American High School
Genre: Teen/Comedy/Romance
Executive Producer: Richard Linklater
Writer: Chad Taylor
Season 1 Episode 4 - The Crush
Cast:
Cooper Hoffman .... Buzz Gentrie (Regular)
Shea Whigham .... Vern Gentrie (Regular)
Mitchell Hoog .... Dennis Christy (Regular)
Sung Kang .... Sung-min (Regular)
Sydney Park .... Gwen Johnson (Regular)
Maddie Ziegler .... Jane Christy (Recurring)
Morris Chestnut .... Reese Johnson (Recurring)
Minka Kelly .... Cheryl Christy (Recurring)
Brian Geraghty .... Phil Christy (Recurring)
Plot: The school year is a month underway and Buzz (Cooper Hoffman) is getting to find his comfort zone. However, Dennis (Mitchell Hoog) has convinced him to try out for the track & field team. Buzz was right about his first instincts as his physical abilities aren’t great and he looks like a fool at the tryouts. Watching on, some of the other more athletic classmates snicker at him while Dennis bites his tongue.
In Korean class, Sung-min (Steven Yeun) has quickly discovered that Gwen (Sydney Park) is excelling given her Korean ancestry. As such, he pulls her aside and asks if her if she can help a student who has been struggling. She says sure and he reveals that it’s her classmate Dennis. She gives a fake smile and says that might be a little tough. Sung-min says he knows and that’s why he asked his best student. They get to talking about what Gwen wants to do when she grows up and she admits she doesn’t know. He promises her that there is still plenty of time to figure it out.
At base headquarters, Reese (Morris Chestnut) is in Vern’s (Shea Whigham) office as they watch Nikita Kruschev — head of the Soviet Union — make a threat to all Western leaders to remove their forces from Berlin. They discuss what this escalation in Europe might mean for them and decide that they are in the clear for now but should be on alert if anything similar occurs with North Korea. The news then cuts to images of protests at North Little Rock High School about the school’s integration a few earlier. Vern feels obligated to awkwardly approach the topic of segregation by asking Reese his thoughts on it. Their conversation is interrupted by Sgt. Phil Christy (Brian Geraghty), a lower-ranked official under Reese’s supervision, who asks what they’re talking about. Reese changes the subject, indicating he’d rather not talk about it in front of Phil.
At the end of the school day, Dennis (Mitchell Hoog) invites Buzz on a trip into the city with his family for dinner. He meets Dennis’s parents, Phil and Cheryl (Minka Kelly) Christy. They are rather opposite in demeanor, Phil being boisterous and Cheryl more quiet and sweet. Buzz can definitely see some of Cheryl in Jane (Maddie Ziegler), Buzz’s older sister. They take the bus into the city and Buzz is the last one on so he has to take a seat next to Jane. They’ve never formally talked before given the grade gap and Buzz thinks to himself what he should say. He introduces himself as Buzz, a friend of Dennis’s. Jane’s first response is to ask what his real name is. He tries to think of cool name but ends up revealing it is Bernard. She asks if he was named after anyone and he says his grandpa. She says that’s sweet. The conversation ends there but Buzz is pleased with how it went.
Cut to the five of them sitting at a restaurant. It is slowly revealed that this is not just any restaurants: it’s an American-owned one with burgers, shakes, and steaks. Cheryl inquires about Buzz’s family and is impressed to learn he is the son of the base’s commanding general. Jane, meanwhile, can’t seem to hide her embarrassment, mumbling to Buzz that they’re in South Korea and her parents’ first choice was an American restaurant. Buzz laughs but he doesn’t seem to mind, as long as he’s fitting in. Dennis notices the two of them and interrupts to say he heard some of his older teammates at the basketball tryouts talking about her and Peter McMichael being an item. Jane doesn’t respond initially but Cheryl is curious so she asks about this McMichael boy. Dennis says that he is one of the most popular Senior boys. And a fellow Californian. Jane, a bit flustered and a bit flattered, says they’re not a thing but Cheryl tells her daughter that he sounds like a nice boy.
On the bus ride home, all three teens have a different look on their face as they did on the ride in. Buzz looks a bit bummed. Dennis looked conflicted. Jane nervously happy, biting her lip.
End credits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3mfPDSbl-4
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