The Grapes Of Voss – As this episode of Heartbreak High begins, Amerie (Ayesha Madon) goes to the pharmacy to pick up Miofestione tablets. When they see Amerie’s mom, they try to sneak out without being spotted. Later, Amerie visits Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) who is busy packing for the move. Malakai admits he doesn’t want to hear it because he’s over the drama. He tells her to do whatever she wants but keep him out of it. Darren (James Majoos) thanks Dusty (Josh Heuston) before leaving. Harper (Asher Yasbincek) and Amerie talk about Amerie’s possible pregnancy. Amerie reads the instructions before taking one of the pills. Rowan (Sam Rechner) tells Jett (Jude Hyland) that he’s going out with Amerie.

She calls to cancel. Rowan throws his phone against the wall before quickly checking on Jett. Amerie worries she might’ve upset him. She wants to send him a sexy picture to show him her intentions. Rowan receives the picture moments later. Spider (Bryn Chapman Parish) and Missy (Sherry-Lee Watson) continue hanging out. She tells him a tragic story. Spider says he got sick of his posters so he took them down. He also donated money to a charity. Cash (Will McDonald) tells Harper that Darren has been gone for two days. Cash asks her to yell at him or something. He goes on to say he had to do something to get Chook off his back. Cash promises they’ll never see him again and he swears on his nan. When Darren arrives, Cash quickly apologizes. Darren wants to forget about it. The next day, Darren offers to call in a bomb threat so Amerie doesn’t have to go to school.

She isn’t worried about it. Quinni (Chloe Hayden) tells them she has a good time when she’s not worried about ruining other people’s nights. Zoe (Kartanya Maynard) reports that Spencer has taken a hit in the polls so he’s nearly tied with Amerie now. Rowan asks Amerie if she’s feeling better. She suggests getting together on the weekend before leaving in a hurry. Spider goes to Jojo (Chika Ikogwe) to ask for advice. He admits he wants to change. They talk about it and Spider says it’s helping. Cash approaches Darren with this phone. He wants Darren to look through it to prove he’s not hiding anything. Darren confesses he was at St. Brunos. Darren went to see Jacob but bumped into Dusty, but they didn’t hook up. Cash questions what would’ve happened if Jacob had been there. Darren says they both did crappy things so they’re even.

Spider tells Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran) he’s going to drop out of the race. He thinks her policies are the best and dropping out increases her chances of winning. Sasha wonders what’s going on with him lately. When he walks away, she figures it out. She immediately confronts Missy. Sasha thinks she’s making a bad mistake. Missy says that’s why she didn’t say anything. Sasha warns her that everyone will judge her for it. Amerie begins experiencing stomach pains. Malakai checks on her. Amerie believes she’s having an abortion. She asks Malakai to get Harper. Spider approaches Missy to tell her he’s going to drop out of the race. He’s doing it for her. She tells him he needs to do it because he actually believes in it. Then, Missy says they should stop pretending because they can never be together properly.

Spider argues they never tried. Missy doesn’t want to. Harper and Malakai take Amerie back home. Harper speaks to someone who can help on the phone. Amerie’s told to take the second pill and call back if she gets a fever. She can’t believe she’s going to miss the debate. Spider wonders whether he should actually drop out. Darren tells Quinni that Amerie had to go so she’ll have to go on. She doesn’t feel like it. Jojo convinces Quinni to take the stage. Malakai joins Amerie in the bathroom. She ignores a call from Rowan. Amerie tells him that the baby was his. She came over to tell him last night. Amerie begins worrying that she’ll die. Malakai tries to comfort her. Sasha tells everyone she will be their comrade and they can trust her.

Quinni passes and refuses to say anything. Spider says there’s a reason most of the world is run by men. He says men can make decisions without letting their emotions get in the way. Rowan can’t get in touch with Amerie. Spider thinks they just want someone to blame all their problems on. Quinni yells that neither of them should be school captain. She believes they’re only doing this for themselves. Quinni points out that Spider and Sasha don’t even know half of the kids. She gets applause when she says the others ignore these students. Woodsy tells everyone to vote. Amerie, Harper, and Malakai look at the aftermath of the abortion. Dusty finds Cash in his room. Malakai, Amerie, and Harper hang out and watch a video together. Malakai seems to realize something at one point. Dusty tells Cash that nothing happened.

Dusty explains that Darren is really into sex. Cash has only found a way to make things work for him. Darren is struggling as a result. Dusty asks about Hartley. Cash promises to get his lock fixed before leaving. Rowan watches as Amerie says goodbye to Malakai. Amerie goes to the school the following day and apologizes to Jojo. She rushes over to Rowan who tries to hide something in his bag. She explains about yesterday. Rowan finds a reason to leave in a hurry. Woodsy announces that the new school captain will be Quinni. Voss and the boys begin chanting “stop the steal”. Voss this his cake hitting Woodsy with it. Spider starts a food fight. Rowan asks Amerie if she was with Malakai yesterday. She says she was, but it’s not what he was thinking.

Amerie insists she is into him and she wants to go on their date. She’s worried she’s ruined things before they’ve even started. Spider and Missy run into each other during the fight. Sasha tells Missy she told her so before getting a pie in the face. In Woodsy’s office, Voss tries to explain why he hit her with the cake. He complains that Spencer never stood a chance because they’d never give a middle class white boy a leadership position. Voss says that wouldn’t get them any articles in The Guardian. He claims people like Woodsy put personal agendas first. Woodsy gives him 20 minutes to get off school property, but he insists this is not over. Voss confronts Jojo to ask why she’s so threatened by his program. He accuses her of turning young girls into man haters.

Cash catches Darren in the bathroom. Cash apologizes and says he can’t give Darren what he needs. Darren suggests otherwise. Darren was drunk and horny. They wanted to feel good. Cash says they should feel good so it’s bad for him to shut that part of Darren off. While they’re together, Darren will never be free to be that person, according to Cash. He thinks they’ll be happier as friends. Darren insists they can kill sex and find a way to stop wanting it. Darren just wants Cash. Woodsy tries to come to an agreement with Quinni and Amerie. Amerie is happy to give the people what they want. Quinni thinks she’d be a good school captain because she’d listen to people. Outside, Amerie tells Quinni why she missed the debate. Darren goes to Zoe to see if she can help them not want sex.

Zoe admits they’ve been waiting for Darren. Sasha finds Rowan’s papers about Amerie in the trash. It’s the picture Amerie sent to him and calls her a sl*t. Rowan catches up with Malakai who is walking home. Rowan tells him he’s with Amerie now. He asks Malakai why he hung out with her last night. Malakai says they’re mates and Amerie needed his support. Rowan says she had him for that now. Rowan pushes him and says they have a history deeper than Malakai could ever know. He warns Malakai to stay away from her.

 

Heartbreak High Review

This episode of Heartbreak High was a mixed bag with some strong scenes, but many scenes that weren’t great. The episode was good when it was focusing on the emotional side of the characters and relationships. Amerie’s abortion was strong at times although a little overshadowed by the attempt to make it humorous.

This season has been hindered by its lack of originality, especially around the school captain campaign. Quinni’s actions were uplifting at times, but this has been done to death so it was predictable. For starters, many shows about high schools always have a class president type angle. The way it usually ends isn’t much different than what happened here.

Making Rowan the Bird Psycho was fairly predictable as well and possibly the easiest way out because the character was just added. We also have the whole cliché of Malakai leaving Hartley because of his parents. Cash is easily the most interesting character because he’s always almost serious. Truthfully, Heartbreak High could be a much bigger hit if it cut back on the juvenile humor and over-sexualization and increased the real, hard-hitting drama.

The potential is already there with some deep characters and tumultuous relationships, but the series often refuses to get out of its own way. This episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Heartbreak High can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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