On the day of the Universal Studios trip, Mallory starts the
day by pissing everyone off by commandeering the bathroom to put on her gobs of
makeup. And then she has to borrow money from Jessi to even get in the damn
park. She thinks that since she’s a perfect California girl now, she’ll totes
be picked as a volunteer to help demonstrate effects. But she’s not right for
any of them. And then she gets annoyed with Jessi for being a know-it-all about
the effects, having learned everything on the set of P.S. 162. If being a California girl turns you into a little ray
of sunshine like this, I’m happy not to be one.
Erick and Ryan are pretty much the holy terrors Sunny made
them out to be. They make a mess in the bathroom with water and paper towels
(although Kristy doesn’t make them clean it up), they bitch and complain, and
won’t stay sitting when they’re supposed to. However, they go through a
simulated earthquake, and that freaks them out and makes them calm down.
Kristy’s all proud of herself.
Stephie is the complete opposite, of course. She’s a bit shy
at the beginning of the day, but perks right up and gets into everything.
Anytime anything remotely interesting happens, Mary Anne freaks out and reaches
for her inhaler, but everything goes fine.
Claudia calls Janine to ask her all about world affairs.
Janine is actually confused for once, until Claudia explains about Terry.
Janine tells her to just be herself, and tells her to ask Terry to join the
group the next day. They’re going to look at stars’ homes and such. Terry gladly
accepts, saying he loves old movies and stars. They go to Grauman’s Chinese
Theater first, and then the Walk of Fame. Then they do their house tour, and
Terry gets excited about people the others have never heard of. When they
finally sit down for lunch, Terry tells Claud how he got into old movies, and
she talks about the BSC, art, and Mimi. Turns out, they still really like each
other, and Terry kisses her at the end of the day.
Jessi starts to feel bad about being annoyed with Mallory,
so she invites her along on another visit to the set of P.S. 162. Jessi’s a little nervous about seeing Derek, because
she’s made up her mind, and she wants to stick with dancing, and not act.
Whatever, try to remember that when we get to the shit fit you throw during Starring the Baby-sitters Club. Anyway,
Mal is annoyingly loud all day on the set, asking a ton of questions. Then the
director asks for extras, and Mal volunteers, but he tells her her looks aren’t
right. She just can’t believe that. At the end of the day, Jessi tells Derek
her decision, and he’s all, whatever. No biggie.
Mallory is super depressed about what happened. She and
Jessi make up, at least. But then she just keeps moping around about her looks,
and skips out on going to a movie, and even a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm. When
the girls get back, Kristy finds Mal disparaging herself in front of the
mirror, and she’s had enough. She gives Mal a talking to, and tells her she
liked the old Mallory better. The others agree, and ask her if she’d like to go
back to her old self. She would, but the dye’s not washing out. So they all
troupe down to the drugstore, and find the shade closest to her natural color.
Jessi buys if for her, and she dyes it back. And then Claudia and Stacey offer
to buy her makeup from her. Ok. I’m totally sure makeup that worked for Mal would
work for them, but whatever. Mal hands all the money over to Jessi. Back to her
true self, Mal gets checked out by a cute boy the next day, but she knows she
has good old Ben waiting for her at home.
Stacey is on her way home from another day of surfing, with
Beau driving. And he just wants to get the hell home. On the freeway, they’re
behind a slow moving truck, so Beau jerks into the left lane, and causes a
four-car accident. Good job, dumbass. Beau asks everyone to lie for him, but
Stacey doesn’t. Luckily, nobody’s badly hurt, but they all end up going to the
ER anyway. After Stacey gets checked out, she calls Dawn’s house. Carol
answers, and Stacey thinks she’s really lucked out. But as soon as Carol and
Dawn arrive, Carol tells her they have to tell Mr. Schafer. Dawn is pissed.
So Stacey has to tell him when they get home, and he’s
understandably upset. He forbids Stacey from seeing them again, which she
wasn’t going to do anyway, and tells her she has to call her parents. She’s not
so fond of this idea. Carol backs him up throughout, and Dawn finds herself
actually growing in respect for Carol. She has a talk about it with her dad
that night, and tells him she’s ok if he marries her. He’s not sure he’s ready
for that yet. Yeah, wait a few more Super Specials. Then Dawn writes a very
nice letter to Carol, but decides to wait to mail it to her until she’s back in
Stoneybrook.
Mary Anne sits for Stephie one last time, and they decide to
have another picnic at the park. On the way, Stephie gets upset about Mary Anne
leaving, and has an asthma attack. But Mary Anne stays calm, and coaches her
through using her inhaler. Then she gets her back to the house, and calls her
father, who tells her to make her rest. So they talk for the rest of the
afternoon, and agree to become pen pals.
Claudia goes on another date with Terry, but this time they
just get fried chicken, and have a great time. She declares herself in love.
The whole group goes to Magic Mountain, and has a great
time. Well, other than Mary Anne sitting out a few rides. Then they go to
Medieval Times for dinner, and Dawn and Carol root for the same knight, and
bond a little over that. When they get back to the house, Dawn goes ahead and
gives Carol her letter anyway. Carol is very touched, and Dawn’s proud of
herself.
Dawn has a little chat with Jeff, and tells him to give
Carol a chance.
Then, it’s back to Connecticut. There’s the usual flurry of
letters at the end. Claudia writes to Terry, and while he does write back once,
I think we never hear from him again because he’s put off by her atrocious
spelling.
The lottery gets up really high again, and the girls
consider giving it another shot. They think they can go visit Stacey’s dad in
New York if they win. Or, ya know, they can just do it in the next Super
Special anyway.
o
Wait. Do
we hear from Terry again, in Here Come
the Bridesmaids? I’ve only read it once, I can’t remember.
o
As a theatre geek, my heart is super happy over
Elaine Stritch guest starring on P.S. 162.
She’s the shit.
Wow, Ann just has no idea how hair dye works, does she? You couldn't accidentally bleach your hair blonde. It stinks like whoa, plus tingles and sometimes burns, and it's not just a "won't wash out" thing it's a "removing pigment from your hair" thing.
ReplyDeleteYeesh.