Previously on Joshuaonline, we looked at the series "The Weekenders" through the entirety of Season 1. Which you can read starting from here . Then there was a backlog and a mess and some other stuff, so ooh... anyway.
We are starting our look at season 2. This season was longer than season 1 so it had 13 episodes with 25 segments. This season started on ABC on September 9, 2000.
Basic premise of the show in case you want to jump into season 2 without reading about season 1 is 4 friends hanging out and doing things on the weekend. The show mostly takes place from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. The episodes are about middle schoolers named Tino Tonitini, Lor McQuarrie, Carver Descartes, and Tish Katsufrakis who hang out and life lessons on the best days of kid life.
What makes this show fun is that it can do that, whilst making fun stories that happen only on a certain part of time, it's like how Recess can do that with well, recess.
Let's get started...
Episode 1a: Radio Drama
Tino, Lor, and Carver want to spend a nice do nothing weekend but since that won't be interesting to the viewers, Tish comes in with the plot: she wants her friends to join her in working on a radio play for a contest. She just signed her friends up to work on a radio play and well the other three aren't as interested as say Tish.
Tish wants to do it because of college stuff. (yes) She convinces her friends to decide to do a play. Well kind of, they don't want to do hard work and let Tish do everything, which might be a mistake. (If you've been paying attention, it will be) Tish's play is about a story from her parents' homeland, she changed the setting to the pre Civil War south , because what Californians know best is the period of America in the South before 1861. (Also all the kids love that time period, they won't shut up about it)
The episode does show that Tish kind of went overboard on this play like making them wear costumes (for a radio play, which makes it funnier when after that question is asked, they are back to their normal clothes.) Later at the pizza shop, the friends tell Tish they are quitting because Tish is being too controlling.
This fight doesn't last long because they to have Tish maybe try something else. She comes back later and changes the play to a story about Minnesota, zombies and marriage and something. It sounds more insane now. This goes badly. So Thankfully, they decide this isn't working and make a fun play instead. It skips to next Friday, where they won with their fun play.
A simple episode with some fun to it. The episode doesn't hamper down with it's conflicts it and does a way to show that there's no direct wrong and right persons, but that they were all kind of a mess not understanding each other and also not having fun. A good episode and a good start to the new season. 7/10
We continue after the jump
Episode 1b : The Tradition
It's another episode with Tish having a focus, which is good to see something about her character. She doesn't want to participate in her parents' old country tradition of coming to age thing called Momatuche. The parents wanted her to study for the thing and she doesn't want to do it. Though the episode makes it a little harder for her to avoid since a relative shows up to see. (The episode really just to get away with saying Mama Tush a lot)
The friends decide to try and help her study for the thing, since she's been avoiding it for the past three weeks, and has until Sunday. The first thing she has to learn about family history which is extensive. I love how Tish's Mom just pops into the room when they think about quitting. She explains that her family history is not a lot, trying to explain that Tish is lucky to have such rich family history.
This is a good episode showing how Tish is stuck between her family's old ways and being a more modern American. It also shows how to value your past and traditions as part of an identity. While the show does the strange made up eastern European country thing, they show they have a commitment to it and how it's important to Tish's identity and her family.
Later her Nano, talks to her about why the tradition exists , which is nice short but well done scene. It's Sunday and Tish does the traditional stuff. Where apparently, it's like a game show for a part because sure. (In this family we play Match Game!) Everything ends well.
This is another good episode, it gives us more about Tish as she gets a different look at her family; it also shows how supportive her friends are to help her out when she really needed. It works out well. 8/10
That's it for now, tune in next time when we find out that life is a radio drama.
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