Chapter Thirty-Six

Previously on Boston Public: Dick Teachie helped kids with cerebral palsy to swim; Harry had two kids have a fistfight; Ronnie listed all the weird things Harry has done, and he insisted that he makes decisions case by case; Lauren told Ronnie why Zack's parents don't want him on Ritalin; Ronnie tried to talk to Zack, who was too tweaked from ADD to even talk to her.

Zack runs through Delineation Alley in the early evening. Ronnie flags him down, and he says he really needs to get home. "I'm sorry I was running. I promise I'll walk. What?" She regards him suspiciously, and asks if he's still on his medication. He says, "Yes, I'm still on Ritalin, as dead as it makes me." "It makes you dead?" "No, I've been doing quite fine you'll be pleased to hear." Guh? Is a side effect of Ritalin contradicting yourself immediately? Anyway, Zack says he's running because he has a date, and he needs to get home and change, or she'll think he stood her up. Ronnie gives him permission to run, and he runs off.

Elsewhere, DaveKelley's Child sings that "I Say A Little Prayer For You" song.

On the streets of Boston that night, emergency crews hose down the scene of a massive car accident. Sirens blare. Smoke billows. Steven pulls up and gets out of his car. A cop tells him that "the victims we could identify had student IDs." Steven asks how many students, and the cop tells him seven. Steven flips through IDs, and stops on one, stunned: "This is a friend of my daughter's! They were together!" He tries to barrel into the scene of the accident, but the cops stop him and advise that he try calling his daughter before he freaks out in any way. He pulls out a cell phone, and does just that. After many many rings, Brooke answers the phone. He more or less hangs up on her as soon as he confirms that she's not dead. Then he sits down on the rear bumper of a fire truck, and breathes, half-sobbing, half-panting. A mixture of relief and terror. Good job, Chi McBride.

Sanctum Stevenorium. Steven is telling Scott that, of the seven dead kids, three were from Winslow, and that the driver of the SUV that caused the accident had some astronomical blood alcohol level. Scott says, "I'll schedule the assembly, then I'll brief Bob Lick." Steven tells Scott that one of the students was a good friend of Brooke's, and that Brooke is devastated. Marla comes in, apparently because Steven needs her to cover a Calculus class for which the teacher is out sick. She protests, as do all the viewers who wonder what qualifies Marla to teach Calculus. She also points out that "The Hook" Then, off Scott's look, "Meredith Peters is in that class. Can't she" But Steven revives the heretofore ailing premise that Meredith needs to be supervised in the classroom, and orders Marla to do just that. "I do not want to be in a class with thatsubject matter." Heh. Steven won't budge, so Marla relents and goes, at which point Scott's all, "Meredith can handle a class on her own." Steven says someday, but not yet.

YMCA. Dick Teachie is helping Hunter, Master of Deceit, to swim around. He asks another helping person where Talk Time is, and is told that she never showed. He swims to the edge of the pool, terrified for the time being, but then spots Talk Time coming in. She apologizes, and says she thought she'd be on time, and he says that for a minute he thoughtand so did we. That was actually a pretty good fake-out, as we went through the same emotions Teachie just did. Not that it adds up to anything later; it's kind of a throwaway.

The Un-Geon. Marilyn comes in to talk to Ronnie. Literally, this is what she says: "Listen. Zack Delray. He was in the car. It's hard to even picture him going to a rave. Buthe was there. And he's gone." Then she doesn't stay to talk more, or comfort Ronnie or anything. She just turns around and walks back out. Huh? Also, wouldn't everyone immediately know the names of the kids who died? Wouldn't that be the first question anybody would ask? "There was a car accident. Students were killed." "That's awful. Which students? Wait, don't tell me, I'll find out later somehow."

Meredith's room. Or, you know, not her room, apparently, even though we've only seen her in it for weeks now. She is explaining that she doesn't need Marla to assist, and Marla explains that she's there to supervise. "Supervise and assist are different things." Zing! I mean: buh? Meredith says, "I know you think of me aseccentric. But I've become a lot more mainstream." Marla reminds her that she was there the night "you buried your hand in the backyard in that little coffin. 'Mainstream' is not a word that springs to mind." Meredith explains that she'll feel undercut if the kids see Marla just step in: "I know Steven wants me to be monitored, butyou don't have to take over" She just wants a chance to prove she can handle it, but Marla says that's not really up to her, since "it's about the kids." Interesting. Anybody know what this scene was about?

Harvey's class. Harvey is attempting to cheer up his students by explaining to them that their dead peers are not gone, because ofreincarnation. "I stand here before you today as Harvey Lipschultz. But 250-plus years ago, I was known by a very different name. I was known as George Washington." The class mumbles and titters and whatnot.

"George Washington? You were once George Washington?" The incredulity here is being directed at Harvey by Steven, later, in the Sanctum. Harvey explains that the kids are in pain. Lauren and Scott are there, too. Scott's all, "You truly believe you were George Washington." "Go ahead and mock me, Scott. I was even mocked as George, when I told people who I was before him." And who was that? "Cleopatra." Heh.

The Dungeon. "So my writing sucks," a student is saying to Harry. I guess he didn't quit after all. The two of them are alone in the room for some reason. "Did you ever think maybe it's the teachers? It's not always that student's fault." Harry tells the kid, Martin, that he doesn't even try, and that, in any case, even if it is the teacher's fault, he'll get another chance, because Martin will be there again year. Martin really isn't the brightest penny in the fountain, because he seems to miss the implication here, and is all, "I'm a senior. I'm graduating." Harry tells him that he's failing, and there isn't enough time to recover. "I need my diploma." "Well, here's a news flash. We don't just pass 'em out. You have to earn it." "I can't do another year." "You haven't done this year!" Yeah, Martin's clearly not very Smartin. He still seems to think that Harry is just trying to "make a point." "All right, you've made your point. Tell me what I've gotta do." Harry reiterates that there's nothing he can do, and Not Very Smartin starts yelling about how he can't do another year, and needs to graduate, and won't come back, and blah blah blahI understand not wanting to fail, but seriously: what is he talking about? Of course he can come back. Why is it the end of the world? The kid talks like it's a year of torture at the hands of the Inquisition. Relax. Meanwhile, Harry is yelling at him: "You don't get a diploma just for showing up! You have to do the work!"

Dick Teachie's room. He tells the class that they're going to have talk time for the whole class, because "last night was a terrible tragedy. Zack, Kayla, and Jimmy were a part of are community, and they've been taken from us." Who are Kayla and Jimmy? Anyway, Landon, the kid who likes to welcome God into his heart, is all, "I know you don't want to talk about religion, which is okay. But I think it helps to know that they've gone to a better place. That they're with God now." Shut up, Blandon. But Dick Teachie says okay, and asks if anyone else wants to say anything. The Harper Image pipes up: "I thought God was supposed to be with us here. Isn't He with us here, Landon? What car was He driving last night. Oh, I'm not supposed to know that. I forgot. Mysterious ways. God? God is crap. He doesn't exist. He never existed. He was some made-up thing, to give us something to cling to when seven teenagers get killed for no reason." Dick Teachie says okay. "Anyone else?"