Gee whiz! Another Winnie Holzman script, the only episode directed by Michael Engler and very, very fine. Introducing Katimski and that Hallie person.
Rickie encounters someone who cares about and understands him, but he can't deal with it. "He acts like he's this really nice guy, when obviously he's not..." he tells Rayanne, while munching on Tino's Chinese take-out. Rickie has always been insecure, so he's the first one who needs higher self-esteem.
Angela comes home kissing and hugging her parents, all smiles. They are concerned. But Act I, which imparts merely that Angela, who enjoys kissing, has been missing her Geometry review sessions, ends with Jordan saying to keep this "our secret." And it's likely Angela has overheard him tell his pal she's "just a girl."
Rickie says, "It's so romantic. They're like this couple now." "We'll see," says Rayanne, reading the situation 100% correctly.
Angela's scores 59 in Geometry, though she's got at least 95 in Boiler Room. Patty defends Graham to her dad, though later repeating dad's suggestion without attribution. Partially she feels guilty for enrolling Graham in the cooking class. ‘Self-Esteem’ and the next episode reveal how Graham's slow manner of communicating conflicts with Patty's jumping to conclusions.
As if things weren't complicated enough, Hallie Lowenthal appears, Graham's "this obnoxious woman." Graham wants Patty to be more encouraging to him; he needs self-esteem.
After Angela overhears Jordan saying he'll go see Buffalo Tom, he pointedly doesn't invite her when she brings it up.
Act III begins in the famous bathroom with Sharon and Rayanne discussing Angela, after taking the usual shots at each other. Sharon says the Angela-Jordan situation is about "self-respect."
They maintain theirs when Angela comes in asking if they were discussing her. Sharon says, "We don't discuss anything. We're barely even... " Rayanne: "We're not even friends. Are we friends?" Sharon: "No!"
As a snapshot, Renee Lerner throws herself at Mr Katimski, or tries to break the ice. He runs after Enrique, forgetting she's there.
Brian goes for a "study break" with Angela, who is seeing Buffalo Tom. Angela approaches Jordan at Sharon and Rayanne's urging. He says "Hi, uh, you're kinda crowding me." He obviously likes to compartmentalise relationships. There's the girl, there's the boys. The boys react to Angela like the other Beatles react to Yoko, so Angela has this actual Brian-like love experience, where she invites herself and is surprised Jordan's not glad to see her.
Act III closes with Rayanne telling off Jordan, in a good way. She knows he likes her and he'll kill his chances if he doesn't respect Angela.
Act IV fades up to Sunday night and Angela's description of a weekend end when you know you haven't done your homework "and there's that creepy ‘60 Minutes’ watch that sounds like your whole life ticking away." A Brian-Angela encounter follows. Then she has it out with Jordan, figuratively speaking. She uses his line from the previous episode: "Why are you like this?" There's a touching scene where Jordan actually speaks in English class. He has an opinion on a Shakespeare sonnet. Is he in love with this girl? "Yes, he is."
Meanwhile, Graham's cooking class progresses, to Patty's surprise.
Earlier Brian and Rickie spoke to cross-purposes about their particular problems (too much work / Katimski). Now there's a similarly orchestrated discussion in the bathroom with Abyssinia and Angela. They both think of cutting the midterm. Angela is afraid she'll fail, Abyssinia that she won't. In her peer group, good grades are bad.
Rickie and Katimski have a chat and Rickie signs up for Drama. Katimski summarises the episode saying, "Nobody should hate who they are." Rayanne sees Enrique's name on the list and smiles. It doesn't take long for Katimski to become the best teacher in the series.
Then the big finale. Poor Brian watches along with everyone else, as
Jordan walks over (in slow motion) to Angela, after a glance from his friend.
He says, "Can we, can we go somewhere?" and they walk off in
slow motion. Everyone is happy for her, except Brian.
MIDPOINT ANNOUNCEMENT - JORDAN