First of all, I'd like to thank the three You Tube users who currently have the series posted. I'm going to put up a video of the episode in each review so you can follow along if you haven't already seen it.
We start off with the girls under the covers at Amanda's house (obviously having a sleepover) discussing armpit hair, boobs, BO and boys. The girls look so young here, and I'm guessing this episode was filmed a while before the rest of the first season. Amanda prompts Busy to say goodnight to her Jason Priestley poster. A nice bit of early 90's nostalgia right off the bat there.
Amanda lets it be known that, despite her devotion to Jason, she also has a crush on a grade 7 guy named Mark who apparently has a bra fetish. Amanda is so into this guy that she is wears a bra stuffed with ping pong balls over her clothes.
Mark appears on the scene and Busy is only impressed with his skateboarding skills. She accuses Amanda of only talking about "boys, boys, boys" these days. The male teacher introduces a "sex box" in which students can ask anonymous questions. This doesn't come into play in this episode, but of course the kids think it's hilarious. Mark then conveniently pays a visit to the class and Amanda gets all hot and bothered while Busy just rolls her eyes.
It's recess time again and Amanda is wondering what some older kids are doing off sequestered by themselves. She surmises that they are French kissing. I find it strange that she feels compelled to explain what French kissing is, yet tosses out the word "boner" casually. I'm pretty sure when I was in the sixth grade "Boner" was simply Mike's friend on Growing Pains. But anyway, this scene is our first clue that this show isn't going to be sugar-coating any controversial issues.
It turns out the older kids are playing a rousing game of Truth or Dare. Okay, and one kid is smoking. I'm not sure how he's getting away with this right on school property, but whatever. We get our first glimpse of Chrissy here. She is destined to cause no end of envy and pain for Amanda for the first couple of seasons. Chrissy dares Mark (who, by the way, I don't think we ever see again) to make "intimate contact" with a sixth grader and tell her she has nice boobs. And who do you think he's going to choose?
Mark comes across Amanda hanging upside down on the monkey bars. His idea of intimate contact is just to pick her up and put her down.
"Nice tits," Mark says, and it's pretty funny because she's wearing a huge coat and you can't even tell if she's got anything or not. Amanda doesn't get it, though, and takes this as some huge declaration of love. She badgers her mother into buying her a bra because Mark is supposed to be really into them. What's wrong with this boy anyway? The bra saleslady is disturbingly enthusiastic, proclaiming she sees "many beautiful breasts everyday." There is some instruction about how to put on a bra that was probably interesting to young girls at the time, but I don't feel like going into it.
Then comes the first dream sequence of the series. Amanda dreams of a well-endowed version of herself dancing with Mark while Chrissy, who is wearing a bra stuffed with ping pong balls, is laughed at by everyone at school.
The teacher looks on as well, and winks creepily at Amanda.
Next morning, Amanda's dad comes in and tells her how proud he is of her and what a big step it is. Why are TV fathers always so anxious to talk to their adolescent daughters about bras and periods? It doesn't happen that way in real life. Anyway, I think Mr. Zimm is a little creepy in this scene, but that's probably just my issue.
And why, why did the parents let her go to school with her bra straps hanging out like that? It's the only reason I can think of that sixth grade girls (half of whom would already be wearing bras anyway) would give her a hard time about it. Even Busy gives her the cold shoulder. She goes over to the older kids and they want nothing to do with her either. She eventually takes off the bra in a restroom stall while practicing for an upcoming oral presentation.
And overhears these two grousing about Amanda wearing a bra. Well, bitches, if you want a bra so bad just go out and get one, jeez!
"Hey everybody, Amanda's about to present her BRAject!" Those witty, witty kids. I'm not sure if this is the same Monkey Ears we'll know for the rest of the series. He looks slightly different. Then Monkey Ears(?) grabs the bra Amanda had stashed in her desk and all the kids begin throwing it around the room.
This scene reminds me of the time when I was in the fourth grade and my mother had obviously not sorted the laundry very well. I stood up in class and an extra pair of my panties fell out of my pants leg. Before I could do anything about it, some kid grabbed them and they were thrown around the room, just like this. So even though I don't think it's altogether realistic that these kids would make such a big deal about a bra, this particular scene is quite believable.
Even Busy laughs at Amanda's predicament. Some friend you are!
Amanda says she can't do her report, to which the teacher replies, "you must." Some girls take this opportunity to chant "You must, you must, you must improve your bust" from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Told you Amanda was a Judy Blume girl. I don't think most kids misbehave so blatantly right in front of the teacher, though. Amanda braves on with her report, which looks pretty awesome, as an instrumental tune plays. She then wisely stays after school until the other kids have gone. Mr. Norris gives her back her bra.
However, Busy has been waiting and the two make up fairly quickly. They do a handshake that seems to be their thing and we'll see it a few more times throughout the series.
Riding down a hill on skateboards while holding on to a bra looks like the coolest way to get home from school ever.
Since this is supposed to be a review, I guess I'll give this episode three out of four stars.
This pilot was originally supposed to be a short film, but was picked up to be a series. The rest of the show will focus on both Busy and Amanda, because a show about Amanda's non-existent boobs wouldn't be very good.
Next episode: Busy tries to keep up with her older brother by trying cigarettes while Amanda develops a pity-crush (is that a thing?) on said older brother.
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