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Previously on Boston Public: Scott told Steven that he was in love with Lauren Davis; Harvey gave the best speech of all time about bombing people, and qualified for the state finals of giving speeches about teaching; Scott bought The Fake Hand Lady a fake hand, and she said she was beginning to love him.
Teacher's lounge. In which an historic event is about to take place. That's right. Harry Senate and Lauren Davis are going to talk to each other. He comes in. He starts to make himself some coffee -- you know, minding his own Harry-business and whatnot, pretty sure nobody in the scene is going to address him. But then! Lauren says, "Harry, do you like the symphony?" He says no. Turns out she has an extra ticket, and he asks if she needs someone to go with, and she's all, no, she'll find someone, because he ruined it already by admitting that he doesn't like the symphony. Anyway, he says he'll go if she can't find anybody else, and takes off. Wow. I feelsomehow whole again. Then, Scott comes in. "Hey, Lauren." "Hey, Scott." Then she says, "Pensive pause." Then she tells Scott about the tickets, and he says he'll think about it. Two and a third seconds later, he says, "I would love to go." "Great!" "Great!" See, at least now they're ripping off the first scene with its own characters.
Delineation Alley. Scott and Steven stride along together. Not spying The Exposition Fairy anywhere, Scott brings us up to speed on the speech-giving story. "We cannot under any circumstances let Harvey Lipschultz represent us in the state finals." "He qualified." "By default. It's not fair to the other teachers." Then Steven says, "Look, I'm the principal of this school. My name is Steven Harper and I'm a big black man. I'm divorced, and I have a daughter, and I'm trying to reconcile my family. In light of that, Scott, how can we not let Harvey speak?" Kidding. But, um, really, it would fit right in with the rest of this. Anyway, Steven leaves, and Scott runs into The Fake Hand Lady, who tells him that this Friday is their three-month anniversary. Because now this is an episode of Three's Company. She wants to make him dinner, and maybe a little dessert, if -- it sounds like "if my hand cooperates." Ew. But he tells her about his date with Lauren Davis. "It's not a date," he says. "Perhaps I can come over after the symphony." "Perhaps," she says, "perhaps not." Brrrr.
The Stairwell ofUgh-Agh-Oh-Ohh-Ooh-Agh-Egh-Ooooh. That's the sound of a girl falling down the stairs. The guy from Grosse Pointe, who has been on the show so many times he needs a nickname now, comes down after her. What shall we call him? Well, he is a bit of druggie, is he not? The answer is obvious. "Melissa?" says Tokes Joint. "Melissa, are you all right?" Because the Un-geon is at the bottom of the stairs, though it's not the Dungeon, Ronnie comes running out and asks what happened. Tokes Joint says he doesn't know, that "she justkinda" Melissa interrupts and says that she tripped. She insists it so strenuously that we know she must be lying.
“ 'Maybe we shouldn't let him speak. He is representing Winslow High' Okay, is this not the EIGHTH TIME SOMEONE HAS SAID EXACTLY THAT!? ”
In the music room, Marla is leading Winslow High's gospel choir. Everyone is clapping and dancing, moved by their belief in God and the power in love. Dick Teachie comes in and tells them all to shut up. No, but he does say that four of the kids are now late for his class, and then he asks to talk to Marla for a second.
In the hall, he's all, "Far as I know, but you can tell me if I'm wrong, but teachers aren't allowed to participate in student Bible sessions, am I wrong?" Marla says, "I was just helping them with their music." Um, their Bible music? With which you were helping them without participating? I see. Then she accuses Dick Teachie of being "that 'A' word" -- that is, an atheist. He says that he's not an atheist and that, in any case, that's beside the point, which it is. Blah blah blah are you giving me attitude, no you're giving me atti.zzzzzzzzz
Lauren's room. Steven is there. She's saying to him, "Maybe we shouldn't let him speak. He is representing Winslow High" Okay, is this not the EIGHTH TIME SOMEONE HAS SAID EXACTLY THAT!? But, in this case, it's nothing more than a set-up for her to say, "I'm with Scott on this one." How is this set-up needed? Because, just then, The Fake Hand Lady comes in and says, "Oh, you're with Scott. How nice." Then she asks Steven if he's done, because she'd like to speak to Ms. Davis alone. "Oh, I'm done. But I'd like to stay." I guess he's hoping for one of those catfights where they rip each other's clothes off. But then he leaves. "I'm not comfortable with you inviting Scott Guber to the symphony. I don't think it's appropriate." The Lady says she doesn't feel right telling Scott what to do (BWA HA HA!) so, instead, she's telling Lauren to change her mind. "Or what, you'll bring your hook out of retirement?" The Raised Eyebrow Lady raises her eyebrow. Lauren widens her eyes.
Delineation Alley. Tokes Joint flags down Ronnie. "Is, uh, Melissa, like, okay?" Ronnie says she seems to just have a sprained wrist. But Tokes Joint doesn't go away, and she asks him if there was something else, and he says, "You remember when Melissa said that she tripped? That's not exactly what happened." He describes how Olympic divers stand on the edge of the board, psyching themselves up to dive, and says that's how Melissa looked. "She was just, like, standing at the edge of the stair, like, likepsyching herself." And then, she jumped, "likelikeon purpose." Ronnie looks troubled, but I'll bet Tokes Joint is relieved to have gotten this off his chest so he can sink back into a drug-induced stupor.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Harvey's room. Steven comes in. Harvey quickly takes something out of his mouth and hides it. Steven demands to see what it was. Harvey shows him. It's marbles. "Marbles?" "It's supposed to improve my diction. Cicero improved his diction by holding marbles in his mouth." Steven points out that Cicero actually practiced speaking with the marbles in his mouth, and it doesn't help if you just silently hold them. Heh. I guess Steven had a Latin teacher who talked like he knew Homer. No, I will never let David Kelley forget that speech. Anyway, Steven says, "Harvey. I didn't like the speech you gave at the regional competition. I found it offensive." Harvey says that he qualified for the finals, and Steven explains the whole eight-slots-but-only-seven-entries situation. Then he says, "It would be irresponsible of me as a principal to let you speak." And, surprisingly, he uses this as a basis for preventing Harvey from speaking. Steven leaves. Harvey looks sad, or confused, or bored, or something.
The nurse's office. Ronnie is checking on Melissa, and is surprised to hear that she's at the hospital, being examined by a gynecologist. Until the nurse tells her that Melissa is pregnant. At which point, she's surprised to hear that Melissa is pregnant. Uh-oh. More like "Mel-ita."
At the hospital, Ronnie chats with Mel-ita's parents in the waiting room. They explain that they know their daughter is about five months along, and they're aware that she'll soon have to move to a continuation school. Ronnie asks if she's ever given an indication of not wanting the baby, and tell them the whole Olympic-diver story she heard from Tokes Joint. "He doesn't think it was an accident." They look troubled, and say they'll talk to Mel-ita. "You haven't noticed any signs of depression or erratic behavior?" They say no. Ronnie asks who the father is, and they say, "Her boyfriend. He's not too happy about this, but we've tried to let her know that she's not facing this alone." I mean, one of them says part of this, and one says the other part, but who cares, because as we'll see later, they're a very. Close. Family.
Harvey's room. "And he said you can't speak at all?" Marla is asking him incredulously. Though she does grant that Harvey's speech was insane. He says he just wants to make everybody proud, and she's all, "At the risk of sounding cruelI HATE YOU, YOU BASTARD!" No, she says, "At the risk of sounding cruel, why do you even still want to speak? When there's such a risk that you'll embarrass yourself?" He says, "I'm an institution here!"
Chapter Thirty-Two
“ Everyone in the room nods in agreement. What. Ever. I'm not saying this is a good thing, but a kid who said something like that in a classroom in a large public high school in Boston would meet violent opposition from a classroom full of agnostic civil libertarians with a much better understanding of the law. I'm just saying. ”
Delineation Alley. Scott and Lauren. Incredulity. "She said that?" "Yes. She pretty much instructed me to invite somebody else. Look, Scott, if this is awkward" But Scott insists on not being cowed by his girlfriend's evil manipulation tactics. Good for him. So they're still going to the symphony. So, good. Good. I'll see you there. And I you. Fine. Fine.
Dick Teachie's room. It's talk time, but Talk Time herself is nowhere to be seen. Instead, suddenly, the kids want to talk about God, and, you know, like, why we're not, like, allowed to have him in school? How convenient. The actor playing a kid called Landon does a really good job delivering this line: "I wanna know what the school gets so uptight when we welcome him into our hearts." Teachie explains that it's not the school that has a problem, but rather the law. "We got separation of church and state." Landon gives a really bad explanation of the law: "The law says Congress can't establish a religion. A student praying in school? That doesn't establish a religion." He also says some crap about, with the world being the way it is, "He" gives them hope and faith. Everyone in the room nods in agreement. What. Ever. I'm not saying this is a good thing, but a kid who said something like that in a classroom in a large public high school in Boston would meet violent opposition from a classroom full of agnostic civil libertarians with a much better understanding of the law. I'm just saying.
The Stairwell Of Deep Conversations. Actually, we're in the hallway with Ronnie, but she's looking over at the Stairwell, and sees Mel-ita having a semi-whispered argument with a guy who is presumably her boyfriend. Something about "if you love me you won't say anything." And "this is so typical, I feel like you don't even care about me." Ronnie thinks this is a good conversation to go get involved in, so she goes over and asks Mel-ita how she's doing, back already, blah dee blah. Mel-ita says she's fine, her wrist is a little sore, and that it's nice that Ronnie keeps checking on her, but she'll be fine. Hmmm. A student asking for her personal life to be kept private when a teacher starts snooping around? Sounds like it's time to delve deeper and even more inappropriately, and violate that trust! After Mel-ita is gone, Ronnie grabs the boyfriend and says she needs to talk to him.
In the Un-geon, she's talking to him. He seems reluctant. "I'm concerned she tried to hurt herself. Does she seem okay with having this baby?" He says she seems very okay, and that it's not really his business anyway. Ronnie gets all self-righteous: "If you fathered this baby, it sort of becomes your business!" But then he says that it's not his baby. This response opens a gap for Ronnie between expectation and result, sending her mind rushing back in time for insight, so thatsorry, I've been reading Robert McKee. Anyway, she's all, buh guh huh? "We've never even had sex," says the boyfriend. Then Ronnie says, "Do you know who the father is?" And THEN she says, "I don't mean to be nosey." He says Mel-ita won't tell him who the father is, but he's obviously being all cagey, so finally Ronnie gets it out of him: he once overheard Mel-ita's dad saying, protectively, "It's my child, and I'm not going to let anything happen to it!" Mel-ita tried to play that off, like her dad just talks that way, but the boyfriend doesn't believe her: "I think Melissa's dad is the father of the baby." Uh-oh. "Mel-incest," anyone?
Chapter Thirty-Two
“ Steven turns back to Marla. 'Is he okay?' She says she doesn't know, but promises that she's not doing anything wrong. Because Marla is 'trustworthy' in this episode instead of 'crazy,' Steven asks no more about it, so they turn the conversation back to Harvey. ”
Marla continues to lead the gospel choir in holy praise of almighty powers and so forth. Landon is there, letting the miracle into his heart, or whatever. Dick Teachie comes in, glares around, and leaves.
Locker room. Mel-incest is clearing out her locker, I guess 'cause she's going to continuation school. Ronnie comes in, because she doesn't mean to be nosey, and says some stuff about how the volleyball team is going to miss her, blah blah. Then, because she isn't nosey, she's all, "Who's the father?" Mel-incest says that's none of Ronnie's business, and asks to be left alone. So Ronnie comes closer: "You don't want this baby, do you? That's why you fell down the stairs, you were hoping you'd miscarry." Mel-incest insists that her boyfriend is the father, but Ronnie's one step ahead, of course, and gets all, "You can talk to me or you can talk to social services." Then she drops the bombshell: "I think your father may be the father of your baby." Mel-incest doesn't so much deny it as she gets all weepy and say, "People won't understand." "Did he tell you that?" "You won't understand." Then she leaves.
Sanctum Stevenorium. Steven says, "We'll call the parents in here." He's holding his big bald head, so you know he's not happy. "At least give them the opportunity to respond before we notify social services." Ronnie says she can be there, but then Marla comes in to insist that Harvey be allowed to give his speech, so Ronnie leaves. Steven calls for The Exposition Fairy, but Marla's all, "Oh, Louisa doesn't screen me anymore, we're girlfriends. I think you should let Harvey gives his speech." Blah blah blah no-censorship-cakes. Before Steven can really respond, Dick Teachie comes in. "I'd like to lodge a formal complaint against school-sponsored religion." Steven's all, "Is Louisa even out there?" Louisa sticks her head around the door: "No." Heh. Anyway, Teachie and Marla bicker about "in this time" and "church and state" and "comparing gods" and yadda yadda. Steven gets them to shut up, and asks Teachie what the heck is going on. He does seem awfully worked up. We haven't seen him this upset since he hit the guy his fiance was sleeping with, with the phone. He says, "I don't think religion should be in school, Steven. Kids are passing around leaflets. They wanna talk about God in talk time. I feel that faith starts, where reason leaves off, and it all just scares me." Steven says okay, and that they'll talk about it, like he's handling a small child, and Teachie says thank you and leaves. Steven turns back to Marla. "Is he okay?" She says she doesn't know, but promises that she's not doing anything wrong. Because Marla is "trustworthy" in this episode instead of "crazy," Steven asks no more about it, so they turn the conversation back to Harvey. "He's an institution here! The name Harvey Lipschultz is synonymous with institution." "Because he belongs in one." Like, ha ha. Not. Anyway, she pleads, on the grounds that it will "break" Harvey if he doesn't get to speak. Steven agrees for some reason. Like, sure, let him destroy the school, 'cause he'll be sad otherwise.
Dinner at Chez Peters. ("Could I make a point?" "What?" "Chez Peters means 'at the Peters's house.' You can't say 'at' Chez Peters. It's like saying 'chai tea.'" "What's wrong with saying 'chai tea'?" "Oh my God." "This is why I don't recap with other people around.") The Dinner-Making Lady asks Scott if "we've" made a decision about the concert, and he's all, "I told you. I will be attending." "With Lauren Davis?" "They're her tickets." Then she makes a not-funny joke about how he should take himself out with the trash. Scott gets prickly about this, and says he doesn't understand what the big deal is. Meredith is all, "Well, then let me explain it to you. You are going to a concert with a woman you are attracted to. A woman who, if she were interested, you would run to. That bothers me." He says he wouldn't run to her, and she's all, "Now you're not being truthful, and that bothers me, too." He's all, "Well, rampant irrational unfounded lapses in logic bother me. I guess we're both bothered tonight." She says, "I am many things, Scott. I am not Lauren Davis, I don't delude myself. Can you say the same?" Scott remains silent. Not because he can't say the same, but because, like me, he has no idea what that means.
Harvey's room. Marla is trying to convince Harvey to give the speech. Does that sound backwards? Well it is! See, what happened is, Harvey decided that his speech is bad. But Marla gives him a big pep talk about how now, instead of proving something to everybody else, he needs to prove something to himself. He says something about how his head is empty, so that she can say, "Speak from your heart, Harvey. Speak from your heart."