This episode may very well be the most famous episode of the series. Episodes like this is what makes this show stand out among other well-written Nickelodeon shows, not only for its depth, but its character development. Here, we will delve into an episode centered around Macie, and it's about damn time because this girl is wicked awesome. Except when she defends Dodie. However, as popular as this show may be, I've come to find that the overall message is more warped than any of you remember.
The animation improves slightly in this episode. The lines are sharper and there are shadows in places where there weren't before. I guess it was Sweeps Week when The "A" Ticket premiered, so when the producers saw how much everyone enjoyed the show they decided to start giving a damn about the animation's quality.
So, the Lucky Junior High Talent Show is coming up soon. It's the perfect time for all the girls to show off how much they can't sing and how much the nerdy boys bore the crowd with their trombone rendition of Fur Elise. It seems like every TV talent show has that one nerdy kid who plays an instrument while looking bored as hell doing it. And what's a Lucky Junior High Talent Show without our three ringmasters performing...er...something.
In between Courtney's morning make-up regime, Courtney asks Miranda what they should do for the talent show, and suggests they model "preteen couture." Surprise, surprise. But modeling isn't a talent. It's the most widely-accepted form of emotional bullying. Being told you're not good enough even when you're already indoctrinated into the profession, constantly being primped up on the catwalk only to be heavily airbrushed in the magazines, being forced to have so little body fat that your joints hurt... But this is Nickelodeon. And this isn't a body image episode. My point is that Courtney's idea is stupid. Even Miranda agrees it's stupid. And because she thinks so, she suggests that Ginger join in on the modeling too, since Ginger and Courtney are "such good friends and all." Fe-fi-fo-fum... that's the smell of manipulation. Amazingly, Courtney recognizes that Miranda's suggestion is "uncharacteristically generous" which is a breath of fresh air. I'm glad Courtney finally acknowledges this, even though it's clear she knows what a bitch Miranda is. But if Courtney knows this, why is she even friends with her in the first place?
Courtney turns into a game show host and announces that Ginger is invited to be part of their modeling act. Unfortunately, Ginger turns her down, saying that she always does the school talent show with her friends. Sssssssss--ouch. That was a bit harsh, Ginger. I mean, I know you and Courtney aren't exactly besties, but to not acknowledge Courtney as your friend after all you've done for her and after she flat-out told you you were one of her true close friends, you might as well have just slapped her in the face. I know you meant your best friends, but still. Come on. To salt the wound even further, Miranda sardonically asks Ginger if she really doesn't consider her and Courtney to be her friends, and turns to Courtney to really rub that misunderstanding in her face.
Courtney suddenly feels an unfamiliar emotion she's never felt before. Miranda says it's rejection, and then tells her that those who are rejected generally stop taking to those who rejected them and walk away angrily. So, she does. Congratulations, Miranda, you twisted bitch. You finally got Courtney all to yourself.
Up in Dodie's room, Dodie and Macie flip through a scrapbook bashing all the lame acts they've done in past talent shows while Ginger spreads out on the beanbag chair next to the bed. Macie comes up with an idea: an interpretive dance to The Little Seal Girl theme song. I'm guessing that's a kiddie show they used to watch on their on version of Nickelodeon. Dodie is all for it, but when she asks Ginger what she thinks of the idea, she gets an unenthusiastic response. So she makes her spill the beans. Ginger tells Dodie what went down on Locker Lane, but of course she doesn't offer any useful advice. Why would she? But then Macie jumps in and angrily replies, "How dare you reject Courtney Gripling! Who do you think you are?!" She was probably being sarcastic, but neither Ginger nor Dodie see the sarcasm, so Macie apologizes. I know how you feel, Macie. On the Internet, no one knows when you're being sarcastic. Because the Internet is filled with a bunch of anal-retentive prudes.
Dodie's like, "Ah, forget it. Once Courtney sees our little baby dance, she'll see how totally awesome we are together because of our Best Friend Tradition and she'll forget all about it." What the hell kind of logic is that?
The scene cuts to the dinner table at the Foutley household. Carl begins an anecdote about how beets can turn your pee red, but Lois stops him before he totally grosses the ladies out. She directs the conversation towards Ginger, who mentions the talent show. Carl gets bored and starts talking about how Mrs. Gordon is bringing in a dead hand to class, so Lois revokes his dessert privileges. While Lois cuts the cake, Ginger explains to Carl that the hand is mummified, as she's had Mrs. Gordon in the fourth grade. Carl boasts how mummification is totally educational, and then launches into the embalming process where ancient Egyptians scoop out the mummified's brains through their nose. As gross as that sounds, it's actually a cool little nugget of history.
The next day after Ginger and Dodie take their morning shits in the school bathroom, they discuss the choreography of their Little Seal Girl routine. Courtney and Miranda walk in, and Courtney greets Ginger in a neutral tone. At the sink, she asks Ginger if they have their skit ready, but before Ginger can answer her, Dodie butts in and says they're planning something totally gnarly. And as a hint, she and Ginger show Courtney their fake seal "jazz fins."
Courtney feels another unfamiliar emotion, which according to Miranda is embarrassment for them. Because she is, too. And then they walk out of the bathroom laughing at their childishness. That evening, Ginger and Dodie think long and hard about the maturity of their skit while chillin' on a swingset. Because everyone does their best thinkin' when swingin'. They take Courtney and Miranda's critique seriously, which makes me believe that they knew that the skit was childish all along. But that doesn't mean they have to choose something more mature. Or do they? I mean, it is their peers who are going to watch them. So, naturally, I guess I can understand why they would be reluctant to perform such a dance. They should at least wait until high school to perform it, when stuff like this becomes cool again.
Macie drops by to introduce her Little Seal Girl costume, and it's hella sweet. Macie made it out of hypoallergenic polyurethane, which is actually really impressive. Most twelve year old girls don't even know how to thread a needle, let alone an entire damn seal costume.
Ginger and Dodie reluctantly compliment her on a job well done, which prompts Macie to launch into the most adorable dance of all time. Go Macie! Go Macie!
Dodie reveals to Macie that the routine seems too babyish, and that they want to reconsider doing something else, but Macie gets super insulted. Hey, if I worked that hard on an authentic hypoallergenic Little Seal Girl costume only for my best friends to scrap the whole idea, I'd be insulted, too. But it's not the hours worth of work wasted that Macie cares about--it's the fact that she thinks Ginger and Dodie don't care about The Little Seal Girl anymore and everything it's taught them and how it was their whole lives for years. I totally understand. It's like having a group of friends watch As Told By Ginger every day for years, love it, buy all the Ginger paraphernalia including the famous ice cream cone wallpaper, only for one friend years later to suddenly shun all the years of love she put in the show just because she's too "old" for it now. It's like throwing away a part of your childhood.
Macie's like, "But we all voted on this!" So Ginger and Dodie do a revote. Two to one. Ginger and Dodie decide to club the seal in favor of a more mature act.
Poor Macie. She can't take it anymore--her little heart has broken, but not her spirit, so she takes her ball and leaves the yard proclaiming that she'll just do the act herself.
I have to give Macie some credit here. After years of going along with Ginger and Dodie and remaining neutral to every situation, she finally took a stand at something and stood her ground, even though her best friends disagreed with her. The Little Seal Girl must really be something special to her. And I think that's awesome. While Ginger and Dodie have every right to want to do something else (though they should have taken Courtney's criticism with a grain of salt), I'm glad that Macie chooses to stick with her original idea instead of just blindly following what her best friends want. Screw what the people think. You do your thing, girl!
The next day at the elementary school, Carl and Hoodsey spy on Mrs. Gordon as she arrives to school with the mummified hand. In the background, you can hear all the kids crowd around the door wanting to get a good look at the dismembered body part. Hoodsey comes up next to Carl to reveal that he's more interested in a dead bird he found, but Carl's like, "Bro, we're looking at that hand." He manages to push the other kids away to allow Mrs. Gordon into her classroom.
Carl and Hoodsey get Mrs. Gordon into the classroom to talk to her. Mrs. Gordon regrets bringing the hand in, as she didn't realize how popular it would be, and is probably worried about someone breaking it. Carl tries to smooth-talk Mrs. Gordon into keeping the hand secure from clumsy hands, AKA his own personal security package, but Mrs. Gordon ain't biting. She forbids Carl from touching the hand and kicks the boys out.
While Mrs. Gordon leaves to move her illegally parked car, she warns Carl to keep his hands off the hand, or else. Superstitious Hoodsey agrees that Carl should just leave it alone, but we all know that Carl is going to totally molest it. So, he reaches in the drawer, pulls out the box, opens the box, pulls out the hand, holds it, and breaks it.
Well, what do you know? Either that's the most fragile hand ever, or it's cursed. I'm guessing since Hoodsey keeps insisting that the hand is cursed, I'm more inclined to believe it actually is, just for the sake of suspension of disbelief. In a creepy tone, Carl decides to take it to the doghouse to glue the finger back to the hand. And after taking two steps with the hand in his hand, he trips, drops the hand, and breaks off another finger.
Dodie and Ginger show Macie their lame tap dancing routine, complete with suits and matching top hats. They try to sell the idea onto her, but Macie won't budge. Ginger's like, "Oh, come on, we'll look really cool." But Macie stands up and says, "Do I look like a girl who's concerned with what's cool?" And she storms out. Right on, Macie! You tell 'em! Who cares about what's "cool," anyway?
In the doghouse, Carl prepares the operation while Nurse Hoodsey stays behind, refusing to catch the curse of the hand. Carl tries to sew the fingers back on the hand, but when he can't get the needle through the hardened embalming fluid, he goes for Plan B: super-gluing the fingers back on.
Since Dodie and Ginger can't possibly put on a tap-dancing act with just the two of them, they decide to be the curtain pullers instead. They hear some awful pop music coming from the auditorium and decide to investigate. Courtney and her band of followers are practicing their rollerblading routine for the talent show to a studio-quality song about how awesome Courtney is. "It's Courtney, it's Courtney..." Damn, how rich do you have to be to have your own studio-quality song about all your superficialities? Mipsi and some other Courtney clone talk about how their act is a shoo-in for first prize, and as they're walking out of the auditorium, they gossip about how bad Macie is going to bomb her Little Seal Girl dance. Ginger and Dodie freak out at the accurate possibility of Macie blacking out on stage and being laughed at. I wouldn't doubt that--the girl isn't exactly confident. So, Ginger tells Dodie that the have to be the curtain pullers and will hide Macie's shame if need be.
Back at the elementary school, the boys have put the hand back in the drawer. Hoodsey comments about what a shitty job Carl did gluing the fingers back on, but Carl's like, "Cool it, bro, Gordo's so blind, she'll barely notice." When Mrs. Gordon walks in, Carl and Hoodsey high-tail it out of there, and for good reason, because I think Mrs. Gordon got her eyesight back. Look how huge the mummified hand is compared to Mrs. Gordon's tiny old lady hand. That's an ogre hand, right there.
The night of the talent show has arrived, and parents are flocking in after their exhausting day jobs. I doubt they even want to be there. They'd rather hit the drive-thru after work and sit down in front of the TV than watch a bunch of 12-year-olds sing and dance and model clothes. Lois, Carl, and Hoodsey join the audience, too, but Carl continues to be "cursed" by the hand because his seat collapses below him. And he has to be stuck at the after party. No more mummified hands for you, Carl.
The talent show lights blink on, and what better way to kick off the show than a stand-up comedy act by Chet Zipper? Come on out, you big lug, you! Backstage, Ginger wishes Courtney good luck. Courtney asks why Ginger isn't in the talent show, but Ginger tells her it's a long story that's quite "silly." Oh, so now your favorite childhood memory is "silly?" Like I said, wait until high school when this kind of stuff becomes cool again.
Oh, look, a nerdy kid playing a clarinet! I don't even remember that part of the episode. Am I right on the ball with these cliches, or what?
So, Chet is apparently also the host of the show, too. Hey, why not? He has the kind of voice that can rile people up act after act. So, next up is "Courtney's World," and boy am I at a loss for words. All the girls roll out on stage all dressed the same and with masks of Courtney's face.
Then, the girls throw their masks in the air while Courtney rips through a giant poster of her face on roller-blades, finishing off with the girls lifting her in the air like a queen. Fuc. King. Cree. Py. The crowd roars with applause, because I guess it was well performed. Not because it was actually good or anything.
Finally, the part we've all been waiting for: The Little Seal Girl! Ginger and Dodie get into position, with zero confidence in their shy friend at all, hands on the rope, ready to pull, not if but when, necessary. The background is a little island with a palm tree drawn in crayon, which is kind of adorable. The sound engineer flips the switch and the song starts to play. Macie slowly begins to warm up to the idea that she's actually on stage performing the song. And it's not half bad when you think about how Macie's lackluster movements match the overall depressing first half of the song. A few seconds in, you can hear some laughter coming from the audience. I assume Macie hears it too, but she continues dancing through the song like a trooper. Suddenly, the unthinkable happens: the stereo breaks down right in the middle of the song. Macie freezes up, the crowd is perplexed, and Ginger and Dodie are a cry away from pulling the ropes.
But then, instead of running off stage or fainting, Macie begins to sing the rest of the song. Her voice starts off slow and unsure, but a strike of confidence hits her right in the butt because she stands up straighter and belts out the rest of the song. I can't tell if the music in the background is because they fixed the stereo or if it's just supposed to be background music. I'm hoping it's the former because I want to know what the audience is hearing. Honestly, this scene would have been much better without the background music because it's supposed to be focused on Macie gaining confidence to perform despite having the theme song as her "security blanket." I understand that the song is better with the music, but this scene could have been much more powerful without it. But, whatever. She's adorable! Her voice is slightly clearer, and she even tosses one of her flippers into the audience. Woo!
Macie finishes the song to a surprising standing ovation.
Hell, even Carl liked it. What a sap. Ginger and Dodie jump up and down and cheer for their friend's newfound confidence. Macie looks over the audience and finally breathes a full breath. She's done it. And no one's laughing at her. It's clear at this moment that Macie has wiped the floor with her performance, so it's no surprise when Chet Zipper hands her the trophy. Except Chet had no confidence in Macie whatsoever. Go figure!
It's actually a really sweet moment. Macie even starts to cry. But this moment is short-lived by the big-wigs of Nickelodeon because they just had to make the antagonists completely astonished that someone with talent actually won the competition. Come on, I thought we were past this.
Ginger and Dodie pop in on Macie in the dressing room while Macie plucks off her fake whiskers. They tell Macie how awesome she was and how the real actress who plays the Little Seal Girl would think she's the cat's pajamas. For some reason, despite all the well-deserved praise she received from hundreds of people, all she can dwell on is the fact that she broke their Best Friend Tradition. Come on, Macie. They shunned your idea and realized they were wrong for ever thinking it was lame to perform. You should be in their faces telling them, "Told you so, told you so, suck my toe, I told you so!" So she apologizes for doing what she wanted to do instead of what her friends agreed on unanimously. Some silly tradition is more important to her than her own happiness. I feel so sorry for this girl. Maybe some time alone, away from both Ginger and Dodie, should give her the self-esteem she needs. No one deserves to be as miserable as Macie. Except for Dodie. She's earned that bad karma badge and is overdue for her consequences.
It is astounding how much of an influence Ginger and Dodie have on Macie. I'm just afraid that one day, these three girls will want to go to the same state college, but Macie gets accepted into a wonderful college in France, but will regret attending because she didn't go to the lame state school with her friends. Be your own person, Macie. You're better than that. And you really should give yourself more credit. You can't expect to follow your friends forever. That's why the message of this episode is really confusing. We saw how much better off Macie was for doing the song and dance--something she really wanted to do and really wanted to put the effort into, and she did very well, yet it wasn't good enough for her because her best friends didn't want to do it with her.
If Macie didn't care that she broke the Best Friend Tradition, this episode could have had a much stronger message. But she dwelled on the fact that she was doing something against her best friends' wishes, which makes me think that Ginger and Dodie have such a strong influence on Macie that they've left her unable to think for herself. Perhaps that's why Macie remains neutral whenever Ginger and Dodie fight. Macie is a weak character. As much as I love her, she needs to break free from her friends for a while and gain her own independence. While I'm glad that she took a stand and did what she wanted to do for once in this series, I'm still scared for her because she retreated back into her shell.
Oh, well. Maybe a future episode can give us more insight into why Macie is the way she is.
Lessons Learned From This Episode: Be your own person; don't touch your teacher's mummified hand. And learn how to use superglue.
The animation improves slightly in this episode. The lines are sharper and there are shadows in places where there weren't before. I guess it was Sweeps Week when The "A" Ticket premiered, so when the producers saw how much everyone enjoyed the show they decided to start giving a damn about the animation's quality.
So, the Lucky Junior High Talent Show is coming up soon. It's the perfect time for all the girls to show off how much they can't sing and how much the nerdy boys bore the crowd with their trombone rendition of Fur Elise. It seems like every TV talent show has that one nerdy kid who plays an instrument while looking bored as hell doing it. And what's a Lucky Junior High Talent Show without our three ringmasters performing...er...something.
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| "No, Dodie, dry-humping your Courtney shrine isn't a talent." |
Courtney turns into a game show host and announces that Ginger is invited to be part of their modeling act. Unfortunately, Ginger turns her down, saying that she always does the school talent show with her friends. Sssssssss--ouch. That was a bit harsh, Ginger. I mean, I know you and Courtney aren't exactly besties, but to not acknowledge Courtney as your friend after all you've done for her and after she flat-out told you you were one of her true close friends, you might as well have just slapped her in the face. I know you meant your best friends, but still. Come on. To salt the wound even further, Miranda sardonically asks Ginger if she really doesn't consider her and Courtney to be her friends, and turns to Courtney to really rub that misunderstanding in her face.
Courtney suddenly feels an unfamiliar emotion she's never felt before. Miranda says it's rejection, and then tells her that those who are rejected generally stop taking to those who rejected them and walk away angrily. So, she does. Congratulations, Miranda, you twisted bitch. You finally got Courtney all to yourself.
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| You kind of deserved that. |
Up in Dodie's room, Dodie and Macie flip through a scrapbook bashing all the lame acts they've done in past talent shows while Ginger spreads out on the beanbag chair next to the bed. Macie comes up with an idea: an interpretive dance to The Little Seal Girl theme song. I'm guessing that's a kiddie show they used to watch on their on version of Nickelodeon. Dodie is all for it, but when she asks Ginger what she thinks of the idea, she gets an unenthusiastic response. So she makes her spill the beans. Ginger tells Dodie what went down on Locker Lane, but of course she doesn't offer any useful advice. Why would she? But then Macie jumps in and angrily replies, "How dare you reject Courtney Gripling! Who do you think you are?!" She was probably being sarcastic, but neither Ginger nor Dodie see the sarcasm, so Macie apologizes. I know how you feel, Macie. On the Internet, no one knows when you're being sarcastic. Because the Internet is filled with a bunch of anal-retentive prudes.
Dodie's like, "Ah, forget it. Once Courtney sees our little baby dance, she'll see how totally awesome we are together because of our Best Friend Tradition and she'll forget all about it." What the hell kind of logic is that?
The scene cuts to the dinner table at the Foutley household. Carl begins an anecdote about how beets can turn your pee red, but Lois stops him before he totally grosses the ladies out. She directs the conversation towards Ginger, who mentions the talent show. Carl gets bored and starts talking about how Mrs. Gordon is bringing in a dead hand to class, so Lois revokes his dessert privileges. While Lois cuts the cake, Ginger explains to Carl that the hand is mummified, as she's had Mrs. Gordon in the fourth grade. Carl boasts how mummification is totally educational, and then launches into the embalming process where ancient Egyptians scoop out the mummified's brains through their nose. As gross as that sounds, it's actually a cool little nugget of history.
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| "It's great to know where my tax dollars are going. Mummified hand! Some curriculum." - Lois |
The next day after Ginger and Dodie take their morning shits in the school bathroom, they discuss the choreography of their Little Seal Girl routine. Courtney and Miranda walk in, and Courtney greets Ginger in a neutral tone. At the sink, she asks Ginger if they have their skit ready, but before Ginger can answer her, Dodie butts in and says they're planning something totally gnarly. And as a hint, she and Ginger show Courtney their fake seal "jazz fins."
Courtney feels another unfamiliar emotion, which according to Miranda is embarrassment for them. Because she is, too. And then they walk out of the bathroom laughing at their childishness. That evening, Ginger and Dodie think long and hard about the maturity of their skit while chillin' on a swingset. Because everyone does their best thinkin' when swingin'. They take Courtney and Miranda's critique seriously, which makes me believe that they knew that the skit was childish all along. But that doesn't mean they have to choose something more mature. Or do they? I mean, it is their peers who are going to watch them. So, naturally, I guess I can understand why they would be reluctant to perform such a dance. They should at least wait until high school to perform it, when stuff like this becomes cool again.
Macie drops by to introduce her Little Seal Girl costume, and it's hella sweet. Macie made it out of hypoallergenic polyurethane, which is actually really impressive. Most twelve year old girls don't even know how to thread a needle, let alone an entire damn seal costume.
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| Making your own hypoallergenic Little Seal Girl costume? Now THAT'S talent! |
Ginger and Dodie reluctantly compliment her on a job well done, which prompts Macie to launch into the most adorable dance of all time. Go Macie! Go Macie!
Dodie reveals to Macie that the routine seems too babyish, and that they want to reconsider doing something else, but Macie gets super insulted. Hey, if I worked that hard on an authentic hypoallergenic Little Seal Girl costume only for my best friends to scrap the whole idea, I'd be insulted, too. But it's not the hours worth of work wasted that Macie cares about--it's the fact that she thinks Ginger and Dodie don't care about The Little Seal Girl anymore and everything it's taught them and how it was their whole lives for years. I totally understand. It's like having a group of friends watch As Told By Ginger every day for years, love it, buy all the Ginger paraphernalia including the famous ice cream cone wallpaper, only for one friend years later to suddenly shun all the years of love she put in the show just because she's too "old" for it now. It's like throwing away a part of your childhood.
Macie's like, "But we all voted on this!" So Ginger and Dodie do a revote. Two to one. Ginger and Dodie decide to club the seal in favor of a more mature act.
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| Democracy in a nutshell, kids. |
Poor Macie. She can't take it anymore--her little heart has broken, but not her spirit, so she takes her ball and leaves the yard proclaiming that she'll just do the act herself.
I have to give Macie some credit here. After years of going along with Ginger and Dodie and remaining neutral to every situation, she finally took a stand at something and stood her ground, even though her best friends disagreed with her. The Little Seal Girl must really be something special to her. And I think that's awesome. While Ginger and Dodie have every right to want to do something else (though they should have taken Courtney's criticism with a grain of salt), I'm glad that Macie chooses to stick with her original idea instead of just blindly following what her best friends want. Screw what the people think. You do your thing, girl!
The next day at the elementary school, Carl and Hoodsey spy on Mrs. Gordon as she arrives to school with the mummified hand. In the background, you can hear all the kids crowd around the door wanting to get a good look at the dismembered body part. Hoodsey comes up next to Carl to reveal that he's more interested in a dead bird he found, but Carl's like, "Bro, we're looking at that hand." He manages to push the other kids away to allow Mrs. Gordon into her classroom.
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| Hey, I want to see the hand, too! It's cool! It's mummified! It's science! |
Carl and Hoodsey get Mrs. Gordon into the classroom to talk to her. Mrs. Gordon regrets bringing the hand in, as she didn't realize how popular it would be, and is probably worried about someone breaking it. Carl tries to smooth-talk Mrs. Gordon into keeping the hand secure from clumsy hands, AKA his own personal security package, but Mrs. Gordon ain't biting. She forbids Carl from touching the hand and kicks the boys out.
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| "Hoodsey, be a dear and show Carl the door." - Mrs. Gordon "It's here, Carl." - Hoodsey |
While Mrs. Gordon leaves to move her illegally parked car, she warns Carl to keep his hands off the hand, or else. Superstitious Hoodsey agrees that Carl should just leave it alone, but we all know that Carl is going to totally molest it. So, he reaches in the drawer, pulls out the box, opens the box, pulls out the hand, holds it, and breaks it.
Well, what do you know? Either that's the most fragile hand ever, or it's cursed. I'm guessing since Hoodsey keeps insisting that the hand is cursed, I'm more inclined to believe it actually is, just for the sake of suspension of disbelief. In a creepy tone, Carl decides to take it to the doghouse to glue the finger back to the hand. And after taking two steps with the hand in his hand, he trips, drops the hand, and breaks off another finger.
Dodie and Ginger show Macie their lame tap dancing routine, complete with suits and matching top hats. They try to sell the idea onto her, but Macie won't budge. Ginger's like, "Oh, come on, we'll look really cool." But Macie stands up and says, "Do I look like a girl who's concerned with what's cool?" And she storms out. Right on, Macie! You tell 'em! Who cares about what's "cool," anyway?
In the doghouse, Carl prepares the operation while Nurse Hoodsey stays behind, refusing to catch the curse of the hand. Carl tries to sew the fingers back on the hand, but when he can't get the needle through the hardened embalming fluid, he goes for Plan B: super-gluing the fingers back on.
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| Superglue. Because no one knows how to properly stick things together. |
Since Dodie and Ginger can't possibly put on a tap-dancing act with just the two of them, they decide to be the curtain pullers instead. They hear some awful pop music coming from the auditorium and decide to investigate. Courtney and her band of followers are practicing their rollerblading routine for the talent show to a studio-quality song about how awesome Courtney is. "It's Courtney, it's Courtney..." Damn, how rich do you have to be to have your own studio-quality song about all your superficialities? Mipsi and some other Courtney clone talk about how their act is a shoo-in for first prize, and as they're walking out of the auditorium, they gossip about how bad Macie is going to bomb her Little Seal Girl dance. Ginger and Dodie freak out at the accurate possibility of Macie blacking out on stage and being laughed at. I wouldn't doubt that--the girl isn't exactly confident. So, Ginger tells Dodie that the have to be the curtain pullers and will hide Macie's shame if need be.
Back at the elementary school, the boys have put the hand back in the drawer. Hoodsey comments about what a shitty job Carl did gluing the fingers back on, but Carl's like, "Cool it, bro, Gordo's so blind, she'll barely notice." When Mrs. Gordon walks in, Carl and Hoodsey high-tail it out of there, and for good reason, because I think Mrs. Gordon got her eyesight back. Look how huge the mummified hand is compared to Mrs. Gordon's tiny old lady hand. That's an ogre hand, right there.
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| "Carl Foutley! Wait until I get my hand on you!" - Mrs. Gordon |
The night of the talent show has arrived, and parents are flocking in after their exhausting day jobs. I doubt they even want to be there. They'd rather hit the drive-thru after work and sit down in front of the TV than watch a bunch of 12-year-olds sing and dance and model clothes. Lois, Carl, and Hoodsey join the audience, too, but Carl continues to be "cursed" by the hand because his seat collapses below him. And he has to be stuck at the after party. No more mummified hands for you, Carl.
The talent show lights blink on, and what better way to kick off the show than a stand-up comedy act by Chet Zipper? Come on out, you big lug, you! Backstage, Ginger wishes Courtney good luck. Courtney asks why Ginger isn't in the talent show, but Ginger tells her it's a long story that's quite "silly." Oh, so now your favorite childhood memory is "silly?" Like I said, wait until high school when this kind of stuff becomes cool again.
Oh, look, a nerdy kid playing a clarinet! I don't even remember that part of the episode. Am I right on the ball with these cliches, or what?
So, Chet is apparently also the host of the show, too. Hey, why not? He has the kind of voice that can rile people up act after act. So, next up is "Courtney's World," and boy am I at a loss for words. All the girls roll out on stage all dressed the same and with masks of Courtney's face.
Then, the girls throw their masks in the air while Courtney rips through a giant poster of her face on roller-blades, finishing off with the girls lifting her in the air like a queen. Fuc. King. Cree. Py. The crowd roars with applause, because I guess it was well performed. Not because it was actually good or anything.
Finally, the part we've all been waiting for: The Little Seal Girl! Ginger and Dodie get into position, with zero confidence in their shy friend at all, hands on the rope, ready to pull, not if but when, necessary. The background is a little island with a palm tree drawn in crayon, which is kind of adorable. The sound engineer flips the switch and the song starts to play. Macie slowly begins to warm up to the idea that she's actually on stage performing the song. And it's not half bad when you think about how Macie's lackluster movements match the overall depressing first half of the song. A few seconds in, you can hear some laughter coming from the audience. I assume Macie hears it too, but she continues dancing through the song like a trooper. Suddenly, the unthinkable happens: the stereo breaks down right in the middle of the song. Macie freezes up, the crowd is perplexed, and Ginger and Dodie are a cry away from pulling the ropes.
But then, instead of running off stage or fainting, Macie begins to sing the rest of the song. Her voice starts off slow and unsure, but a strike of confidence hits her right in the butt because she stands up straighter and belts out the rest of the song. I can't tell if the music in the background is because they fixed the stereo or if it's just supposed to be background music. I'm hoping it's the former because I want to know what the audience is hearing. Honestly, this scene would have been much better without the background music because it's supposed to be focused on Macie gaining confidence to perform despite having the theme song as her "security blanket." I understand that the song is better with the music, but this scene could have been much more powerful without it. But, whatever. She's adorable! Her voice is slightly clearer, and she even tosses one of her flippers into the audience. Woo!
Macie finishes the song to a surprising standing ovation.
Hell, even Carl liked it. What a sap. Ginger and Dodie jump up and down and cheer for their friend's newfound confidence. Macie looks over the audience and finally breathes a full breath. She's done it. And no one's laughing at her. It's clear at this moment that Macie has wiped the floor with her performance, so it's no surprise when Chet Zipper hands her the trophy. Except Chet had no confidence in Macie whatsoever. Go figure!
It's actually a really sweet moment. Macie even starts to cry. But this moment is short-lived by the big-wigs of Nickelodeon because they just had to make the antagonists completely astonished that someone with talent actually won the competition. Come on, I thought we were past this.
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| But she's Courtney! She's Courtney! |
Ginger and Dodie pop in on Macie in the dressing room while Macie plucks off her fake whiskers. They tell Macie how awesome she was and how the real actress who plays the Little Seal Girl would think she's the cat's pajamas. For some reason, despite all the well-deserved praise she received from hundreds of people, all she can dwell on is the fact that she broke their Best Friend Tradition. Come on, Macie. They shunned your idea and realized they were wrong for ever thinking it was lame to perform. You should be in their faces telling them, "Told you so, told you so, suck my toe, I told you so!" So she apologizes for doing what she wanted to do instead of what her friends agreed on unanimously. Some silly tradition is more important to her than her own happiness. I feel so sorry for this girl. Maybe some time alone, away from both Ginger and Dodie, should give her the self-esteem she needs. No one deserves to be as miserable as Macie. Except for Dodie. She's earned that bad karma badge and is overdue for her consequences.
It is astounding how much of an influence Ginger and Dodie have on Macie. I'm just afraid that one day, these three girls will want to go to the same state college, but Macie gets accepted into a wonderful college in France, but will regret attending because she didn't go to the lame state school with her friends. Be your own person, Macie. You're better than that. And you really should give yourself more credit. You can't expect to follow your friends forever. That's why the message of this episode is really confusing. We saw how much better off Macie was for doing the song and dance--something she really wanted to do and really wanted to put the effort into, and she did very well, yet it wasn't good enough for her because her best friends didn't want to do it with her.
If Macie didn't care that she broke the Best Friend Tradition, this episode could have had a much stronger message. But she dwelled on the fact that she was doing something against her best friends' wishes, which makes me think that Ginger and Dodie have such a strong influence on Macie that they've left her unable to think for herself. Perhaps that's why Macie remains neutral whenever Ginger and Dodie fight. Macie is a weak character. As much as I love her, she needs to break free from her friends for a while and gain her own independence. While I'm glad that she took a stand and did what she wanted to do for once in this series, I'm still scared for her because she retreated back into her shell.
Oh, well. Maybe a future episode can give us more insight into why Macie is the way she is.
Lessons Learned From This Episode: Be your own person; don't touch your teacher's mummified hand. And learn how to use superglue.
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