'everyone' expects him to, and try to deal with that instead of admonishing him for his behaviour. It's sad, because I don't think I like New Generation Joey very much, especially when it comes to Craig. Craig doesn't seem to care about all of that, though, and tries to make Joey understand that's he's really happy, because his father's gone for good.
Cut to Ashley in school, recounting to Ellie the whole Laughing During the Funeral incident. "It was disturbing," she says, and seriously: no. I'm the first one to admit that Ashley can be stupid from time to time, but I cannot honestly believe that she would say that. First season Ashley, maybe, but not this one. They really, really shouldn't have included that belt comment from the first scene, because the only way this would make any kind of sense would be for her not to realize anything was wrong between Craig and his father, and even then it wouldn't make much sense for her to say that. And, I think that even without that comment she would have figured it out. But anyway, Ellie, more understanding, offers that funerals can be stressful and that weird things happen. Craig, not having heard their conversation, greets them joyfully and asks Ashley if she's ready for the dance. Ashley looks at Ellie, like: "See? Told you he was a complete psycho," and Ellie looks back at her, all: "Well, what do you want me to say? It's not my fault you decided to date him instead of me. I would never laugh at my father's funeral, and the sex would be so much better." Ashley assures him that she is, in a tone that suggests she's really not, and when Ellie tries to take a picture of them Craig tells her to save it for tonight when he and Ash will be crowned King and Queen. "You put us in the contest?" asks Ashley, not the least bit happy about it, and Craig, not getting why she's not, retorts that this is their night and that "everyone's gonna know". Ashley and Ellie exchange looks again, and Ashley very uncertainly agrees before Craig leaves to clean up his locker.
Cut to the tanning salon, where the employee is explaining Spinner how the tanning bed works. "Do I really have to put the lid down?" he asks, because he's "kind of" claustrophobic. "If you really wanna tan, yeah," deadpans Employee before leaving. Spinner turns the tanning bed on and begins to remove his bathrobe, but before we can get a glimpse of his chest, the blue light comes on and he jumps back, all scared. Hee! Given the descriptions I'd read of him, I always thought I would hate Spinner, but I can't help loving him to bits. In the waiting room, Paige is waiting for her turn while reading a magazine whose cover features a pseudo-Schwarzenegger who obviously uses the tanning beds himself. She turns the pages until she gets the centrepiece and turns the magazine around to look at what I suppose is a very cute, half-naked, tanned guy, and opens her eyes all wide. The employee comes back and Paige quickly puts the magazine back like it's supposed to be and begins to turn the pages again, still looking a little wide-eyed. Hee! Lauren Collins can handle drama extremely well, but she can also be pure comedic gold. Cut back to Spinner, who's lying in the tanning bed with the lid down and is trying to convince himself that he can do it. He starts screaming after just a few seconds, though, and we see Employee and Paige in the waiting room hearing his screams and trying to figure out what they are. "What was that?" asks Paige, just as Spinner runs out to the waiting room and announces that he can't do it. "I told you I was claustrophobic." Paige, not happy about it but determined to win, hands him a bottle of, er, tanning cream or something of the sort, and follows Employee to get her turn.
Cut to Joey's house where Craig is running down the stairs, wearing a Hawaiian shirt over his usual clothes; he's borrowed it from Joey, who's reminded of the big dance when he sees it. Craig walks around the place, looking for the tickets while Joey tries to tell him that they should go over what Craig's going to tell at Children's Aid the next day. Craig's a bit distracted, though, what with Ashley and the dance -- Joey doesn't say anything to that, and Craig, still as chipper as he was earlier, asks if Joey thinks he shouldn't go. Joey thinks it's great that he's trying to have fun, but... "But what, I'm fine!" insists Craig. Joey just doesn't think anyone can be fine after losing someone: "I wasn't with your mom." And wow, great way to bring up the kid's other dead parent, Joey. Maybe next you could mention his deceased grand-parents? Or his childhood dog that ran away? Craig, not wanting to be brought down from his high, leaves for the dance.
Cut to said dance, where various couples, plus Toby and Kendra, are reminding people to vote; we see a girl voting for Ashley and Craig, as Jimmy and Hazel stand near and keep telling people to vote for them. Paige and Spinner walk up to them, and either Paige fell asleep in the tanning bed or it wasn't working properly: she's red from head to toe, except for the place her sunglasses protected her eyes and the skin around. In one word, she looks completely ridiculous, and seems aware of it. Spinner's not that much better: there are white spots, brown spots, in-between spots, etc. all over his skin. Jimmy makes a snide remark about stealing, which Spinner feels is "ancient history," and we cut to the dance floor. Snake is there, dressed for the occasion and dancing in a, well. Did I use the word "ridiculous" already? Spinner and Paige start dancing, and Spinner starts his famous robot moves from Girls Just Wanna Have Fun before Paige stops him, telling him that if he wants to win, he has to cut those. We see JT and Liberty, dancing and holding drinks (in empty coconuts) that they toasts, and then we pan over to Ashley, standing alone in the middle of the gym. She's dressed as usual, in all black, with black flowers around her neck; she certainly knows how to live it up. Cut to Sean and Emma, doing that, er, game. You know the one! Where there's a cord and you have to cross it from beneath, without touching it or the floor. You know, the sexy, Hawaiian one. Whatever the name, they look like they're having fun, much as Kendra and Toby, who're taking pictures of them.
Craig comes up to Ashley, wishing her a good Luau, and just as they begin to dance Snake stops the music to announce that the votes for the King and Queen are in. Huh, that was quick. He thanks Kendra and Toby for their hard work on it, then opens the envelope as people clap. "And the winner is," he says, as we see Spinner and Paige and Jimmy and Hazel look at each other, "from grade 9: Ashley Kerwin and Craig Manning." The music starts again, people clap, Paige, Jimmy, Spinner and Hazel look dejected, Craig and Ashley go up on the scene to be crowned, and I look away, embarrassed by the knowledge that this is the biggest pity vote ever. Do people even know who Craig is? And it couldn't have been for Ashley, either, as she's now known as the Goth girl. Good for Craig, I guess, but it's still really sad. Neither he nor Ashley seem to think so, though, and look happily at each other while people keep clapping. Suddenly, we can only hear one person clapping: it's Craig's dad, standing in the middle of the gym as everyone else stands still and silent. Semi slow-mo of Craig realizing it's him and whispering "Dad," then as Ashley stays behind, talking with Snake, Craig goes down and repeats "Dad" a few times, trying to reach him. He's smiling and sighing in relief and calling out 'dad' again and again, and it's so, so very sad. Just as he reaches him, he smiles happily and says "Dad? Dad, look. Look, I won," and touches his shoulder. It, of course, isn't Dr. Manning who turns around, just a guy who looks alike and has the same glasses. Craig looks crushed and swallows up tears as he apologizes and begins to say: "I thought you were..." but doesn't finish the sentence, and starts walking back, still staring at his not-dad. Around him, people are dancing and having fun while he takes off his crown and finally runs out.
Cut to him sitting outside the gym, holding his head in his hand and breathing hard, trying not to cry. Ashley sits next to him and asks where he's been: "People are waiting for our dance." *sigh* Is it even Ashley, or an alien who took over her body? She finally seems to realize something's wrong and asks him if he's okay, and Craig, still holding his head, answers that he's fine but just really tired, and my heart breaks a little more. "I knew coming here was a mistake," says Ashley, and while that's one of the less stupid thing she's said during the whole episode, it apparently was one thing too many, as Craig slowly turns his head to look at her and demands to know what she's talking about. Ashley thinks it's too soon and that he should be home, but Craig doesn't agree. He, in fact, loses it at that point, screaming at her and telling her he's sick of her. "I'm sick of everyone just being concerned!" he yells, and gets up to tear down the decorations. People look at him, but no-one tries to interrupt him until he finally stops and runs out. Ashley begins to follow him then but Mr. Radditch, who witnessed the whole scene, advises her not to and asks everyone to go back into the gym, saying he'll check on Craig in a few minutes.
Cut to Craig running and crying in a hallway. After a few seconds during which he stares out a window, he notices that Terri's standing next to him. Crying, he asks, whispering, what's wrong with him. "Nothing," says Terri. "You're angry and you're sad." This doesn't calm Craig down, who explains that this was supposed to be his night, then drops down on the floor. Terri sits next to him and begins to tell him the story of her father coming to get her at a friend's birthday party to tell her that her mom was dead. "I was so mad," she says, and when Craig asks if it was because her mom was dead, she explains that it was because she couldn't play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Craig, still seeming a little lost, thinks for a moment about that then offers that it's a fun game when you're a little kid. Terrie agrees, and tells him that she didn't realize until later that her mom was dead. Craig admits that he wanted his father gone before he died, and he can't understand why he's crying now that he is. The tinkling piano music starts up again as Terri tells him, not emoting in the least, that it's because "[Craig] loved him." This is a revelation for Craig, who starts crying in earnest. We hear footsteps as Mr. Radditch approaches, then goes back to the gym when he sees that Craig isn't alone. And this? Was the worse and most boring scene of the whole episode, in most part due to CM. Seriously, it was so bad I may have to write a story in which it's Sean who comes after Craig, just to be able to forget the true scene.
Cut to Paige telling us that "[She's] worried about coming in in 8th place at a stupid Luau contest, while poor Craig is having a breakdown. Can you say shallow?" she asks Hazel. Aww, but at least you realize it, Paige! Even after hearing that speech Hazel doesn't seem to. Jimmy, sitting with her, Hazel and Spinner, says something I, again, can't understand, then sneezes, apparently not for the first time, and figures out that he's allergic to the Hawaiian flowers. Am I supposed to believe they got actual flowers instead of plastic ones? He throws them away as Paige tells him that at least he doesn't have radioactive skin or a pumpkin for a date, but she's smiling as she finishes the sentence, and they all laugh when Ellie comes up to them. "A-Losers," she says, and takes a picture of them.
Cut to Ashley, standing once again alone and pouting in the corner of the gym. She turns around to leave just as Craig comes back in. "Going somewhere?" he asks. "Are you?" she replies, and he nods and says that he will, soon. He wants to go home, but thinks they owe everyone a dance. Slow music is playing, of course. He grabs her finger between his (not the whole hand, which makes it that much cuter) and leads her to the middle of the dance floor, and aww! They have matching thick, leather wrists bands. So unbelievably cute. "You can ask," he says, smiling a little; Ashley asks what she's supposed to ask him, and while the lyrics tell us that apparently it's Everything [she] wants, Craig opts for "How [he's] doing." "I won't go psycho," he assures her, and I laugh, wondering if I should recap Voices Carry just after this just for kicks. She asks him how he's feeling and Craig whispers "Better," and I'm incredibly happy but not at all surprised that Jake won a Gemini. Ashley puts her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder, and they dance.
|
|
