Rack Off – As the fourth episode of Heartbreak High begins, Amerie (Ayesha Madon) goes swimming with Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) and thanks him for walking her home. She won’t kiss him because her mom is inside. Once she goes inside, Malakai dances down the street. The next day, Quinni (Chloe Hayden) tells Darren (James Majoos) that she is can’t wait for Slay Ball this weekend. Amerie catches up with them and says she took a self-care day. She tells them about having sex with Malakai, but she won’t give them any further details. Amerie says they’re both just going to keep it chill only for Malakai to be there with flowers for her. As she goes inside, Dusty (Josh Heuston) tells her that she kept that secret. Dusty says he is a good dude before thanking her for the intel on Harper because it helped. He admits his relationship with Harper likely would’ve never happened without her.

Amerie quickly hides the flowers in her locker. She says she made a sound that wasn’t a no or a yes. Amerie isn’t sure what to do. She only hooked up with him because Harper came to her place and they had it out. Darren recommends at least inviting him to his pre’s tomorrow. They briefly discuss getting some MDMA. Ca$h (Will McDonald) has them sorted and he might come to the party too. Quinni realizes that Darren has a thing for Ca$h. Since he doesn’t know what is going on, Darren is inviting him to the party to find out. Quinni makes out with Sasha So (Gemma Chua-Tran) in the nurse’s office. They stop for a minute so Quinni can invite Sasha to come to Darren’s place for the pre’s. Sasha quickly agrees to come before they make out and flirt more. Quinni asks if they’re going to have sex in the nurse’s office. Sasha says they can wait and take their time. Quinni seems to like that idea more.

Nurse Carol (Adorah Oloapu) walks in, catches them, and makes them laugh. Ant (Brodie Townsend) and the other boys joke about Malakai’s new relationship in the locker room although he says he doesn’t have her yet. Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish) calls him a simp and thinks he should’ve put more effort into playing instead of trying to get some. As the argument continues, Malakai lets it slip that they had sex so the others begin mocking him. Eventually, Coach Arkell (Stephen Hunter) yells for them to get into the gym now. Darren and Quinni talk to Amerie about it being on the map already. She looks out and sees Harper (Asher Yasbincek) walking with Dusty. Amerie gives Malakai a note asking what he is doing for Mardi Gras. He writes “you” on the paper. She invites him to the Mardi Gras pre’s they’re having at Darren’s place.

Jojo (Chika Ikogwe) enters the room with Constable Paul Perry (Travis Jeffery) and Kurt Peterson (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor). Kurt explains he is a former cop who served for ten years until an injury forced him out. Darren asks if he injured himself from over-policing a marginalized community only for Kurt to say he tripped on a fence. After they split into two groups, Kurt tells his group that the program is a young woman’s guide to survival. They call it Rack Off. It is designed to equip the students with the tools to assist in preventing sexual assault. As for PP, he tells his group that the key to unlocking a strong mind and a strong body is health and fitness. It is all in the palm of their hands on their phones. Kurt says he is going to demonstrate some simple self-defense moves that they can practice on each other. Ant asks PP if he has never shot anyone.

PP hasn’t since they haven’t given him a gun yet. Kurt tries to demonstrate a self-defense move on Harper who ends up burning him with her lighter. She runs off. Back in the classroom, Jojo asks everyone about something they learned today. The girls get upset that the guys didn’t get the same sexual assault lesson they did. Spider says they don’t need it since they’re all feminists. He calls Malakai the pull out king who comes on himself. Amerie learns that Malakai has been saying things. Harper tries to take up for her. After class, Malakai wants to apologize. Instead, Amerie goes up to Harper to tell her that she doesn’t need her to fight her battles for her. Spider tells them they should fight again because it was hot. In a flashback, Amerie remembers meeting with Harper and getting a drink from Spider. In the present, she tells them they should go screw themselves.

Harper asks Dusty if he would talk to some of the other guys about them having sex. Dusty insists he wouldn’t do that and he doesn’t want her thinking of him like that. She says she doesn’t and was just making sure. Downstairs, Ca$h hangs out with Darren. When Ca$h tries to retrieve his bag of drugs, he finds that the bag is missing. He believes it’ll be okay, but says they should get out of there. Amerie gives the flowers to Jojo. Malakai tries to apologize to her. Amerie tells him that he needs to own his crap. At work, Darren gives Ca$h an order and money for drugs. He says they want two each. Cash tells him it is a bit hot right now so he agrees to bring it around tomorrow. A young boy comes over to tell Cash that Chook is waiting for him. The boy calls him a flamer and begins laughing before walking away. Once he approaches Chook (Tom Wilson), he is asked how it went with the stuff from the earch.

Ca$h says it was hectic before confessing he hasn’t been able to sell it. He goes on to say he put it on the roof at Hartley and someone snatched it. Cash promises to get it back for him. He gives Chook the money Darren left for him. Chook gets mad at the young boy before Ca$h steps in. Chook punches Cash and threatens him. Quinni texts Missy while Darren and Amerie talk about Malakai and other things. They agree that everyone sucks except for them. Cash arrives with a bag for Darren who sees Malakai on the street. Malakai goes inside while Darren learns about Chook hitting Ca$h. Malakai tries to talk to Amerie in private, but she forces Quinni to stay around. Quinni admits she gave him the address to Darren’s place. She coaches Malakai through the apology. Amerie says they’re going to have to get him out of that shirt.

They begin trying on clothes, drinking, and partying. Meanwhile, Dusty finds it funny that Harper can’t find her shoes and threatens not to go. She remembers where they are. When they go wait in line for the ball, Amerie and her friends arrive. Harper notices she is wearing her shoes. Amerie says they’re the only thing of Harper’s that she didn’t burn. Sasha checks on Quinni who insists she is fine. Everyone goes into the venue. Later, Quinni goes to the bathroom and finds Sasha taking ket. She contemplates taking some, but Sasha warns her it could mess with her medication. While they go dance, Quinni stays in the bathroom. Malakai runs into Missy and talks about her necklace before she gives it to him. When he returns to Amerie, his drugs begin kicking in so she starts messing with him. In the bathroom, Quinni tells Harper it was cool how she handled that guy yesterday. She wishes she could be more like that.

She would but she is worried they might stop liking her. Darren takes the stage and dances for the audience. He doesn’t win because he isn’t wearing white. Ca$h watches as Jacob runs up to Darren to tell him that he was amazing out there. As Ca$h walks away, he sees Jayden (Ari McCarthy) selling drugs nearby. Jayden tells him that Chook is a psycho and embraces him before walking away. Darren walks over to Ca$h as they begin talking about his performance. Ca$h tells him he didn’t want to interrupt, but Darren insists nothing is going on with Jacob. He offers to make it up to him. They walk by another party goer and steal something they’re holding. Quinni tells Sasha that she wasn’t actually okay with her not coming to Darren’s party. She goes on to say it is crappy for anyone to get stuck up. Sasha didn’t think she’d want to do drugs and doesn’t want to be responsible for her if she has a bad reaction.

Quinni insists she isn’t responsible for her. They end up telling each other that they love one another. Once they stop running, Ca$h asks Darren if he can kiss him. Darren says yes please. After the party, Malakai jokes to Amerie that he is boyfriend material. She doesn’t want to give him an answer just yet even though she isn’t angry with him. Amerie says she isn’t into Dusty either. Instead, she was looking at Harper because she broke her heart and she doesn’t want that to happen again. He reminds her that he isn’t Harper. The cops try to get them to go home. Malakai enters up arguing with a police officer and calling him a dog. The cop slams him to the ground. The others distract the cop so Ant helps Malakai escape. Amerie asks if anyone filmed it. Ant did so she wants him to send it to her. She wants to expose it by releasing it to the public, but Malakai doesn’t because he’ll just end up getting into trouble for it.

Spider says he shouldn’t have sworn at him before everyone turns on him. When Amerie agrees to delete it, she realizes it is already too late. Malakai gets mad and tells her he wants her out of his life. Harper urges Amerie not to let him walk away. Harper and Dusty catch up with him and try to comfort him. They take him home with them. Amerie sits alone and cries. Harper kisses Ant before Dusty kisses him. They all begin making out as the episode ends.

 

Heartbreak High Review

The fourth episode of Heartbreak High further developed the character relationships. Meanwhile, it created tension between some of the characters, especially Cash and Chook. Certain aspects of the series are actually very well done. You could feel the intensity in the scene when Chook lashed out at Cash.

On the other hand, Heartbreak High has a lot of unrealistic scenes and dramas. The series leans heavily into left-wing politics and ideologies more so than anything else. Many of these topics are forced into the show unnaturally. In particular, this episode was heavy on the anti-police subject.

While it may be good to cover these topics, the portrayal here bends reality a bit too much. Many of the other topics are difficult to believe since this doesn’t really come across as a real high school with real high school students. It would make more sense in a college. Regardless, Heartbreak High is a decent drama that many viewers will genuinely enjoy.

Some of the characters are charming and their relationships drive the story forward while keeping the viewer engaged. The fourth episode was good despite a handful of eye-rolling moments so it scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Heartbreak High can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.