Cast:
- Matt Dallas ... Kyle
- Marguerite MacIntyre ... Nicole Trager
- Bruce Thomas ... Stephen Trager
- April Matson ... Lori Trager
- Jean-Luc Bilodeau ... Josh Trager
- Chris Olivero ... Declan McDonough
- Kirsten Prout ... Amanda
- Leah Cairns ... Emily Hollander
- Chelan Simmons ... Hillary
- Malcolm Stewart ... Mr. Bradford Hooper
- Jaimie Alexander ... Jessi XX
- Magda Apanowicz ... Andy Jensen
- Cory Monteith ... Charlie
Official Summary:
Although Jessi’s been programmed to get close to Kyle, she only has eyes for Declan. When she starts school, Lori befriends Jessi as a way of keeping tabs on her. Nicole, who finds many of the things Jessi says in therapy alarming, is also watching Jessi. Kyle has his suspicions too, especially when Jessi fixes a broken radio in moments. Emily, charged with using Jessi as a ploy to get at Kyle, seems to have lost control of her charge. When she finds Jessi at a dance she’s been told she can’t attend, both go ballistic. The X on Lori’s picture seems to play out when Lori is attacked after the dance.
Key Moments:
This is the episode where Kyle decides to tell Declan everything (though we don’t see this on camera), and Declan loyally affirms that he's "in this." Emily brainlessly does an abusive sister routine right in front of Jessi's therapist. Hillary calls Kyle a "sweet clueless little muffin" (because he doesn't realize he's got an actual date with Amanda), which is fun. Charlie has another "cad" moment: a little toasted at the "Alternadance," he slurringly starts to make some (very, very mild) homophobic remarks -- the episode's way of demonstrating that only jerks make fun of gay people.
Cute Trager Family Drama of the Week:
Lori and Hillary, both dateless, decide to by tickets to the dance together (couples tickets are cheaper than single tickets), but the school prohibits same-sex couples. This is an interesting way to approach the idea of same-sex couples: make them heterosexual. Still, it's nice that Kyle is utterly perplexed by the school's restrictions, and we do get a fleeting glimpse of an actual gay male couple at the dance; more solidly, Andy lets on that she has two moms -- one of the reasons she doesn't take any guff from anyone.
Biggest Mystery:
So who owns the Rack anyway? The "Alternadance" is held there, so someone had to be persuaded to offer the place as a venue; but the only person who ever seems to be working there is Josh.
Bottom Line: Worth Watching?:
This episode is pretty light on the Madacorp/sci-fi side, so if you're tired of the family byplay you can skip ahead. Lori is really developing into an appealing character with very understandable but incompatible motivations -- in fact in this episode she's a lot more interesting than moonstruck Kyle.
