High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “The Transformation”
“East High literally defined what a ‘High School Musical’ could even be.”
Season two, episode ten of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, “The Transformation,” was directed by Joanna Kerns and written by Jessica Leventhal.
For a show with just twenty episodes to its name, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the “right” chemical balance is for a successful installment. For example, after three seasons of Mad Men, it was clear that the brilliance came from a 40/30/30 split between character-driven drama, emotional ties to historicism, and straight-up comedy, respectively. On The Office, it thrived with 45/25/20/10 split between Michael Scott embarrassment, Dwight Schrute enabling, Jim and Pam romance, and extraneous office activities.
With High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, though, it’s not yet evident what the right balance is. There have been great episodes that focused primarily on the theater elements and the production. There have also been great episodes that ignored the musical backdrop and focused on the relationships. “The Transformation,” however, might be the first to come down in a true fifty-fifty split between the two. This equilibrium was a dynamic that deftly succeeded for where the show is at right now.
“The Transformation” jump starts when Ms. Jenn learns that her production of Beauty and the Beast will need to sweep the technical categories to have a chance of defeating North High at the Menkies. Feeling abiding concern for Ms. Jenn and the need to make her happy, the drama department sets off on their own to try to devise some sort of technical wonder that could save East High (currently struggling with transforming Ricky from the Beast to Adam) at the awards show their leader covets so much. This results in the return of stage manager Natalie Bagley (Alexis Nelis) and the boys of East High splitting up from the girls of East High to craft something truly unique.
Initially, the plan is for Kourtney to lead a team in Ashlyn’s house and Big Red to lead a team in his basement. Kourtney’s goal is to sew a cape for the Beast that will transform from fur to regal robes at a touch. Big Red’s goal is to use his power tools to build a platform that will spin Ricky while the transformation takes place (dubbed a “lazy Ricky”). It’s certainly ambitious (and I’m not sure how a skateboard would be used in the machine), but it’s also a unique take on the transformation of the Beast that would be much more impressive than North High’s. After all, North High is using the original Broadway designs to stage their show. But that’s been done before. Based on nothing, the Menkies strike me as a governing body that would appreciate newness, especially when the innovation comes from the students themselves.
That’s why I was slightly dismayed (not from a creative standpoint, but from the perspective of a teacher thinking, Come on, kids! Trust yourselves!) when East High opts out of their plans and instead uses Kourtney’s connection to Howie (renewed in earnest) to swipe the Broadway plans and use them for their own show. That’s not the East High way! Didn’t they see the quote up there? They can make their productions whatever they want to be! Troy Bolton was played by two people (maybe Ms. Jenn, too)! Big Red played the National Anthem! Be original even when paying homage to Disney Channel holy lands, y’all.
Either way, it seems unlikely that the Broadway maneuvers will be implemented into East High’s show going forward. After sneaking into the school after hours (does Bagley live in the auditorium? Also, didn’t that auditorium burn down? Is that just kosher with everyone now?), the kids rig the Beast’s transformation to Ricky’s harness from “Get’cha Head in the Game” last season and they float him into the air. Then, the rope begins to spin and rip and break. Fortunately, the show did not venture into Nell Crain territory, but it did separate Ricky from his safety clip. He plummets about twenty feet down, landing directly on the stage floor below. Roll credits.
It was pretty shocking. It was hard not to laugh at the sheer absurdity of every wrong decision made throughout the episode to lead them to this moment where they almost killed Ricky, the star of the play who just went through a tough breakup. But it was also a very serious moment because there has to be some sort of liability at play here. Also, Ricky might be pretty severely injured. Granted, it’s still a non-MCU Disney Plooos show, but that was a damn hard fall. Considering one of the most awesome (in the truest sense of the word) moments from season one came when the penultimate episode revealed E.J. in a Bolton jersey, I like when the show throws out a massive “Holy shit” kind of moment and leaves the creative team to figure it out from there. Ricky falling from the ceiling definitely fits that criteria.
Running concurrently with this storyline to “save” the show (reminiscent of the kids banding together to save Ms. Jenn’s job last season, which Big Red also alludes to) is a more emotional arc for Ms. Jenn. She finally begins to recognize (through the help of Mr. Mazzara, who was halfway home when she texted him about an emergency) what many of us have for the duration of the season. Yes, the kids were excited about competing at the Menkies, but they were much more exciting at the prospect of putting on a show together when they were all comfortable around one another. Ms. Jenn was more projecting her own dreams (and insecurities, regarding Zack and the need to best him) onto her students and giving them very little agency over the pressure that that subsequently brought to them. She’s not yet at the place where she can fix that obsessive error, but the advice Mr. Mazzara provides at least brings her to a place of acknowledging the problem.
Their conversation is not limited solely to self-awareness, though. For one, it’s also dabbling in humor. He mentions that his robotics club placed 010101 at a competition. It’s binary, but Ms. Jenn says she stopped paying attention “on purpose,” which is delightful. For another, it’s also intimate. The relationship between Ms. Jenn and Ricky’s father was dispatched in a very rushed (albeit rightful) manner and I still have a bit of whiplash from that, as they seem committed to never returning to it. But Ms. Jenn and Mr. Mazzara are just so endearing together and they embody that “enemies to lovers” trope very well. I assume we’ll have even more time to spend with them in season three, as their dynamic ended with a swooning hand hold in this episode and only two remain in the season (very sad).
That’s only one of the relationships that is addressed this week. (Remember that fifty-fifty split?) Big Red and Ashlyn have zero problems in sight, which is refreshing. As aforementioned, Kourtney and Howie are totally re-upped. There was a deeply unnerving and untrustworthy FaceTime between Ricky and Lily, which seemed to imply a future romance. (He’s just such a good listener.) And while Nina had nothing to do this week, there is still a bit of lingering hold-overs regarding her and Ricky. (He maturely decides not to play her his closure song that he wrote last week, but she feels a bit uneasy that Gina thought Ricky bought her chocolates for Valentine’s Day.) I can understand people who are ready to move on from Ricky and Nina entirely, but I personally have no issue with a few lingering threads. (Not to mention, Ricky also says the words, “Déjà vu,” in this installment, which is, kinda, you know.) That’s just true to life, bro.
Speaking of “bro,” there is an unexpected duo that forms in the third act of the episode. Most of the middle sees the split groups of boys and girls discussing potential flirtations between Gina and E.J. and the reconciliation between Kourtney and Howie. Most prominently, though, the groups provide advice to Seb and Carlos (Seb joined the girls).
I’m happy to admit I was wrong. For the past couple weeks, I’ve written that the needling comments Seb and Carlos made to each other were largely innocuous and there was no need for concern regarding the stability of their relationship. This week, though, Seb is still holding resentment over the boys Carlos was taking photos with on vacation. He confesses to the girls that he’s insecure over the notion that Carlos is only dating him because East High doesn’t come with a lot of options. To the boys, Carlos confesses that it’s awkward for him to talk about his feelings with Seb.
Quality advice and wisdom is provided on both sides, but the only breakthrough comes when Ricky texts Carlos to meet in Big Red’s basement — just the two of them. I’m sure these two have shared specific scenes or lines of dialogue together before, but this is the most pronounced instance of their characters being paired together for a moment on the show. It’s not the most common pairing either, so it was really fun and heartening to watch unfold. The two of them (Joshua Bassett and Frankie Rodriguez) are so good together! I loved watching the emotional honesty unfold between them. These kids often talk about how much they love one another, but moments like these prove that.
Anyway, the moment in question refers to the above-referenced decision Ricky made to not play his song for Nina. He believes that “sometimes a song can mean everything,” though, which is why he channels that knowledge he earned last week (that disparate episode is already paying off the emotional threads it spent the time working for) into helping Carlos and Seb, as he believes they have something worth fighting for (it’s in their faces when they talk about each other). Ricky is a hugely romantic character, but how amazing is it to see him channel that sweetness into helping his friends who need it way more than he does at the moment? That is how you move on from a really challenging breakup.
“In a Heartbeat” is the song Ricky and Carlos write together (again, these kids write songs so quickly. Taylor Swift wishes she could have strung “Happiness” together in forty-five minutes, rather than just one week before Evermore dropped). It’s not a musically complex or lyrically deep song, but it’s the kind of poetry that would just be really moving to hear during a relationship rift. Like, you wouldn’t necessarily fire it up on Spotify or really remember the melody, but if your significant other wrote it for you, you’d just about melt faster than Gina’s chocolate-induced anxiety. Plus, the fact that it came from Carlos’ and Ricky’s heart (Carlos means every word. “Even the ones Ricky wrote”) makes it mean that much more. It’s in High C (the bottom of Carlos’ range) and spurred on by Ricky calling Carlos “bro” (which requires some adjustment), but it results in a meaningful hug shared between the two. Moments like that are what make the show so much fun to return to and watch grow and change. It’s exciting to grow and change with it, too, especially for the younger crowd it is more geared towards than me. I’m just happy to be here.
And, of course, it puts Seb and Carlos back onto a stronger foundation. I had my doubts that the show would go for two break-ups in one season, so it was nice to see that prediction met with relief. What a moving love song to have shared between two quality Disney characters. I think Mark St. Cyr put it best. (Side-note: he’s such a great supporter of the show.)
The last relationship in question is Gina and E.J.’s. After weeks of flirting and a couple scenes of denial and reluctance towards rejection this week, they finally made the leap. E.J. summoned the courage necessary to ask if Gina wants to get risotto with him “for real this time” (a very cute callback; the writers know how to be adorable) and she doesn’t hesitate before happily saying yes (once she knows it wasn’t Ashlyn’s manipulative doing). I loved Ricky and Nina together, but I am more than happy to put all that energy into the love I now feel for Gina and E.J. The rest of the episode could have been a disaster, but as long as I have those two to hold onto emotionally, it’s all going to be fine. With two episodes left, it’s all going to be fine. Unless you’re Ricky’s legs and face and arms and chest and ribs.
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”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “The Field Trip”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “Most Likely To”
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Recap: “Spring Break”
