What’s Not to Love? • EP413

thirteen Pictures of You. I wish we had all these pictures? How come we never got copies of these? I know somebody sent us some presents. Damn it? All right, give him the synopsis. Grundown ladies, Okay kids. This episode aired originally February seventh, two thousand seven. A class assignment reveals the deepest secrets and desires of Luke and the students at Tree Hill. Hi Lori about college prospects. Antoine turns to Haley, while Nathan Russell's with deb suicide attempt. Chase

learns that Brooke cheated on her calculus exam. All nudity and drugs run rampant. In the halls of the school. Surprise, Surprise. I don't know what it is like the last couple of weeks, these these synopsis that the plurals, I don't like them. I'm like, I feel that these are undercutting the importance of an episode like this. I don't know whatever, but it has to be titilating to get perhaps so

much more that happened in this episode. This episode is a testimony to how teenagers talking about their feelings and just having conversations is great TV. It's interesting, like nothing happened, Nothing happened happened, guys, it's one class like And that's the cool thing, you know, when you when you edit your hour of television for network with commercial breaks, it's forty three minutes, and and the the teacher of the coping John Capellas, the custodian from the breakfast Club Iconic

Get for Us, says, you've got forty five minutes. And it's so cool to have an episode actually take place in the length of time of episode. I mean, we could have made this show run forever if every episode was just like a class period, like the whole season is just like a couple of days, we would have been so old by the time senior year would have been seasons one through ten. Yeah, fine, good. John was a big get, big, huge, huge get because we all

grew up watching The Breakfast Club and John Hughes movies. Yes, and Seinfeld, what is your favorite John Hughes movie, because that was you know, for the kids that watch our show on streaming right now and they watch our show is kind of this like retro you know, throw back thing. For us, it was John Hughes movies, Like I watched them obsessively in high school to the point that I joined the John Cryer fan club, and because I loved Duckie so much from Pretty and Pink. Yes, I didn't

watch John Hughes movies growing up. For me, it was I was that was like a few years before my time, um, and so I just was watching. I was either watching like really old like Turner classic movies, which is kind of I think probably where your retro love for John Hughes movies came into, because we all loved stuff that was older. But yeah, but I don't remember what I was watching. I didn't start watching John Hughes movies until I was in my twenties and was like, wait, what

did I miss? I miss? I love I just I did. I loved them so much and I got into Interestingly enough, this season of the show. I was watching Breakfast Club on EPTE and Bevan and I were living together in l A. She was my roommate in l A. She was coming back and forth because she was starting to audition for other stuff because she was doing so well on our show. And I will just never forget. There

was like a holiday break. I think it was when I was going home for Thanksgiving and I had the flu and I got home and just crawled on my couch and turned on The Breakfast Club. My mom brought me soup and I was like, I'm miserable, but this is also my best day. And I watched The Breakfast Club twice, just like back to front, and I was like playing again. My favorite one was Curly Sue, though, if I had to pick, like, I think that's just because that was the one that he made during our

actual era. Everything else was made. Yeah. Oh, I totally didn't even know that. I've never seen that one. Oh my gosh, Jim Belushi and Kelly Lynch Okay, great, she's she's this little orphan like a con artist. It's great, okay, dude. Watching John Hughes movies as an adult with my pre teen child has been an eye opener because, like you, Sophia, I have, it's all warm and fuzzy. It's like, these

movies are my childhood. I love him so much. And then you sit down and you watch you know, Pretty and Pink with a little boy, and he's like The Breakfast He's like, this movie is disgusting, the way they objectify the school and the fact that she picks that rich bull over ducky. Like my child was mad. Like three quarters of the way through the movie, he's like, I love this. Last quarter he's like, this is stupid.

I hate it. I watched The Breakfast Club with him at the beginning of the school year because I thought it would be a cool way to kick off middle school, like seventh grade and wrong. Wrong. He was so grossed out by everything that they did to Molly Ringwald and then the bad makeover they gave Ali shetty at the end where they took her from me the Weirdo and

made her look like a middle aged grandma Frosting. Yeah, and so it's kind of um It's kind of strange to look at this episode, which is so deeply based on the Breakfast Club, and I think this one holds up. You know, it's not quite as quite as gross. They're not not I and I will say, I think what's interesting is you look, you realize that as every decade passes, you look back on your warm and fuzzies and you go, oof,

that didn't that didn't age great? Okay, But I think the overarching idea to Joy's point is that kids talking about their feelings, trying to find their way, however flawed those movies look to us now, however flawed certain episodes of our show look to us now. I mean, god, Joy, we had a field day with last week's episode. Oh and then this comes we missed you. We were just

like this is scary. Um. You know, then you get to an episode like this and it's like, this is the best of what it can be and absolutely and these all of these kids trying to find their place, trying to do their best, trying to figure out, you know, who they are when no one's looking, and what they can say when barely anyone is around. Like it's beautiful metering sing it maybe that's what's fixing. It is teenagers

sitting around talking about their feelings. Because the Breakfast Club, which took place in the eighties, is talking about how they cannot relate to their parents who grew up in the sixties and seventies, and then our show is taking place in the early two thousand's talking about how we don't understand the grown ups in the world around us

that existed in the eighties. And so maybe this new incarnation of teenagers sitting around talking about what nightmares we are and dissecting shows like ours is incredibly helpful because with each generation of teenagers that come through, hopefully the conversation is getting more on and like making everyone, um

more empathetic to each other. Yeah, I that was a major That was a huge Probably the overarching theme of this episode is empathy because it made me that moment at the end when Lucas walked up to Glenda's car, it really got me. It made me emotional. Um, just being able to put yourself in the shoes of someone who you don't normally spend time with her, whose eyes

you don't normally look through. Um, there was something so beautiful about that, And I hope that It seemed like at the end of this episode, if I was a teenager and watching this, it would make me want to go to school the next day and reach across to somebody that was really different from me, who I didn't normally interact with. It's such a cool idea for an assignment, you know, the the icebreaker of it all makes that possible.

And I I loved Lucas and Glenda. I loved it, like and by the way, there was a moment where I was thinking, like, these are the scenes I wanted to see last week between Lucas and Peyton. Yes, how jealous. I I'm like, look, how where are you? Look how much fun they're having just talking to each other. It looks so nice. It was such a good storyline. And and yeah, the way they bridge that divide as these

two characters. And you see, you know from the Jimmy Edwards episode in season three, who she is becoming in the way she is kind of hiding herself. And at first she says that that's out of anger and dismissal, and then she admits it's a little out of fear. And I don't know, there's something in the way that they're able to open up to each other. Maybe because I think we said this a few episodes ago, maybe it's a little lower stakes when it's someone who doesn't

know you as well. But oh man, I love the hand highlight. We finally got Lucas is a goth. I mean begging for this for weeks and we got it. We were the leader to seeing all the makeup on the ground and I'm like, yes, yes, hold on it. And it was like a split second. I needed to live in like deep eyeliner Lucas more than a split second. Definitely, I wanted more. I wanted like the nail polish on

the eyeliner. I could have done without, like whatever they put in his hair, but you know whatever, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not the department head. It's not my job. Amber Wallace deserves a huge show because she really did such a great job carrying this episode. You know, her portion of this episode. To come in as a recurring guest star. She was not a part of our normal family, and so to be able to have her come in and carry that weight on a level playing field with everybody else,

um was really impressive. Um. I thought she was so understated and honest in her performance, and she brought out the best in Chad too. He did such a nice job. You could tell that he really trusted her, And that's unusual for a lead in a series with a with a guest that comes in because we have so many people that rotate through. It can feel hard to fully trust an actor who you don't know very well when you get a constant rotation of people. And it's a

real testimony to her abilities. So I just wanted to give her a shout out because she's great, absolutely, and they had such a good chemistry And I love again, you know, this notion that it's so important to talk and get vulnerable to figure out where you are on your journey. I love seeing chemistry between two characters like these that isn't laced with sexual attention. Yeah, because so much of it is. And it's like, oh god, I want more of this. I want more scenes like this. Yea,

beyond their their sexuality, people are interesting. Yeah, what's so funny though? The boys get to do that all the time. Like Lucas had his friend that girl he met out on the basketball Corps. He and Daniella got to have like a platonic thing once she was like, we're not working out. Um, Hayton and Lucas were platonic for a very long time. Uh, and he's platonic here. He's platonic with Haley, Like he gets to do that all the time. And Nathan also gets to do that a lot of

the time. But for characters like Brook, you know or not really Peyton's good nightmare. Um, but like Brook and Rachel and the other girls, mouth is the only one they're platonic with, and literally everyone else is like just laced within you end out. And I wish that everyone had gotten those platonic relationships because of the things that

I've maintained from my high school experience. I mean, you guys know, I'm friends with all my friends from high school, and it's because we were all like pals and grew up together. And I don't know, I wish the girls had more opportunity to lean into that. I do too. You're not gonna have to kiss everybody, And you know what I like about you bringing that up? Is it

in a way that what Shelly is talking about. In this episode, Liz's whole storyline revolves around Shelly saying, I don't know why I have to either be a radical virgin or a slut. I'm just a girl and I like I like boys, and I'm nerdy and I'm excitable and sometimes I feel awkward, and and it's that's that's the truth. Like there seemed to be this really kind

of extreme um spectrum for for all the girls. It was like you wanted to sleep with everybody, or you slept with nobody, And it's like, that's kind of not real point. It's funny that it's so ironic though, that they were writing that for her and trying to make that the point, and yet her photo at the end was so sexualized, and so that was something that would belong in Maxim magazine, a photo of a top on it says teen, you know what I mean what we say,

don't look at what we do. That's kind of I was like, where they nail the photos with everybody except her, that was the only one. I thought, Yeah, we could have represented that better. I mean, even if she was just standing in a white T shirt, like what in the middle of a I don't know what it what is it like a normal sitting at a desk, I don't know. I don't know what do you think I I don't know, it would have been I think what

would have been really cool? And maybe we just didn't have the capabilities with the tiny cannon elf that we were taking photos on at this era, But I would have loved to have seen if they had split screened it, So if you had given her half of that photo and half of a photo of her in the clean teen shirt and the jeans, and like, I like the idea that she's like, no, I'm both of these things. But but to go from you know, me as a

clean teen and here's my wild side. I was like, I kind of feel like the point of her conversation is I run. I run the length of this spectrum. Actually, and all all girls do. We have the easy She should have been wearing her clean teen shirt, but like cut off the clean part, so it just seventeen, yeah, with the so easy exactly exactly cut clean teen into a crop top since those were a big deal then because we were all miss in the top half of our plants, lean into the two thousand seven style and

like say both aims. Leave it a teen, just teen, just standing there with a backpack slung over her shoulder by one of the trees on the campus in a teen shirt. Yeah, it would have been really cool. Okay, okay, we rewrote it. In my memory, it's different. You know what I did love though, enjoy You weren't You weren't

with us last week. But Liz was saying how much she really enjoyed filming that whole sequence with Lee, that the Shelly and Mouth storyline, that that despite everything going on behind the scenes, filming with him, she felt really safe and protected and that that scene was really fun. And I love knowing that that, you know, despite us looking at it and going, okay, they really they took it real far in the writer's room, that that they were able to have like a really great positive experience

together is nice to know they had great chemistry. I love that that when they're walking out on the edge of the quad and they're both they both have their hands in their pockets and their shoulders are kind of up and they're just walking side by side, but they're not touching what they want to hold hands like that killed me, the way they were mimicking each other's body language.

I love these two. Yeah, it felt like doing theater this episode because we all we all would work like two or three days with just our person, and we got to do longer scenes and it really felt like scene study with just one partner, and we didn't get to do that very often. Normally our world is so like there's eight hundred extras and you're on the quad

odd and it's chaotic. And the fact that we all just got to do scene work, it was a nice, relutely right that in fact, you could take that entire episode and put it on stage, different vignyettes in different areas, and it would live on its own. It could totally live on its own. You don't need to know any of the characters, because they say everybody explains everything about themselves to each other, so the whole episode lives on its own as a play, even if you don't know

any of the characters. We have to do this in high school somewhere, we should what's our new honey Grove um. Also, I love that You're like, let's do it at a high school, and I'm like, let's take it to Broadway. I'm like this, I actually think this would be like incredible. Let's talk about let's talk about our characters. I loved Sophia watching Brooke um, be honest and vulnerable and not getting anything out of it like she I don't know that she normally does. That's not like a comparison, but

it was just nice to see someone do that. But she was just so real and honest with him, and at the risk of losing something that she she did really like this guy. I mean, okay, it has been like a day, but you know they how long does she know him? Like three days? Yea. But for her, those emotions felt really big, and it's so scary every time you get a new opportunity, Um, it's scary to risk it. Mm hmm. And something I loved about it is that it's really the first time that you begin

to understand more about her in her life. And it's such a great scene because this is true for so many people. Chase when she admits that she feels like she's not enough And I said this while we were watching. I said, you know, it's the only time I'm glad that the boss like betrayed my trust because that was a conversation that we had had and I remember, I remember getting the script and feelings, so I just felt

like naked. What was the conversation? Would you were you just about how you felt to yeah, take our sort of most personal stories and then would use them in the show. And for me, it had been so hard, and it had been long before this too, to admit feeling that way and to then see it come around in the script, I was just like, oh no, yeah, without getting a phone call of like, yeah, you know, that was really inspiring to me. I feel like we can use that with Brooke and a lot of girls

will relate to this. Whatever that there was no warning, and especially now we're at the point where we knew we couldn't trust our boss, so it's like, oh God, I shared something with you before I knew I couldn't trust you, and now you're using it against But it's truly the only time I will ever say I'm so happy my confidence was betrayed, because this is such a powerful moment. And what I love seeing about it is that as she admits this, Chase is like, what are

you talking about? And he lists all of the accomplishments that everyone on the outside sees, and she gets to say without saying it, that's performance. I'm expected to be perfect in my house and it doesn't matter. Nobody cares about me. Nobody calls me, nobody supports me, nobody asks me if I'm okay. So I show up and I do my best and it doesn't matter. And it's such a beautiful representation of, you know, the old adage like

money doesn't buy happiness, success doesn't buy happiness. You never know what's really going on with someone, so be kind and and to have this girl explain that to everyone else, what makes her look like a six story is just like weight on her shoulders and it and she feels small. Oh. I loved it. I loved learning that having to give myself permission to say that. As this episode aired and the mail started coming in, and it still comes in, and people send that photo over and over and over again,

and they say, this is how I feel. That's such a universal truth, is so iconic, it's like generationally iconic. It's one of those photos that anywhere you are, if you see that, you know exactly what that is and what that moment is and what that represents. Was really exciting to see that come to life because I don't much. I don't know. I feel like I did watch this episode,

but it's been fifteen years. I liked Brooks level of embarrassment. Um, do you know when you've been confronted with some of your own bullsh and you have to make the choice of like denying it or admitting it or turning it into a tool, like, actually, don't be mad at me.

You should really feel sorry for me because the reason I lied is this, you know, book just kind of sits in this puddle of embarrassment in a way where it's like, you know what I did up and it and you want to know what's worse because I've stup some more and here's some more stuff that maybe you didn't know about me, and why don't we just get

it all? Like, like to sit in your own embarrassment is a sign of emotional maturity that it took me a minute to like figure out what exactly I was watching because when she's sitting in the classroom and she's talking about her parents and all this stuff, I was like, what is this? You know, is Brooke trying to I couldn't. I couldn't really put my finger on it. But that's what it is. It's embarrassment. It's like I'm just going to say all the things because if you're already out

the door. I don't have to worry about you dumping me again because you've pretty much don't me earlier today. But we are still stuck together for the next five minutes, so let's just let's just let it out. Um. Yeah, being embarrassed is like the worst, especially at that age. And yeah, yeah, to have someone like see through all your hard work. I worked so hard at this veneer. Um and this boy is in town for five minutes. Yeah, any tracks it. And I think there's something really powerful too.

You know, for parentified children who grow up being trained to be perfectionists, it's very easy to to bolster your image, to tell a little white lie that feels like it's

not important, but to your point. When somebody goes will but you lied to me and you realize how that makes someone feel, you can see her wheels turning of Oh, I've been pretending to be perfect for so long that I haven't paid attention to what it's cost me, and it's just cost me you well, very similarly to Lucas and Glenda, it's like there's a in a deeper way obviously for Brooke and Chase, but not much. It's only been a date. It's like, well, I don't know you

that well, so I might as well. You know what, cool we're here. I'm just gonna I'm gonna lay it all out. I'm gonna practice honesty. Yeah, it's so good. It's good for the soul. I saw that in um

Bevin and Rachel too. There was something so honest. First of all, what a great performance Bevin gave at the end that scene that lead up just getting to that place where she was just patient, just sitting there waiting, letting Rachel's spin and act out and do all her craziness, and then finally standing up at the end and mean like all right, it's my turn to talk now, so good,

pivoting right back into pleasantness. It's like, I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you exactly what I think and then I'm gonna get back to business because I am an adult, I'm a professional. I'm gonna, you know again, emotional maturity. I can tell you what I think and not throw a temper tantrum about it. And now we're moving on. That's right, that's right. Isn't that funny that Bevin, who is so sort of seems like wild and fun and kind of did see and cute and whatever and like, oh,

she's gonna be just fine. But that she's got she actually has a solid head on her shoulders, and she's like got the over over. I am bird's eye view of things that we used to think Rachel had, but where she can sort of look over all of it and go all right, this will be over soon. I'll be somewhere else. I'll just let if you need to be crazy, I'll I'm happy to sit in the bimbo

slot for a little while and let you be. It's actually a super alpha move to just sit back and let the other people spin because they need to and not have to step in all the time. Well, but don't you find that is kind of exactly what our relationships from our youth are. Like you pick your role and then it doesn't matter how many decades go by, you fall right back into that role. And so if this little group of chicks needs Bevin, you know, to play the bimbo like you said, okay, I can do that.

If you need me to play a different part one day, I can. But it's not actually threatening her identity, Like she knows who she is, so stepping into a role for someone else to make it easier for someone else to figure out who they are. That's really cool to be able to just go okay, if that's what you need, go ahead, I know who I am, so I can float. Yeah. It requires such a supreme amount of confidence, and it's cool. With all these people in this episode, we're we're getting

to peek behind the curtain. Some are, you know, the initial peaks, and some are these deeper dives into people we think we know really well, and now we're learning about a whole another level. And so amazing with her storyline, we think we know exactly who feminin and then she's like, oh no, there's so much going on in here, but you guys all seem really stressed. So I make and like are you okay? And you just go oh, Like she's she's laughing at everybody else. I didn't even Nevin

is the one person who has parents on our show. Yeah, probably goes home to a mom and a dad and like maybe an older brother or something does do By the way, he just told the Skills has a family. He's a he's fine, he's all right. All the kids that have parents are fine, they're doing great, God, and they're and they're dating each other. By the way, it's like the healthy kids find each other and they're like, we don't want to mess with this other train wreck

over here. Yeah, we just stay together. Um. Speaking of skills, like you two magic magic magic. You had fun and it was like you ate up the impression scene, ate it up. Oh my god, doing scarface with your crutches so funny. We had a blast. Did they give you a list of people to impersonate or you just like mad up? I think they asked me, well, the al Pacino thing was there, but then they were like, do you have other impressions? Like do as many as you can think of? So I did, because I don't know.

I did Katie Holmes, and then I think I did a Drew Barrymore that didn't get in, which is so crazy because like, I am actually really in love with Drew Barrymore and I love doing impressions of her because anyway, but it didn't get in. And then I don't know what the other one was. Oh yeah, Mary, Kate Nashley. But Chad did such a great job with the impressions too.

He threw himself fully into those, so he cracked me up and it's so funny when Glenda thinks that scalam is Elmo just like undercuts because he does such a good impression of it and you just see him to late and like, obviously it's written, but god, it's so so funny. No, it's good. We got to do stuff that we didn't normally get to do. And I think that's who were you guys impersonating? I didn't it was

it was right when Umhor. I hadn't seen Borat, but James was obsessed with it, and so James was asked, like, who can you impersonate? And he was like, we're doing this and I'm just like, yes, yes, And it was before we had iPhones, so I couldn't like look it up. I didn't know. And I was like, so just tell me what to say and I'll say it exactly the way you want me to say it. That was That

was on James. It's also cute watching Peyton and Nathan doing the same impression back and forth, because you it's like sibling energy. Yeah, it's so silly and nerdy and sweet and and it's like it's almost a full circle. When we talk about how Lucas and Glenda and Brooke and Chase are able to get really vulnerable with each

other because they don't know each other that well. Yet there's an inverse that happens with Peyton and Nathan where it's like, you know each other so well, you've seen each other through so many things that you become the only person besides Haley that he tells about his mom. You've settled into this almost sibling like energy, which can happen with like, you know, the first person you ever fall in love with when you're young. Years later you're

like we're bros. Like that's that dork, Like oh my god, and they say the same thing about you, and you guys personify that energy, you know, even when he's trying to be like we were good and you're like, we were the worst. Look at my hand, it's broken, Like it's all so great trying to figure out that bit too. But it comes full circle because this idea that that

Nathan is a martyr. He starts off this little experiment by being like, hey, so I carved your initials into these weight plates and like we were good, right, And it's like he's playing a part. He's like he's like, we gotta do this thing together, and I do care about you, Peyton, Like I know you've been through a lot lately, so I'm gonna say this. I'm gonna say

this flowery thing. And we've watched Nathan do that all season, like I can't commit to a school because my wife's not here, and I'm gonna try really hard to be the good guy with Rachel and my parents are nightmares. But he's been trying to say all these flowery things because it makes the people he loves feel good, right, And he tries to do it with Peyton in this episode and she laughs in his face and it's like cut the ship, like ah no, and and and I

think that's what the whole just is. It's like, I know, you're trying to be captain of the team for every situation in your life. You want to be team captain for your wife, for your parents, for your sibling, for your friends, such a good way to put it, for everybody. You don't have to be my team captain, man, I know you're a cup I have the broken knuckle to prove it, you know. And I think we also in our lives feel a lot of pressure to be grand

or super present or just like be a lot for everyone. Um, and so I appreciate the patents in my life that are like, hey, I know you're a nightmare, like stop you don't put it down, put it down. And so I liked the patent. Got tasked with that message of like hmm, yeah, like you exist, you matter, you need to take up space. Yeah, you should have picked the college you wanted to go to. Nathan like like, have a moment, let it be yours. You just her to

take care of yourself. And that's a nice message. And it's so cool to see again when we think about all of this chemistry we normally don't get to see. We see so much chemistry between Haley and Nathan, the love story and the romance and the thing we've all,

you know, loved the whole time. We're seeing. We've seen all the chemistry with Peyton and Lucas that they've pretended to deny for so long, and now we're getting the payoff, seeing a typical chemistry Halian skills Peyton and Nathan, like growing out, being confidence for each other, being sweet but having no again, no sexual tension under it. It's so interesting to watch it. Sure is what do you think Peyton.

That was the one because Peyton was really servicing Nathan's storyline at a lot, like really, you know, pushing him forward. But I don't feel like we talked about Peyton enough enough really in this episode or a lot. You know. I guess we've we've been focused so much on her as the person that has to cry in every episode. I loved her ostrich mentality in this It's like, oh, you want me to talk about my feelings, Like, here's what's not going to happen. It's like, I don't do

what I've been doing. But also, um, I think Peyton knew that if she got into her own it would end up being like not a pissing match between her and Nathan, but there's a level of competition she knows exists between the two of them. That's why their relationship was volatile. Um like, oh, your family sucks, well, my

family sucks more. And uh, I like that she acknowledged what he was dealing with with his mom, and then, rather than let that conversation spiral as it very well could have, she just changed the subject to whistling, Like how I alleviate this? You know, we all have to get through the day, sometimes it's not worth going down that dark path, like sometimes we just have to keep

it light. Um. Yeah. I like that Payton finally got to do that because historically she's the one that's like, oh there's something to cry about, let's go dig in. I also like that because they've really been she's really been holding space for him to share. She's given him that beautiful advice don't be haunted, like Dan, don't be haunted.

Messed me up. That hit me so hard and I and I feel like, in the face of what he shares about his mom, I like seeing her be a teenage girl that is like, I am not equipped for this, Like I've given you my my deepest advice and and now you have so much on your plate. I think the best thing I can do for you is make you laugh. Like Peyton is not the one that's generous when he says I wish that I was relieved to

hear that my mom might die. Payton just lost both moms, Like the girl with two dead moms is not the one you tell like wish my mom was dead. And so rather than give him like a speech about it, the gift of the Painton gives is like, you know what, we're gonna We're gonna just put this away. That's right, she's she's flipping the pancake. She's just gonna turn it right over. Yeah. Again, emotional maturity work, racious of her,

very gracious. Can I mean, how many times in your life if you had to do that when someone says something to you that's just so insensitive and so you just looked them right in the face and you're like, we're going to talk about something else, because I just I don't know it in me, especially in our industry where we know it's like eighteen hours a day on set, you and me, huh, okay, well I could pick a fight, or I could make a joke, and I'm going to

make a joke right now. You know what if you feel it though, because I've been on the other end of that too, where I've said stupid things and then you see that the look wash over someone's face and then you see them switch the conversation and be really generous with you and still kind and then just keep

moving on. But it sticks in your crush. You're like, oh my god, I feel like such an idiot, and then you carry you think about it that night and the next day and overthinking it's almost better to just be be nice and move on because it'll just keep haunting that person later. It's cruel. Um. Had you gotten to work with Antoine much before? No, And I was so happy we finally got time together. We've got great chemistry together on camera, and we always get along really well.

He's just easy to act with, easy to talk with. Aund he is and when you're acting with him, he really listens, He sense to what you're saying and he responds, and usually his response is some version of the line, but sometimes it's not, and that's what it really does. I mean, I love the idea that your scenes together this episode informed past and future because we can totally visualize elementary school skills and Haley like in the same

class with Lucas like pound around Bodorco's. But we're also getting the foreshadowing of him being a huge influence in Jamie's life. Yeah, both things are accomplished in these scenes that you guys have. That's right, and it's so nice to get some of the depth for skills too. I love when you get exposition about a character that doesn't

feel like exposition. Yeah, none of this episode did, which is kind of a miracle, and there was so much backstory and none of it felt like and then my parents said to me, you know, and and it was so cool to learn about his fears and his family and his dreams and and his his real worry that if he didn't get a scholarship. That was kind of it. That was wrap. That scene made me immediately burst into tears. Me too. When you read that letter, I was like, oh,

there he goes. It was beautiful and the misdirect was so good and like him, I'm like literally tearing up again theater about oh my god, him telling you how messed up it is. Yeah, and be like that's dark, Like it was so sweet, but knowing how much was writing on that for him, Yeah, the way of that, how that would have felt to to really accept, like, Okay, it's just not in the cards for me the dream

that I wanted. And Lucas has had a dream too, by the way, the basketball, and you know the idea of having to give up one dream and here's the second one and if this doesn't work out, it's going to be really hard to find a third. Dreams are such a big deal when you're in high school. They are they are at any point in life, but it seems like they get harder to reach for the older you get. And um, I liked what this teacher was saying about. You know, you get a chance to reinvent

yourself only so many times in life. You're about to go do it right now, think about who you are, what your dreams are, what you want to be. I also really liked the reality check of some of you will feel free when you leave here, and for some

of you will be very hard. You know, that's that's really nice And to your point, he'll like this idea that we're all supposed to just kind of play our role and how when you're around people you've grown up with, it can be really easy to fall back into those roles. And you know, we talked about this a couple of episodes ago about friend breakups. Sometimes when your role changes, people really don't like it. They don't want you to grow,

they don't want you to be different. And then you figure out, you know, is this a moment of growing pains? Like am I going to go and create new relationships with people that are gonna allow me to be this bigger, better, version of myself and it's it's it's all represented in this episode without having to specifically say it, and that is my favorite kind of story. Yeah, I like the freedom.

You know, so many times when we talk about reinventing ourselves, it's about being a louder, more outgoing version of ourselves, and for me, it's been the exact opposite. Like I was a performative young person, and the friendships that I've cultivated as an adult have been ones where I'm allowed to be not the decision maker and like the passive

one and the quiet the follower. Like I get to be the follower and I feel very taken care of in those relationships because it's filling a need that you know, was a void for so long. Um. And so this idea that some of our characters are also doing that, It's like certain characters are going out and being bolder, but then other characters, like Lucas. Lucas is letting Glenda be like the leader in this conversation, be the sharer, be the one that like sets the tone about sharing

and things like that. Like I like that he kind of falls into a more passive position. Um. I like the patent falls into a more passive position of just like I'm going to center you here, let you be center. Um. Yeah, it's not always about getting out and getting loud and bold and things like that. Sometimes blossoming means like turning inward, and so I like the both sides of that are

represented here. M hm. You know what when you talk about that, how we're centering each other's experiences in new ways. I also really like that this is one of the first times I feel like we've seen Haley grapple with the weight of what it means to be a pregnant teenager to say, like, I'm excited to meet my son, and what's going to happen to me, what's going to happen to my dreams? You know you you say I wrote it down, you say, I still want to leave

my mark on this world. And and it's so nice to see her really hold the reality, not just the fantasy, to say I'm feeling all of these things at the same time, and I'm scared. It's a beautiful vulnerability. Yeah. I loved it. Also the sort of the normalization of it, that it's just this is just real life, Like sometimes girls get pregnant in high school, and then they got to deal with how to if they want to keep their baby, if they you know, how they're going to

handle this? What what are you gonna do? And not having everybody around her get a problem. It's just normal, Like everybody's like, okay, hey, let's pregnant. Okay, and she moves on and everybody supports her and it's all good. And I love that And I loved seeing her have that kind of system around her with the friends that she's chosen. So now she can really just settle into Okay, what does this mean for me? Now? It's not a massive torture about oh my god, I'm a pregnant teenage girl.

It's okay, I'm a pregnant teenage girl. What happens next? What's the next chapter gonna what is my life going to be? Yeah? What do I And And there's there's a fear, but there was an excitement there too that it's something that is um it's not when I say normalized, it is out of the norm for most of the population. But in terms of like her just not feeling alone, that's special. To feel alone special. Yeah. Well, and by

the way, regardless of what age, women become mothers. That's the key, right, is you either have a community that supports you and you're having an incredible experience because ps, we've got enough friends who have done it, you two included. It's hard. So you either have a support system and you have people who hold you through the herd and who enable the happy to multiply, or you feel alone and it is terrifying. Yes, and it's it's you're right.

It's really lovely to see that the people in her life, knowing she's made her decision, are like, how can we support you? What joy? Did you feel that way when you were pregnant in real life? I mean, I feel like there's kind of this thing in storytelling in our country.

I can't speak to any other countries where there's this drumbeat of like, if you become pregnant, no matter the age, if you become pregnant, you have to start over or the trajectory you were on has to pause and if you can get back on track, you know, it's there's some ketchup work to do. Like I've just so I was scared both of my pregnancies the way that Haley is scared, where it's like, yeah, I'm super pumped up

having a baby. Also, there's like things that come with that, you know, Um, hold on, can we talk about the stomach? Can we talk about the baby? I can't decide if I think that it's our honorable or our dishonorable mention, Like okay, our friends at home. In this gorgeous sequence of scenes with Joy and Antoine, Haley and Skills are up on the roof. They're having this moment and she's

laying down. The blocking is so good. The blocking is so good and casual and and you like, you take a little stretch, and someone in the edit bay didn't zoom in on the screen, which you can do in the edit. People like they can go, oh something, there's a boom in the corner of the shot. Let's zoom

in to cut it out. And Joy lifts her arms over her head and there's the pregnancy belly pad just out front and sad all it's glory and not only the like part that goes down around your hips, but the center padding with the stitching around it, like you see the whole thing down to the stitch lines. It was a man. You know it was a man because he's like, no, she's wearing a tanktown. That's a tanktown.

It's like that's for sure, and you're like, that's definitely not what that is that awkwards like not white, not flesh colored, pale yellow banks or underwear. But except for the padding, it was just so clearly. Yeah, I'm really surprised nobody caught that, Like nobody just punched in on the shot. It's because you're blocking was so good looking. At if you have is that you your physicality is not performative, like you know, just how to take up

space in a scene in a really natural way. And so of course you laid down on that big like concrete block or whatever the hell you were on, just kind of laid out and you were doing like cat stretches, which is what pregnant women too. And they're like stretching is too good. Like we have another take where we can't see the baby pad, but we don't have the stretching in that one, so stick to the wrapped it out whatever. Okay, honorable mentioned to my baby belly pad.

Then baby belly. Well, we have some listener questions, guys. That went by so fast. That episode went by so fast. I want to like, I want to watch this one again. All right, me too good? All right. Our listener question from Brianna. I noticed conversations going on in the background with main cast members. Are you all really talking or just moving your mouth? How does it work as being a background extra, especially when it's a main cast member.

It's an interesting question. It depends on the day. I mean, sometimes you've been there so long and you have nothing to talk about, so you just say watermelon, watermelon, watermelon, over and over again, and it looks like you're talking. And then sometimes you're having real conversations with people and you just mouth it. You have it quietly so they

can't because you can't make noise. But that I think is part of why when it's us, especially, you get great background acting because you're just mouthing to each other and sometimes that makes you laugh, but you have to laugh silently, and then it makes the other person laugh because you know that you can't make noise. And if if you've got twenty background actors who all think they're whispering, they're very loud on the mic, like the microphones can

hear everything. So especially when it's us in the background, we're really serious about not making noise because we do not want to do another take because we're being irresponsible in the background of somebody else's shot. But I think I think that can actually make for the best background acting because you're just like, what the are you saying?

What is that word? Yeah, I'm gonna promise you. I am always talking when I am like extra, if I'm in the background of your scene, I am talking, And I delight in it because that's like the one time where people's focuses elsewhere, they're like focused on the people who are actually doing the scene work, and I'm like, Okay,

here's what we're gonna do now. Now we're gonna tell secrets. Yes, what I love being background and scenes like that, and like I might have more of a sense memory about doing that stuff than about doing the actual scenes, just sitting in the background being hey, oh wait, we need to give an honorable mention to Billy, your brother who's in the bathroom. Funny, I forgot about that. That was about the time that like Billy had a crush on her, and I think that they threw him that bone just

so they could be in the same scene together. Like there was a point where I definitely wanted Bevan to date my brother because I was just like, oh, this would be so cool, Christmas would be so fun. Related it didn't work out. It didn't work out. Um, but yeah, Billy had a crush on her for a while there, and I think that they just thought they were being real cute throwing him in there at the urinal with her. They gave him a shot. We've got one more question

from Liz. She says, if you could play a male character from the show, who would it be? And why? Dan Always it's just dance the guy. You know, he's got the media storyline. It's so fun. Um. My first instinct was Nathan, Yeah, I want to play Lucas like I do because because a lot of reasons, he got paid the most and and a lot money. Uh no, but also I think that Lucas had some really interesting things to do and and yeah, I yeah, and I just want to brood. That's it, Like I can only

relate to Emo characters. Yeah, I was gonna say, would you would you want to play him even more Emo? Yes? Yes, oh yeah. Not only would he be like we're an eyeliner, but he'd be We're in like the used T shirts. T shirts and you know, like sad sad bands. He'd like love Paramore, you know, Oh my gosh, what a singer she is, though have voice. We're spinning, let's do it. What do I have this week? Oh my god? Who is the most likely to move in with you? I mean,

you did have people move in with you? I always have people move in with me. I just want to live on a commune. I want to live with all my best friends. Bevin lived with you. Who else lived with you? Bevan lived with me, Um Daniello was with me like most weekends. Uh Lee was with Bevan and I in l A a lot. Yeah, I just I love I love having people around. Jenny, my best friend, moved in with me Um when we were still doing

the show. The whole reason that Jensen and Danielle set me up with Jeffrey is to get me off their couch. Like I had posted up in their l A house and Jensen was like, I only get to see my girlfriend on the weekends. You can't be here, Go away away. And I also I did the same thing to Elizabeth on wah Uh. I have that little sister energy where I'm like could come over over. I you were very similar in that way. I feel like I have the big sister energy where everyone moves in with me. But

that's my dream come true. Like last weekend, I woke up on a Sunday morning. I had gone to a friend's birthday the night before. I had made a plan to get bagels with my friends, and they apparently had gotten up very early and gone and gotten through the line because like a there's a line at at our favorite bagel store, the lines can be like two hours long, and and they had gotten through the line so fast for some weird reason that they were like, well, she

hasn't texted yet. We'll just go over and everybody is a key to my house. So I woke up. People. Oh, I woke up to three friends sitting in the guest room with coffees and bagels. And ten minutes after I woke up, four more people walked in the door, and I was like, this is the best day of my life. This is the best day. Like all my people are here, were in pajamas. This is all I want. That's all I want. I love who? Okay, so who from the

cast moved in with you? Yeah? Bevan and I lived together, which character is the most likely to move in with you. I mean, Brooke also moves in with everyone. That's true. She moves in with Lucas, she moves in with Rachel, shes in with Haley. She lived with Peyton for a hot second. That's true. So Hillary in real life, Brooke and fake life. I'll just anybody who'll tell day, I'll show up like like a sad little paper. Well, guys, that was a nice palate cleanser. I really appreciate this

episode for its bottle quality. It exists in the middle of nowhere. We want to see a high school production of this episode. Yeah, yeah, man, all right, what do we have next week? Season four, Episode fourteen, Sad Songs for dirty lovers sounds dirty? Okay, guys, let me see you next week. Thanks for joining, Bye, hey, thanks for listening. Don't forget to leave us a review. You can also follow us on Instagram at Drama Queens O t H or email us at Drama Queens at I heart radio

dot com. See you next time. We are all about that high school drama girl, drama girl, all about them high school queens. We'll take you for a ride in our comic girl cheering father, Right, Teen Drama Queens. Jeelise, my grap girl fashion, but your tough girl. You could sit with us, Girl Drama, Queeze Drama, Queze Drama, Queen's Drama, Drama, Queen's Drama Queens