Recap / Kids Incorporated S 3 E 7 Alls Well That Ends Well

Cousin Samantha - once again played by Renee Sands - makes her 2nd of two appearances in this episode; this time on a William Shakespeare kick.

The episode begins with a performance of “America” before returning to the counter, where Renee and Stacy’s cousin Samantha (initially hidden by a stack of luggage and books) arrives for what was intended to be a short stay. Among the books (the “classics” as Samantha emphasizes) are several of the works of William Shakespeare; and she has her heart set on teaching the others Shakespeare, setting up “Tonight She Comes” - dedicated in her honor.

Eventually the kids agree to try out the most famous of the Bard’s works, Romeo and Juliet, at the P*lace; but things quickly get off to a rough start upon rehearsal at the Garage with Kid and Gloria (playing Romeo and Juliet, respectively) complaining about their costumes. Kid then proceeds to butcher his opening line (“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks”) into “But soft, who broke the window?”. He gets his line right on the 2nd try, only for Gloria to miss her cue; then when she runs out to deliver her line accidentally drops a prop flowerpot onto Kid’s head, resulting in Samantha - frustrated because she felt the others weren’t taking the play seriously - storming off to the P*lace (“On My Own”).

Renee eventually finds Samantha and apologizes on behalf of the others, with her British doppelgänger agreeing to give the Shakespeare effort another try…Kids Inc. style (“All’s Well That Ends Well”) and when the others ask what she thought, Samantha’s response is that - while it was different - she loved it. The others then apologize, having acknowledged how they didn’t catch how much Shakespeare meant to Samantha until they understood it themselves; setting up closing song “Living in America”.

General trivia: Wendy J. Cooke (credited as Wendy Cooke); a child actress best known for bit parts in Cocoon; 976-EVIL and a recurring role as Felicia during the final season of The Wonder Years, received a Special Thanks presumably for serving as a stand-in for Renee Sands when both Renee and Samantha are in the same shot.

Songs performed in this episode:

• “(Coming to) America” (Neil Diamond cover^note originally from the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer; the song had regained prominence due to its use in promotions for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty; lead vocals by Gloria, Kid, Stacy, Renee and Ryan)^note another Blooper can be seen as the audio of Stacy Ferguson singing the first line of the final chorus starts just before she gets her microphone in position
• “Tonight She Comes” (The Cars cover; lead vocals by Ryan)^note though considering the song’s Intercourse with You lyrical content; the song is significantly shortened to the first third to first half of the song
• “On My Own” (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald cover; lead vocals by Renee and Samantha)^note in this case; doubling as a case of singing for two with Renee Sands playing both characters
• "All's Well That Ends Well" (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Ryan and Renee)
• “Living in America” (James Brown cover; lead vocals by Kid)

Tropes associated with this episode:

• Book Ends: Both the opening and closing songs have patriotic themes in the lyrics.
• Eagleland: “America” and “Living in America”. Overlaps with Patriotic Fervor as well.
• Duet of Differences: “All’s Well That Ends Well” has verses falling into this trope.
• Shout-Out to Shakespeare:
  • Most of the plot revolves around Samantha’s unsuccessful attempts to put together a staging of Romeo and Juliet.
  • The episode’s title and original song are both named after the the play of the same name.
• Solo Duet: “On My Own” is an in-production variant with Renee Sands singing as both her regular Renee character and Cousin Samantha.