Recap / Kids Incorporated S 3 E 8 Boy Wonder

One of the most common weaknesses for Kid was his having an ego that could rapidly get out of control. In this episode; having passed the halfway point of Season 3, the others try to bring him back to earth.

We kick things off with a performance of “King for a Day”; after which four of the kids are discussing how great the audience had been when Kid (arriving late and having only heard the word “great”) assumes the others are talking about him. Unfortunately for the others, he soon refers to them as his “support crew” by way of a backhanded comparison to singers such as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (though Kid failed to catch Ryan’s sarcastic remark about his “not wanting to disappoint his audience”).

However, things get out of control following “Don’t Fight It”; where Kid takes three extra bows at the end despite Gloria having sung lead for most of the song; with Kid having had a brief solo in the bridge^note if one looks closely, you can see Renee making an expression suggesting something akin to “You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!”; something which did not go unnoticed by his bandmates (Renee describing Kid as “The Ego That Ate Chicago”) before Kid walks in (and Renee and Stacy exit). Kid then notices Ryan’s “Great Composers” book; with Ryan then saying Kid reminded him somewhat of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; going so far as to mention how Mozart was “a genius” - only for Kid to run off to the stage before Ryan could finish.

We then have a daydream where a musician known as “The Maestro”^note while not named here; it seems most likely “The Maestro” is based on Antonio Salieri, a real-life contemporary of Mozart who had been forgotten prior to the 1979 play and later 1984 movie “Amadeus” (Ryan) arrives to debut an aria he had composed; catching the attention of Mozart (Kid) - or, as all his friends call him, Wolfie; with the two greeting each other before Mozart returns to play his next number (which sounds suspiciously like “Mary Had a Little Lamb”). We also learn that - based on his taking Gloria’s character’s “You’re too modest, Wolfie” wisecrack seriously - Kid as Mozart is no better at recognizing sarcasm than Kid was in 1986; setting the stage for “A Genius”. Renee is curious to hear what the Maestro has composed, but Mozart - bragging about “if one heard the best; why bother with the rest” - drives the others off. However, the Maestro gives Mozart much-needed advice about not letting one’s ego carry him away by mentioning how one who toots his own horn soon is playing in a band of one; a word of warning which finally sinks into Mozart, and by extension Kid, leading to “In My Own Way” as the Imagine Spot ends.

Back in the present; Kid returns and asks Ryan if when he compared Kid to Mozart, he meant that in terms of talent or ego (Ryan admits the comparison was in both areas) before Kid notes he’s finally seen the point of not letting his ego run away from him; setting up closing song “(Hindsight) 20/20”. And true enough, for the remainder of Rahsaan Patterson’s tenure on Kids Incorporated; the Kid’s ego was not as big a problem as in the past.

Songs performed in this episode^note worth noting is that Kid has at least a partial lead vocal in each song:

• “King For a Day” (Thompson Twins cover; lead vocals by Kid)
• “Don’t Fight It” (Kenny Loggins cover; lead vocals by Gloria and Kid)^note Renee and Mickey had performed the song to open up “The Ghost of the P*lace” in Season 1
• “A Genius” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Kid, Renee, Stacy and Gloria)
• “In My Own Way” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Kid)^note this ended up becoming the first original song performed on a national stage outside of Kids Incorporated; as Rahsaan Patterson made a special return appearance on Star Search singing an abbreviated version of the song
• “(Hindsight) 20/20” (George Benson cover; lead vocals by Gloria, Renee and Kid)^note the song having been previously used in the Season 1 finale “Civic Day Parade”; only with Mickey joining Gloria on vocals (the song being the final one featuring vocals by Jerry Sharell before his departure); being performed on stage vs. the garage and the chorus and ending not being repeated in the 1986 version vis-a-vis the Season 1 version

Tropes associated with this episode:

• Character Development: Starting with this episode; Kid apparently starts working on getting his ego in check, as this proves to be much less of an issue for the remainder of the character’s tenure.
• Dress-Up Episode: The Imagine Spot has the kids in Renaissance-era costumes^note in fact, the same costumes that were used in "One Glass Slipper" the previous season.
• Imagine Spot: The middle of the episode falls into this category.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Ryan’s accent as the Maestro. Then again, Ryan Lambert was the only one of the kids to attempt an accent.
• Race Lift: Rahsaan Patterson (normally playing Kid) fits this by playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Imagine Spot.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Kid falls into this by missing a snarky remark by Ryan about not wanting to disappoint his audience. Kid as Mozart is no better at recognizing sarcasm via Gloria’s character’s “You’re too modest, Wolfie” crack.
• Small Name, Big Ego: As seen in his taking 3 extra bows after “Don’t Fight It” despite having a brief solo; this is the peak of this trope with Kid. Thankfully, he gets better and, as mentioned in Character Development, never lets his ego get that far out of control after this.