While the teacher calls her out into the hall for a little chat, Dustin and
Henry discuss her - she had to repeat sixth grade, she has been in detention
18 times.
The teacher returns with Trisha, and will now partner her with Dustin because
he is the best student. He gets a call and has to take it outside - and warns
Trisha to be good. Dustin wants to work, but has trouble seeing. Trisha
doesn't see anything wrong with his eyes, and gets close so he can see her
better! She asks him to skip class with her, but Dustin says no. Trisha
responds that she likes "good boys" and writes her phone number on
his arm!
Later - Dustin, Henry, and another boy are talking about Trisha - she kisses
on the mouth! Zoey, Chase, and Nicole join them - Dustin has asked the boys
not to say anything about Trisha but Henry spills the secret immediately.
Both boys run, leaving Dustin with his sister. When Dustin tells Zoey the
name of his girlfriend, Zoey quickly leaves, dragging Chase and Nicole with
her.
A little way away - Chase and Nicole want to know what is up, and Zoey says
she knows Trisha and she is bad. Nicole recognized the name, too. Of course
- Zoey is overprotective and has a reputation for meddling after her actions
in "Defending Dustin" from the 1st season. Chase and Nicole agree that she is
kind of the queen of meddlers - so Zoey says she won't interfere. She will
get Chase to do it. Chase's nightmare begins - now!
Somewhere else on campus, Michael and Logan are discussing the new girl Lola.
We get in on the middle of the conversation, but it is clear that Lola is the
new "catch of the day"! Both boys like her, but Logan says Michael doesn't
have a chance because she has seen him! They see something stirring in a bush,
and think it is a cat. They go to try to coax it out, but it is no cat. It
is a skunk that sprays them both for their trouble! They run off shreiking.
Zoey and Chase see Dustin sitting alone, and Zoey almost forces Chase to go
talk to him about Trisha. He comes up and wants to talk man-to-man, but
Dustin has to hurry, he has a date with Trisha. Chase makes it quick - isn't
he too young to date? But Dustin thinks it's cool. Chase tries a different
tack - it will cause problems. Like being with an older girl will cause all
the girls in Dustin's class to like him. But that is something Dustin likes -
it will make him even more popular!
Chase has made even more of a mess of things, but when Zoey asks if he talked
to Dustin, he says he
did!
Michael and Logan are trying to scrub off the skunk smell. They don't know if
it worked or not, so each tries to get the other to sniff. They are mutually
repulsed at sniffing each other, but the argument is settled when another boy
walks in and immediately reacts to the skunk smell. Michael remembers
something - tomato juice is supposed to stop the smell.
Two hours later, Michael and Logan are surrounded by empty tomato juice cans.
They are lounging around almost sick - they can't drink another drop of it!
Lola comes in to borrow something - and smells the skunk odor. Logan tells
her about the skunk and how they have been drinking and drinking tomato juice
to get rid of the odor. Lola laughs at their ignorance – they aren't supposed
to drink it, they are supposed to BATHE in it!
Dustin is eating lunch alone, and Zoey, Chase, and Nicole come up to join him.
Zoey tells him they wanted to join him because they thought he might be
depressed after breaking up with Trisha. Chase beats a hasty retreat, but
Zoey follows and confronts him. The talk Chase had obviously didn't work!
Trisha comes and joins Dustin, so Chase and Zoey come back. They try to be
polite. Trisha says she was held back because of her grades, but she is going
to be a race car driver so grades don't matter. She has brought a bag of
cupcakes - not to share with everybody. She and Dustin are going to drop them
on teachers!
After they leave, Zoey tells Chase to talk to Trisha - since he didn't get it
right with Dustin.
Chase finds Trisha at a fountain. She is stealing change out of it. Chase
starts the conversation by saying that he kind of looks out for Dustin and
doesn't want to see him hurt - because of dating an older girl. Trisha is mad
and asks why can't a girlfriend be older? Chase changes tack again, and asks
her wouldn't she be happier dating an older boy? Trisha completely
misinterprets - and now
she is after Chase! She calls him her boyfriend, and
kisses him!
Zoey and Lola are playing foosball in the girls lounge when a desperate Chase
comes in - and needs to talk to Zoey NOW! The girls try to finish their game,
but Chase takes the ball. The girls make light of it and debate what you call
the ball - but Chase is desperate! Zoey asks if he talked Trisha out of dating
Dustin - oh yes, he sure did, now she is after him! Dustin bursts into the
room, ready to fight Chase over Trisha. Chase won't fight, of course, but
Dustin vows revenge. NOW - Chase wants Zoey to get him out of the mess!
Zoey is outdoors talking to Trisha. She tries to tell her that Chase isn't a
good match. What is up with Chase's bushy hair anyway? But Trisha says she
likes his hair. Now Zoey is the one trying a different angle – and all she
can come up with is that she and Chase are boyfriend and girlfriend.
Later, discussing it with
Chase, she says that Trisha didn't believe her. She
has seen them together on campus, and there is no way they are boyfriend and
girlfriend. Chase has an idea - they can pretend. Zoey agrees - and after
she leaves you can tell Chase is pleased by the prospect, even if it is only
pretend.
Logan and Michael are so desperate they have gone to Quinn. She has a spray
that will neutralize the odor - but memories of passing out at the "Little
Beach Party" and other Quinnvention fiascos make them really scared of the
spray. Quinn tries to alleviate their fears, she sprays her sleeve. Nothing
happens, so Michael and Logan agree to the treatment. Quinn sprays them all
over.
Zoey and Chase wait for Trisha after her class. They hold hands and try to
pretend. Trisha's not buying it - she wants to see them kiss! Chase secretly
wants Trisha to insist, and she does! Zoey says go ahead - and as they are
about to kiss, Dustin runs up and knocks Chase to the ground! Trisha is
impressed, and tries to get back together with Dustin - but he has had enough
of her. Dustin says "now we are even."
Zoey, Nicole, Lola, and Quinn are relaxing in the girls' room. Nicole is
shocked to see Quinn's sleeve disintegrating! Quinn figures out it must have
been the spray. Then she screams - she sprayed Logan and Michael ALL OVER
with the spray!
Michael and Logan are in the bushes, Quinn's spray has worked! They find a
janitor's closet behind them, and use some trash bags to cover up. They run
back to their room to the sound of cat-calls!
Closing words: (Trisha) "I've gotta go throw eggs at stuff."
---------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
Besides the dominant theme of the secret crush Chase has on Zoey, this episode
continues another story arc of Zoey being overprotective of her brother,
started in the first season episode "Defending Dustin." Realizing her
shortcomings, she tries to get Chase to do her dirty work this time, with
results as disastrous as her direct intervention was last time.
This episode does introduce a new element into the main story arc. Dustin is
obviously aware of Chase's crush on his sister. That is the only way his
comment "now we are even" makes any sense. Chase took away his girlfriend,
now he is taking away Chase's. The writers delicately dodge the issue of
"does Zoey know" - but if she thinks about what Dustin said, she will come to
the same conclusion.
Trisha is played by character actress Jennette McCurdy, who can express more
emotion in making a chewing gum bubble than I thought possible! Whether she
plays the little sister Navy brat of Hayden Panattiere in Tiger Cruise, or the
bad girl on Zoey, or whatever role, she always gives 100%. We don't wish
Dustin to have a "bad girl" as girlfriend, but we would sure love to see more
of this character.
Each season, they seem to feature Paul Butcher as Dustin in one episode. This
was a fine performance by him - it will be nice to see him grow up as the
series progresses.
Another new element has been added - it is now evident that Michael and Logan
have both noticed the new girl - Lola - and both like her. When you think
about it - her personality is a good match to Logan - will they end up
liking each other or fighting the way he did with Dana? This can only cause
hilarious complications in the un-aired episode "Lola Likes Chase"!
Lastly - the clothes disintegrating spray that Quinn invented. The
complications it causes
are reminiscent of the old "Get Smart" movie "The Nude
Bomb," where a weapon described by the title had similar results on the cast!