Now approaching the end of Season 2; we are introduced to the second character to appear that is a member of the band’s extended family; in this case Renee and Stacy’s cousin from Great Britain.
The plot begins with a performance of “Tell Her About It”. After the song, the kids are back at the counter when Riley displays his latest invention: a pen with an endless supply of ink (said invention has the drawback of being too big to control easily). As this happens, a girl named Samantha Brisbane (dual role for Renee Sands) enters the P*lace and introduces herself as Renee & Stacy’s British cousin. The kids then return to the stage for “Glory Days”; but following that performance trouble emerges due to Cousin Samantha’s unimpressed reaction (her description: “interesting”), and when pressed further Samantha then reveals she prefers Classical Music to rock, sparking a brief confrontation between Samantha and Renee in spite of Ryan’s attempts to intervene before the two storm off, setting up “Agree to Disagree”.
Meanwhile, Ryan and Kid are playing basketball when a furious Renee shows up. Apparently, Samantha’s disdain for rock has somehow made the front page of the newspaper (presumably, a very slow news day). This provides an opening for Ryan to point out how both Renee and Samantha were closed-minded to trying new things (specifically, music styles). Unknown to Ryan; Samantha overheard the conversation. Soon afterwards, Kid - shooting a lay-up - sprains his wrist and is unable to rehearse (though he did feel he could play later that night); with Samantha subsequently offering to pinch-hit, setting up “One Man Symphony”note before Samantha runs out of the P*lace.
Eventually, the two bickering cousins return to the P*lace having agreed to a truce on trying different styles of music and Samantha accepting an offer to play keyboards for the concert that night, setting up closing song “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”note
As for Cousin Samantha; she would return the following season in “All’s Well That Ends Well”, even getting part of a duet in the latter episode while Renee visiting her would be used as the explanation for Renee Sands’ departure in “The Pick-Ups”.
Songs performed in this episode:
- “Tell Her About It” (Billy Joel cover; lead vocals by Renee, Stacy and Gloria)
- “Glory Days” (Bruce Springsteen cover; lead vocals by Ryan)note
- “Agree to Disagree” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Renee)
- “One Man Symphony” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Renee)
- “It's Still Rock and Roll to Me” (Billy Joel cover; lead vocals by Kid, Ryan, Renee, Stacy and Gloria)note
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Book Ends: A meta-example in using Billy Joel covers to begin and end the episode.
- Classical Music Is Boring: Renee's feelings (among others) about Classical Music.
- Classical Music Is Cool: Samantha's opinion on Classical Music.
- Culture Clash: Different music styles is the primary cause of the bickering between Renee and Samantha.
- Imagine Spot: “One Man Symphony” has the band members in tuxedos and the dancers in ballet costumes.
- The Kirk: Ryan fits in the case of attempting to note how closed-minded both Renee and Samantha were in regards to music styles.
- The McCoy: Renee for much of the episode in terms of her clashing with Samantha.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: About the main difference in terms of appearance between Renee and Samantha is the longer hair of the latter.
