LRF NOW Original Series: American High School - Season 1 Episode 8

 

American High School
Genre: Teen/Comedy/Romance  
Executive Producer: Richard Linklater
Writer: Chad Taylor


Season 1 Episode 8 - The Day Trip

Cast:
Cooper Hoffman .... Buzz Gentrie (Regular)
Judy Greer .... Helen Gentrie (Regular)
Shea Whigham .... Vern Gentrie (Regular)
Sydney Park .... Gwen Johnson (Regular)
Mitchell Hoog .... Dennis Christy (Regular)
Sung Kang .... Sung-min (Regular)
Morris Chestnut .... Reese Johnson (Recurring)
Maddie Ziegler .... Jane Christy (Recurring)
Odessa Young .... Francine (Recurring)
Minka Kelly .... Cheryl Christy (Recurring)

Plot: Weeks have passed and Gwen’s (Sydney Park) band has been coming along nicely. But they realize need a drummer. Simultaneously, Sung-min (Sung Kang) has also been benefitting from the English lessons. Francine (Odessa Young) asks if Sung-min could just join so Dennis (Mitchell Hoog) can learn drums but he laughs and says he can’t be in a band with his 16-year-old students.

Helen (Judy Greer) and Cheryl (Minka Kelly) have decided to join in on the day trip to Seoul along with their kids, Gwen, and Francine. Jane (Maddie Ziegler) will be tagging along as well. Buzz (Cooper Hoffman) sees this as the perfect opportunity to ask her to the school dance. Little does he know that he’s going to be asked an important question himself. Gwen had decided she is going to ask Buzz again about joining the band on the trip.

At Camp Stevenson headquarters, Vern (Shea Whigham) holds a meeting with his staff after having been in touch recently with the Pentagon. They are pleased with how things are going and apparently plans are in the works for President Eisenhower to visit in the coming weeks to meet with South Korean officials and celebrate the anniversary of the base. They also discuss NASA’s recent revealing of the Mercury 7, meaning space travel is coming closer to reality and what that might mean for them.

Vern asks Reese (Morris Chestnut) if they can talk individually afterwards. He says that he’s been hearing complaints about some of Sgt. Christy’s recent behavior. Reese nods, saying he and Christy rarely see eye-to-eye and he feels it has something to do with his race given Phil’s proclivity to racially insensitive remarks. Vern instructs Reese to come to him directly next time something comes up. Reese says he needs to be going, he’s actually got a date to get to. Vern is surprised to hear this and asks if it is someone on base. Reese shakes his head and said it’s a local woman. Vern happily shakes his luitenant’s hand and wishes him luck.

Helen, Cheryl, Sung-Min and the teens travel to Seoul on the weekend. They make plans on going to a sporting event, various landmarks, and Sung-min’s favorite restaurant. He talks a bit about the city’s history and mentions that it was not long ago that it was devastated by war. Cheryl asks if he fought in the war and he says he’d prefer not to talk about it.

The trip is a total blast. This is the most any of the Americans have immersed themselves in Korean culture since coming here. At the restaurant, everyone is getting along well. At the table of adults, they are drinking some cocktails and socializing. Cheryl and Sung-min seem to click really well. A new Elvis song comes on the radio and that brings up the topic of Elvis’s enlistment in the Army. Sung-min says it seems kind of cool to him but Helen aligns with her husband’s point-of-view that it is all one big publicity stunt. She then mentions her belief that rock music is stunting the growth of this young generation.

At the other table, Buzz prepares to pull Jane aside to ask her to the dance, Gwen intercepts him. She says she has an important question to ask. He gets nervous and says that if this is about the school dance… She makes a face and says what about the school dance. She’s already got plans with Dennis. He apologizes and says that he idiotically assumed she was going to ask him just now. Instead, she asks if he wants to learn drums and complete their as-yet unnamed band so they can perform a song at the dance. He said he’d love to but insists that his parents won’t let him, especially on a stage like that in front of people from the base. She says she understands.

When Buzz finally asks Jane about going to the dance, she thanks him but says that she’s already been asked by someone else. A senior. It’s his turn to say he understands. Gwen sees this from afar and feels bad for Buzz.

End Credits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-unOfZiTM_0