Amanda and Busy are watching Busy's family's old home movies on a projector. Doesn't sound like the most likely of things friends would be doing together, but I guess it's a good a plot device as any to set up the storyline. Amanda remarks that some place Busy and her brother Frankie used to skate at is now completely polluted. Wouldn't that have only been a few years ago? How did things change that much? But anyway, Amanda is concerned about the environment and Busy and Frankie (the youngest of the Ramone brothers) used to be the best of friends.
Cue some blasting generic rock music coming from Frankie's room and we'll see how things are today, in 1993. Frankie is lifting weights and isn't pleased with the girls' interruption. It's obvious Amanda has a crush on Frankie but he doesn't reciprocate in the least. Think that's going to discourage her?
Against Frankie's wishes, the girls come to cheer on Frankie at his basketball tryouts. Well, Busy is cheering anyway. Amanda spies a prettier, more grown-up girl in the bleachers and utters one of my favorite lines from this show, "There's Jessica Purdy. She's such a moron. She colors her hair with Kool-Aid and she stuffs her bra!"
Frankie flubs the tryouts and Amanda wants to stay and give him "emotional support," but Busy refuses. Instead, Amanda goes home and writes a poem.
First of all, take note of that mural of early 90's heartthrobs on Amanda's wall! I guess this is supposed to show us how different Amanda and Busy are. Amanda: straight as a pin. Busy: gayer than gay. Anyway, so she's writing a poem. It goes something like this. "Oh handsome boy/So sad and blue/Failed to make the cut/Remember that not everyone fits in a sporty rut/You're not the type who wins by seeking balls and running bases/I'm sure you'll find that you're not just another face in the crowd lost amongst the team/You're a rebel boy/I see you in my dreams." Despite the fact that it randomly quits rhyming at one point and the awkward phrasing of "sporty rut," I guess it's not a bad poem from an eleven year old.
At the Ramone house for dinner. Busy's mom wonders if Amanda can have milk because she is Jewish. The girls have been friends since they were seven, you'd think she'd know these things by now. Except I don't think the writers had decided on the longevity of the friendship by this episode, or else Amanda might have been in some of those home videos. So we've established that the Ramones are a loud, boisterous Catholic family and Amanda is Jewish. More differences. The men discuss sports and Amanda excuses herself to wash her hands. Of course, we know she's really going to deliver the poem, which she stuffs in Frankie's jacket pocket in his room.
Frankie finds the unsigned poem and it does seem to give him a shot of confidence. He appears particularly taken with the phrase "rebel boy," and struts out of the room in a leather jacket and shades, smoking a cigarette. Busy is hurt that Frankie won't invite him along with her and speaks to her like she's a baby. Frankie meets up with Jessica Purdy of the Kool-Aid hair and some other guys and asks for a smoke. He makes a fool of himself and then pats the poem in his jacket pocket, looking pointedly at Jessica, who of course doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.
Busy and Amanda walk around outside Morningside Mall with Amanda dissecting poor Frankie's fragile self-esteem, much to Busy's annoyance. Amanda acknowledges Frankie's crush on Kool-Aid head, and Busy becomes angry and says unlike Busy Frankie doesn't like girls. Then they spy Frankie lighting up a cigarette through the window of an arcade called Fatso's. It reminds me of the "Greg's smokin'!" scene on The Brady Bunch. They rush in and demand an explanation, only to have Frankie blow them off and flirt with Jessica. Amanda realizes Frankie thinks Jessica wrote the poem.
We see Busy playing her drums for the first time. Frankie bursts in her room and they call each other names like "egghead" and "smoke face." Come on now, I thought this show was all about realism. They wouldn't be calling each other tame stuff like that. Frankie reiterates that they aren't friends anymore like they used to be and that Busy is just a kid.
Next scene, Busy tries to prove she's not just a kid by smoking in the garage while Amanda sprays something from an aerosol can and quotes statistics about women smokers. It's kind of ballsy that they would show kids this young on TV actually smoking, though in Busy's case, she keeps turning around so it's hard to tell if it's a real cigarette. There used to be these fake cigarettes you could buy at the dollar store that would blow out real smoke if you blew hard enough.
Then Busy goes to Fatso's with the intention of smoking in front of Frankie. As they walk in, she has this weird daydream for no apparent reason that Fatso's is a 1950's diner.
Look, I'm not here to bring up every example of Busy's possible gender confusion. I'm not qualified to do that and frankly, I'd be here all day if I tried. However, it's worth pointing out that she's the only girl in the daydream dressed in drag. Also, Frankie is wearing lipstick and eyeliner. Cut back to reality, and Frankie is telling her how stupid she looks, even though she is trying to look just like him.
Then he humiliates her by dumping a dirty ashtray on her head in front of the group of cool kids, who laugh as Busy and Amanda storm out. It's obvious Frankie feels some guilt for influencing his little sister to smoke, but this behavior really tarnishes his image of the sweet, sensitive guy.
Back at home, Busy takes revenge by trashing Frankie's room while a nervous Amanda looks on. Busy finds the poem, of course, and reads it mockingly. Amanda gives herself away by her defense of the quality of the poem and the fact that she dots her i's with little smiley faces. They move into the kitchen and Busy blows up at Amanda for daring to have a crush on her brother and writing him a love letter behind her back. She wouldn't even accept all of Amanda's vital organs if she offered them. Amanda reminds her that they aren't even the same blood type, to which Busy retorts "We're not the same type, period."
Busy accuses Amanda of having a crush on everyone, which is basically kid talk for "you slut!" Amanda says she can't help it...but no one ever crushes back, she says sadly.
Before Busy can confide that yes, someone in this very room crushes back, Frankie enters the scene.
Frankie manages to apologize without ever actually saying he's sorry, which I actually kind of like. It's more typical of a thirteen year old boy than having some big emotional scene. The credits roll over the actors adlibbing dialogue, as will happen with most future episodes.
This episode did well introducing Busy's character. She really only had a small supporting role in Thirty-Two Double A (pun not intended), and here we get to know more about her without focusing on obvious traits like the tomboy thing.
Next episode: Amanda takes a page from DJ Tanner's book and is anorexic for a few minutes.
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