Airdate: June 22nd, 2005
Jen's older sister, Courtney, is coming home from college for spring break instead of going skiing with her friends like she normally does—Jen isn't happy to see her sister (who's a Cool Big Sis to everyone but her actual sister) and she only becomes more unhappy when her friends end up ditching her for Courtney (instead of Courtney hanging out with people her own age).
But in the end, the rest of the gang realizes that Courtney's nowhere near as cool as they thought she was (and they feel bad for how they treated Jen) and Jen discovers the real reason why her sister came home for spring break...
Tropes:
- Broken Pedestal: The gang is quick to ditch Jen for her sister and are also quick to take part in making fun of Jen when Courtney reveals some personal/embarrassing stories about her—but once the rest of the main six finally realizes just how cruel Courtney (even to a member of her own family), any and all respect and admiration that they previously had for her is instantly gone.
- Fan Disservice: Ron at one point took a photo only in a thong. Courtney finds it, and when she and Jen bring it to Ron to blackmail him into releasing the gang, everybody in the gang except Jude look visibly sickened upon seeing it.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Courtney and Jen, respectively—Courtney eventually tells her sister that this is part of the reason why she feels that Jen's the true favorite of their family, even claiming that their parents want Courtney to be more like Jen (i.e., they want Courtney to be more mature/responsible/hard-working).
- Hollywood Law: Averted. Ron admits he has no legal authority to hold the gang until the police actually arrive and takes joy that he can torment them for a while.
- Informed Attractiveness:
- Courtney's considered to be the "hot sister" between her and Jen—while she certainly is very pretty, so are most of the other female characters on the show, including Jen herself. In fact, Jen and Courtney really don't look that different from each other—the only real physical differences between them are Courtney has noticeably larger breasts and her hair is a brighter/more vibrant shade of rednote . And though Courtney does look noticeably taller than Jen, that's mostly because she wears heels.
- Also, when it comes to their taste in fashion, Courtney dresses in a much flashier/more provocative way (and also wears a lot more makeup) while Jen dresses in a more conservative/tomboyish and sportier way (and also doesn't wear nearly as much makeup as her sister does).
- Mutual Envy:
- Jen's always been jealous of Courtney, who was always seen as the more fun/glamorous/popular sister and claims that all their parents ever do is talk about how they proud they are of Courtney and her various accomplishments (like going to college, winning a beauty pageant, etc.).
- Courtney eventually confesses that she's always been (secretly) jealous of Jen and argues that she's the one that their parents are actually proud of. When Jen expresses confusion at this, Courtney elaborates by pointing out how, despite not being the oldest, Jen's always been the more mature/responsible/hard-working one and, on top of all that, Jen has genuine friends who will ultimately stick by her no matter what.
- Noodle Incident: Courtney ultimately reveals to her sister that the real reason she came home for spring break was because she got kicked out of school—it's never explained why Courtney was kicked out of her university, though Jen figures it must've been due to flunking her classes.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Pretty glaringly done in this episode. The gang blatantly creates false identities, enter a club only for adults, and when Ron seizes them, Jen and Courtney resort to blackmail to get them out.
- Smug Snake: After Jen and Courtney blackmail Ron into letting the gang go, they calmly leave out of the cell with smiles on their faces. Wyatt straight up admits at the end of the episode that Ron probably won't harass the gang for a while due to the photo.
- The Reveal: While Jen's dragging her sister along with her to help get the rest of the main six out of the mall jail and is lecturing her on what being an actual friend really means, Courtney snaps and claims, "Listen to you! Always Mom and Dad's 'Little Star.'" This surprises Jen, who claims that all their parents ever do is talk about how proud they are of Courtney, but then Courtney bluntly states, "That's all about to change" and ultimately reveals that the real reason she came home for spring break (instead of going skiing with her friends like she usually did) is because she got kicked out of school.
- Title Drop: When claiming that all their parents ever do is talk about how proud they are of Courtney, Jen says, "It's always 'Courtney, Courtney, Courtney...'"
- The Unfavorite: How Jen initially saw herself compared to her sister, until it leads to Mutual Envy above.
