It’s Valentine’s Day this week in Salt Lake City, and the East High Wildcats are planning a lot of sweet surprises that may or may not go awry. Though it definitely brought its own fun, dramatic storylines, the main thing this episode did was set up what’s to come for the rest of the season. There are a few spoilers, so read ahead at your own risk!
We first see that Nini (Olivia Rodrigo) is back in her hometown for the big holiday in hopes of surprising Ricky (Joshua Bassett). She stands outside his house, ready to serenade him with her very own love song, and it’s all very romantic until we find out that it’s no longer his house and she just woke up a random woman with her singing. Ricky, meanwhile, went to visit Nini in Denver at the YAC, which leads to a huge misunderstanding between the two.
The miscommunication doesn’t stop here. Although they discuss the fact that Ricky moved and didn’t get the chance to tell Nini, East High’s power couple is off the entire day as they keep missing each other. It would have been nice to see them reunited for a second, but unfortunately, they never get the chance. But the pair do eventually call and leave voicemails of the songs they both wrote for each other, and it results in a duet of “Even When”/”The Best Part,” both of their songs.
The couple also seems undeniably devoted to one another, which may be different than last season, where they each had other contenders as love interests. This time around, when Gina (Sofia Wylie) drops by Ricky’s house on Valentine’s Day, his mind is only on Nini. But Gina’s upset since her mom didn’t send over a Valentine’s gift like she always does since it’s their special tradition. Gina goes to Ricky for comfort, but it’s obvious that things have totally changed between them and that they missed their time.
Meanwhile, EJ (Matt Cornett) is going it alone this year, dressed in all black to show his sadness, and Big Red (Larry Saperstein) is trying to plan the best V-Day surprise for Ashlyn (Julia Lester). Ashlyn, however, is struggling with embodying Belle in the school play. She’s worried she won’t give off the “image” as Belle from the films, but after Big Red’s surprise fails twice, the two of them decide to just sit and talk instead. He tells her that she’s beautiful and perfect for the role of Belle, and this really strengthens their relationship.
Other struggling couples include Seb (Joe Serafini) and Carlos (Frankie A. Rodriguez). After Carlos gives Seb a thoughtful gift for the holiday, Seb has no idea what to do considering he had nothing big planned. He manages to think of a plant that they can grow together and that really matches his farming roots, and Carlos ends up loving it. What’s also special about Seb in this episode is the bond he has with Kourtney (Dara Renee), who’s trying to figure out how to properly step into her role for the school play.
She and Seb give each other advice with their individual problems, and Kourtney also tries to take more steps to branch out. She takes on the Assistant Manager position at Big Red’s family’s pizza shop. Kourtney begins to change things up, and her ideas really help the restaurant, which leads to pizza delivery guy Howie admitting that she was right, despite his initial judgment of Kourtney. There’s definitely potential for something to bloom between the two of them, whether it’s a new friendship or something more, and hopefully they explore that. It’s great to see Kourtney getting her own storylines and much more screen time than she had in season one. She also sings a number from Beauty and the Beast that shows off her vocals and proves her well-deserved spot in the musical.
Miss Jenn (Kate Reinders) is also dealing with her fair share of trouble in this episode as the new girl Lily (Olivia Rose Keegan) is still upset about not being cast in the play. She gives Miss Jenn a scare in her office and lets her know that she’s taking her talents up north, which can’t mean anything but North High. This will definitely be interesting.
Eventually, Miss Jenn also ends up speaking with Mr. Mazzara (Mark St. Cyr) and the two of them go out for a slice. On Valentine’s Day. Hmm… it seems like the potential romance that was hinted at previously could finally come to fruition. Well, not yet, as Miss Jenn spots EJ’s dad (Alex Quijano) in the pizzeria and wants to go impress him. Maybe in the future, this love triangle will play out further!
The end of the episode comes with a dejected Gina, who’s still pretty torn up about spending V-Day all alone. However, she receives a box of chocolates in the mail, which brightens her mood a bit. Thinking it’s from Ricky, she texts him, but in an awkward twist, it’s not from him at all but her mother. Her mom texts her too late because she already thanked Ricky for the gift and then realizes she made a mistake. This will 100% lead to more cringe-worthy moments and tension between the two of them, but hopefully they take Gina’s storyline a step further and stop tying her plotlines to Ricky.
Next week, it seems we’re getting a big, flashy dance number, and it seems Nini is getting stuck in the snow. This will probably lead to a lot of trouble for Nini and her position at YAC if she can’t get back to school in time. Guess we’ll have to wait and see if Nini makes it back in time, and how all of the relationship dynamics that were set up in this episode turn out in the coming episodes. Whatever happens, there’s no doubt that it’ll be extremely dramatic, in true East High fashion.
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