High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “The Field Trip”
“Maybe you should just bop to the top.”
Season two, episode seven of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, “The Field Trip,” was directed by Paul Hoen, written by Carrie Rosen, and choreographed by Zach Woodlee.
I was concerned about a lot going into this week’s episode of HSM: TM: TS, in a way I never felt during the first season. Last week, I felt that the drama between Nini and Ricky was forced, that Gina’s angsty moping was sucking the air out of every episode, that E.J. hadn’t received nearly enough screen time, and that the humor of the show was veering more into the genuine territory that Glee devolved into, rather than the winking, satirical nature that made the first season of HSM: TM: TS so wonderful.
Not all of those concerns have been mitigated for the back-half of the season, but I’m feeling a lot more hopeful than I was last week. So much so that I feel confident calling “The Field Trip” the best episode of the season. Or, at least, the best episode since the season two premiere.
The emotional breakthrough for Gina last week seems to have stuck and she was having fun in the episode, rather than simply longing after Ricky. No longer was she dominating the episode, but rather she embraced some meta commentary on her first season character arc and was genuinely compelling when standing up for her friends and flirting with E.J. It was so refreshing and did wonders for the overall pacing of the episode.
Where Gina goes, the show seems to go, too. There were beats in the episode that felt aligned with the homage-esque nature to the original HSM trilogy (kids trying their best and feeling slighted links with High School Musical 2 more than either of the other films) and the balance between comedy and cringe was both entertaining and confident. The song renditions were great because they were modern and realistically woven into the fabric of the installment. (For an example of what I mean, Gina’s dance solo in “The Mob Song” was very TikTok-y, so it’s not in my demographic, but it’s also so heightened as an achievement of the human body that it fits the tone of the series. Silly, but our silly. Know what I mean?) For the most part, I was delighted by “The Field Trip” and I feel quite excited to see what the show is building towards now that it seems to have re-gained its solid pace.
Granted, there’s still some forced drama and some sagging character arcs. I really wish Ricky and Nini would just have an honest conversation with one another. Like, seriously. Please just talk to each other. I’m always perturbed when characters who are supposed to love and confide in one another act passive-aggressively instead. And the show continues to woefully under-use E.J. and the talents of Matt Cornett. He’s one of the best characters! Please give him more to do. The season is more than half over now, so E.J.’s sidelining is a pattern. Hopefully, it’s a pattern that will pay off soon.
Back to Ricky and Nini, though, they occupy some of the relationship drama that percolates throughout the borders of this episode. Everyone seems to be having trouble with their love lives this week. For Ricky and Nini, it’s because Ricky is upset with Nini over the lyrics to “The Rose Song” from last week. He feels bad that she feels objectified, but again, neither of them express these emotions to each other and instead they act uncharacteristically snide and standoffish. Lily, the antagonist from North High, exploits this insecurity with Ricky because even though he’s trying to like the song, he still feels that his relationship with Nini is going to inevitably die. And it will die if they keep acting this way.
Considering the show recognizes that their coupling is the heart of the show, I trust that they know where they’re going with them, just as I do regarding E.J. I might just be feeling a little impatient to get to that sooner, rather than later. I do understand that Lily wants to take Nini’s talent out of the Menkies competition, but I just miss the cuteness between Ricky and Nini.
Last season, learning that she was called Nini, rather than Nina, because Ricky couldn’t pronounce her name in kindergarten was one of the most adorable things I ever heard. When this episode ends, though, Nini begins a new Instagram account for her songs (Carlos’ stealth posting of “The Rose Song” went viral, leading to commenters demanding more music from Nini, in perhaps an unintentional parallel to Olivia Rodrigo’s real-world music career — Joshua Bassett had a quality comment on such an idea this week, too) and proclaims that she will be going by Nina. It’s a sensible decision and I’m happy for her finding herself and what she feels most comfortable with in her identity. I just really thought that was such a cute detail in season one. I’ll respect her wishes and the writers’ wishes, though. In these recaps, she will be Nina now. As for Ricky and Nina, I just hate seeing them fight and I would like to see them make up. :)
Of course, they were only interacting with Lily because of the episode’s A-story. When Carlos suspected that North High had stolen their Beast mask as a means of sabotaging the competition, he led an impulsive charge to the school to retrieve it (Seb is the only one advising against this obvious (but fun) nonsense). When the suspected mask is just a loose wig, though, the students of the East High drama club become embroiled in a dance-off instead.
So far this season, from the original film, HSM: TM: TS has covered “Beauty and the Beast” and parts of “Belle.” We got another return to the 1991 classic (celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year) when the dance-off was rooted around “The Mob Song.” There are some initial groans to this song being the focus of the competition (to which E.J. humorously observes that he knew his friends hated that song; he is playing Gaston, after all), but the number is actually kind of fun. It’s an ensemble number that felt like something more from the first season or “Something in the Air” from the premiere. The choreography was also quite impressive and I appreciated how it actually made use of the practical (albeit lavish) set on stage, instead of dipping into magical realism for the third time in as many weeks. It’s a total Disney Channel remix, but I grew up with the Jonas Brothers covering The Jungle Book and Pirates of the Caribbean, so I was fine with it, especially since the vocals were quality. My only beef is that it’s E.J.’s song and Carlos got the big Gaston part. Like, why? Please god let E.J. do more this season. (Similarly, Nina was the only East High member not to partake in the number. Considering she returns to the scenes immediately after it wraps, I wonder if there was some reason she couldn’t do it during filming? She was mostly part of the ensemble this week, but her lack of participation in this moment was a bit of a let-down, since most of Rodrigo’s singing this season has been solo.)
There is still a lot of fun from E.J. elsewhere in this episode. His being funny in more than just one scene felt like a step in the right direction. Not to mention that, while Nina and Ricky are suffering a bit at the moment, Gina and E.J. are super cute and I hope they get together and stay together. I’m all in on them. The chemistry between Sofia Wylie and Matt Cornett is palpable and their warmth and smiles just feel so genuine when they’re around one another. Plus, pairing them as news anchors for the first-ever East High access show is just a great decision and one that allows for E.J. to confess that no one else wanted to host it with him. (He’s trying his best.) Yes, it was fun when they needled in Nina and Ricky’s relationship during season one, but they’re not antagonists anymore. I’m glad the show is paying off that meaningful glance in the season one finale, even if it’s just in the form of E.J. pretending to be Gina’s boyfriend to get her out of an awkward pick-up by suggesting risotto. It’s sweet and that’s enough for now.
Plus, their flirting was a welcome reprieve from the onslaught of relationship drama elsewhere in the episode. Not only are Ricky and Nina on the rocks (ricks?), but apparently so are Big Red and Ashlyn? Their drama is arguably more forced than the former’s, as Antoine, the random offshoot French boy, tells Ashlyn that he would be a better boyfriend than Big Red. It happens so quickly and comes from nowhere. I’d have more to say about how manufactured it felt, but Big Red and Ashlyn have been telegraphed for so long that I’m inclined to say simply, “Whatever lol.” Maybe the show is planning for a euphoric reunion across the cast coming up soon so for now, I’ll take the show at face value and believe it to be innocuous enough. I hope everyone knows that not every relationship needs to have tension to be compelling, though. Gina and E.J. are the most successful on the series right now.
That being said, Kourtney and Howie is a solid example of how to do tension right in a teen couple. At first, her giggly reactions to their text conversations were quite endearing. But when the Beast in the dance-off (wearing North High’s mask, not East High’s, mind you) receives a text notification with an elephant sound effect (the tone Kourtney and Howie share), I shouted, “Saboteur!” I had a feeling Howie might be the one (potentially inadvertently) revealing East High’s secrets to North High, but when it’s revealed that he’s playing the Beast for the competition and lying to Kourtney about it, I genuinely felt like, “Oh, damn.” It was an effective, well-done twist that has the potential to create genuine pathos out of the likely break-up and a genuine union between the two productions. That’s the kind of balance that the best subplots manage to attain.
The more campy sort of tension came between Miss Jenn and Zackie Roy. Ostensibly serving as the B-story of the installment, Miss Jenn’s confrontation with Zackie over the conflict between the two drama clubs is initially colored by her nervousness to approach the man she felt was once the love of her life. (Show panel’s out for another week on the love triangle between her, Ricky’s father, and Mr. Mazzara.) When she finally confesses that she wishes East High and North High could get along (snapping fingers on the West Side know otherwise when it comes to musical theater), it seems like Zackie might have taken her words to heart. After all, they share an energetic, if not somewhat-bland, number together, “Around You.” The chemistry in the song seems to indicate some lurking feelings (or, at least, attraction) between the two. But it doesn’t last long because — gasp! — it was Zackie who stole the Beast mask from East High. How can she trust him now? This might be too campy, but to me, it felt more harmlessly silly. Plus, in an era where Disney wants to provide back-stories and empathy to all of its antagonists, it’s kind of refreshing to see one that’s just kind of a douche. If East High has to have adversaries, at least they’re kind of fun ones, right?
There’s a lot more that was fun in this episode, too. Carlos was occasionally domineering and abrasive when interacting with Seb, but I felt that Seb held his own and voiced his opinion firmly that a dance-off was kind of ludicrous. Plus, the look on Seb’s face when he realizes that the rights to perform Dear Evan Hansen are still five years away was hilarious. He seemed so devastated at the notion. Joe Serafini is one hundred percent the highlight of this season so far, right? The earnestness with which he replied, “Maybe you should just bop to the top,” when Lily dismissively told East High, “Maybe you should just stick to the status quo” (always love the HSM allusions) was just so funny to me. Serafini has crushed everything he’s been asked to do this season, from the sincere to the hysterical.
Lastly, there was Antoine. There didn’t need to be a sidekick/lackey to Lily. There didn’t really need to be another North High student with an antagonist’s arc. It could have just been her. Instead, someone on the HSM: TM: TS team said, “What if we threw in this over-the-top French boy?” and Antoine was born. Whoever pitched that deserves a raise. Andrew Barth Feldman’s delivery of “Bienvenue!” when the two drama clubs clashed was hilarious. It’s such a strange choice, but it’s also exactly the kind of gently goofy humor that I love the most from this show. I’m happy to be on the right path with you all again.
Read previous recaps:
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “New Year’s Eve”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “Typecasting”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “Valentine’s Day”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “The Storm”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “The Quinceañero”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “Yes, And”
