| Guber's Soft Side
After the rather prolific roasting Guber took from
Marilyn and Marla at the charity event last episode, the vice-principal has been
feeling a bit slighted and having trouble dealing with "other
issues." In a fit of retribution he asks  Marilyn for quarterly
attendance reports for the past 3 quarters. This is not an ordinary
request and she feels it is unwarranted. Marilyn later apologizes
to Guber for the song and he says it was all taken in stride but appears
to still be bitter as he again asks her for the attendance reports.
The "other issue" on his mind is his affection for Lauren which
she refuses to reciprocate. Out of kindness, however, Lauren asks
Guber to join her and other staff members at her house for
Thanksgiving. He asks her if that would be considered a date.
Lauren is taken aback by the statement and he apologizes for the
assumption. It certainly is an awkward moment for the pair. He
later apologizes to Lauren for the "date" statement and
Lauren asks him to just drop it, PLEASE! She is obviously annoyed by
his advances. Guber finally admits to Harper that he loves Lauren
and just doesn't know what to do with himself. Harper reminds him
that pressing the issue with Lauren when she doesn't want it could be
construed as sexual harassment. Harper feels for him and
asks him to Thanksgiving dinner at his own home. The VP eventually agrees and the two
of them are seen eating together at Harper's house.
The Posse
A female student, Carol Prader, approaches Lauren about
contraceptives. Lauren isn't sure what to say. She  is
obviously surprised, considering the girl is only 14! She won't
advise her other than to say 'don't do it.' Lauren seeks out Marilyn
and Kevin for advice. Kevin alerts her to the fact that older
boys sleep with younger girls to gain "points." This
certainly gets Lauren's attention. As Lauren continues her
investigation of this dating/sex issue she learns that there is a group of
32 senior boys called "The Posse" that are in a contest with
each other. She enlists the help of Harry who
asks Dana Poole exactly what "The Posse" are up to. Dana
informs him that each
senior girl that a boy sleeps with is worth 3 points. Each junior is
worth 5, sophomore 10 and freshman 15. Lauren meets with Carol again,
and again tells her not to sleep with this
boy, but the young girl won't
listen. Due mainly to Lauren's pleas, Harper agrees to start sex
education in the school as a proactive measure, suggesting that
Lauren run the classes. She refuses citing the fact that students
wouldn't listen because they see her as a nun. He decides to draw
straws for the position and Harvey ends up on the short end. Lauren
later approaches Dana Poole about Carol and asks the popular senior to speak to
the younger girl and tell her not to go through with it. Dana informs her that it
is too late, Carol has already slept with him and the boy has already dumped
her. Carol meets with Lauren once more and tells her how stupid she
feels. Lauren demands the boy's name from her, promising that it
won't go any further. Apparently she gets it
because she tracks down the boy, Jeffrey, and goes up one side and down
the other (long clip) of him telling him how stupid the whole thing is. Somehow
it seems that it falls on deaf ears. Meanwhile, Harvey begins his
lectures on the evils of sexual relations by telling a lame story to an
audience of young students. They basically mock him until he begins
a story about his wife Helen, now passed on. The story tells of how
he came home early one day to find her cheating on him. Students
listened intently and didn't move from their seats even though the bell
rings. Harvey is visibly upset at the remembrance and elects to stay
behind at school while the other staff members enjoy their
Thanksgiving
meal with friends.
Buttle's Life
Briefly we see Milton dealing with the issues presented
on Sheryl Holt's website. It shows him as a dog being walked by
Louisa. They meet another dog, Harper, and he urinates on
Milton. Milton is on edge the whole episode, snapping at
everyone. Life seems to be against him until, at Lauren's house
where the gang is having Thanksgiving dinner, he and Louisa kiss.
Malcolm White, Anthony Ward, Jason Harrelson...The
Three Stooges
Harry finds Malcolm White beaten up in the hallway, his
arm having been broken by Jason Harrelson.  Upon being
interviewed by Guber and Harper, Jason admits that he did it in protection
of Anthony Ward, and is immediately suspended. Mr. Harrelson
comes to visit Harper and discuss the suspension, informing Harper that the move that Jason used to break Malcolm's arm is the
same one Harper taught Anthony to defend himself. With that
knowledge, Mr. Harrelson tells Harper he is "at risk" for a
lawsuit. The Whites also want to sue the school because they
believe a bigger settlement can be acquired going this route rather than if they sued the
Harrelsons. Harper brings in Anthony and questions him.
Anthony tells him that he did indeed show Jason how to use the maneuver and asked
him to protect him. But when he later speaks with Guber and the lawyer
representing the school, it is made apparent that there's a good chance that the school could be protected from a
lawsuit. Guber later suggests that Harper basically "kiss
up" to the Harrelsons to avoid a lawsuit altogether, but Harper
refuses to cover up anything and feels like everything that happens in the
school is blamed on him. He heads to the hospital to visit Malcolm,
and tries to get through to him, telling him
that all this is not his fault, but asks him, "How much is?" He tells him, "You're better than this."
Mr. Harrelson comes back to Harper's office, where Harper yells at the
other African-American for
being a racist and accuses him of
using his skin color to try to get his son off
of suspension. A stunned Guber looks on helplessly as a fuming Harper
orders Mr. Harrelson to GET
OUT! Malcolm White's father immediately enters the office and tells Harper not
to talk to his son because of the potential lawsuit. Harper,
already pushed past the breaking point yells out, "I will talk to my
students!" Guber tries to calm him, but nothing
works. The next day, Malcolm comes to Harper's office telling him
that the lawsuit was not his idea and that he does not agree with his
father. Harper stops at the Harrelson's on his way home and
apologizes to Mr. Harrelson for his actions. Being a principal is a
job that doesn't end at 3:00. |
