The events of this episode begin on June 21st, 1993, 1994, and 1995 in Skylin, Texas.
It is Jeanette Turner's birthday.
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In 1993, nerdy and sheltered Jeanette is woken up by her loving parents Greg and Cindy who wish her happy birthday, before going to the local mall with her best (and only) friends Mallory Higgins and Vince Fuller. Mallory suggests making a list of dares to do this summer and insists on including illegal items, which Jeanette unsuccessfully tries to turn down. While her friends run off to buy Jeanette a cheap necklace for a birthday present, Jeanette notices the most popular girl in their school, Kate Wallis, and strikes up an awkward (yet friendly) conversation with her, which ends when her boyfriend Jamie Henson joins her and they make out, making Jeanette visibly envious.
As one of the dares, Mallory swipes a random key from Greg's real estate firm and the trio goes to play hide-and-seek in a vacant house. But the house turns out to be not-so-vacant, as Martin Harris, Skylin High's newly hired vice principal, has just bought it and is moving in. After managing to come up with a lie to explain her presence and distract him enough to let Mallory and Vince slip away unnoticed, Jeanette keeps the key.
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In 1994, Jeanette, now conventionally beautiful and popular, is woken up by Jamie, who is now her boyfriend. Later, Jamie and Jeanette go to the roller rink to celebrate her birthday along with Jamie’s best friend Ben Hallowell and Kate's old friends Renee Talbot and Tennille Peterson, who are now best friends with Jeanette. During the celebration Ben asks Jamie how he feels about Kate being missing, to which Jamie replies that he is with Jeanette now. After an encounter with Jeanette, Mallory and Vince talk about how much she changed, and while Vince is respectful to her, Mallory is disgusted with what Jeanette has become. That evening, Jamie walks Jeanette home. While kissing, they hear a loud noise resembling a gunshot.
The next day, Tennille learns that Kate is alive and has been found. It turns out that she had been kidnapped by Martin and locked up in his basement. Jeanette, Tennille, and Renee come running to see Jamie about Kate’s return, only for a furious Jamie to punch Jeanette, leaving her with a black eye.
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In 1995, Jeanette has become the most hated person in America and is gearing up for a legal battle with help from her lawyer Denise Harper. Greg and Cindy are divorced and Greg is now dating a barmaid named Angela Prescott, whom Jeanette dismisses. Jamie spends all his time sitting in his car right outside her house. Jeanette watches recorded tapes with news related to Kate's kidnapping and rescue. One of them is a talk show where the host Marsha Bailey talks with Kate about her kidnapping and Kate publicly accuses Jeanette of having seen her during her imprisonment, but not reported it to the police.
Tropes Used:
- Birthday Episode: In 1993 and 1994 Jeanette celebrates her birthday. In 1995 she is busy with her lawyer and spends her day drinking and watching old tapes, with her birthday being mentioned in passing.
- Chekhov's Gun: The card on Mallory's bicycle is zoomed in on in her very first scene.
- Establishing Character Moment: For both Jeanette and Kate during their conversation in 1993.
- The whole scene establishes Jeanette as both envious and probably unhealthily obsessed with Kate, or at least her lifestyle and popularity.
- Unlike her friends Renée and Tennille, who immediately throw Jeanette a Death Glare when they see her coming, Kate not only engages in a cordial, if awkward, conversation with Jeanette, she also already knows her name. This serves to establish that she's most certainly not the Alpha Bitch Mallory claims she is.
- Replacement Goldfish: By 1994, Jeanette has essentially replaced Kate, inheriting her boyfriend and her two best friends.
- We Used to Be Friends:
- A downplayed example. In 1993, Jeanette was looking up to Kate to a probably unhealthy degree, and Kate was nothing but cordial towards Jeanette in return (and, as the next episode indicates, was open to the idea of really befriending her). By 1995, to say they hate each other is an understatement.
- Also, the friendship between Jeannette and Mallory is revealed to have fallen apart between 1993 and 1994.
