Airdate: November 7th, 2004
Jen, Nikki, Jonesy, Jude, and Wyatt all try to get jobs at the mall and meet Caitlin, a spoiled girl from their high school who needs to get a job to pay for her credit card bills.
Episode Tropes:
- Big "NO!": Caitlin lets one out when her dad informs her that she'll need to get a job to get money from now on.
- Credit Card Plot: This is what ultimately leads to Caitlin becoming the Sixth Ranger for the show's main six—to go into greater detail:
- While shopping at the Khaki Barn, Caitlin (unaware that credit cards even had spending limits in the first place) maxes out her credit card and calls her parents to tell them what happened—Caitlin's parents force her to get part-time to not only Work Off the Debt, but also to teach her "the value of a dollar". Chrissy also cuts up her old card.
- After noticing how upset Caitlin is, Jen (the first of the gang to befriend Caitlin) asks her what's wrong and Caitlin explains her situation. Feeling bad for Caitlin, as well as needing someone to replace her at the Big Squeezenote after getting hired at the Penalty Boxnote , Jen ultimately chooses Caitlin as her replacement.
- In the end, after Caitlin's old BFF, resident mean girl Tricia Holmes, ditches her after seeing Caitlin at her new job, Jen and the others welcome Caitlin into their group. When Caitlin explains to the others what she did to max out her credit card in the first place after Nikki questions her on it, Nikki points out that it'll probably be quite some time before Caitlin pays it off.
- Everyone Has Standards: Jude, Jonesy, Nikki, and Wyatt are upset at having failed to get the jobs they interviewed for.
- Failure Montage: Except for Jen, the others completely fail their job interviews by doing or saying something wrong. Unsurprisingly, they didn't get their jobs. Jen offers to give her soon-to-be former job to them without hassle, but they laugh and leave, saying they still have some pride.
- Mouth Screen: When realizing she has to get a job, Caitlin lets out a Big "NO!" as the camera zooms in to a closeup of her mouth and wiggling uvula.
- New Job Episode: As this is the first episode of the series, the gang each look for employment at the mall. Aside from Jen getting a job at the Penalty Box and getting Caitlin to replace her at the Big Squeeze:
- Wyatt's hired at a music store called Spin This after failing to get a job at Grind Me (a coffee shop in the food court).
- Jude's hired as the new manager at Stick It, a place in the food court that specializes in food-on-a-stick, after failing to get a job at North Shore Surf & Skate.
- Nikki, after failing to get hired at the mall's travel agency, ends up being forced to work at the Khaki Barn, which is her least favorite store in the entire mall—ironically, the Khaki Barn was also the only store that would actually hire her.
- Jonesy managed to score job at a place in the food court called "Soda Hop," but got fired literally just minutes into his first shift due to hitting on Soda Hop's hostess, who turned out to be his employer's daughter. This ultimately leads to one of the show's main Running Gags.
