Almost every show in the late 80's and early 90's with an adolescent female character got to have an episode where said girl gets her period. Lucky for Ready or Not, they got to have TWO.
Busy is on her way to band practice and her uniform is solid white. Knowing the episode title and what's going to happen, this fact gives me a sinking feeling. Middle school band uniforms shouldn't be white. I was going to comment how kids on TV always practice their sports or music in full uniform, but the teacher does say this is a dress rehearsal. Busy complains of a stomachache and the teacher reprimands her in front of everyone.
Finally Busy rushes out anyway. Chrissy and her friend are hanging out in the restroom. Busy tells them she's sick and needs to go to the hospital because there's blood on her pants. "Did you fall? Did you get cut? Did you sit on something sharp?" Is Busy really this stupid? They tell her to go "plug it up!" (Carrie reference), but there's no Maxis in the vending machine.
So she sneaks out with a jacket tied around her waist. She runs to the butcher shop but her mother isn't there. Her father grills her until she's forced to admit that she "sat on something sharp" and reveal her leakage to him. Mr. Ramone instructs Busy to take care of the store while she's leaking blood all over in a white outfit while he goes out to buy pads.
Busy's brother Dom comes in while she's washing the blood out of her uniform and razzes her some more. He claims he wants to jerk off to the tampon diagrams.
Busy's mom comes back from her gyno appointment and tries to have a mother/daughter talk with her, but her lazy husband calls down for her to make him something to eat. Sorry, but there really is no plot to this one besides Busy getting her period, and she's already done that.
Busy goes out to play street hockey with her brothers and it seems Dom has told the entire neighborhood what has happened. Manny (the oldest brother) asks her if she has crabs(?), but I think he means cramps. "It's that PMC kicking in," one of the boys laughs when Busy snaps back at them. Amanda, whom we've seen very little of until now, calls. Busy reluctantly tells her the news.
She has about the same reaction you'd think someone would have if their friend had won the lottery. Seriously, she screams for about fifteen seconds straight. "You're a woman now. You could have a BABY! Do you look any different? Are you wearing a tampon?" and on and on. I never got why female protagonists were always so gung-ho about getting their period. It's nice to see both points of view represented here, because Busy is definitely not pleased.
Busy's mom finds her in her room taking out her frustrations on her drums. She has an awkward (but I suppose necessary) talk with Busy about her feelings. She gets into the whole "you're a woman now" thing, which I hate because it really freaked me out when Claire gave Rudy that line on The Cosby Show. Who's ready to be a woman at eleven? Mrs. Ramone goes one further and tells Busy she'll have to be careful now that she can have a baby. Busy rolls her eyes and implies that she doesn't want to end up like her mother, who is basically a slave to her husband and children. I like this because it sets up what will happen in future episodes yet isn't out of place in this one. Mrs. Ramone's strange final thought on the matter, "Just remember, you can be who you want to be...period or no period."
The next day, Monkey Ears bumps into Busy and makes her drop a bunch of pads, which she's carrying loose and out in the open for some reason. No purses for Busy, I guess. Amanda witnesses her ordeal and runs to help her pick them up. Amanda harps on Busy for being so secretive these days and not immediately telling her about her period and then offers to show her how to use tampons. Amanda uses them even though she has no period.
We know we're in Amanda's room now because of all the men on the wall. Busy laments that she feels like she's got a football in her pants. Amanda then has this weird monologue about God being a woman and getting a period too but then wait God doesn't have a body so never mind. Amanda informs us that you get your period every 28 days, not once a month. That's more helpful information right there than most period episodes give you. She launches into an explanation of fertilization, to which Busy retorts, "Yeah right, like I'm gonna have a sperm anywhere near me." No comment.
Busy realizes she can't go to swim team practice with her pad so she lets Amanda take her to the store to buy tampons. This triggers a daydream sequence in which the box of tampons is huge and all the boys from school point and laugh. The boys do happen to be in the store at that inopportune time.
"Amanda, it's complicated down here. I don't know where to put it!" Then comes detailed instructions about how to put in a tampon. This might not be the most poignant period episode, but if you want to actually know anything, this was the one to watch. And it beats the "Julie's Story" educational film we watched in 5th grade.
Busy has her band concert, and at the end of the song the group was practicing at the beginning of the episode, she takes it upon herself to improvise a solo for herself. Her parents and Amanda look on proudly. The show ends with the family going home for some chocolate cake.
Next episode: Amanda and Busy crash a slumber party.
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