I have heard things about this episode whenever this show gets talked about. I thought, "Well, it can't be that bad, right?" I. Was. Dead wrong.
This episode is awful right down to the inciting incident. Noah, the celebrity that everyone has a crush on, asks Zoey out to a dance. Sounds fine, right? Nope, because the ever trustworthy word-of-mouth from Maya's cousin says he only likes white girls. And the friend group never once thinks to fact-check this information at all.
In fact, they do something even stupider, which is shunning Zoey from the princess dress-up thing that's happening. They do this without consulting her, or explaining the situation to her. A situation which Zoey both doesn't have knowledge about, and even if she did, she wouldn't be able to control it anyway. But speaking of Noah, another gripe I have with this episode is that after he asks out Zoey, he never shows up again. Not even when he inevitably reveals the truth, but we'll get to that.
For now, we have the friend group being incredibly toxic towards Zoey when she does show up to that princess dress-up thing. And it is infuriating. But there is an exception to this in the form of Penny. She's the only one who tries to fix this, and is also the only one to properly see just how messed up all of this is. She even says it herself after the princess party devolves into a toxic argument between "friends."
And I put "friends" in quotes because real friends don't shun people because of a situation that may or may not be happening, where even if it was happening, it'd be out of anyone's control. And everything that comes out of Dijonay and LaCienega's mouths during that party are infuriating, especially when Zoey makes legitimate points. But don't worry, because Dijonay says, "You just don't get it" to Zoey.
And that's the only thing that's right about this. Because I don't get it. I don't get why any so-called friends would shun another friend because of a situation out of their control. I don't get why both Penny and Zoey don't get the hell away from those "friends" and get with the guys who didn't really care about the situation anyway. This entire episode made me despise both Dijonay and LaCienega, especially when the latter says "Has any other boy ever asked you out to a dance?"
The worst part? The friends are proven right as Noah does only date white girls. This is told to us by Zoey as she apologizes to her so-called friends at the dance. Weird that Noah didn't say that or even show up again when Zoey dumped him. But even without that, why would anyone ever go back to this friend group again after the BS that happened at the princess party? Because from this episode, they were very quick to just turn on her for no real reason, so I don't really see that friend group as stable anymore.
All except for Penny. I really like how she tries to fix the situation, acknowledges just how messed up it is, and doesn't want to be mean even though the whole thing ended badly. Speaking of the positives, I also like the subplot with Suga Mama and her friend, Celia. Because at least those two aren't toxic, and the situation is resolved in a healthy way. But like I said, that's a subplot. Meaning the main plot is full of toxicity, hypocrisy, and anger-inducing dialogue.
And it sucks because the message about skin color not mattering is a good one, with Penny's conversation with Suga Mama being pretty heartwarming. But that message is muddled behind all that anger-inducing stuff I mentioned before. From the way the friend group treats Zoey throughout the episode to the fact that they don't apologize until their point is validated. Because during that conversation at the dance, she has to apologize first before they apologize. Even though Zoey had absolutely nothing to apologize for in the first place.
This entire episode is infuriating and awful. A very good message was incredibly botched in execution. And this episode has tainted my view of this friend group, with the only logical step being for Zoey and Penny to leave.
This episode is awful right down to the inciting incident. Noah, the celebrity that everyone has a crush on, asks Zoey out to a dance. Sounds fine, right? Nope, because the ever trustworthy word-of-mouth from Maya's cousin says he only likes white girls. And the friend group never once thinks to fact-check this information at all.
In fact, they do something even stupider, which is shunning Zoey from the princess dress-up thing that's happening. They do this without consulting her, or explaining the situation to her. A situation which Zoey both doesn't have knowledge about, and even if she did, she wouldn't be able to control it anyway. But speaking of Noah, another gripe I have with this episode is that after he asks out Zoey, he never shows up again. Not even when he inevitably reveals the truth, but we'll get to that.
For now, we have the friend group being incredibly toxic towards Zoey when she does show up to that princess dress-up thing. And it is infuriating. But there is an exception to this in the form of Penny. She's the only one who tries to fix this, and is also the only one to properly see just how messed up all of this is. She even says it herself after the princess party devolves into a toxic argument between "friends."
And I put "friends" in quotes because real friends don't shun people because of a situation that may or may not be happening, where even if it was happening, it'd be out of anyone's control. And everything that comes out of Dijonay and LaCienega's mouths during that party are infuriating, especially when Zoey makes legitimate points. But don't worry, because Dijonay says, "You just don't get it" to Zoey.
And that's the only thing that's right about this. Because I don't get it. I don't get why any so-called friends would shun another friend because of a situation out of their control. I don't get why both Penny and Zoey don't get the hell away from those "friends" and get with the guys who didn't really care about the situation anyway. This entire episode made me despise both Dijonay and LaCienega, especially when the latter says "Has any other boy ever asked you out to a dance?"
The worst part? The friends are proven right as Noah does only date white girls. This is told to us by Zoey as she apologizes to her so-called friends at the dance. Weird that Noah didn't say that or even show up again when Zoey dumped him. But even without that, why would anyone ever go back to this friend group again after the BS that happened at the princess party? Because from this episode, they were very quick to just turn on her for no real reason, so I don't really see that friend group as stable anymore.
All except for Penny. I really like how she tries to fix the situation, acknowledges just how messed up it is, and doesn't want to be mean even though the whole thing ended badly. Speaking of the positives, I also like the subplot with Suga Mama and her friend, Celia. Because at least those two aren't toxic, and the situation is resolved in a healthy way. But like I said, that's a subplot. Meaning the main plot is full of toxicity, hypocrisy, and anger-inducing dialogue.
And it sucks because the message about skin color not mattering is a good one, with Penny's conversation with Suga Mama being pretty heartwarming. But that message is muddled behind all that anger-inducing stuff I mentioned before. From the way the friend group treats Zoey throughout the episode to the fact that they don't apologize until their point is validated. Because during that conversation at the dance, she has to apologize first before they apologize. Even though Zoey had absolutely nothing to apologize for in the first place.
This entire episode is infuriating and awful. A very good message was incredibly botched in execution. And this episode has tainted my view of this friend group, with the only logical step being for Zoey and Penny to leave.
