Bunheads Recap (Season 2, Episode 8: Winter Finale) (S1, E16)

From Bell, Book, and Candle (1958, Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak) - the movie
the Mel and Sasha were watching during the sleepover. In the film (about
using magic to keep a guy) the ca'ts name is Pyewacket -- love it!

When last we left Paradise… Roman became Sasha’s hero after she feared a break in at her apartment and he camesto her rescue, using her Pretty Pony umbrella to defend against unknown (and, thankfully, nonexistent) burglars.  Michelle’s bestie Talia arrived in town to prepare for her beachside wedding to Rick and asked Truly to be her maid of honor. In the midst of all of that, a nearby fire caused the evacuation of Paradise and left much of our treasured cast sheltering in the dance studio. While there, Talia’s wedding was delayed by all manner of set-backs, Dez admitted he always envisioned he and Mel becoming a couple, and Cozette caught Ginny inhaling the fragrance of Frankie’s jacket.While Michelle was trying to figure out who belonged to the condom she found in the locker room, Millie saved Talia’s wedding from disaster by having her helicopter pick up Rick. None of the bunheads claimed the condom, the fire was contained, Ginny made plans to take drawing lessons from Frankie, and Godot-the-firefighter arrived at the dance studio looking hot (big pun), setting up the perfect tease for this week’s finale… what will Michelle do with that condom and that fireman???

This week…

Michelle wakes beside Godot, snaps a pic on her phone as evidence? a memento? but she looks happy. This is not just one night of fun, this is the beginnings of a relationship.

Fanny saunters down the stairs to find Michelle’s brother Scotty asleep on her couch. She wants to know where he came from. Scotty immediately dimes out Michelle, saying she told him where to find Fanny’s key. Demanding answers to who was broken into her house like Robert Downey, Jr. (who broke into a neighbor's home in 1996 and crashed on one of the beds), Fanny storms in on Michelle, catching her in bed with Godot.  

Fanny's return to the studio is cause for celebration among the dancers. Truly happily announces her shop has gone out of business - as only Truly can - and she will be fixing costumes. Michelle joins Fanny’s dance class, while Scotty pitches in around the property in exchange for crashing at Fanny’s.

Roman arrives at the dance studio with an envelope for Sasha. Within the envelope is a list of Roman’s previous sexual experiences. Sasha got this idea from Anna Karenina, where in Russian society a man would show a woman his diary so she would know of his past intimate relationships. Roman claims the only Russian literature he's read is Pussy Riots' liner notes.

At last, the epic sleepover at Sasha’s, where there is no Jiffy Pop (amusing stovetop popcorn. really? they don't make that anymore? shame). Sasha shares the letter from Roman accounting of all his intimate experiences, declaring it likely 60-65% true. Carl had the same assignment and turned in a comic book. This worries Sasha and she believes it should worry Boo. Seems she feels the things a guy has done in his past affects the girl in his present. Hmm. Must give that some thought...

(Side note: Seriously, can Sasha please come cook for me? I’d love some pot roast, popovers and pie.)

Sasha believes Boo and she should begin having sex with their boyfriends now. This seems to be some plan to make sure their boyfriends stay interested/devoted as the year progresses. 

“We’ve got potential spinster buddy comedy written all over our faces” (Mel about she and Ginny)

All girls begin researching sex. Boo reads Judy Blume's Forever (but sets it aside in favor of The Hobbit). Cozette gives them a copy of Our Bodies Ourselves. Sasha goes a little crazy with the baking, keeping the girls supplied with muffins as they research. The learning-about-sex-from-books montage ends with an amusing/telling image of the girls studying condom choices.

Elsewhere in town, there’s been a delay in the construction of the amphitheater; Millie fired the contractor. Fanny is willing to let that one slide but wants Millie to help Truly recover from the loss of Sparkles. Millie appears impervious to the idea of setting Millie up in a new shop.

Background to all of this, Michelle has been dancing again. Sasha tracks her down in the studio to ask Michelle if she would talk to her about sex. Not the mechanics of it, that she got from books, but the rest of it. They make an appointment for Sunday at 5... or Monday at 4.

Michelle needs Saturday off - makes up a story for fanny (“I’m a mule for the cartel. Saturday is my shift.”), but pretty sure she’s going on an audition. Jordan takes her class - so the bunheads ditch (wise girls) and witness Michelle driving off with a bunch of bags in her car. Or trying to. She’s either stymied by the manual transmission or showing her doubt with her brake lights. The bunheads pursue. (Great line from Sasha: “Thelma, Louise, Louise it’s time for a road trip.”)

Michelle goes to a big building somewhere (is that her Vegas bag she's carrying?) - and signs in for her audition. She is one of eight million dancers lined up for the audition. She has cleverly brought a book with her (Where’d You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple) to read while she waits. The bunheads spy her sitting and reading there at the end of the line. Staying in research mode, Mel uses her smartphone to learn the audition is an open call for a show based on the film Dark Victory (1939, Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart). Reading aloud from the phone, Ginny gives the whole story summary. This scene really highlights how adept the cast has become at wrangling the rapid-fire dialogue. Well done.

The bunheads sneak into the church to watch the audition (in the school gymnasium, presumably). Ginny is shocked as the guy in charge dismisses people by look alone. We all hold our breaths as he pauses to decide if Michelle can stay and dance. Hurray, she can!

The girls spontaneously join in the audition. They’re smiling way more than Michelle. Boo gets a bit extra carried away, accuses Sasha of being bossy (shocker) and announces she’s going to wait a year and a half to have sex just like she and Carl planned.

After Michelle’s group audition, she’s told to stay and sing. At the piano player’s suggestion, Michelle sings “If My Friends Could See Me Now” - which seems a welcome change from Les Mis. In a chat with the piano player, Michelle learns all the parts have already been cast; the open call is a union requirement, which equals a huge waste of time and disappointment for Michelle. The bunheads, dispirited, watch her leave.

Milly summons Truly to The Oyster by luring her with news of Mom. Milly offers Truly a free space in one of her buildings to reopen Sparkles. Millly apologizes for ruining Sparkles for her.  Truly orders two shots of something blue. Scotty shows up to deliver a package from Fanny to Milly and before they can even down their celebratory blue-drink shots, they realize they both find Scotty a hottie - just the way it was with Hubble - and the warm fuzzy feeling between them vanishes.

Fanny has decided to dedicate the evening dance class to sex education and  OMG she passes out bananas! Ginny escapes the torture and meets Michelle outside, asks her how the audition went. As Michelle sort of answers, Ginny gets weepy. She confesses to naming her banana name Frankie. Then she confesses to sleeping with Frankie! omgomg! But according to Ginny, Frankie doesn’t date; e just exists with the rest of the community. After their encounter, Ginny never heard from him again. She’s not sure he has her number; not sure she knows his name, but sent him a thank you note. It's so clear she’s out of her depth - don't you just want to hug her? The scene ends with Ginny crying on Michelle’s shoulder.

Fabulous end number to “Making Whoopie”. Our little bunheads are growing up *sniffle*

I must say, this was hands down my favorite episode of the season - maybe the series. Just spot on in every way. Marvelous!

And now for something completely different..

It's the season finale (or series - no one knows! the show has neither been cancelled nor renewed. Yikes! So  for those of you who want to keep up with the cast, here's the folks you can find on twitter:

"Ginny"  @baileybuntain
"Mel" @EmmaDumont0
"Boo" @KaitlynJenkins8
"Sasha" @JuliaGTelles
"Michelle" @sfosternyc
"Frankie" @NikoPepajLA
"Cozette" @itsjeaninemason

A lot of these guys have facbooks and tumblrs, too, so check em out! And don't forget to tell @abcfBunheads how much you love the show and want to see more!

Thanks for sharing the #Bunheads experience with us at Honestly YA!
~Jen