There are occasions when I think that I – as a 30 year old – am not really the target audience for Hellcats. Unlike some of my other favourite CW shows, such as Supernatural, Vampire Diaries and Nikita, Hellcats seems to be skewed towards a younger audience. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s honestly just a bit tamer and less risqué than a lot of the other shows I watch.
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. The routines and gymnastic ability of the cast always leave me envious that I will never, in a million years, be able to move like that. And when the storyline ventures into slightly more adult territory – especially regarding relationships – it appeals to me more.
The CW sent me an advance copy of tonight’s new episode “Back of a Car”. I’ve tried to make every effort not to make this review too spoilery and to avoid telling you about some developments that occur in the episode (although I do provide a few hints).
The Hellcats are preparing for their annual Spirit Party and, since it’s the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Hellcats in 1985, the squad has chosen an 80s theme party this year. And let me tell you, the whole party is pretty awesome looking. The costumes, the wigs, the spandex...it all makes me laugh and smile (and sometimes grimace, because 80s fashion, looking back on it now, was kind of ridiculous). Two song and dance numbers are performed during the party. The first is “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Gos, and this is lead by Savannah, Marti and Vanessa. It’s a great dance routine that’s full of energy and I actually wished it had lasted longer than it did. Then Vanessa (Sharon Leal) performed “Tempted by the Fruit of Another”. Leal’s voice isn’t as a strong as Aly Mickalka, but she’s a pretty decent singer.
The party, though, is really the culmination of the multiple storylines throughout this episode. One centers around Alice and her quarterback boyfriend, Jake. When Alice is humiliated and given a dressing down by an assistant football coach, and Jake doesn’t defend her, she takes matters into her own hands to get revenge. When Alice plays the bitch in order to stand up for what’s right I actually like her character a lot, because she’s one of the strongest on the show. When she’s acting whiney and self-entitled, though, that strength turns into something else. I’m happy to say that I loved her scheming in this episode.
Meanwhile, Marti, Lewis, Savannah and Dan are all working themselves into a pretty complicated love quadrangle. Savannah wants to pull a Brenda Walsh from the original 90210, and finally decides to sleep with Dan after the dance. But before that happens, we have to deal with the fact that Marti and Dan obviously has a long and close history. How “close”? Well, let’s just say that a revelation by Marti leaves things very uncomfortable for everyone and an off-handed comment by Dan at the very end (I won’t spoil it for you), will lead to many complications in these relationships.
While the first half of the episode left me wanting it to move along more quickly, I liked the second half, marked by the party. That’s when all of the relationship business took center stage and the actors were forced to act more grown-up. A particularly tense scene between Dan and Marti near the end was probably one of the best of this season so far.
The only part of the episode that bothered me – and, frankly, the only part of the series that puts me off – is Marti working to prove the innocence of prisoner Travis. I think this is because I was a law student too, and while my classmates working in our school’s community legal clinic, none of them went rogue or even worked with professors on cases of this magnitude. My lawyer hackles are raised by the fact that it’s completely implausible for a pre-law student to be trying to prove the innocence of this man. How will she do it? Is she following procedure regarding the collection of evidence? On the other hand, maybe I’m putting too much thought into the entire situation and I need to lighten up. A lot of law shows themselves aren’t that accurate. All technicalities aside, this whole situation seems out of place in this more light-hearted show. But an interesting development occurs at the end that piques my interest in that particular storyline.
In the end, the development between the various characters – and the many revelations that came about – made me like this episode. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but this is a pretty important episode regarding the various characters’ relationships. If you’re a Hellcats fan, you shouldn’t miss it. You also heard that Hellcats got a full-season order from The CW, right?
You can view promo photos for this episode that we previously posted. Below is a trailer and a sneak peek.
clarissa @ tvovermind.com
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