Tag Archives: Retro Television Reviews

Retro Television Review: The American Short Story #13: Barn Burning

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, Lisa will be reviewing The American Short Story, which ran semi-regularly on PBS in 1974 to 1981.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime and found on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, we have an adaptation of a William Faulkner short story.

Episode #13: Barn Burning

(Dir by Peter Werner, originally aired in 1980)

The year is 1895 and everyone in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi knows that Abner Snopes (Tommy Lee Jones) is no good.  The taciturn and bitter Abner is notorious for burning down the barns of those who he feels have mistreated him.  When Abner is dragged into the Justice of the Peace’s courtroom (which also happens to be a general store), he’s only acquitted because the judge and the prosecutor realize it would be unfair to force Abner’s young son, Sartoris “Sarty” Snopes (Shawn Whittington), to testify against him.  Abner and his family are ordered to move to another town but Abner avoids any legal punishment.  Despite that, Abner still accuses Sarty of thinking about betraying him.

This episode follows Sarty as he tries to understand his abusive father, a man who is offended over being told to wash a rug that he intentionally damaged that he plots to burn down another barn.  (The owner of the rug is played by Jimmy Faulkner, the grandson of William Faulkner.)  Sarty wants his father’s love but it soon becomes clear that Abner is too angry and resentful to love anyone.  The story ends with a fire and an ambiguous tragedy, leaving both the fate of Abner and the future of Sarty unclear.

With his shifting viewpoints and his internalized style of narration, William Faulkner is not an easy writer to adapt to the screen.  With Barn Burning, director Peter Werner takes a straight-forward approach to Faulkner’s short story.  While Werner’s film might lack the nuance that was brought to the tale by Faulkner’s stream-of-consciousness style, it does work as a portrait of living with an angry man who is determined to let the world know that he’s not going to be pushed around anymore.  Tommy Lee Jones gives a strong, intimidating, and ultimately charismatic performance as Abner, a tyrant who only shows emotion when he feels that he’s been treated disrespectfully.  The story takes place in the ruins of the Old South and capture the struggle between the forced gentility of the old aristocracy and the crassness of the future, represented by Abner and his family.

This was a strong episode that truly did justice to William Faulkner’s short story.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.13 “In Sickness and In Health”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!

This week, Victor gets married!

Episode 2.13 “In Sickness and In Health”

(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on February 8th, 1984)

This week’s episode features three storylines.

The least interesting one features Joan Halloran’s father, Charlie Halloran (William Windom), being admitted to and eventually dying at St. Eligius.  The entire Halloran family comes out to visit Charlie and this is one of the storylines that would have worked better if I had the slightest bit of interest in Joan or her family.  For the most part, though, Joan is a boring character and her wealthy family is not that interesting.  I got the feeling this storyline was mostly included to remind us that Joan is a character on the show.  We really have seen much of her over the past few episodes.

Dr. Chandler trained for the Boston Marathon by running the route in the rain.  A car ran him off the road.  A dog chased him.  An attractive woman flirted with him.  (He is Denzel Washington, after all!)   And he finally reached the finish line and nearly collapsed while imagining everyone cheering for him.

Finally, Ehrlich married Roberta.  The wedding took place at Dr. Craig’s house.  Dogger (Kevin Scannell) was the best man and turned out to be just as crude as you might expect someone named Dogger to be.  Dr. Craig was disgusted by the whole thing.  Roberta got cold feet after her mother confessed to having never loved her father.  However, Dr. Craig’s abrasive mother-in-law (Lurene Tuttle) was there to order Roberta to take a chance and marry the man who she might eventually come to love.  This marriage is so obviously doomed.  I’m predicting Ehrlich will be divorced before the season ends.

This episode really didn’t work.  Dr. Chandler training for the Boston Marathon finally gave Denzel Washington something to do but the storyline excuse was mostly just an excuse to do some Boston location shooting.  The Halloran storyline didn’t work because the Hallorans themselves aren’t that interesting.  And, after all the build-up, the wedding was a bit anti-climatic.

They can’t all be winners.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 4.11 “In With The In Crowd”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Jonathan brings vengeance to a high school.

Episode 4.11 “In With The In Crowd”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on December 9th, 1987)

This week, Jonathan and Mark are cops, assigned to a ritzy private school where a student recently died of an overdose.  They’re working with Denise Kelly (Lar Park Lincoln), an undercover cop who is pretending to be a student in order to uncover the identity of and arrest the school’s main dealer.  Unfortunately, the dealer figures out that Denise is a cop and he orders another student (Tom Hodges) to testify that Denise seduced him to get information.  Suddenly, it looks like Denise might lose her job and even get charged with a crime herself!

Mark, feeling protective of Denise and also guilty that he stopped recording Denise’s conversation with the student who subsequently accused her, decides to go undercover himself.  He tells drug dealing student Ray Russo (Jason Oliver Lipsett) that he’s actually a dealer himself.  Ray, however, sees through the ruse and knocks Mark out before injecting him with pure cocaine.

Mark’s in coma.  Denise feels like there’s no point in fighting crime.  Seeking revenge, Jonathan calls a school assembly and specifically accuses Ray of being the school’s main dealer.  Ray pulls out a gun and then  runs out of the school.  He gets in his car and starts the engine.  As he’s speeding down the street, Ray sees that Jonathan is sitting in the passenger’s seat.  Ray shoots at him, twice.  Jonathan, untouched, says that Ray should look in the back seat.  Ray sees the spirit of the girl who died over an overdose.  The terrified Ray is so distracted that he crashes into a truck and his car explodes.

JONATHAN KILLED A GUY!

WOW!

That’s something I never thought I’d see on Highway to Heaven.

Now, to be clear, Ray was a very, very bad guy.  He tried to murder Mark.  He sold the drugs that killed the student.  He brought a gun to school.  There really wasn’t much hope that Ray would ever reform but still, Jonathan killing him seems to go against everything that Highway to Heaven was usually about.  Highway to Heaven usually emphasized the idea of redemption and that everyone — even the worst among us — could change their ways.  Part of the appeal of the show was that it was so unapologetically earnest.  Ray getting blown up may have been emotionally satisfying but it just seemed to go against everything that the show was about.

In the end, Mark wakes up and Denise is cleared of all the accusations against her.  Jonathan and Mark leave for their next assignment.  Who knows who Jonathan will kill next!

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.1 “Stranglehold”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, we start a look at Decoy, a show that will hopefully be a considerable improvement on Malibu CA!

Episode 1.1 “Stranglehold”

(Dir by Don Medford, originally aired on October 17th, 1957)

“There are 249 of us in the Department. We carry two things in common wherever we go – the shield, called a “pottsy”, and a .32 revolver. We’re New York’s finest …. we’re police women.”

Those are the words that end the first episode of Decoy and they’re delivered by Casey Jones (Beverly Garland), a former ballet dancer who now works undercover as a member of the NYPD’s Department of Policewomen.  Casey holds up her revolver for the audience to see, leaving them no doubt that she’s telling the truth.  A woman who know how to handle a gun!?  Audiences in 1957 were no doubt stunned.

Of course, the audience had also just spent 25 minutes watching Casey work undercover.  After a merchant seaman is murdered and a woman named Molly Orchid (Joanne Linville) is caught with some of his jewelry, Casey is sent to live across the hall from Molly.  (Casey is also living in the dead man’s apartment.  Casey, a true New Yorker, comments that she’ll do anything to get a good apartment.)  After hiding her gun in a lighting fixture and hiding her badge under her blouse, Casey befriends Molly and tries to meet George, the mysterious boyfriend that Molly says gave her the jewelry.

Molly loves to talk about George but George never seems to be around.  Molly says that George is a musician and that he’s often out of town.  Casey comes to feel sorry for Molly, feeling that the emotionally vulnerable woman is being manipulated by George.  Whereas the male cops would just as soon shoot Molly than try to negotiate with her (this entire show is from the pre-Miranda era), Casey does her best to reason with Molly.  That is the difference between a policewoman and a policeman.

Of course, as you probably already guessed, there is no George.  Casey eventually figures it out after she realizes that Molly has been going to the movies alone as opposed to meeting up with George.  Molly, spotting Casey’s gun, grabs it and finally admits the truth.  The merchant seaman tried to assault her and Molly strangled him in self-defense.  George is a figment of her imagination, someone who she made up as a way to deal with her guilt.  A policeman barges into the apartment and points his gun at Molly but Casey steps in front of him and then manages to talk Molly down.

The first episode of Decoy was distinguished by some on-location shooting in New York City and the performances of Joanne Linville and especially Beverly Garland.  Garland’s empathetic but strong-willed performance dominates the show and it leaves us with little doubt that Casey Jones is the best at what she does.  Meanwhile, Linville, in the role of Molly, may be dangerous but she’s also sympathetic.  Her crime was initially one of self-defense and George was someone she created as her way of surviving in a world where no one was willing to look out for her.

Next week: Casey searches for a missing artist.

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 1.7 “Uneasy Lies The Head”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

This week, Coach Denardo has a bad dream and put the future of the Bulls in jeopardy.

Episode 1.7 “Uneasy Lies The Head”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on January 6th, 1985)

After having a nightmare in which the members of the Bulls all appear as parts of his failing body and a demonic linebacker (Donald Gibb) and a saintly quarterback (Jeff East) tell him that he has to decide whether he wants to go to Heaven or Hell, Coach Denardo fears that his time is up.

At the next game, Denardo is distracted.  He calls the last time out, not realizing that he doesn’t have any left.  The clocks runs out while the Bulls are trying to get set up for field goal.  “Time out!  Time out!”  Denardo yells.  “You have no time left, coach,” the referee replies, which is maybe not the best way to speak to a man recovering from a heart attack.  As for the game, it’s a humiliating loss.  Denardo says that he might have to retire….

Yeah, that sounds about right.  I don’t know much about football but I can tell that Denardo made a lot of mistakes in the course of  just two minutes.  Get that old man out there!  Heck, just let Diane coach like she did last week….

Diane decides to trick Denardo into staying.  She rolls a really old computer out during practice and lets it call the plays.  Denardo gets angry.  No machine is going to replace Ernie Denardo!

Meanwhile, Bubba (Prince Hughes) upsets his mother-in-law.

Seriously, that’s the entire episode.  That’s all that happens.  I know it doesn’t sound like much but what can I tell you?  I sat through this and spent the whole time wondering when the episode’s actual story was going to start and it really didn’t.  Denardo had a bad dream.  Bubba upset his mother-in-law.  That’s it.

This episode was forgettable.  Diane should have fired Denardo after that loss.  I fear the Bulls aren’t going to make it to whatever this show’s version of the Super Bowl is.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 2.17 “Runaway”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

It’s time for more bicycle action.

Episode 2.17 “Runaway”

(Dir by Charles Siebert, originally aired on January 19th, 1997)

A teenage girl  (Boti Bliss) is missing on the boardwalk.  Maggie Garrity (Justina Vail), who runs the local shelter, is looking for her.  When she asks the bike patrol for help, TC is dismissive up until he looks up from his paperwork and sees Maggie.  I’ve noticed that this is a patten with the bike patrol.  It’s rare that they do anything until they see it will involve hanging out with an attractive members of the opposite sex.

TC recruits Chris to help him put up flyers.  Chris rolls her eyes because, seriously, why should a member of law enforcement be concerned with a teenage girl who has been abducted by a pimp (Gene Lythgow) and his psycho girlfriend (Ami Dolenz)?  Personally, I would dread working for Chris because she never stops complaining.  It says a lot about this show that the we’re nearly done with the second season and Chris still doesn’t have a personality beyond being whiny.

TC falls for Maggie but Maggie’s a nun!  After they manage to rescue the missing girl, TC asks Maggie if maybe she could stop being a nun for a new nights so that they could go out on a date.  Maggie says that it doesn’t work like that.  What I find interesting is that TC has no problem casually asking Maggie to give up her vows just because he wants to date her.  Hey, TC — this is why you’re single!

Meanwhile, Palermo has new expensive bicycle.  What a dork.  When the bike gets stolen, Victor has to find it.  Palermo sure is mad about his missing bike.  What a loser.

This show is not growing on me.

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 7.7 “The Wedding/Castaways”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1984.  Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites.  Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.

This week, Lawrence ruins everything.

Episode 7.7 “The Wedding/Castaways”

(Dir by Bob Sweeney, originally aired on November 26th, 1983)

Ugh, this episode.

Nerdy Fred Connors (Richard Gilliland) wants to spend a weekend alone with a beautiful woman.  His favorite supermodel, Christy Robbins (Phyllis Davis), has been pressured by her manager (Steve Perry) into agreeing to spend the weekend with Fred at Pelican Cove.  Fred and Christy will have their picture taken before and after their weekend together to show just how much spending time alone with Christy Robbins will improve one’s outlook on life.

Let’s just stop here and state the obvious.  This makes ZERO sense.  Christy’s manager has no idea who Fred is.  He doesn’t even meet Fred until it’s time to him and Christy to go to Pelican Cove.  Christy is a world-famous model.  In what world would a celebrity agree to be abandoned on an isolated island with a total stranger?  The photographers aren’t staying on the island with them.  Instead, Christy and Fred are dropped off on the island and then everyone else leaves.  If I was Christy, I would get a new manager.

A rival model named Celina Morgan (Shannon Tweed) was also up for the “abandoned on an island with a possible sex maniac” gig and she’s upset that she lost out to Christy.  So, she sneaks out to Pelican Bay herself and soon, she and Christy are fighting over the right to spend their time with Fred.  It’s dumb and it makes no sense and, considering that the whole fantasy is basically two beautiful woman fighting over one dorky guy, it’s actually feels a bit demeaning and mean-spirited.

Of course, it’s nowhere near as mean-spirited as the other fantasy.  Lucy Gorman (Jeannie Wilson) is unhappy in her marriage to Dr. Jack Gorman (Gordon Thomson).  She tells Roarke that the only good thing that came out of her marriage was her daughter (Andrea Barber) but Lucy even feels jealous of her!  Lucy wants to go back to her wedding day so she can see what would happen if she left her husband at the altar and pursued another doctor (Richard Pierson).

Well, the main that would happen is that Lucy’s daughter would never be born.  But somehow, this doesn’t occur to Lucy until the fantasy has started.  How would that not occur to a mother?  This fantasy was …. I can’t even begin to describe how annoying it was.  Lucy came across as being very self-centered and kind of dumb.

I swear, the seventh season has just been terrible so far and I blame one person.

And, no, it’s not Mr. Roarke.

Seriously, ever since Lawrence showed up, the Island just hasn’t been the same.  Are we sure that Lawrence isn’t the Devil?  I mean, I know the Devil was traditionally played by Roddy McDowall on this show but I’m sure he change his appearance.  There’s something sinister about Lawrence and I don’t trust him.  He doesn’t care about Roarke and he doesn’t care about the fantasies.

What a disappointing trip to the Island.  Traditionally, the last season of any show is usually the worst but it’s still painful to watch Fantasy Island misfire like it did with this episode.

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 4.10 “Forty Tons Of Trouble”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, two sets of thieves cause trouble!

Episode 4.10 “Forty Tons Of Trouble”

(Dir by Gordon Hessler, originally aired on January 11th, 1981)

A group of criminals is stealing equipment from construction sites and selling it on the black market.  An attempt to steal a loader leads to it rolling down a Los Angeles street until Baker is able to jump onto it and crash it into a (hopefully) abandoned building.  Getraer points out that Baker just destroyed a building.  Baker shrugs and says he’s always wanted to do that.

A different group of criminals is stealing parts for their drag racer.  The CHiPs have their own car entered into the drag races.  Of course, it’s driven by Ponch.

After two accidents on the highway and several chases, Baker and Ponch (but mostly Ponch) capture the bad guys.  Paula Kohl (Mary Louise Weller), the owner of Kohl Construction, appreciates the efforts of Baker and Ponch (but mostly Ponch).

In other words, this was a typical episode of CHiPs.  Still, it’s memorable because of the supporting cast.  Amongst the construction site thieves is Robert Englund.  Englund thinks that Sarge (Taylor Lacher) is taking to many risks when it comes to trying to steal loaders and bulldozers but Sarge is like, “I got it under control.”  Meanwhile, amongst the drag race thieves, is Chris Mulkey.  Mulkey doesn’t get to do much but he does get two scenes where he smirks at Ponch.  Sadly, both characters end up getting arrested during this episode but have no fear.  Robert Englund went on to play Freddy Krueger.  Chris Mulkey went on to play the sleazy but strangely likable Hank Jennings on Twin Peaks.

As for the rest of the episode — hey, I don’t ask for much from CHiPs.  As long as there’s a good crash scene and a lot of cool cars, I’m happy.  This episode delivered.  One could ask why Ponch is always the one who gets to do the cool things, like driving in the race and taking Paula out on a fancy date.  Earlier seasons usually tried to portray Ponch and Baker as being equals.  This season, though, has clearly been The Ponch Show.  It’s a legitimate criticism but …. eh.  Sometimes, you just want to watch a chase or two.

 

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.17 “Hell Hath No Fury”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, Trudy is once again the main character.  Fortunately, there’s no UFOs this time around.

Episode 4.17 “Hell Hath No Fury”

(Dir by Virgil W. Vogel, originally aired on March 11th, 1988)

Alan Beaks (Don Harvey), the scion of a prominent Florida family, has been released from prison after serving only a few years for raping a black school teacher named Ellen Mason (Carla Brothers).  Beaks claims that he’s reformed and, at the start of the episode, he appears on a talk show where the audience agrees that Alan Beaks is the perfect example of someone who has straightened out his life.

“I wouldn’t want it to happen to me,” one woman in the audience says, “but if it did, I would hope he would be as charming as Alan Beaks.”

Beaks now wants to make a public apology to Ellen.  However, she refuses to see him.  When she starts to get threatening phone calls, both she and her best friend Trudy are convinced that Beaks is the one calling.

Castillo, however, doesn’t want Trudy to have anything to do with Ellen or Beaks.  It’ll make the Vice Quad look bad, he says.  (Since when has Castillo ever used that type of logic?)  Still, when Ellen hires a hitman (John Finn) to kill Beaks, the Vice Squad finds itself involved.  No one on the Squad has any sympathy for Beaks and they don’t make much of an effort to protect him.  When a shootout leaves both Beaks and the hitman dead, Castillo tells the members of the Squad that they have failed and if they’re not going to full commit themselves to the job, they can transfer to another department.  Meanwhile, even with Beaks dead, Ellen is still getting phone calls, implying the Beaks was actually not her stalker.  The episode ends with a terrified Ellen listening as the caller threatens her….

Here’s my number one question about this episode: Why didn’t anyone trace the calls?  Ellen, the victim in a high-profile rape case, is getting calls from someone threatening to harm her.  That right there seems like the sort of thing that the police would normally investigate.  Trudy is Ellen’s best friend.  Trudy knows about the calls.  Trudy is a cop.  So, why didn’t the Vice Squad try to track down the caller?  If they could have proven that Beaks was the caller, Beaks would have gone back to prison.  If it turned out that someone else was the caller, that person would have gone to prison.  Beaks would still be free but at least Ellen wouldn’t be getting threatened every ten minutes.  In the past, that’s what would have happened on this show.  For some reason, this episode features everyone forgetting how to act like a cop.

In the end, this episode tried to deal with a lot of issues — tabloid journalism, rehabilitation, vigilante justice, racism, classism — but it ultimately felt like fan faction that was written by someone who really didn’t know much about the show or the characters.  (One would think that Gina, a rape survivor who gunned down her rapist during the first season, would have some thoughts on Ellen’s plan but instead, she spends the episode cheerfully exchanging one-liners with Switek.)  This was another Season 4 disappointment.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.2 “Mother and Child Reunion: Part 2”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Snake shows that whatever it takes, he’s going to make it through.

Episode 1.2 “Mother and Child Reunion: Part 2”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on July 1st, 2002)

Snake threatens to kill a guy in this episode!

Now, to be clear, the guy in question definitely had it coming.  While Spike enjoyed her class reunion, Emma snuck out of the house, went down to a hotel, and waited for Jordan.  Sitting in the lobby, she was approached by Mr. Nystrom (Jeff Gruich), who claimed to be Jordan’s teacher.  Mr. Nystrom, who was carrying a pizza box, invited Emma upstairs to meet with Jordan.  Emma followed him but, once she stepped into his hotel room and discovered that there weren’t any environmentally-minded teens around, Emma realized that there was no Jordan and “Mr. Nystrom” was actually the person who had been e-mailing her.

Fortunately, Manny, Toby, and JT figured out that Emma had gone out to meet Jordan so they hacked her e-mail (Emma’s password was “Pogues,” after Spike’s favorite band) and found out what hotel “Jordan” was staying at.  They then ran to the Degrassi Community School and found Spike and Snake dancing at their reunion.  They told Spike and Snake where Emma was.  Spike and Snake then went to the hotel and Snake banged on the door until Mr. Nystrom answered.

(Oddly, neither one of them appeared to have called the cops on the way over to the hotel.)

While Spike ran into the room to get her daughter, Snake grabbed Mr. Nystrom, pinned him against the wall, and threatened to “snap (his) neck.”  And I have to say that, as dorky as Archie “Snake” Simpson may usually be, that was pretty freaking hot.

Meanwhile, at the reunion, Joey heard Keith talking to Allison Hunter about how he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to marry Caitlin.  That led to Joey getting into a brawl with Keith while Caitlin was giving her “most distinguished alumni” speech.  Caitlin broke up with Keith and she and Joey reconciled.  It wasn’t the first time that they reconciled and it won’t be the last.

At the house, Emma apologized for panicking Spike and then added, “Like you’ve never made a mistake?  Like having me!”  Wow, that’s …. kind of sad.  Spike assures Emma that becoming a mom at the age of 14 was not a mistake.  However, sneaking out to meet a guy you’ve never met is definitely a mistake!  What Spike doesn’t mention is that this could have all been avoided if Emma wasn’t so obsessed with protecting the environment.

Next week: the school year begins!  Hopefully, Emma will have learned her lesson about getting involved in the environmental movement.

(Spoiler: She won’t.)