Our House
Sean seems to be on a rebellious downward spiral. Especially now that he's hanging out with resident bad boy, Jay Hogart. This episode begins with Jay and Sean getting busted by mall security for trying to steal two DVDs. When Sean gets home, his brother Tracker lectures him. He believes Jay is a bad influence on Sean and advises Sean to stop hanging out with him, but Sean resists. He believes that Jay is his friend.
The next day Tracker gets a phone call and is offered a new job in Alberta. However he has to start work immediately. That means he and Sean have to pack up and move right away. While Tracker is ecstatic at the prospect of a new job with higher pay, Sean isn't ready to leave his friends or Ellie behind. Not to mention if he leaves before finals, he'll flunk the ninth grade and have to repeat it again.
Sean's Auto-shop teacher tells him about student welfare. Sean can live on his own and receive money and aid from the government to pay for rent, bills, and food. All Sean has to do is keep up his grades in order to receive the aid. He also needs a trustee; someone to sign off on the paperwork to allow him to live alone. Sean's auto-shop teacher elects himself to sign the paperwork. He has faith in Sean and believes that Sean can handle the responsibility. Tracker is initially reluctant to leave Sean alone, but eventually he complies. However, he warns Sean that things won't work out and Sean will be knocking on his door for help in no time, but Sean ignores him.
The next day at school Sean tells Ellie and his friends the good news and they celebrate by having a party. Unfortunately the party lasts for several nights, and soon Sean's house turns into party central. Jay invites dozens of strangers to Sean's house, where the non-stop partying interfere's with Sean's studying. Not to mention Amy is constantly hanging around at these parties trying to make a move on Sean and get back together with him, despite his new relationship with Ellie. Sean's new lifestyle is taking a toll on him. He finds himself falling asleep in school, showing up late to class, and slacking on his school work because of all the late night parties. Sean's auto-shop teacher begins to wonder if maybe it was a mistake to volunteer to be Sean's trustee.
That night during another party at Sean's house, Amy shows up completely wasted. When she sees how happy Sean is with Ellie and realizes she has no chance of winning him back, she drinks herself into a stupor until she is so drunk that she passes out. She gets alcohol poisoning and Sean has to call the medics to come help her. The party is immediately put to a hault when the medics show up. Jay wants to keep the party going; as he sees it "These things happen at parties" and it's no big deal. But Sean puts a stop to the partying and tells everyone to go home.
The next day at school Sean tells his auto-shop teacher what happened. The teacher is unhappy when he hears the news and decides not to sign Sean's paperwork. However Sean assures him that the partying is over. He promises that he will work hard, concentrate on school, and be more responsible. After some persuasion, his auto-shop teacher eventually agrees to sign his paperwork. The episode ends with Sean going into the auto-body room to work on a project for class.
In the sub-plot, Liberty plays matchmaker and tries to convince JT to ask Manny to the dance. However with Manny's promiscuous reputation around school, JT wonders if he should date Manny at all.
This is a great episode. We see some character development for Sean here. Sean is someone who has faced a lot of setbacks and obstacles in life. And he doesn't always deal with those setbacks in the best ways. Sean's shortcomings often lead him to engage in self destructive behavior and make foolish choices. His friendship with Jay has also been a negative influence on his life. However with Tracker leaving Sean to fend for himself, Sean quickly realizes that he has to grow up, mature, and become responsible if he wants to take care of himself. When one of his parties gets out of hand, Sean mans up and calls the whole party off. He stands up to Jay for the first time, and he doesn't succumb to Jay's peer pressure anymore. We see a lot of growth in Sean's character here. What's more, at the end of the episode Sean does the right thing by telling his trustee about the party, and taking responsibilty for his part in all of it. The episode ends with Sean working on a project for school, showing us that he's chosen to do the responsible thing and focus on his school work.
In the sub-plot Manny is still dealing with the consequences of her actions this season. Her reputation suffers and her name is sullied after fooling around with Craig. Unfortunately now even her friends are trreating her differently. Even JT is hesitant to pursue anything romantic with her, especially after Spinner tells him that she's a "slut" and an "easy lay". It's sad to see Manny undergo so much ridicule. She made a mistake with Craig, but she never meant to hurt anyone. She loved Craig and believed he felt the same. What's more is that Craig's reputation isn't suffering a bit. As Manny points out this episode "He's the one who cheated on his girlfriend, but no one seems to be talking about that". Talk about double standards eh?
Overall a great episode with wonderful character development.
Grade: A
The next day Tracker gets a phone call and is offered a new job in Alberta. However he has to start work immediately. That means he and Sean have to pack up and move right away. While Tracker is ecstatic at the prospect of a new job with higher pay, Sean isn't ready to leave his friends or Ellie behind. Not to mention if he leaves before finals, he'll flunk the ninth grade and have to repeat it again.
Sean's Auto-shop teacher tells him about student welfare. Sean can live on his own and receive money and aid from the government to pay for rent, bills, and food. All Sean has to do is keep up his grades in order to receive the aid. He also needs a trustee; someone to sign off on the paperwork to allow him to live alone. Sean's auto-shop teacher elects himself to sign the paperwork. He has faith in Sean and believes that Sean can handle the responsibility. Tracker is initially reluctant to leave Sean alone, but eventually he complies. However, he warns Sean that things won't work out and Sean will be knocking on his door for help in no time, but Sean ignores him.
The next day at school Sean tells Ellie and his friends the good news and they celebrate by having a party. Unfortunately the party lasts for several nights, and soon Sean's house turns into party central. Jay invites dozens of strangers to Sean's house, where the non-stop partying interfere's with Sean's studying. Not to mention Amy is constantly hanging around at these parties trying to make a move on Sean and get back together with him, despite his new relationship with Ellie. Sean's new lifestyle is taking a toll on him. He finds himself falling asleep in school, showing up late to class, and slacking on his school work because of all the late night parties. Sean's auto-shop teacher begins to wonder if maybe it was a mistake to volunteer to be Sean's trustee.
That night during another party at Sean's house, Amy shows up completely wasted. When she sees how happy Sean is with Ellie and realizes she has no chance of winning him back, she drinks herself into a stupor until she is so drunk that she passes out. She gets alcohol poisoning and Sean has to call the medics to come help her. The party is immediately put to a hault when the medics show up. Jay wants to keep the party going; as he sees it "These things happen at parties" and it's no big deal. But Sean puts a stop to the partying and tells everyone to go home.
The next day at school Sean tells his auto-shop teacher what happened. The teacher is unhappy when he hears the news and decides not to sign Sean's paperwork. However Sean assures him that the partying is over. He promises that he will work hard, concentrate on school, and be more responsible. After some persuasion, his auto-shop teacher eventually agrees to sign his paperwork. The episode ends with Sean going into the auto-body room to work on a project for class.
In the sub-plot, Liberty plays matchmaker and tries to convince JT to ask Manny to the dance. However with Manny's promiscuous reputation around school, JT wonders if he should date Manny at all.
This is a great episode. We see some character development for Sean here. Sean is someone who has faced a lot of setbacks and obstacles in life. And he doesn't always deal with those setbacks in the best ways. Sean's shortcomings often lead him to engage in self destructive behavior and make foolish choices. His friendship with Jay has also been a negative influence on his life. However with Tracker leaving Sean to fend for himself, Sean quickly realizes that he has to grow up, mature, and become responsible if he wants to take care of himself. When one of his parties gets out of hand, Sean mans up and calls the whole party off. He stands up to Jay for the first time, and he doesn't succumb to Jay's peer pressure anymore. We see a lot of growth in Sean's character here. What's more, at the end of the episode Sean does the right thing by telling his trustee about the party, and taking responsibilty for his part in all of it. The episode ends with Sean working on a project for school, showing us that he's chosen to do the responsible thing and focus on his school work.
In the sub-plot Manny is still dealing with the consequences of her actions this season. Her reputation suffers and her name is sullied after fooling around with Craig. Unfortunately now even her friends are trreating her differently. Even JT is hesitant to pursue anything romantic with her, especially after Spinner tells him that she's a "slut" and an "easy lay". It's sad to see Manny undergo so much ridicule. She made a mistake with Craig, but she never meant to hurt anyone. She loved Craig and believed he felt the same. What's more is that Craig's reputation isn't suffering a bit. As Manny points out this episode "He's the one who cheated on his girlfriend, but no one seems to be talking about that". Talk about double standards eh?
Overall a great episode with wonderful character development.
Grade: A