#also... an aside... he reminds me so much of ricky bowen

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 2x08 Review

Most Likely To was the best ep of S2 so far and ended one ship while launching another. Let’s dig in!

Gaston was super fun, a very nice showcase for both Larry and Matt. This is the kind of energy that early S2 was lacking. Also feels like the first ep where East High might actually have a shot at beating North High. Covid restrictions played a role but we really needed to see more rehearsal scenes and scenes of the wildcats just being theatre kids. This also may be one of the last times we see EJ perform as a student in the musical so I’m glad we got this.  

EJ has been criminally underused for most of S2, he’s marketed as part of the big 4 along with Nini, Ricky, and Gina and Matt Cornett’s name is listed 3rd in the credits but in the early eps of S2 you’d think he was guest star. Lately he’s started to become more important and tonight was an excellent showcase of why he’s such an interesting character. I’m not gonna check but this feels like it’s the most EJ screen time in a single ep that we’ve gotten all season long. 

Of course, the main reason for EJ’s increased screen time is because of Portwell. I’ve been neutral on them but tonight they really won me over’ their scenes were so sweet that they warmed even my cold black heart. Matt and Sofia are good friends irl and that shines through in their easy rapport and great chemistry. Gina snorting at EJ’s joke was cute and I loved the shot of Gina accidentally walking into the shot for EJ’s confessional. As an aside, they’ve been doing some fun stuff with the confessionals lately which helps add a bit of the metaness that helped make S1 so great.

The real big Portwell scene tonight was EJ and Gina talking on the couch at Ashlyn’s. Lot’s to love there. Gina’s speech to EJ about what she sees when she thinks of him was sweet and her saying that EJ tried to do the right thing and often failed but kept trying echoes what she said of herself during her confession to Ricky. Also when EJ asked Gina if she understood the feeling of having her life mapped out she replied, ‘’not really’’ which is almost certainly the inspiration for Gina asking a question to EJ and him responding ‘’not really’’ in their pre S2 face time call on the hsmtmts instagram. 

EJ is still wracked with guilt for the guy he used to be but Gina reminds him that he’s grown and is a good guy which leads to her slip up about her seeing him that way vs the rest of the gang hinting that she’s beginning to catch feelings for EJ. Which leads to EJ complimenting her and them having a moment that could well have led to a kiss if Ashlyn hadn’t come home. And they cap it off with Gina falling asleep and EJ covering her with his Duke sweater. 

It’s been nice not seeing Gina upset over Ricky these past two eps and it’s a damning indictment of the poor writing and pacing of S2 that her story in the first 6 eps can be summed up as Gina being upset over something Ricky said or did. Not only has Portwell allowed EJ to rise in prominence but also it’s allowed Gina to escape the rut her character was stuck in pining for Ricky. 

I hope after S2 is over that we get an interview where Tim explains how the Portwell plot came to be. The S1 finale set up some possible interest between them as did the pre S2 face time call but nothing came of it during the first 4 eps, they stood next to each other a lot but barely interacted otherwise. Notably in 2x01, which Tim himself wrote, EJ tries to grow a beard and tells Ashlyn that he says her as so young which is extremely jarring now that we know that EJ is crushing on Gina who is Ashlyn’s age. 

Was Tim not set on doing Portwell until he realized he needed to give Gina something else to do other than hopelessly pine for Ricky? Narratively, it made sense after Rini got together in S1 to put the other two Big 4 characters together in S2 but did Tim not want it to seem so obvious to the audience so he deliberately kept Portwell apart until 2x05 where EJ’s feelings make for a nice plot twist? Was he just reluctant to plug EJ back into the love square due to how much more complicated it would make things but later felt he had no other options? Or was it just plain old bad pacing and writing?

Of course, I wish that there wasn’t such a large age gap between Sofia and Matt but there are no Gina ships that avoid that problem, there’s also an age gap between Sofia and Joshua, just as there was between Olivia and Joshua and Matt in S1. Depending on when they film S3 there’s a good chance that most of it will be finished before Sofia even turns 18 which is deeply unfortunate. There’s a broader issue of teen girls being cast in mostly age appropriate roles while their male love interests are older adults and in particular it often affects female characters of colour. Netflix has a really bad track record with those kind of age gaps but Disney has problems too as we’ve seen on HSMTMTS and on GMW where by the end of S3 they had 18 year old Peyton Meyer as the boyfriend of 14 year old Rowan Blanchard’s character (not to mention canon Joshaya which didn’t have such a bad age gap between the actors but was problematic regarding the ages of the characters themselves).

A knock I’ve seen on Portwell is that EJ is just gonna leave for university next year but that was never gonna happen, Matt’s under the same 4 season contract as all the other mains and he’ll be sticking around in some capacity much like Sharpay ended up doing in the movies. It is true that EJ will probably have to move on at the end of S4 while Gina still has her senior year left but that will also happen with her and Ricky since he’ll be graduating at the end of S4. It was a big mistake to make EJ a senior but it also may end up being a big mistake to make Gina a sophomore. It would have been too messy to retcon EJ to be a junior but Tim probably should have taken the chance to retcon Gina into being a junior in S2.

That Rini breakup was so sad (missed opportunity for gotta go my own way). They managed to get in a Troyella reference with the treehouse. This was inevitable they just have not been communicating well though now that we know that Ricky thought Nini left YAC for him some of his desperation to spend as much time together as possible makes more sense. I think Rini is endgame if the series has 4 seasons but it wouldn't shock me if we never seem them dating again and they only get back together in the series finale. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Nini never dates anyone else for the remainder of the series or at least not seriously. 

We’re not even halfway through the series so it’s way too early to permanently slam the door on Rini though this time apart will probably help Joshua and Olivia move on from their own bitter break up before it bleeds too much into their performances. I do wonder if Tim really has a clue what he's gonna do with them for the remaining 24-28 eps of the series, assuming S3 and S4 have 10-12 eps each. 

Roman Banks killed If I Can’t Love Her and the montage of all the couples or ex couples was great.

It was nice to finally meets some parents other than the Bowen’s and Salazar-Roberts’. Kourtney’s mom was played by Dara’s actual mother and their dynamic was great as expected. It seems from their conversation that Kourtney's father is dead which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Cash Caswell.... well it gets what the character is about across. He really looks and sounds like a rich Utah republican, I bet he knows Mitt Romney personally. I liked EJ going to tell his father that he’s not going to Duke and recognizing that he wants to build his own life on his own merits. 

We saw a bit of that S1 Miss Jenn energy tonight which was fun though I didn't like how curt she was with Seb nor did I like how rude Carlos was to Seb although we know that blows up in 2x10. 

Jazzara rising! I really liked how Jazzara and Portwell are sort of mirroring each other and since Mazzara knows about EJ’s feelings for Gina it wouldn’t shock me if helping EJ out is part of him showing a softer side in 2x12.

Of course Ashlyn is VP of the Nostradamus society. It's clear her family has some kooky new age beliefs (her parents are probably members of some naturopathic medicine group on Facebook that doubles as a gateway into Qanon)

It was nice to see Big Red being such a good friend to Ricky and the return of Ricky’s infamous pillow hugs. Lmao at Ashlyn just chilling while Big Red is comforting Ricky

Also Miss Jenn saying sexy and Big Red referring to pillow talk, the writers are adding a bit of spice when cooking up these scripts.

Looking Ahead: 

Looks like Gina may be wearing EJ's duke sweater next ep according to some posts I saw. Jack presumably is there to somehow help Gina decide what she wants with Ricky and EJ though him having wanderlust might also feed into Gina’s thoughts on settling down in SLC or moving with her mom around the country.

Let's see what mom of the year, Lynne Bowen, has up her sleeves. Ricky’s bedroom at her place in Chicago looks much nicer than the apartment Mike Bowen has so perhaps she makes a lot more money than he does. 

Not looking forward to the Zoom portions of the ep but I guess it was inevitable. 

There’s only two paths for Gina’s story to go in the remainder of this season; either she decides to move on from Ricky and give EJ a chance or she decides that Ricky is worth trying again and squelches her budding feelings for EJ. The former looks much more likely after tonight’s ep but either way it needs to be handled with care. Inevitably Gina and Ricky need to talk about what happened between them but if Tim really wants Ricky to continue being a viable love interest or even a good friend to Gina then he needs to really have Ricky apologize and show a thoughtful, kinder side of him that’s largely been missing this season. 

What I think Tim is doing is setting up Portwell getting together in 2x12 but Ricky pining over Gina until Portwell break up late S3 and Rina get together in the S3 finale before they break up later in S4 and Ricky gets back with Nini near the end of the series. If I had Tim’s ear I would tell him that he should pick which ship he wants to do, Rina or Portwell, but don’t do both. He wants canon Rina? Great then end Portwell before it starts and have Rina happen in S3 and introduce other obstacles to them getting together rather than having to damage EJ’s character and make him lose another girl he likes to Ricky. He wants canon Portwell? Great then have Gina and Ricky’s conversation be closure for the both of them and have Gina and EJ get together and break them up without Ricky being a cause of it or waiting in the wings to get with Gina soon afterwards. Doing both will be a disaster and I truly hope that Tim Federle carefully thinks over his mistakes in S2 and really plans out the remaining 2 seasons of the series while there’s still time to prevent things from going really off the rails like GMW and AM did thanks to the bad decisions of Michael Jacobs and Terri Minsky. 

Until next week wildcats. 

[ikindayouknow]

make sure to keep my distance (say i love you when you're not listening)

i wrote a redky fic!! because best friends to lovers is something i will never achieve so i must write it into existance!

word count: 3329

pairing: ricky bowen x big red

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21774409

or you can also read it under the cut here! enjoy!

“Alexa, start the song over again,” Red sighed, stepping back into the corner of his room and trying the routine again. But each time he would try the routine again, he’d mess something up, get frustrated, and kick another pillow off of his bed.

He eventually collapsed on one of his chairs, his heart racing and his feet hurting. Maybe if he watched videos of other people dancing, it would help him. He pulled out his phone and did a quick search. But as he got partway through the video, he got a text.

ricky: my dad is asking me too many fashion questions, i’m coming over

Red sighed again, sending a quick reply back. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Ricky to come over, no. It was generally the opposite of that, actually. Ricky was one of the things that made him happy in life; he’d always be there when things got hard, and he made Red laugh harder than anyone he’d ever met. Deep down, he knew why he was trying not to let his worries show. He really hoped he was hiding them well enough.

Ricky bounded down the stairs to Red’s basement, dropping his bag on the floor and collapsing onto the bed.

“You know I’m the one that actually lives here, right?” Red reminded him, taking his bag and pushing it aside.

Ricky smiled sheepishly, sitting up. “I know. But I half live here.”

Red rolled his eyes, taking a seat on the ground. “So you got tired of fashion advice?”

“Don’t remind me,” Ricky groaned, “he put on, like, four thousand different shirts and asked me which one was best to go bowling in.”

Red chuckled. “So what did you tell him?”

“I told him that you needed help with picking an outfit for homecoming, grabbed some suits, stuffed them in a bag, and skateboarded over here.”

“You’re an idiot,” Red mumbled, shaking his head, “I would never need fashion advice.”

“Sure, okay,” Ricky laughed, “you wearing all gray to middle school spring fling was a great choice. What did you call it? A fancy groutfit?”

Red threw a pillow at him in defense. “That was middle school! Decades ago, dude. Besides, I still have a nice suit that my nana got for me last Christmas.”

“Alright then, let’s see it,” Ricky said, waving his hand in the air, “I wanna see a twirl and a full dance routine in costume!”

Red laughed, sifting through his closet to find the suit. He pulled it out and showed it to Ricky.

Ricky looked the suit up and down. Then he looked at Red and then back at the suit. “And you think that this suit is going to fit you.”

“Definitely.”

“Definitely not,” Red groaned, stepping out of the bathroom. The end of the jacket came up to the middle of his forearms, and his pants were so tight that he worried that if he sat down, they would disintegrate.

Ricky tried to contain his laughter, coming up behind his friend as they looked in the mirror. “Did your suit shrink in the washer?”

“Haha, very funny,” Red muttered, taking off his jacket, “now I have nothing to wear to homecoming tonight.”

Ricky lit up, puffing out his chest. “Well it’s your lucky day, because I happen to have two suits with me,” he said, opening up his bag and pulling one out, “It might be a little bit big but it’s what I’ve got. Here.”

Red took the suit from Ricky, holding it as if it were a precious artifact. “Thank you,” he said, folding it over his arm, “so long as you’re doing favors, I have another one to ask you.”

“Shoot,” Ricky said, sitting back down on Red’s bed.

“I...I don’t know how to dance,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, “I mean, like I...don’t know how to slow dance.” He felt his mouth go dry and he could hear his ears ringing.

Ricky got up from where he was sitting. “It’s easy! You just kind of,” he paused, taking random slow steps around the room and then shrugging, “you know?”

Red laughed nervously. “I don’t know, actually, that’s why I’m asking you if you’d...if you’d show me.”

“Sure man,” Ricky agreed, “you wanna impress some girl by knowing how to lead tonight?”

Red’s smile faltered a little. “Yeah...something like that. Let me just change out of these pants first.”

Ricky chuckled. “No, no stay in them, I’m sure the girls would love it.”

Red rolled his eyes, his cheeks flushed as he grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from his closet and headed into the bathroom to change.

“Are you ready?” Ricky asked, starting the music from his phone.

“As I’ll ever be,” Red replied, standing on the carpet. Ricky in front of him. With the light coming from the window, parts of Ricky’s curls were glistening, and looked almost magical. Red blinked a few times, trying to look anywhere but Ricky.

“Alright so basically your hands go here,” Ricky started, taking Red’s hands and putting them on his waist, “and I, as the girl, put my hands here,” he said, putting his hands on Red’s shoulders, “although, the girl is usually shorter.”

Red smiled weakly, feeling his whole body heating up from the contact. “Now what?”

“It’s very simple, you just kind of sway, feel the music,” Ricky started, taking small steps from side to side and watching as Red followed, “yeah you got it.”

Red looked up at Ricky at that moment, watching his smile widen. “Really?” Just in that moment, Red stepped on Ricky’s foot, causing the other boy to wince a little.

“Almost,” Ricky said, smiling sympathetically, “I mean, at some point you’ll probably be close enough to the other person to where you’re just leaning against their chest and swaying.”

“That seems like I’ll just step on their feet more,” Red said, puzzled.

“You don’t really take steps at that point. Your feet are basically on the ground. Here, let me show you,” he said, stepping forward. Red tentatively leaned his head on his friend’s shoulder, letting himself sway from side to side. He could feel his heart hammering away in his chest, and he wondered if Ricky could feel it too.

“L-like this?” Red eventually piped up, after which Ricky nodded and stepped back, pausing the music.

“Yeah, just like that. And girls love it when you rest your chin on top of their head. Nini always loved that.”

And just like that, Red felt himself deflate internally. He tried to keep his smile up and to maintain his posture; he really hoped it didn’t show.

“Oh.”

“Do you think she’s going with EJ tonight?” Ricky asked, clasping his hands together.

Red shrugged, looking down at the ground. “Dunno.”

Ricky straightened up, clearing his throat. “Not gonna take a chance to not look my best,” he mumbled, heading towards the bathroom and sifting through the cabinet, “do you still have the hair gel?”

“Yeah, it’s towards the right,” Red replied, taking off his jacket and loosening his tie.

Ricky mumbled something in response, closing the cabinet drawer. “I’ll just get changed and then we can go?”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Red said softly, playing with the hem of the jacket. All of a sudden he didn’t really want to go to the dance.

“Do you think she’s in there?” Ricky asked, as he stood in line, rocking back on his heels.

Red shrugged, peering into the gym, only to see flashing lights and a bunch of people he’d only passed in the hallways on the way to his classes. “Can’t tell.”

The two of them made their way to the front of the check in line, and then were allowed to enter the gym.

“I’m gonna go look for Nini!” Ricky yelled over the music, disappearing into a group of people before Red could even reply.

Red headed towards the punch bowl, poured himself a glass, and took a seat down at one of the tables that wasn’t crowded with mushy couples.

“Why so glum, sugarplum?” Ashlyn asked, sitting down beside Red and gazing into the large crowd of people.

Red perked up upon hearing her voice, and quickly threw on a smile. “Oh, I’m fine,” he said, “everything is good.”

Ashlyn sighed, pursing her lips together. “Can I tell you a story?” Red nodded.

“I wanted to ask this girl to the dance last year. We’re friends, and I liked her, but I didn’t end up asking her.”

Red groaned, putting his head down on the table. “Ashlyn-”

“Hold on,” she cut him off, “a few months later I found out that she had gotten a boyfriend. And of course I was happy for her, but inside I was really upset. I tried to push my feelings away, but at some point, I realized that it was taking a toll on me, physically and mentally. So I told her.”

Red glanced up at her. “And?”

“She said that she was flattered but that she didn’t feel the same way,” Ashlyn started, “but! I felt so much better after I told her, because I didn’t have this heavy weight on my chest, as cliche as it sounds.”

Red cracked a smile, taking a sip of his punch. “Cool story, bro, tell it again.”

Ashlyn punched his arm lightly. “What I’m saying is, if there’s something you’re keeping inside, it’s probably doing you more harm than good.”

Red hesitated, biting down on his lower lip. “But what if he says no?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “Then you tell yourself that it’s his loss, and you move on. Give yourself a little space, and give him some space too. Ricky’s not that good with feelings.”

Red frowned. “How’d you know it was Ricky?”

Ashlyn put a hand on Red’s. “I had a hunch. Go get your mans.”

Red downed the rest of his punch, tossed the cup in the garbage, and straightened out his tie. The song that was playing was relatively slow, so Red saw this as his chance. He pushed past several crowds of people before he saw him. But once he did see him, he took a step back and almost knocked over a couple that was dancing.

It couldn’t be. Ricky wouldn’t be talking to Gina. Both of them leaning against the wall, both of them laughing? He could feel his insides twisting and his eyes burning from the fresh tears that were forming. Saying a few ‘sorrys’ as he squeezed past people, he found himself back at the same table.

Ashlyn came up behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. “So, how’d it go?”

“It didn’t,” he mumbled, swallowing, “he’s with Gina.”

Ashlyn scoffed. “I’m sure he was just intimidated into talking to her.”

“Sure,” Red replied, “if by ‘intimidated’ you mean they were both talking and laughing and having a good time, then yeah.”

Ashlyn frowned, giving his shoulder a pat. “Well you drove him here, didn’t you? You’ll get to talk to him eventually.”

“I think I’m just gonna head home early,” he said, “I don’t think I have anything else left in me.”

“C’mon, just one last dance? For me?” Ashlyn asked, extending her hand out.

Red shrugged, getting up and taking her hand as they made their way onto the floor. “I guess.”

While the song was upbeat, Red felt like he was just being jostled around in a group of people. He couldn’t hear the music over his own thoughts jumbling around in his head. Partway through the song, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and nearly fell.

ricky: hey i gotta take someone home so i’ll take your car. i promise it’ll only take like 10 mins max. thanks dude!

Ashlyn looked over at Red, who looked like he would faint at any moment. “Woah, are you okay?”

Red just shook his head. “Do you think I could get a ride home?”

Ashlyn’s expression grew more concerned. “Didn’t you drive here?”

Red nodded, taking Ashlyn’s hand and heading towards the outskirts of the gym. “Long story. Ricky took it to drive someone home.”

Ashlyn’s mouth hung open. “What? Didn’t he ask permission first?”

Red put a hand up. “It’s fine, I don’t care. Do you think you could take me home?”

“Of course, c’mon let’s go.”

The ride back was quiet, save for the music that Ashlyn put on in the car. Red had never been more grateful; he did not feel like diving into what happened, because he knew that the moment he did, he’d break.

“This one’s mine,” he piped up as they pulled up to his house, “thank you again for driving me.”

Ashlyn reached across and gave him a hug. “Take care of yourself, okay? Call me if you need anything.”

Red nodded, stepping out of the car and waving to her as she drove away. Going inside, he headed straight for his basement and flopped onto the bed. So much had happened; he could feel all his emotions bubbling at the surface. Instead of facing them head on healthily, he chose to just take off his suit, change into his most comfortable pajamas, and curled up in his bed with a Hallmark movie.

Only when he realized he was crying when the characters were talking about clothes did he realize how much the whole situation had affected him.

“Look, I should really get going,” Ricky said, almost wanting to usher Gina out of his car, “I promised Red I’d only be a little while.”

Gina smiled softly, leaning over and giving Ricky a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, Ricky,” she whispered, getting out of the car and heading inside. Ricky sat there for a little while, trying to comprehend what happened, before a text came through his phone.

ashlyn: i took red home, so don’t worry about picking him up. talk to him.

He frowned, swiping the notification away. Backing the car out of the driveway, he made the quickest trip to Big Red’s house, without pushing the speed limit too far.

As the movie started to wind down, Red heard the door to the basement open and then close.

“I’ll go to bed soon, I promise.”

“It’s not your dad,” Ricky said, coming down the stairs slowly, still in his suit.

“What are you doing here?” Red asked, voice raspy.

Ricky held up the car keys. “I, uh, needed to return your car. Sorry for not coming to pick you up.”

“It’s fine,” Red said, all too quickly, “I got a ride here.”

“Right.”

Silence fell over them, and not the comfortable kind where they would scroll on their phones and only move to show each other memes.

“Did I...did I do something?” Ricky asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

Ricky sighed. “I don’t know, I just feel like...things feel weird. Different.”

Red shrugged, pausing the movie. “I don’t know, I guess...I felt kind of upset when you left me. For Gina of all people.”

Ricky’s brows shot up. “What?”

“I saw you guys talking tonight.”

“Oh.”

“Are you guys, like, friends?” Red asked, staring at the floor.

Ricky shrugged. “I dunno. She invited me to the skatepark tomorrow, and she said she’d show me this really cool trick.”

Red glanced up at him; he could see how excited Ricky was getting over this. “That sounds fun.”

Ricky nodded. “You can come if you want to.”

Red shook his head. “Nah, that’s, uh, that’s fine,” he rasped, rubbing his nose, “I wouldn’t wanna intrude.”

“It’s not like, a date or anything,” Ricky replied, laughing halfheartedly.

Red shrugged. “Isn’t it though? Just you two? Alone?”

“It’s not a date it’s just...we’re just hanging out.”

“Okay.”

Ricky frowned, taking a step closer to Red. “Why are you mad at me?”

Red scoffed, trying to conceal his tears. “I’m not mad! I just...it’s nothing.”

“Dude, it’s clearly not nothing.”

Red threw his hands up in the air. “Wow! Ricky finally understands a human emotion for once! Hooray for him,” he practically spat, crossing his arms.

“What’s gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?”

“Because, dammit, I like-” Red shouted, clamping his mouth shut suddenly. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so close to admitting his feelings.

“You like…?” Ricky huffed, waiting for an answer.

At that moment, Red felt all his emotions and adrenaline bubbling over; he marched over to Ricky, cupped his face in his hands, and planted a kiss on his lips.

Ricky shut his eyes for a second, and then his jaw dropped. “Oh.”

Red almost laughed. “Yeah, oh,” he took a step back, the magnitude of what he’d done beginning to set in, “look, I just...sorry. I didn’t mean to, uh…”

“Kiss me?” Ricky finished for him, a small smile on his face.

“...yeah,” Red mumbled, looking down at the ground, “you don’t have to stay here, uh, I just...sorry, this is weird. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Ricky assured him, “what do you have to be sorry for?”

Red looked up; that was a stupid question. “Uh...for kissing you? Knowing that you don’t like me?”

Ricky smiled bashfully. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for you. I’m not totally sure what it is but...it’s something. And I’d say that’s a pretty good start.”

Red just blinked, hearing nothing but screaming in his head. “What?”

Ricky laughed softly, fiddling with his fingers. “You make me feel some type of way. And...if you’re willing to be patient with me then...I’d like to try this. To try us.”

Us. Red felt like he needed to pinch himself and wake himself up from a dream, because there was no way that this was actually happening. “Yes! I mean, uh, yeah, yeah that would be cool. Slow is cool.”

Ricky laughed again, in a way that made Red’s stomach flip. “In that case, I was wondering if I could have this dance?”

Red blinked again. “You want to dance here in my basement with no music?”

Ricky shook his head, pulling out his phone from his pocket. “There’s obviously going to be music, dumbass,” he said, shuffling his spotify playlist of love songs, “may I have this dance?”

Red tried not to let all his excitement show, so he just nodded. Stepping forward, he placed his hands on top of Ricky’s shoulders and Ricky allowed his hands to rest around Red’s waist.

“You’re good at this,” Ricky said after a few beats.

Red smiled, glancing up at him. “Must be because I had a great teacher.”

At that, Ricky blushed a little, looking down at his feet. “Aww.”

Red leaned forward, putting his head on Ricky’s shoulder, except this time, it didn’t feel like a bundle of nerves. It felt comforting; it felt like home.

“I’m sorry about leaving with your car,” Ricky whispered after a few more beats.

“Don’t worry about it,” Red assured him, stepping back after the song faded out, “this makes it all worth it.”

Ricky smiled, until his phone vibrated in his pocket. “Dad says to come back home. I technically promised him I’d be back an hour ago.”

“Go then,” Red said, smiling, and lightly nudged Ricky towards the staircase.

Ricky started towards the stairs, and then turned around quickly. “Do you have any plans after rehearsal tomorrow?”

“No, why?”

“There’s this really good breakfast place that my mom and I used to go to when I was little. They have the best pancakes, and if you go after six, they’re half off. Wanna go?”

Red smiled so hard his eyes crinkled. “Yeah, totally!”

“Cool, then it’s a date. See you!” Ricky shouted as he headed up the stairs.

Red decided in that moment that he wouldn’t mind paying double for pancakes if it meant a date with his best friend.

[hctedmusicals]

Here They Sang About Tomorrow, And Tomorrow Never Came // Self-Para

WHO: Ricky Bowen, The rest of the Drama Club

WHEN: During Drama Club, Fall 2019

WHERE: Rehearsal Space at East High

WHAT: It’s Ricky’s turn to present the song he has picked for Miss Jenn’s drama assignment. 

WARNING(S): None.

The drama assignment that Miss Jenn had given them hadn’t exactly been easy for Ricky, but then again: None of them really were. He did like music, and singing and playing guitar, but he still wasn’t an actor. He was definitely more well versed in musicals these days though, mainly because Nini watched them all with him, and this time around he was actually paying attention.

He had ended up going through a lot of lists he had found on the internet, and also considered asking Nini for help, because she was the one who knew him best. If anyone knew a good song for him to sing, then it was her. Ricky had, however, realized that it would probably be considered cheating. He was supposed to find a song that held a lot of meaning to him, right? Not one that Nini thought he’d be good at singing.

It had struck him in the middle of the night. He had attempted to call Nini, but realized it was probably too late, and that she was asleep already. So, Ricky had turned around and tried to get some sleep. He didn’t remember actually falling asleep, but when he woke up his heart was pounding in his chest and he felt his hands shaking. 

A nightmare. 

He wasn’t even sure what it had been about, but it had left him with a sense of dread, and the fear of falling back asleep. Lying in the dark, he had remembered that evening during summer, when his Dad had been out, and he had flipped around the channels to find something to watch.

He had eventually come across a movie he vaguely remembered. It was one that Nini had loved, but the first time around she had tried to watch it with him, Ricky had straight up fallen asleep. 

This time around he didn’t, which was mainly due to the fact that he was avoiding going back to sleep at all cost. The movie wasn’t as bad as he had remembered, but it probably wouldn’t be one of his favorites either in the near future. Still, there was a song that had immediately resonated with him. He wasn’t even sure why at first, but at the end of it, Ricky found himself sitting in an empty living room, crying.

It hadn’t been until now, when he had come across it again, that he remembered the entire ordeal. He tried not thinking about last summer anyways, because it reminded him of losing Nini, and also his Mom, but sometimes, out of nowhere, it would hit him. He had thought about it again during rehearsals, when they had been close to being cancelled, and now it had come back again, like a reminder of that godawful summer and everything he had lost then.

“Ricky, it’s your turn.” Miss Jenn’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he nodded, picking up his chair and carrying it to center stage. He could feel everyone looking at him expectantly, and briefly wondered what they were expecting. 

An upbeat song? A powerful ballad? Yeah, people would probably expect those of him. Something dramatic was reserved for EJ, right?

Ricky could feel his chest tighten as he thought back to how it had been so easy for Nini to leave him. Surely, he had been the one to screw things up, but why couldn’t she have just pushed back? Told him that taking a break was a bad idea?

“There's a grief that can't be spoken, There's a pain goes on and on. Empty chairs at empty tables, Now my friends are dead and gone.”

His voice rang through the room, quiet at first, as if he was trying to bring himself to even say the words out loud.

“Here they talked of revolution, Here it was they lit the flame, Here they sang about tomorrow and tomorrow never came.”

A picture of his mother flashed before his eyes, how she was waving at him, both of them on opposite sides of the security check point at the airport. She had promised that time would fly, and she’d be back in soon. Ricky had often asked himself if she had already known that she wasn’t coming back. He didn’t resent her for wanting to get out of a marriage that clearly wasn’t working anymore, but to up and leave and build an entirely new life for herself without even so much as mentioning it?

It was selfish, and it still made his chest tighten a little whenever he thought about her.

“Oh my friends, my friends forgive me That I live and you are gone There's a grief that can't be spoken, And there's a pain goes on and on”

Catching sight of Gina for a moment, Ricky could feel his sight getting blurry. It took him a moment to realize that it was tears pooling in his eyes that made everything fuzzy. It wasn’t Gina’s fault that she had left, and she had come back in the end, but it wasn’t the same. Back then he had thought that…pushing that thought aside Ricky noticed that he had gotten up, the chair tumbling over behind him.

“Phantom faces at the window, Phantom shadows on the floor, Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will meet no more. Oh my friends, my friends don't ask me What your sacrifice was for,”

His voice was breaking ever so slightly as he sang now, hands shaking where they were curled into his jeans to prevent just that, as if he was holding on for dear life. Or maybe his sanity. 

His head was spinning just a little as he eventually caught sight of EJ, tears falling from his eyes as he attempted to blink them away. 

EJ. Who had somehow managed to weasel his way into Ricky’s heart. Who texted him every day, just to say good night. Who invited him out for ice cream and who smiled that smile that made Ricky’s knees go weak.

EJ, who’d be off to college in less than a year.  Leaving Ricky behind.

“Empty chairs at empty tables Where my friend will sing no more.”

[multimetaverse]

HSM:TM:TS 1x01 Review

The Auditions was a great series premiere for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and I’m very excited for all that’s to come. Let’s dig in!

Disney certainly got its money worth with this show. The gorgeous Utah scenery and actual on location filming really helps ground the series with a sense of realism. To that end, I really liked the little details, like the principal not wanting to spend anything on the musical, the kids social media use, and that the kids actually look like regular kids who live in regular houses and go to a regular high school

Such a talented cast! Olivia Rodrigo is a showstopper, what a wonderful rendition of Start of Something New that was and Joshua Bassett seems born to play Ricky. Sofia is an amazing dancer and I’m excited to see some of the productions they put on later in the season 

Miss Jenn reminds me of April Rhodes from Glee and I mean that as a compliment. Her delivery of, ‘’that is so fresh’’ still makes me laugh. I love that she cast Ricky as Troy on a whim for maximum drama and  of course she wants a Ms. Darbus song, she’s an agent of chaos and I’m here for it. I also liked her begging her mom for car loan payment money, you’re not really a millennial if you haven’t lived pay cheque to cheque at some point

Even though we’ve seen them in the trailer, Carlos’ first 15 minutes of both sequels and Broadway lines still made me chuckle

I like the glimpses we get of the kids home lives. Very refreshing to see Nini’s two moms and see that she has a mixed race family and with Andi Mack off of Disney Channel, tonight’s showing of HSMTMTS might be the last time any kind of lgbtq rep is seen on Disney Channel itself for quite a while. Her grandma looks too young to be in a nursing home but it was nice to see her helping Nini with her self-confidence. Poor Ricky with his parents marriage collapsing, that’s gonna be a tearjerker if and when his mom returns from Chicago to officially end things with his dad. Seems like Gina’s mom has high expectations of her which eventually lead to their scene we saw in the promo where Gina breaks down

We dove right into the love triangle at the heart of this season: Nicky vs NJ. As I was watching the first flashback scene between Nini and Ricky, I thought to myself that if they keep writing them scenes like this I just might become Nicky trash, I was trying to stay neutral but after Ricky’s audition I’m definitely team Ricky, that really was the #ultimatecomeback. Ricky singing ‘’I Think I Kind of You Know’’, the song Nini wrote for him was just too sweet; it warmed even my cold, black heart. And that shot of Ricky and EJ lighting Nini with their phones and forming a triangle? Poetic cinema

It really does seem like Nicky is the endgame ship with NJ just an obstacle in its path especially with Nini having been in love with Ricky just six weeks ago and only having met EJ four weeks ago. EJ is very supportive of Nini and I did like how sweet he is with her, that line about her being a cute chorus cow was great. I saw on Disney +’s twitter poll that the fandom is split about 66% team Ricky to 33% team EJ which is an interesting split but also reflects the writing tipping it’s hand, it does want us to like NJ but not at the expense of Nicky

One thing that I don’t like so far is the age gap between Olivia and Matt, she’s 16 and he’s 21 and they both look their age. I’m not saying that all teen roles need to be played by teens but that age gap is significant when they’re playing girlfriend and boyfriend and was an unforced error on the shows part. It reminds me of the problems GMW suffered by casting a much older Peyton Meyer to play Riley’s love interest. Matt Cornett’s age as well as EJ being the only senior of the main cast is another hint that he won’t be playing Nini’s love interest past this season

I do hope that however this love triangle ends that it’s done as cleanly as possible. Love triangles are rarely pulled off well because the show or movie or book will usually tip its hand fairly quickly as to which is the ‘real’ ship but they also usually end up damaging the characters involved. In this case Ricky is not just a rival for Nini’s affections but a would be homewrecker who’s set out to breakup Nini and EJ which if not handled carefully could make Ricky look like a bad guy

As an aside, Nini having a shirtless photo of EJ on her phone and her and Ricky hanging out alone in her bedroom in the flashback is spicy for Disney but does at least gesture more to the reality of teen life than the typical squeaky clean Disney fare

Carlos is the colour guard captain, that was in the original casting notice (back when Carlos was named Vikram) and Tim Federle mentioned in an interview that he based Carlos off of one of his best friends who was also a colour guard captain. I’ve been wondering for a couple of weeks now if Frankie Rodriguez was actually allowed to reveal that Carlos is gay because it hasn’t been talked about in interviews or mentioned in any reviews so far. His line about EJ not knowing who he is, seems like it could potentially be set up for an arc about Carlos trying to make himself known. He knew that Seb wanted to try out for Sharpay rather than Ryan so presumably he already knows him? We know that something is being teased between him and Seb but I won’t hold my breathe for getting very much from Disney, at least this season

Not much to say about the other characters so far. Kourtney is barely a step above the sassy black friend trope but I think some of it has to due with the fact that Tim Federle originally just wanted Kourtney to be a one off supportive friend for Nini but so liked the actress that he decided to make her a main. Ashlyn is supposed to have a powerful duet with Nini in the second ep so that is something to look forward to as is her relationship with her cousin EJ. Big Red is a nice supportive friend and that’s about it. Not much to Mr. Mazara either. It does seem like the dividing line between major and lesser main characters are those who have lead roles in the musical itself

I love that the mockumentary interviews happen even when they make absolutely no sense in universe 

We get some full character names from the cast list: Seb Matthew- Smith, Ricky Bowen, EJ Caswell, Gina Porter, and Nini Salazar-Roberts

Looking Ahead:

I read in reviews that EJ teams up with Gina to take down Ricky while Gina tries to take down Nini. That’s a pretty easy path to villainize EJ and sink NJ eventually while then using EJ’s panic attacks and Gina’s story line with her mom to build them back up. I sincerely hope that they don’t even try to go for one sided Gina and EJ as Sofia is the youngest cast member

Sofia did say that Gina would make things complicated for the love triangle and in a promo clip she said she was ‘intrigued’ by Ricky so we’ll see what happens

Miss Jenn supposedly left New York in unclear circumstances so I wonder where they’ll go with that. My own theory is that she used to be an extra on Law and Order: SVU and was having a torrid affair with Dan Florek before being exposed

I’ll try to have these reviews up Friday evenings but that’s dependent on when I can watch the eps. Because the pilot aired on tv we’ll actually get ratings either Monday or Tuesday which will be the only time we’ll get publicly released data otherwise all we’ll get is what Disney wants us to know and that will often just be spin. I’m very excited for this season and for season two and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead. Until next week wildcats