Recap / Kids Incorporated S 2 E 17 Identical Problems

This episode covers one of the most common tropes in children’s media: A character suddenly is determined to need glasses, and is not looking forward to the prospect.

We start off with an energetic cover of “Dangerous” that is very much approved by the crowd, only for their applause to be interrupted when Renee took a tumble exiting the stage (Renee then attempts to downplay the accident as the steps having been moved); with even Riley noting Renee has become quite accident-prone of late (Renee gets so worked up that in the process she nearly knocks the table over, effectively proving Riley’s point). Meanwhile, Stacy has suddenly developed a case of the hiccups; to which Ryan suggests one cause could be that Stacy was scared (Renee: “Don’t look at me” before stumbling again); leaving the others to keep a close eye on Renee as they join her on stage for “The Loco-Motion”.

However, at the end of that song Renee falls off the stage (after having stumbled on a couple of occasions during the song). We then turn back to the hiccup subplot, where “Dr. Ryan” speculates that Stacy’s hiccups were caused by her being scared following Renee’s fall^note except they started at the beginning of the plot, prior to said fall; causing Stacy to go on a melodramatic complaint about not wanting to go through her formative years with hiccups. Fortunately, Ryan notes that they only last a couple of hours at most (before adding “or was that years?”). Returning to the main plot; Renee protests Kid’s attempts to coax her into wearing a football helmet and pads (after the two collided twice). Ryan — noting the symptoms he’s learned and seen from the others (Stacy mentioning Renee’s headaches; Gloria noting Renee rubbing her eyes in study hall and Kid having to help Renee with the sheet music during their last rehearsal) — comes up with a “diagnosis”: Renee may need an eye exam and possibly glasses. Needless to say, Renee is not happy about hearing the news; worrying she’d look “funny looking” and end up picked on and treated like Billy the Gweeb; setting up “Unlucky Me”, during which Renee falls off a park bench, knocks over a trash can and throws a baseball into a window.

Back at the P*lace; Stacy — still with the hiccups — is waiting along with Ryan, Gloria and Riley for Renee to return from her eye exam with Dr. Biller^note this time a play on co-producer Gary P. Biller. Kid then arrives and (after learning Renee hasn’t gotten back yet) explains he had gotten back from the Magic Shoppe with supplies to help Renee. Renee arrives soon after, sporting a pair of glasses roughly similar to those of Sally Jessy Raphael, setting up “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”; complete with the others wearing a variety of prop glasses. The effort successfully cheered Renee up, though she took the news she would need glasses much better than expected; with Renee — encouraged by her mom — also picking up a yellow pair for school, blue for special occasions and “Best of all, I got contacts for when I’m onstage singing”)^note this would eventually create a forgotten aesop in that, save for a handful of Season 4 episodes; Renee would never be seen wearing glasses again. The episode closes the loop on the B-plot with Stacy’s hiccups finally clearing up before we get to closing number “Into the Groove”^note which includes a blooper where a cameraman failed to get out of the shot and was seen from one angle trying to get out of the way.

Songs performed in this episode:

• “Dangerous” (Natalie Cole cover; lead vocals by Stacy and Kid)
• “The Loco-Motion” (Little Eva cover {also recorded by Grand Funk Railroad and the song’s co-writer Carole King}; lead vocals by Gloria)^note for Season 6’s episode “Pollution Problems”; Stacy takes over lead vocals; though that version is also partly based on the version by Kylie Minogue
• “Unlucky Me” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Renee)
• “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” (Dead or Alive cover; lead vocals by Gloria)
• “Into the Groove” (Madonna cover; lead vocals by Renee)^note the 3rd Madonna cover Renee would sing lead on that season

Tropes associated with this episode:

• Blind Without 'Em: Renee for most of the episode’s plot.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Renee falls into this trope before it’s discovered she needs glasses.
• Face Your Fears: This time with Renee being the character to learn that lesson.
• Hiccup Hijinks: The B-plot focusing on Stacy.
• Nerd Glasses: What Renee is seen wearing in the plot’s climax.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: The main plot (Renee fretting over having to get glasses) and subplot (Stacy dealing with the hiccups) get roughly equal amounts of time.
• Unwanted Glasses Plot: Played to the letter, complete with Renee noting she got contacts as well for when she’s on stage…and save for select appearances in Season 4; every appearance afterwards.