Episode Report Card Deborah: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Casper, The Friendly Ghost
By Deborah | Season 1 | Episode 16 | Aired on 02.19.2004
Just then, Glynis and Luke glide by, kissing. She's a barnacle, too, though at least I think she has the potential to be an interesting and worthwhile character, unlike Iris. Okay, maybe "interesting" and "worthwhile" are pushing it. How about "amusing"? Joan grouses, "Give it a rest, horndog!" She starts walking the other way; as she passes someone in a football shirt and a large eagle head, he asks, "You enjoy yourself this morning, Joan?" Joan: "Bite me, Big Bird! You almost got me killed!" Mascot God puts his beak up, revealing his face, and says she seems fine to him. Joan: "Do you hate me or something?" Mascot God: "Me? Hey, I'm all about love." Joan: "Yeah, I can see. Glynis and Luke, Adam and Iris, Adam and my mom...you are seriously twisted." Hey, look around, Joan. Maybe it's supposed to be "Grace and Joan." Just saying. Mascot God: "You're feeling alone. You envy their connections." Joan: "Oh, and you have to be God to figure that out?" Putting his beak back down, he orders her back to the park. Joan: "Wait, wait, wait -- back to the psycho?" She really does have the teenage talent for hyperbole down pat. "The one throwing out the seriously bad juju?" Mascot God: "I asked you to jump. All you've done so far is fall. Go back and jump, Joan." When he talks with the bird head totally concealing his face, I get this vague Egyptian bird-god vibe. Isn't it about time for Joan to have some encounters with animism, or nontheism, or polytheism, or something? Joan calls out down the hall, "Well, if you don't want me to feel so alone, then give me a boyfriend!" Of course, everyone stops to stare at her. They must be getting used to weird behaviour from her by now, though.
Adam proudly displays his art piece for Helen in class. Helen comments: "Interesting...it's a naïve piece..." Adam doesn't care for that: "Naïve?" Helen: "Like folk art. It's...oh, it's a turtle! You...you're showing how you withdraw to protect yourself from the world." Adam shakes his head slightly, saying, "It's a catalytic converter and an exhaust pipe." Helen's still trying to apply some kind of interpretation to the piece that will connect it to the actual assignment: "You see yourself as a catalytic converter. You're showing how you convert your personality into...what? Help me out here, Adam. I assigned a self-portrait. How is this you?" Adam: "It's not." Helen: "You didn't do the assignment?" Iris smiles and helpfully interjects, "He went in a different direction." Who asked you? What are you, his agent? Shut up, "I." Adam: "I have to do what I feel." Helen says they'll talk about it after class. She moves on, but Adam asks, "Why? I thought this class was about sharing our thoughts, being honest." Helen shrugs slightly and says, "Okay. You are very talented, Adam, but you're coasting. There's no...feeling in this. I assigned a self-portrait because I wanted you to think introspectively. You avoided that challenge." Embarrassed, Adam sits down. She continues, "This class is about discovery, getting in touch with who you are. Real art...it takes risks, it creates a dialogue. Do the assignment, Adam. Take a risk." He looks slightly hurt. Spunky Booster looks at him, concerned for her boyfriend's fragile artistic soul.