I swear, if anyone says “I’m just trying to figure out who I am” in this episode…
Cory and Shawn are playing in the hallway and Cory accidentally hits Frankie with the ball. They scatter, but approach Frankie when neither he nor Joey react at all. The two are depressed, because apparently Harley was sent to a reform school, and has written a letter saying he loves it there and never wants to come back. Frankie and Joey are lackies, and don’t know what to do with themselves with no gang leader.
Cory and Shawn go back to playing around, and Feeny intercepts the pass and gives them their tests back, despite them not actually being in class. Shawn got a 12, and Cory got a 16. They don’t understand how that’s possible, and Feeny just repeatedly tells them to go home and open a book. Then Turner shows up and asks them where their book reports are, even though they aren’t actually in class and that seems like something he could’ve asked during class. Cory says he never heard anything about a book report, even though Turner has apparently been mentioning it every day in class for the last two weeks. They convince Turner to go easy on them because they just got some awful grades on their tests, so Turner agrees to let them turn in their reports on Sunday.
So, Eric gets a C-average and he’s not allowed to do anything, but Cory gets grades like 16 on his tests and nothing happens to him?
At the house, Morgan is making her own lunch, for homework. Because making their own lunch teaches the kids to be self-reliant. So Morgan’s making a sandwich with Wonder Bread, Cheez Wiz, and Lucky Charms. Maybe I’m just really hungry, but that actually sound delicious. Alan tries to correct Morgan and tell her that’s a terrible combination, but then he picks up the sandwich and takes a bite, declaring it delicious. Eric comes down and recommends Fruit Loops on pita bread, but Morgan’s not making that until tomorrow. I should’ve waited to type this up until after dinner. Eric apparently won two tickets to somewhere (I think Cedar Rapids, which I know is a real place). Alan says he’s sure Eric and Cory will have a lot of fun there, but of course Eric’s looking to take some girl instead. I guess he pulled his average up enough that he can date again.
Upstairs, Cory and Shawn wonder how other kids can do their assignments and study and still have time for other things. Man, if you’re having trouble with time management for your school work in 7th grade… just wait until you get older. There were plenty of times when I was in high school where part of what I did every day was figure what assignment I could get away with not doing so that I could get maybe 5 hours of sleep.
Shawn says their problem is that their ancestors were slackers, and Cory says if he makes this basket (there’s a small hoop over his window), they’ll start working. He makes a shot and the ball goes out the window, and shortly after that Feeny yells at them to open a book. Then the boys wonder how they could do a book report without reading the book. Well, people on tv shows always opt to watch the movie version. Cliffs Notes have apparently been around since 1958, so there’s that, too. Well, Cory opts for renting the movie – only they’re not even going to watch the movie, they’re just going to copy the description on the back of the box.
Cory and Shawn tease Frankie and Joey before leaving. Frankie and Joey then decide they need a new leader to follow. Just then, Eric comes out of the bathroom and asks Jasmine Fontana – remember her, from the radio show episode? – if she’d like to go to the water park with him. She totally does. So then Eric tracks down Cory and gets Cory’s ticket, and in exchange Eric promises not to tell their parents that Cory basically cheated on his assignment. Frankie and Joey admire Eric’s craftiness, and the water park is never mentioned again.
Cory and Shawn sprinted several blocks and ran up several flights of stairs to get their papers in on time, but apparently the deadline isn’t actually until tomorrow. They offer to just go home and turn in the same papers tomorrow, but Turner takes them and skims them. He’s basically okay with the papers until “…exception cast… powerfully acted.” Turner doesn’t have time to deal with them, because he’s getting ready for a date. He tells them to hang out, get a soda, and he goes upstairs.
So Cory and Shawn explore. Shawn doesn’t know why Cory’s so interested, because he’s lived next to Feeny for years, but Cory says Feeny’s never let him into his house. Shawn drops a CD into a fishtank and then Cory knocks some stuff off a table. They figure out Turner’s on a date with the blonde Social Studies teacher (I’m assuming this is the Katherine who Turner has been pursuing; as a sidenote, history and social studies were always the same classes in my school, or at least the history teacher also taught social studies, but I guess that’s not the case in this school, since Feeny teaches history).
Cory and Shawn then find Turner’s lesson plans for next week, and learn there’s going to be a pop quiz. They’re ecstatic – they can study for the test, get a good grade, and pull their grades up! Because… it’s easier to study for a pop quiz you miraculously found out about than it is to study for a test or write a paper you’ve known about for weeks.
So Cory and Shawn are well prepared for the pop quiz, and hand out No. 2 pencils to everyone. Also:
Eric tells Frankie and Joey to knock it off, and he calls them “creepos” (and they call him Rico).
Feeny is busy talking to a new student who was apparently a troubled youth, who had problems in his old school. His name is Griffin Hawkins, which is the most glorious name since Jasmine Fontana. And the kid Feeny was talking to wasn’t actually him. Griffin just hired some kid to fill in for him. THIS is Griffin Hawkins:
He’s that kid who played “Senior” in that episode where Cory and Shawn pretended to be in a band, and also he’s on that “Parks and Recreation” show. Feeny tells him to take a seat, so he sits down in Feeny’s chair. He tells that kid from before to go to his English class for him, and Feeny is like “good, that frees you up for detention with me!”
Frankie and Joey are still dressing like Eric, who’s still annoyed by them, but they – and all the girls in the hallway – become completely enthralled when they spot Griffin. Later at Chubbie’s, Eric introduces Griffin to the other two. And, scene.
Shawn is ecstatic to find he’s gotten a 92 on that pop quiz. Cory got a 96, but he isn’t so thrilled. He feels guilty, because he essentially cheated. He wants to confess to Turner, but Shawn doesn’t want to risk losing this good grade – he has a decent shot at a trade school now! (his words)
So, Eric and the others are at Chubbie’s during the school day, I guess? This one jock guy bursts in and demands to see “the lady-killer”, Griff. First jock guy assumes Eric is Griff, but Griff stands up and reveals that he is in fact Griff. He says “It must be tough to live in a world where not everyone’s name is stitched on their jacket.” Jock is upset with Griff doing… something involving his girlfriend, Lorett. He challenges Griff to a fight, but Frankie and Joey are all “no, you fight us”. Jock then tells Griff to just be sure to have his girlfriend home by 10. Griff accepts his new lackies.
Cory and Shawn confess to Turner that they sort of cheated, having seen Turner’s lesson plan. Turner’s all “The lesson plans that I left open on my desk?” Apparently he did that on purpose, to get them to study. He says something about how “that assignment has been the homework for the last two weeks”. I don’t know if he means the pop quiz was the assignment, or if he means the book report. Either way, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Shawn has an epiphany about teaching and learning, and he and Shawn agree to go home and study. Feeny, who was listening in the doorway, tells Turner he was right, and Feeny hands over $20.
During the credits, Griff is hanging out with the other two, and gets up to make a phone call. Cory and Shawn spot Frankie and Joey sitting alone on the bench, like they were earlier in the episode, and tease them again. But this time, Joey asks Griff if they can go after the dweebs, and they do.
Shawn says it’s still not safe to come out the trash can, Frankie and Joey could still be there somewhere, watching them.
So I think we all learned a very valuable lesson about how cheating is fine, as long as you actually study for something.
Plaid:
Shirt – 12
Skirt – 1
