Remember in “O Lucky Me” when Gloria (who was mentioned as struggling in science class) relied on the believed-magic ring while taking her science test and proceeding to perform poorly? Well, fast-forward three episodes and Gloria’s grades become an issue again.
We start the episode with a performance of “The Heat is On” (complete with streamers attached to a fan in the first shot) and when the kids go on break, Riley offers the kids Super Supreme Shakes; which all of them take…all except Gloria, who requests a water with no ice, leading to the younger band members expressing confusion (Stacy asks if she was sick; Renee if she was on a diet; Kid if he could have hers). The reason for this sudden change of behavior: Gloria has a case of the “3-D’s” (down, depressed and in despair). Why? She put everything ahead of her studies (which she concedes was a dumb thing to do); a move which came back to bite Gloria, as her grades - normally in the A/B range - plummeted; with her parents slashing her allowance completely, leaving the now-broke Gloria desperate for cash (but not desperate enough to take Stacy up on her suggestion to sell her Teen Idol poster collection). By sheer happenstance, Riley mentions needing a part-time assistant to help him take inventory, which Gloria quickly accepts before Ryan brings up the elephant in the room (her homework, which had been neglected and which led to the dropping grades). Gloria insists she could study in whatever time she’s not busy working — or in this case, singing (“Nothin’ At All”).
Starting at her new job; Gloria’s first day starts well enough (getting her bandmates’ orders right — though the fact they ordered their usual requests seemingly implies her friends are somewhat predictable); then recommends a root beer supreme to two random guys at a nearby tablenote , followed by turning down Kid’s attempts at getting a bandmate discount (“no breaks on the shakes”). However, Gloria then grabs the kids’ orders in an attempt to get the counter freed up (with Stacy protesting she didn’t get to the cherry in her cherry cola and Renee likewise being upset that she had not finished her banana split — to which Gloria pours what’s left in a Ziploc bag) — and to make matters worse the split is leaking through Renee’s bag. That night; Riley decides to send Gloria home to allow him to finish cleaning up before Gloria manages to take him into letting her finish up. As he leaves, Renee and Stacy show up to remind her of rehearsal the next day (while noticing how tired Gloria looks); however the band’s most senior member insists she could handle the job along with her school and band responsibilities, thinking she could someday become a doctor, lawyer, judge or executive (“If She Knew What She Wants”).
The next day; Gloria is assigned to the counter while Riley goes to take inventory, and this time trouble ensues. When we see that the two random guys are back, this time Gloria forgot to rinse and dry the glass the first guy was drinking his root beer float from (he noticed that he tasted soap in his glass) while the 2nd guy notes he had been waiting for his banana split for 10 minutes; though Gloria insists everything’s under control (the evidence says otherwise); especially when it’s noticed Gloria forgot the banana, split '''and''' ice cream in the 2nd guy’s banana split. On top of this; Gloria’s late for rehearsal, and the other kids add to Gloria’s misery by changing their orders from the usual and demanding it pronto; setting up an Imagine Spot with “She Works Hard for the Money” (where Gloria spills water on Wendy and Gina; breaks several plates; has ice cream hit her in the face; accidentally squirts herself with chocolate syrup and giving herself a pie in the face).
Eventually, Gloria returns to the counter in her regular clothes to announce to Riley that she’s coming back to the soda fountain…as a customer only, learning the hard way she couldn’t juggle all those responsibilities as well as the fact had she studied harder in the first place, all this could have been avoided, noting she was so tired she couldn’t have gone shopping after all that work; setting up closing song “Another Night”.
Songs performed in this episodenote :
- “The Heat is On” (Glenn Frey cover; lead vocals by Ryan and Kid)note
- “Nothin’ At All” (Heart (Band) cover; lead vocals by Gloria)
- “If She Knew What She Wants” (Jules Shear cover {also
recorded by The Bangles}; lead vocals by Renee and Stacy)note - “She Works Hard for the Money” (Donna Summer cover; lead vocals by Kid and Stacy)
- “Another Night” (Aretha Franklin cover; lead vocals by Kid)
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Broke Episode: Gloria’s grades slipping result in her allowance being wiped out.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The main premise is that all the misery Gloria suffered through could have been avoided had she paid more attention to her schoolwork.
- Imagine Spot: The setting of “She Works Hard for the Money”; which sees Gloria suffer a string of humiliating events in the song.
- New Job Episode: Gloria finds herself working at the P*lace for a time.
