Tricky Kisses 1x13

Part One

 

Part Two

 

It's a sleepover at Amanda's house, and Amanda is forcing Busy to practice the tango, because that was apparently a really popular dance for kids in the 1990's. "This is the kind of stuff they do before you're allowed to have sex," says Amanda. Then she reveals that her father taught her about foreplay. Gross. Amanda practices kissing her arm, and Busy says how dumb this is because her arm can't kiss back. You know where this is going next, and they can do it because it's Canada.

 

 

Amanda takes out her retainer, kneels down and puckers up. She suggests they practice together. Busy's response is maybe one of the most unintentionally funny lines of the series. 

 

 

"Are you kidding? We're both girls!" Now why would they give her a line like that? It was obvious that kid was going to grow up to be gay. No "wouldn't that be weird since we're friends?" or anything. It seems kind of cruel. Anyway, Busy, you had your chance, son, and you blew it. Amanda drops the subject quickly and goes back to her arm.

 

 

The next day, a phone call from Amanda interrupts the Ramones arguing about store stuff. Amanda is being allowed to have a chaperoned party. In the background, Mrs. Ramone mumbles that she's sick of meat and maybe she doesn't want to be a butcher's wife anymore. Busy finally has to hang up because the fighting is too loud for her to hear Amanda's first kiss fantasies.

 

 

Busy goes into her parents' bedroom at night and finds her mother sleeping alone, her father having decided to sleep on the couch. Nothing really important is said in this scene, but it's pivotal in that I think it's where Busy realizes that her parents are really having problems.

 

 

Amanda talks about the balloons she's getting for the party as Troy rides up and says how good "Biz" looks. Since Amanda is so expectant about getting her first kiss, you know it's actually going to be Busy who gets hers, right? It hardly ever works out in real life like that, but since this is TV, there's really no question about it.

 

 

Unfortunately, Amanda doesn't realize she's a TV character, so she goes to the trouble of inviting Justin, whom she has deemed "great first kiss material." Monkey Ears steals an invitation.

 

 

At dinner that night, Busy's mom has an announcement to make. She's going to "take a few weeks off and stay with Grandma" and figure out what's she's going to do with her life. "What life?," asks Dom. "That's my point," says Mrs. Ramone. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I don't think parents should leave their children, but on the other, would anyone think twice about this if it was the father leaving because of marital discord? I think the main problem with this is that Lucy is leaving not just because of her husband, but because her children are lazy and argumentative. This kind of thing can really give a kid a complex.

 

 

Amanda is still babbling about kissing, though to be fair it's unclear whether or not she knows Busy's mother has left. They see a couple making out in the park and this sparks a conversation about getting married. Busy says she's never going to because it causes too many problems. Later Busy angrily tells Frankie he's dumb to think their mother will only be gone for two weeks.

 

 

Amanda mentions that she invited Troy to cheer Busy up because her parents were fighting. Busy is pissed because she didn't want anything to do with the kissing games and feels her privacy was violated. She says she isn't coming to the stupid party now anyway, and Amanda and Troy can have a great time talking behind her back.

 

 

Busy's mom is ready to go and wants Busy to make sure everyone takes their vitamins. When she sees Busy is bitter about her leaving, she says it's between her and Mr. Ramone and has nothing to do with Busy. That's hard to believe, though, with all the scenes leading up to this of a stressed out Mrs. Ramone with the kids arguing and demanding things of her. Busy storms out angrily, probably to go to the party.

 

 

We cut to Amanda's party, which is a bomb, and yes, Busy shows up, but only to set things straight with Troy. In the background, Amanda's mother flashes the lights and calls "Everybody decent? I'm coming downstairs!" like she would really be all right if all these kids were naked.

 

 

Busy talks to Troy, who assures her everything is fine and these things happen in families. Justin comes up to Amanda with a bottle and tells her she gets to spin first. Amanda declines because she's upset that Busy's mad at her, but Busy says if Amanda doesn't kiss someone soon, she's going to lose it. 

 

 

Predictably enough, Amanda spins and the bottle points right at Monkey Ears. Though she protests, she eventually lets him kiss her on the cheek. Then of course, Troy spins (even though it's not his turn) and lands on Busy. Busy gets nervous and runs off.

 

 

Troy goes after her and they kiss. I couldn't get a very good picture of it. Is it wrong that I thought the Amanda/Monkey Ears kiss was hawter? Anyway, Amanda is lurking in the background the whole time. Interestingly, Amanda's voyeuristic tendencies will be addressed in a future episode. Amanda and Busy discuss the kiss and end the episode by spinning around in the front yard and doing the tango.

 

Busy Ramone VS. DJ Tanner

 

 

I think Busy's first kiss was at least partly inspired by this Full House episode. DJ is shy about playing Spin the Bottle, runs off and eventually gets her first kiss anyway. The last part isn't shown on this video, but it was all I could find.

 

So that's it for the first season. Next episode: Busy and Amanda find a sex book.

Wild Life 1x12

 

 

Amanda's parents have gone off on a yoga retreat, leaving Amanda with the Ramones for a week. Busy and Amanda, being very different (the premise for the whole series) can't agree on what to do. Busy wants to hang out in a music store and Amanda wants to go to the zoo. Dom swipes Amanda's diary/book of poetry and teases her about it.

 

 

Amanda tells Busy she started keeping the diary so she could have something to confide her inner most thoughts to when Busy isn't around. Amanda bemoans being a lonely only child and Busy takes pity on her and lets her have the top bunk. They do the handshake thing from the pilot episode.

 

 

Amanda enjoys taking pictures of animals at the Toronto Zoo, an activity which bores Busy. Since Amanda hates being an only child in this episode, she tells Busy she wants to have six kids when she grows up.

 

 

While out riding their bikes, presumably home from the zoo, the girls come upon the above garage band singing the alphabet. Seriously, they are just going "A!...B!...C!...."

 

 

Amanda claims the lead singer here is "gorgeous" and a lot of people in the You Tube comments seem to like him as well. I don't get it personally. Anyway, the Liz (the lead singer) doesn't speak, and chooses only to communicate in animal noises. He tells the girls, in dolphin and snake language, to get lost.

 

 

That night, Busy expresses her wish to play with the band. Amanda, who has wised up and is now only wearing her headgear at night, echoes these thoughts, hoping the group could use a triangle player.

 

 

However, when they inquire about trying out for the band, the Liz says "negative." We learn the band's name is Neon Vomit. Busy and Amanda argue about who Liz smiled at and then go running down the street yelling "Neon Vomit."

 

 

That night, Amanda decides they need to hound the band even more to accept them and stays up all night writing what I'm sure will be an excellent song.

 

 

The next day we see Neon Vomit rehearsing and as the garage door opens behind them, Busy and Amanda appear. Busy has somehow brought her drum set all the way to Neon Vomit's garage. Busy completes a drum solo and then Amanda begins to sing. There's a funny moment when she starts to sing and the Liz's eyes open wide in surprise. Amanda's song goes like this: Save the animals/Save the trees/Save the earth/For you and me/Picking up garbage can be a hassle/So save the earth/Our home, our castle. I like it because it really sounds like some dumb kid wrote it. The Liz approves of Busy, but obviously not Amanda. Busy thinks for about three seconds before telling Amanda to hit the road. Amanda whines that they always do everything together before stomping off.

 

 

Amanda is so pissed she rode off on her bike and missed dinner. She's being kind of silly here. Music is Busy's thing, and it seems she only wants to play in the band because of a crush on Liz. Amanda accuses Busy of being the one who likes Liz and says that's the only reason she wanted to join. "Don't you know you don't drop a girlfriend because of a boyfriend?" I can't really see the Liz being Busy's boyfriend. He's more of a girl than she is, though that is why I thought her relationship with Troy worked out so who knows. Amanda challenges Busy to quit the band and then writes bad things about her in her diary.

 

 

The next day Busy finds out Amanda has struck a deal with the band that leaves her being some sort of maid/gopher with a chance to maybe sing sometime (yeah right). Amanda calls this being the band's manager. She also convinced them to have a concert to benefit endangered animals. A montage follows of Amanda selling tickets while an instrumental version of her "Save the Animals" song plays. She tries to sell to Frankie and Dom, but Busy accuses her of taking advantage of being a house guest.

 

 

Busy gets into Amanda's diary and reads about how she is a snob and a show off. Amanda comes in at that point and wants to call a truce, but Busy is too butt hurt about the diary to relent, though she doesn't reveal what she read. She lies and says she has stuff to do at the butcher shop.

 

 

Amanda walks in on Busy sitting with Liz when she said she would be at the butcher shop, thus catching her in her lie. Just then the other two band members come in and throw their guitar picks on the floor, laughing and telling Amanda to pick them up. Then they make fun of her Save the Earth song. Suddenly, like all people who are mute on TV, the Liz finally speaks. After Amanda runs off, he tells the other two to shut up and that they have written worse songs than that. Yeah, probably A!...B!...C! Busy runs off after Amanda and apparently follows her to the zoo.

 

 

So at the zoo they apologize for being dicks to each other and Busy tells Amanda what the Liz said. The ending credits for this episode are my second favorite of the series. It features Busy and Amanda singing different versions of Save the Animals (regular, opera, and rock) while pictures of the two of them from around the zoo are shown.

 

This episode establishes Busy's musical talents. That and Amanda's song make the episode memorable. The fact that the girls would not see eye to eye on many things is natural due to their different personalities, but sometimes the fighting is tedious.

 

Next episode: Amanda throws a party in hopes of getting her first kiss.  

Origins of Man 1x11

Part One

 

Part Two

 

Amanda is wearing a headgear braces thing in this episode. You're only supposed to wear it at night, Amanda! Imagine walking into the sixth grade wearing that thing. So you can see why she's embarrassed. Busy is trying to assure her that it's no big deal.

 

 

Of course, old Monkey Ears just can't let this opportunity slide. He calls Amanda an alien and then jerks her hat off her head and starts playing keep away with it.

 

 

As Amanda is chasing him down, yelling "Give it back, you little two year old!," she trips, falls on Monkey Ears and knees him in the groin. Like when Justin hit her with the car, she actually apologizes, even though it was really his fault. We don't know it yet, but this was a pivotal moment in Monkey Ear's life. He's a changed man.

 

 

 

Monkey Ears gets back from the nurse's office (what could the nurse do for him?) as the class is discussing evolution. Some kids make fun of him right in front of the teacher, which again, doesn't seem realistic. Amanda and Monkey Ears are paired to do a project on what makes humans different from animals.

 

 

I think this kid plays Sag later on in the series. Anyway, he tells Monkey Ears that being kicked in the crotch means you're growing up and when a girl kicks you there it means she likes you. "Yeah, and I'll bet if she kills you it means she wants to get married," another kid snarks. It seems M.E. has the same definition of physical injuries = love that Amanda had in that episode Justin hits her with his sister's car.

 

 

 

Of course we have to get a glimpse into Monkey's home life, and it's rather disturbing. He shares a room with his sister. She opens the closet door on him and he's wearing the thing in the picture above. He tells her to kick him and when she does, he gets mad.

 

 

He runs into his grandfather in the hall. They both get their accordions and go into a room for a jam session. Grandpa asks M.E. about the girl who kicked his testicles. He also asks if M.E. is having "sexy dreams." Monkey admits to a dream where all of the girls in the class are naked, and grandpa stops the conversation before it gets inappropriate.

 

 

Amanda's father won't let Amanda and Monkey Ears study in her bedroom together. Mr. Zimm reminds Amanda her orthodontist said she had to wear the headgear all the time. Who is her orthodontist, Satan?

 

 

Instead of studying lots of books for their project, Monkey pulls out a huge Bible and says all they need to know about the origins of humanity is in there. Yes, Michael is Jewish later in the series even though he seems to have been well indoctrinated into Christianity here, but he may be only half Jewish for all we know.

 

 

Okay, this scene is just unnecessarily gross. Michael pulls some hair from his sister's hair brush and puts it on his chest and groin. Why couldn't he have used his own hair? Would a boy even really do this with his sister's hair?

 

 

Then he goes to sleep and dreams of Amanda, dressed as Jane and yes, wearing her headgear, calling for help across the school playground. Monkey Ears, as Tarzan, leaps to her rescue and they kiss. It's not really what I would call a "sexy dream," but apparently its enough for Michael...

 

 

You know, there are times when I think it must suck to be a child actor, and no more so than during this scene. I really hope this kid was homeschooled. Walking into school after this played on TV would be worse than going in with headgear. Anyway, Monkey runs into Grandpa in the hall again and explains that his "you-know-what sprung a leak." Grandpa explains that Michael didn't wet the bed, that he had a wet dream and that a liquid, semen, comes from the penis, etc. Why do we need to hear about this on a show aimed at preteen girls?

 

 

Amanda comes over to study and walks in as Michael and his grandfather are practicing their accordions. Pervy Grandpa confronts Amanda about kicking Michael in the "glands."

 

 

Back at school, Amanda and Busy come upon some bullies who make fun of Amanda's braces. Out of nowhere, Monkey Ears leaps to the rescue. Although it's true that these kids are doing the same thing he was at the beginning of the episode (making fun of Amanda), they are almost literally twice Michael's size, so it's pretty impressive. Enough so that Amanda even uses his real name. "Monkey...uh, Michael, they'll kill you!"

 

 

The older kids humiliate him and leave him crying on the ground.

 

 

Amanda tells Busy to go ahead so she can talk to Michael. She says he was brave for doing what he did. He asks her out and she uses the old standby "my parents won't let me date," though it's clear she doesn't see him that way, no matter how much he might have matured during this episode. He tells her the braces aren't all that bad and offers to play the accordion for her sometime.

 

 

Amanda and Michael give their presentation about the origin of man, comparing this to how individuals must evolve and mature throughout their lifetime. The presentation ends with Michael playing his accordion.

 

I like most scenes that feature Monkey Ears, so I liked this episode for the most part. I could've done without the wet dreams, though I guess it's only fair since girls get period episodes. Michael is a character who will stay with the series until it's end and will continue to grow and be interesting...while still staying in the background where a background character should be.

 

Next episode: Busy joins a garage band while Amanda is made to be their gopher.

 

Black Or White Or Maybe Grey 1x10

Part One

Part Two

 

Mr. Ramone is yelling at Manny for planning a motorcycle trip which will leave him short-handed at the butcher shop. Busy volunteers that a friend from school might be interested in the job. Amanda arrives to walk with Busy to school in the midst of the arguing. 

 

 

On the way to school Busy points out Troy taking pictures of little kids on the playground. He's interested in photography, not a budding pedophile. Troy has been seen briefly in previous episodes, but this is the first to feature him prominently. Notice that almost every big Troy episode contains a color word in the title, even ones that have nothing to do with race, like Little White Lies. Amanda teases Busy about Troy being her "favorite guy," which is probably not saying much.

 

 

Busy goes up to Troy and tells him about the job. It seems Troy is in need of photography equipment and could use the money. Troy is into a lot of things not typically thought of as masculine, and I think this is why Troy/Busy works better than her other relationships. Troy and Busy don't have much romantic chemistry, but they balance each other out. Busy tells her father and he reluctantly agrees to meet Troy.

 

 

Mr. Ramone sees Troy hanging around the shop and tells him to get lost. Then Busy rides up and introduces Troy as the friend she was telling him about. Busy's dad immediately shuts down and claims he isn't hiring after all.

 

 

The next day Busy comes into the shop to find her father still interviewing for the position. Mrs. Ramone, by far the most likable of the parents on this show, tries to convince her husband to give Troy a chance. He finally agrees to think about it.

 

 

Busy and Amanda pretend to ride Manny's motorcycle. Amanda calls Busy "so blind" for not seeing that Troy is cute. So says the girl who is always trying to set her lesbian friend up with guys. Amanda shows Busy a bunch of pictures Troy took of Busy without her knowledge. I like Troy, but this is a little creepy. But not as creepy as Amanda speculating on whether or not he has pubic hair. Manny: Pubes? Who's got pubes?

 

 

Busy's dad finally consents to give Troy a chance. Next comes a short sequence of Troy and Busy working in the shop while Mr. Ramone acts formal and grumpy. When Troy leaves for the day, Busy's father find $25 missing from the cash register and leaps to the conclusion that Troy stole it.

  

 

Busy doesn't want to eat dinner if her father is going to be there. Her mother comes in and has a talk with her. Busy says her father is a bigot, and Mrs. Ramone says her husband isn't a bad man, just set in his ways. Busy finally goes down to dinner and the tension erupts into an argument. Her father says Troy is interested in "one thing" and reiterates his accusations about the lost money. Busy clarifies that they are just friends and she isn't interested in Troy, though she should be able to go out with him if she wanted to. Mr. Ramone jumps up and storms out.

 

 

Troy shows up for work and Mr. Ramone immediately tells him to leave and not come back. Troy nervously asks for an explanation. Sam refuses and also won't pay Troy for the six hours he worked. Troy shakes his head and leaves dejectedly. Right away, Busy's mother finds a check for $25 that was stuck in the register. Busy wants to go after Troy but her father tells her to leave things alone.

 

 

Busy catches up with Troy anyway and explains what happened. Troy walks away angrily, but Busy assures him that she's not like her father. They walk away together, and that's pretty much it.

 

There are so many similarities between Ready Or Not and the Degrassi franchise that I won't bother to point all of them out, but the missing money from the store plot was borrowed from an episode of Kids of Degrassi Street called Sophie Minds the Store.

 

Next episode: Amanda causes Monkey Ears to have wet dreams.