What is more nerve-wracking than opening night of a play? Tech week and that’s exactly the case on this week’s episode of “Rise.”
It is beginning to sound like a broken record, but hopefully this week’s delivery of “Lou, it’s not all about you” will finally stick as opening night of Spring Awakening is quickly approaching. Nobody is buying tickets for the show – which the principal loves shoving in Lou’s face – and it has everybody on edge so lets break down this week’s recap.
-Gordy is getting help and it seems like it is going really well. His group leader lets Lou and Gail know that isn’t the case, though. In fact, Gordy is just going through the motions and isn’t putting in the work. He’s putting on a show for Lou and Gail which ends up fueling Lou’s conflict at the end of the episode.
-Vanessa and Coach Sam seem to have rekindled their relationship and just when Gwen is ready to give her dad another chance, she finds out about them. This sends Gwen into her rebellious side. She decides to pierce her own nose – OUCH – she skips rehearsal and she has sex with Gordy on the beach. Oh teen angst.
-Vanessa’s relationship with Sam has her lying to Lilette who thinks that Vanessa is doing awesome lately. This causes Vanessa to want to define the relationship or at least figure out what’s going on but Sam just isn’t quite ready to take off his wedding ring and figure things out just yet.
-Maashous is always the nice guy but this episode we get to see his other side…for a split second and thankfully it doesn’t last. It seems like his mom is doing better and it’s time for him to go live with her. The only problem is that this means Maashous will most likely have to change schools. This stress causes Maashous to snap at Gail over the dryer he broke and then lied about. Maashous then gets worried he’ll be kicked out of the house but Gail reassures him that he’s part of the family and he’s not going anywhere. Maashous also withholds the information that he could be going back to live with his mom so will he fight to stay with Lou & Gail or will he give his mom a chance?
-Simon and Jeremy’s chemistry continues to boil and Simon continues to deny it. Annabelle wants to finish what they started at the Mill and Simon is all in. Jeremy learns that Simon and Annabelle are together and almost had sex so Jeremy decides to confront Simon once again. He again tries to get Simon to acknowledge their chemistry and Simon continues to deny it. Simon then comes to a realization as he’s about to finish what he started with Annabelle. He stops himself and leaves Annabelle confused and heartbroken.
-We finally know why we were introduced to Sasha in the last episode. It turns out she used to be best friends with Michael before he transitioned. Michael pushed Sasha away and now that Michael sees Sasha is in trouble, he tries to reinsert himself into her life. She’s not really having it especially when Michael almost gets in a fight with her baby daddy but by the end of the episode, the two make up.
-Robbie is not only riding the mosquito infested bench when it comes to football, but he’s also sucking as an actor. It seems he just can’t connect to any of the material except for the scenes with Lilette. Everything technical has been going wrong during technical week but Robbie’s acting is the thing that has Lou most worried. After being told his budget depends on ticket sales and that Gordy is putting on his own kind of show, Lou ends up snapping at Robbie telling him he’s not putting in the work. Lou continues his temper tantrum by snapping at Tracy. Tracy tells Lou that not only are there more kids in this play than Robbie, but also that those kids need him and have more problems than he does. It’s not always about him. Lou chooses to still storm out but re-enters the auditorium when he hears the kids rehearsing again and he sheds a tear. Because of this, it seems like Lou has finally recognized his selfish ways.
And that wraps up the big events of this week’s episode of “Rise.” I like Gwen and Gordy together but now that she’s turning rebellious, I have a feeling it’s not going to be good for Gordy’s sobriety. “Rise” has certainly not shied away from tackling important topics many which mirror the show the kids are putting on, Spring Awakening. It will be interesting to see what they do with Michael and Sasha as well as Maashous.
“Rise” airs Tuesdays at 9pm on NBC.
