Midway through Season 5, Kids Incorporated had their first election-themed episode centering on Richie. This time, the candidate in question is newcomer Jared; but he’s in the race for the wrong reasons…and facing a familiar challenger in Becky Devlin (guest star Natasha Pearce).
We start things off with a performance of “Can’t Stop the Bum Rush” (with Kenny having returned to the turntables). We then see Jared talking with Flip, who informs him that the school elections are coming up; resulting in Jared considering running as a way to meet new people. Meanwhile; a much more confident Becky Devlin arrives at the P*lace to announce to the others (returning band members Kenny, Ana and Haylie plus Jared’s fellow newcomer Nicole) that she is launching her own candidacy for class president, with her main issue cleaning up the school - with Haylie being quick to notice how far Becky’s come in overcoming her shyness. It’s at this point that Jared makes it official that he’s running for class president - to the shock of his fellow bandmates (“Tell Him”). Jared continues to insist on running despite Kenny questioning if getting to know people was a good enough reason by itself…and that they were committed to supporting Becky due to their friendship with her.
Jared’s campaign gets off to a rocky start, with Jared promising a girl named Susie a song dedication for a vote (though he forgets her name…and proceeds to bribe…er, promise song dedications for votes to 2 other girls) as his campaign seems to be exclusively targeting girls; causing Nicole to point out the others are waiting for specifics…preferably not involving song dedications (“I’m So Cool”). Eventually; Kenny confronts Jared on the fact he had yet to give any specifics (though Jared digs in and tries to be “all things to all students”). Jared has apparently also blown off all invitations for a debate. Kenny wasn’t the only one to notice Jared’s arrogance, as Becky shows up to challenge him to a debate…in the school auditorium…in 30 minutes (“Who Do You Love?”).
We finally get to the debate between Jared (who despite Kenny’s earlier comments appears to be his campaign manager) and Becky (with Haylie serving as campaign manager); and when Becky presses Jared on what his plans are, only for Jared to answer with being simply for “whatever the people want”. Finally, Jared delivers his closing speech; promising specifics before shocking everyone by dropping out and endorsing Becky (when Ana notes Jared may yet have a future in politics; Jared remembers he promised song dedications to 20 girls). The victorious Becky then offers Jared a position, and he briefly considers a last-minute run for vice-president before the others dissuade him, setting up “Rock House”.
This episode has fewer new cast members than previous seasons, with only Jared Delgin and Nicole Brown joining; while the dancer lineup remains identical to the previous season.
Songs performed in this episode:
- “Can’t Stop the Bum Rush” (Kris Kross cover; lead vocals by Jared and Kenny)
- “Tell Him” (The Exciters covernote ; lead vocals by Ana, Nicole, Kenny and Haylie)note
- “I’m So Cool” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Jared)
- “Who Do You Love” (Bo Diddley cover; lead vocals by Jared and Becky)
- “Rock House” (Paula Abdul cover; lead vocals by Jared, Haylie and Nicole)
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Character Development: Clearly shyness is no longer a problem for Becky Devlin given her willingness to run for class president.
- Election Day Episode: Second of two in the series, following Season 5’s “Richie for President”.
- "I Am" Song: “I’m So Cool”.
- Welcome Episode: For newcomers Jared Delgin and Nicole Brown.
