#| Shia - Only just a tad Mad |

[vixlenxe]

!Character Tag Dump!

[evenstevensranked]

#35: Season 1, Episode 4 - “What’ll Idol Do?”

Ren gets a pre-high school mentor (is that really necessary? lol) named June Marie. She’s clearly evil and fake as a 3 dollar bill, but Ren thinks she’s the cat’s pajamas because of her scholastic accomplishments. Meanwhile, Louis is obsessing over someone stealing one of his beloved VHS tapes of an SNL episode. And you know how much I love Louis The Aspiring Comedian... :) 

The episode opens with Louis reading a book called "The Art of the Joke." Wait a minute... Louis Stevens... READING?! Yep. When I was younger, Season 3 Louis was always my fave. But, looking back.. Season 1 Louis was amazing. He had so much ambition and a real goal to become a comic, much like Shia. So much so, he was actually reading and researching about it!! That pretty much tapers off eventually and he just becomes a little zany -- Also like Shia...? lol. It's not a bad thing by any means. I'm just realizing exactly how much I miss this more restrained, "real," smart and subtly sarcastic Louis. He retains these qualities throughout the series, they’re just highlighted more/better in the early episodes.

He’s literally skipping dinner to read here. Incredible. He’s also seen reading this book in “All About Yvette.” I think it must’ve been Season 1 Louis’ bible.

Anyway, Louis takes a break from reading and goes to watch a VHS tape of a 1995 Saturday Night Live episode ft. Mike Myers... when he discovers it’s missing! We see the rest of the family at dinner downstairs, being forced to listen to Ren talking up some chick June Marie like she’s the second coming of Jesus. She explains that June is her ~idol~ and will be acting as her “Pre-High School mentor.” Right away you get the sense that this is sketchy. Even though Ren Stevens is, well... Ren Stevens... We see her relying SO MUCH on June to help elevate her status once she gets to High School. Obviously Ren could easily achieve high ranking status herself -- And would most likely take pride in that. It feels a little bit out of character. Even Eileen seems very suspicious about it. We also find out that June is in Geometry class with Donnie. This is important information!

Louis barges into dinner, turning the missing tape situation into a major mystery case. He’s basically accusing someone in the family of stealing it. Aside from this scene going on just a tad too long, I still think it’s entertaining. Louis says a great line: “I’m not a detective. But I did watch 10 whole minutes of Nash Bridges once” which I freaking love. The entire family claims to have no idea what he’s talking about and they’re so fed up with him and his Dramatics™ -- it’s kinda hilarious. With every overly serious thing he says, they’re all just groaning like “oh my god.....” It gets me. The scene ends with Ren saying “Mother, may I please have permission to FedEx Louis to Timbuktu before June Marie gets here?!” And Eileen says “Absolutely not! ........UPS is so much cheaper.” I’m only mentioning this because I caught a rerun of the episode on Freeform recently, and this bit was mysteriously missing! I’m assuming it was cut out for “FedEx” and “UPS” copyright reasons? No idea. Idk man. I always kinda liked that part, and I was like ???????? Where’d it go?!

Ren practices in the mirror how she’s gonna greet June before she gets there and it’s too much. We finally see this June Marie character and her personality is so ugly. She seems like a rich, entitled snob. (Trust me on this, I have very good judgement.) Ren is in awe though and desperate for June to like her. Again, this seems a little out of character. But she wants to achieve flawless academic success in high school and believes June can help her do that. Ren is a perfectionist, sooooo. 

June is seriously the fakest person I’ve ever seen and Ren is looking at her like she is her savior. I’m sad. 

Oh yeah.. Did I mention that June Marie is also a creep? It almost seems like she's coming onto Ren at one point. I'm actually uncomfortable watching this. She’s so clearly up to something.

She’s saying “Could you imagine what we could accomplish on the high school yearbook staff together?” in a suggestive voice. Tell me this isn’t creepy as hell. Run, Ren... Run for the hills. 

At school the next day, Louis is complaining to Tawny about the missing tape now. She, too, is so done with his drama lol. I love this bit because he actually references the sketch “The Whiners” as a major influence of his and that the missing tape is what made him want to be funny. Awwwwww! Dear, god. I seriously love this so much. Even though according to Wiki, “The Whiners” was a skit from 1982-84. So, this tape definitely doesn’t exist irl. But, still! Tom overhears the crisis and offers to set up an audio/video home surveillance system in Louis’ house in an attempt to catch the possible tape thief. Tom is the best. He always has great lines and actor Fred Meyers’ delivery always makes me smile. Later that day, he ultimately sets up the system for Louis! He offers to set up one for Tawny as well and Louis says “Tawny doesn’t have a home. She lives on her bike. It’s a long story. It’s very tragic.” I always loved this. 

lol at Tom listening in. Also, I love how Louis and Tawny are such a couple’a outcasts honestly. They’re so perfect! 

Ren tells her placeholder best friend Jewel about June.. and I swear it’s like everyone somehow knows that June is trash, but they don’t want to burst Ren’s bubble. Jewel is clearly thinking “.....yikes! not gonna say anything”:

The “yikes” face is even punctuated by a suspicious dominant chord... just so there’s no confusion. What is UP with that hair, btw??? The Early 2000s were a mystical time in history...

While spying on the family from his room, (see cover image) Louis ends up overhearing the real juicy drama. Forget the tape! June Marie is over and meticulously quizzing Ren about high school stuff (”Details, woman! This ain’t junior high!!!” lol chill) when suddenly Donnie walks in and tells Ren she has a phone call -- which ends up leaving June and Donnie alone. Remember how I said they have geometry class together? Yeah. They have a small talk conversation about class - and as soon as Donnie leaves the room, June whips out a bulky Y2K cell phone (I knew she was rich) and calls her friend freaking out over talking to THE Donnie Stevens. She admits to having a plan to make Donnie ask her out, and that’s the only reason she’s hanging out with “his lame sister.” What a loser, for real. Thank the lawwd for Louis’ hidden cameras.

Louis is upset and tries subtly telling Ren by warning her that June “isn’t as cool as you think she is.” But of course Ren is all “JUNE MARIE IS THE COOLEST PERSON I KNOW!!!!!!!” - I hate when people refuse to listen to other people like their own family members when they're trying to help them. I wanna slap Ren. 

We get a mirror talk mid-episode from Louis in the bathroom about how he has to find some clever way to tell Ren to make her believe him. Yay! Caring Louis looking out for his big sis! His deep speech (accompanied by sad piano) ends with a curveball joke. (”...The worst part is........ I got a zit the size of a volkswagen.”) Shia's phrasing is always on point. I laughed. The joke helps saves the scene from becoming an overly sentimental, cheesy parody of itself.

We find out that Steve and Eileen have Louis’ tape and....... they accidentally taped over it. THE HORROR!!! If you lived through the era of VHS tapes, you understand. There's no "undo" option, people! This scene gets me so mad every time. Of course Louis is asleep when this is revealed on hidden camera. Louis is so smart, but he spends the rest of the episode completely oblivious to the fact that the tape is right under his nose. It’s cute.

Louis decides to write June Marie a note signed “Donnie” asking her to come over for a date. She shows up right on time, overly eager and dressed for the Oscars -- coming onto Donnie full-force. 

I just noticed it looks like they’re actually at the real house for this shot??? Or that could just be a painting in the background. Probably. 

Louis set everything up so that he could show Ren the live stream of June being a [Raven Voice] ‘lil nasty. She’s curling into Donnie’s side on the couch saying “I’m so glad we finally got together. I only became Ren’s mentor to get to know you better.” 

Ren gets so heated, she marches downstairs and tells June Marie offffffff for being a two-faced liar and a terrible role model. Donnie’s caught in the middle of it and has absolutely no idea what’s going on: 

Same, Donnie.

But, yaaaaassss Louis for #exposing June Marie. And yaaaaaassss Ren for confronting her. (”I got news for you, Little Miss Pretentious... I can get that job on the yearbook without your help.”) The sass level is through the roof. I love it. It's always satisfying to see a snake like June get rightfully stepped on. 

Ren yells at Louis for not telling her about June but....... he did tell you, Ren!! That’s what you get for not listening to your family. 

The scene that follows feels like an ad-lib. Shia and Christy are genuinely laughing. I’ve mentioned this a million times before, but according to Shia they ad-lib’d quite a bit on this show. I think this is one of those instances. It’s great. 

The episode ends with Eileen telling Steve to burn Louis’ tape. Meanwhile, Louis is still hoping to get it back. It’s supposed to be funny, but it honestly makes my skin crawl. I'm so sad for him D:

And that’s it! I remembered not being all that crazy about this one simply because it’s clear in my memory due to it airing very frequently. But it's actually a pretty satisfying and slightly scandalous story, haha. My only issue is that this episode is incrediblyyy slow paced. In most cases, that’s one of the things I love about the first season. But, here it just kinda draaags on a bit. 

The best aspect, of course, is Louis wanting to help Ren. Whenever they focus on the brother/sister dynamic, the show really shines because that is the foundation! Like, hello! Louis and Ren are the Stevens who are constantly trying to... get Even! So, yeah. I like when their relationship is highlighted in some way. For a more Ren-Centric episode, this one is pretty good. Although, this is another episode that involves a one-off character. This is something we see a lot in the first season, which I don’t understand??? The freaking premiere episode was about a random guy. This episode is about some random chick. The next episode is about Yvette. The episode after that is about some random dude. Like..... who decided that a chunk of Season 1, a.k.a. everyone’s first exposure to Even Stevens, should basically not fully focus on the main characters? Idgi. Might just be a symptom of the show trying to find its legs.

At least this is a case where they found a seamless way to combine the two plot lines. A story like this also helps Louis come across as endearing. So that’s good. :)

Thanks for reading! Thoughts? Leave them below! 

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