Original air date: March 13, 2022
Written by: Carrie Clifford
Directed by: Mario D'Anna
Directed by: Mario D'Anna
Lone Moose School is putting on a musical based on The Perfect Storm called The Ideal Hurricane, and Judy auditions to be the female lead and hopes to reconnect with Steven Huang, who's currently dating Chrissy, but when the school guidance counselor, Ms. McNarama, takes over as the director, she instead casts Chrissy as the female lead and Judy as her understudy and a bar stool. Moon tries to convince his family he's ready to stay home alone for the very first time after learning he's the only one among his friends who hasn't done that yet.
Tropes:
- Adults Are Useless: Ms. McNarama is a lousy guidance counselor and play director. Despite Judy's experience in musicals and Chrissy not being a good singer, McNarama casts Chrissy as the female lead and Judy as Chrissy's understudy and a bar stool because she wants to help Chrissy get out of her comfort zone and have a chance to shine, despite Chrissy's protest that she can't sing and never wanted the lead role, and thinks Judy is an Attention Whore who talks too much. Her attempts at helping Chrissy only makes both of the girls miserable and humiliated. Amelia, Judy, and Chrissy thinks she's a lousy guidance counselor.
- Attention Whore: Ms. McNarama doesn't say this to Judy's face but Chrissy is told by her that she thinks Judy is this but Chrissy doesn't believe it. Judy admits she likes getting attention from musicals but not for the sake of getting attention but because she's good at musicals.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Not that she hides it very well, but you'd think that being a guidance counselor would make Ms. McNarama kind and understanding to the students, but no. Instead, she gives Judy two humiliating roles seemingly just because she personally doesn't like Judy while forcing Chrissy to take the female lead even though Chrissy is unable to sing and is deeply uncomfortable with the part. If that weren't enough, she bad mouths Judy to Chrissy in private.
- BSoD Song: Alanis Morissette asks what's wrong with Judy, Judy sings "An Exemplary Typhoon", where she sings her frustration about how she wasn't cast as the female lead and is instead cast as a bar stool, her dad gets to say one line in the play, and Ms. McNarama moves Judy to the pit so she can sing Chrissy's lines while Chrissy lip syncs it.
- Cast the Expert: In-universe. Ms. McNarama likes how Beef said "It could be dangerous", so she casts him as a fisherman in the play so he can say that one line and it would be nice to have a actual fisherman in the show.
- Chekhov's Skill: During the first rehearsal, Judy is watching the other actors rehearse while she mouths their lines. On the day of the musical, when the cast learns that Steven and his understudy, Fred, are both injured and are unable to perform in the musical, Judy reveals she memorized all of the actors' lines and can take Steven's place as the male lead.
- Couch Gag: The boat in the opening is "Yacht Without My Daughter".
- Epic Fail:
- When Moon stays home by himself for the first time, he gets caught in one of his own traps and spends the rest of the night inside a net and is freed when his family comes home.
- According to Beef, Ham's first time alone at home was equally disastrous. They found him trapped in the fold out couch pretending to be a remote control.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: During the audition, several students sang badly, with the exception of Quay, Steven, and Judy, but the biggest standout is Chrissy, who Ms. McNarama cast as the female lead despite Chrissy pointing out she can't sing, and she doesn't even want the role.
- Karma Houdini: Ms. McNamara faces no consequences for saying terrible things about Judy and putting Chrissy in a role that makes her feel uncomfortable.
- Kick the Dog: When it's clear that Chrissy can't sing on stage and she doesn't want the female lead role, the reasonable thing for Ms. McNamara to do is have Judy replace her since she's her understudy; but instead she decides to have Judy sing Chrissy's lines from the pit and have Chrissy lip sync it on stage. She even tells Judy to wear a hat when she's in the pit because people tend to throw their gum down there.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Both Judy and Gill will be stools in the musical. When the cast list is read, Gill says "Be stool, my heart!" Judy disapproves of the pun, but nevertheless makes a similarly bad pun later on: with a week to go before opening night, she sighs "I'm stool here".
- Mutual Envy: Judy is jealous of Steven Huang's new girlfriend, Chrissy, because she's snags the lead role in the musical even though she's not good at singing or acting and because Judy had been hoping to win Steven back. At the end of the episode, Chrissy reveals she's jealous of Judy because Judy is actually good at being in theater and Chrissy is worried Steven will see how talented Judy is and get back together with her instead.
- Playing a Tree: Some of the students, including Judy, are made to play stools in the play. Ms. McNamara's reason for having Judy as a stool is she thinks she's an attention hog who talks too much.
- The Show Must Go On: When Ms. McNamara plans on cancelling the play after Steven and his understudy are unable to perform tonight, Judy reveals she memorized everyone's lines and can take Steven's spot. When McNamara points out that she's supposed to be singing Chrissy's parts from the pit since she can't sing, Judy plans are doing both by turning for head away from the audience and changing her voice when it gets to Chrissy's part. Everyone agrees to Judy's plan and McNamara reluctantly continues the play.
- Solo Duet: Ms. McNamara originally had Judy sing for Chrissy while she lip syncs it, but when Steven and his understudy are unable to perform, Judy decides to take Steven's role on stage and would sing Chrissy's lines by turning her head away from the audience and changing her voice.
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: During the audition, several students (Gill, Amelia, Kima, Debbie, and Chrissy) sing badly for their roles, a few of them sing well (Quay, Steven, and Judy), Bethany plays dead on the stage and only wants to play one of the characters that dies, and Drama John tells everyone that he's not auditioning for a role and declaring to everyone that he's going to be the stage manager, despite Ms. McNamara telling him he already told her that and he didn't need to come on stage to tell everyone that.
- Writing Around Trademarks: While the musical is based on The Perfect Storm, they call it The Ideal Hurricane for obvious reasons.
Judy: ♫ You can step on a stool to reach something way up high ♫
Gill: ♫ Like a book or a trophy or even the sky ♫
Judy: ♫ Sometimes you just don't want to kneel ♫
Gill: ♫ Like when you have to milk a cow or work on a pottery wheel ♫
Judy & Gill:
♫ You probably didn't learn this in school
But America loves stools
Stools can be shaped as circles or even squares
They're much more useful than lame old chairs ♫
Judy:
♫ It's seating for one person and that is all
No room for anyone else, not even a doll ♫
Judy & Gill:
♫ You probably didn't learn this in school
But America loves stools! ♫
Gill: ♫ Like a book or a trophy or even the sky ♫
Judy: ♫ Sometimes you just don't want to kneel ♫
Gill: ♫ Like when you have to milk a cow or work on a pottery wheel ♫
Judy & Gill:
♫ You probably didn't learn this in school
But America loves stools
Stools can be shaped as circles or even squares
They're much more useful than lame old chairs ♫
Judy:
♫ It's seating for one person and that is all
No room for anyone else, not even a doll ♫
Judy & Gill:
♫ You probably didn't learn this in school
But America loves stools! ♫
