Popular - Are we really that bad off that we need to pretend to be people that we’re not?

Popular: 1x08 Tonight’s the Night.

It’s Popular’s SEX!! episode, which is perfect timing considering the fact that MSCL just had its as well, including an (if slightly less awkward) parent-child conversation. 

Janet finds a condom in the bathroom drawer. Not knowing if it’s Sam’s or Brooke’s, both girls get the talk, and since the basics have already been covered, obviously, Janet goes the overzealous route that is actually quite charming: 

“Sex is just physically, sex is the ultimate emotional connection, unless at the end you wanna roll over and talk to that person, you know? Now, unfortunately I can’t teach you about the emotional side of sex, that’s learn as you go. But I can get rid of your fears and your worries about the plumbing. So today I picked up some literature and I think it would be super if we could start by reviewing it.”

I’m particularly fond of the strategically placed “super”. She enthusiastically points at the “Know Your Vagina” folder as Sam and Brooke wish they possessed the power of invisibility, or possibly time travel, because she isn’t “gonna be one of these parents that live in denial” (“Please, be one of those parents”, pleads Sam, to no avail). The rational side of me thinks Jane is doing really well because she wants to have an open conversation and does the opposite of the “if you have sex you will get pregnant and die” thing, but on the other hand, I can’t really imagine a more awkward situation, especially for Brooke. 

Janet and most of the grown-ups are concerned because a pop song has dominated the lives of their teenage offsprings lately, a blatantly over-sexual tune that comes with an influential video and accessories (May and April Tuna fall victim to it, but everybody at school seems to be caught up in the trend). It’s not a very elegant plot device, but I like what the episode does with it, because the main characters all react differently to it – of course teenagers live in an environment filled with all kinds of influences, but they are also individuals, and Popular treats them as such, and the characters are already well-developed at this point. 

Lily thinks the song sends an “irresponsible message about sex – it’s like, be promiscuous and you can be cool” and decides to fight the potentially dangerous influence by passing out condoms. Harrison points out to her that it would be against school policy, but they find a creative way around it (that does land them in detention anyway).  

Sam and Brooke make a bet. Sam needs to find a boyfriend until the end of the week (and she can’t pay for him), and Brooke needs to prove that she has a meaningful connection with Josh, not just “an empty relationship”. Whoever fails has to join “Knees Together”, the aptly named Abstinence club in school. 

Josh and Brooke

I like this episode so much (it’s actually my favourite so far) because the balance between ridiculousness and genuine emotions works perfectly. The bet between Sam and Brooke is infantile, but at the core, it speaks to their respective insecurities. Brooke fears that her connection to Josh is superficial and empty, but when she shares her concerns with him, he tells her that he enjoys that they don’t have to talk all the time – “I think it’s cool that I found someone I can hold hands with in silence sometimes. You may find it freaky, but I find it comforting”. Brooke feels that something is missing, while Josh is happy the way things are. It’s one of those really unfortunate situations in which two people who genuinely like each other happen to have completely contradictory expectations in each other and what their relationship should entail, but Brooke is too scared to admit to herself that she is just desperately trying to fix something that is, quite possibly, not fixable. She gives him a folder of possible conversation topics before taking him to the family dinner (“So how about that Kosovo situation? Crazy, huh?”), and that’s really kind of what their entire relationship comes down to: two people trying desperately to live up to other people’s expectations and not really taking the time to examine what they want. When Brooke sees that a dinner and a conversation doesn’t lead to the genuine connection she seeks, she proposes “real intimacy” – real, because Brooke for once decides not to dress up (“What material is that?” / “It’s…flannel pyjamas”), because “we should be who we are and not work at it so hard”. They sleep with each other but instead of finally bridging that distance and finding true intimacy, it only makes Brooke realize that she can’t force something that isn’t there. While she wants to talk about what happened, desperately, Josh falls asleep happily and in bliss. Brooke breaks up with him the next day. 

Brooke: I thought finally doing it, getting at intimate as we could physically would maybe fix all the other stuff, but after we did it you fell asleep.
Josh: So what you’re saying is I failed. I’m the one who dropped the ball. I’m the one who doesn’t connect as deep as I should. You’re wrong, Brooke. God, you’re so wrong.
Brooke: Josh, just because we’re breaking up doesn’t mean that we still can’t be friends.
Josh: I love you, Brooke. You’re the first thing I think about in the morning, and you’re the last thing I see at night. I’ve waited for YOU, the other night wasn’t sleazy, and I didn’t leave. I mean I shared with you the most precious thing that there is and I’m sorry you didn’t feel connected, because in that moment lying there, and loving you, I’ve never felt so connected to anybody in my whole life.

This is probably one of my favourite break-up scenes ever, because both of their points are completely valid. They both haven’t done anything wrong, but Brooke doesn’t love Josh as much as Josh loves Brooke. 

Sam

Sam turns to someone we’ve already seen to cast the boyfriend spot: Carmen’s older brother Leo, who is now giving tennis lessons. The thing about Sam is that she puts a lot of energy into appearing as if she didn’t care about all the things she calls others shallow for, but she isn’t above stealing one of Brooke’s dresses for the dinner, and she isn’t above lying to win her bet (she pretends to hurt her ankle during tennis practice which earns her a spectacular entrance into the awkward family dinner situation, with Leo carrying her in like a princess). Leo likes Sam, but he also knows her well enough to realize that there is something going on between her and Brooke, and warns her that relationships should develop naturally – “you force one, it’s doomed from the start”, and they certainly shouldn’t be based on proving something to your sworn enemy. In the end, both Sam and Brooke have to admit their defeat, but Brooke tells Sam “At the end of the day you were smart to wait. You only get one first time, make sure it’s worth it.” 

Harrison and Lily

Harrison: If you could remove the emotional uncertainty from the equation and not fell like you’re being judged.
Lily: Is this possible?
Harrison: Maybe: If you skipped the wining and dining and went straight to friendships Isn’t that where relationships lead anyway?
Lily: So, if an activist and her activist in training…
Harrison: That would be me? Yeah?
Lily: Were curious and… wanted to see what sex would be like…
Harrison: Then, they should choose a first-time partner who’s…
Lily: A friend.
Harrison: I’m not doing anything tonight. Are you?

This is my favourite part of the episode. It sounds like a good plan in theory, two friends knowing each other well and caring about each other with some of the insecurity removed. Harrison’s preparations for their “date” at the hotel are more elaborate than that of any other character in this episode: he has the chocolates, the candles, the rose petals, the wide selection of Jamba juice – it’s the perfect romantic evening, between two characters who are friends, and the moment feels achieved because the characters are established and well-developed and the viewer understands their motivations and what they care about. 

Lily; I don’t know. In theory it all made sense but you were right about me. I do put up walls. And the problem is on the other side of the wall I see a friend.
Harrison: That’s why we’re here, right?
Lily: Yeah, but it’s also why we can’t go through with this. You’re my friend.
Harrison: And you’re worried sex might ruin that.
Lily: No, I mean that’s how I look at you.
Harrison: You’re not attracted to me?
Lily: If you’re honest with yourself you realize that’s how you feel about me too.
Harrison: Totally. Yeah, I think you may be right. I mean, yeah, definitely.
Lily: I know that there’s somebody out there for you, for both of us, and don’t you think it’s better if we wait for the right person.
Harrison: Absolutely.
Lily: Ok. Can we just… go to the dinner and grab a plate of curly fries, my treat.
Harrison: Na, I should clean up, check out, that sort of thing.
Lily: Okay.

This is an episode about people who try to have a genuine connection, who try to find a way around expectations and pretence (and who try to make sense of feelings while being constantly told by outside sources, music and magazines and stuff, how they’re supposed to feel), but it’s also about characters who are tragically in different places emotionally. Harrison lies when he tells Lily that he feels the same way about this because he clearly doesn’t, but he makes the conscious decision to protect their friendship, which he also cherishes. 

Sugar and Carmen

This little story is a subtle little subplot. Sugar and Carmen connect online without knowing each other’s true identity and they have a more honest conversation about emotions and expectations and pressure than any of the other characters ever had, but they also pretend to be someone else – Carmen, essentially paints a picture of herself that makes her look more like Brooke, and Sugar describes himself as a tall, dark, handsome quarterback. They decide to meet, even though it means being found out, but when Carmen realizes who the stranger is, she chickens out and leaves Sugar sitting by himself. 

Carmen: Look, I know that I shouldn’t have stood you up, I just didn’t want to embarrass both of us, but then I realized that I feel horrible because I know I would have been really hurt. I’m sorry.
Sugar: Why are you making this harder? Don’t you think I wish I could have been that guy? Do you know how hard it was for me to even show up, knowing that I was gonna be found out?
Carmen: It was hard for me to show up too. And what’s so stupid is I keep thinking that I’m beyond that point. I mean, are we really that bad off, that we need to pretend to be people that we’re not?
Sugar: I think most people pretend.

Everybody pretends. Brooke pretends that sleeping with Josh is going to solve their issues, Sam pretends that she isn’t on a date with Leo to prove a point, Harrison and Lily pretend that sex becomes less complicated if the other person is a friend – and each and every one of them realizes that ultimately, pretending doesn’t work. Carmen and Sugar  decide to become friends and to “keep it real online” – while meanwhile, everybody else’s relationship has gotten a little bit more complicated.

Random notes: 

This is the first episode in which Brooke playfully calls Sam “sis”. 

Lily, when Sam brings her condom to school, takes it away from her and passes it to a random revealingly dressed girl – “TAKE THIS. YOU NEED IT MORE THAN SHE DOES.”

I don’t know what’s going on with Sam’s hair in this episode (also, the next one), but it looks like she adopted a small animal that she carries around on the top of her head. 

The president of “Everybody’s Doing it” Condoms kindly donates to Lily’s campaign. Also, randomly inserted PSA: don’t have sex with condoms that have previously been balloon poodles. 

Lily: Wow, Nicole, I’m impressed. You recognized these as condoms while totally sober.

Harrison (to Lily): Could it be your intensity and constant crusading create a wall that keeps guys out, I wonder?

Fake? 

Virgin? 

Okay.

I guess that hotel has a long history with high school students. 

Lily: Sorry I’m late. I was experimenting with non-boyish hairstyles.

I know that the way I sometimes throw in a passive-aggressive Glee comparison is horrible but… MIGHT I SUGGEST A COMPARE AND CONTRAST BETWEEN JOSH AND BROOKE’S BREAK-UP IN THIS EPISODE AND THE QUINN-FINN STUFF IN GLEE? I never understood how Glee could be the show that it is when Popular basically started with the same concept (and even, arguably, with similar characters) and yet achieved coherent character development. 

Obscure pop cultural reference: 

Be My Petting Zoo, with timeless lines like “Pet my silky fur”, is Popular’s homage to the pop cultural classics Genie in a Bottle and …Baby One More Time. I’d kind of like to believe that a certain other song was maybe inspired by it: “Ass2Ass”. 

Sam: Mom, we have Cinemax, we don’t need to discuss sex.

Brooke: Sam’s right. For once.

Cinemax, HBO’s promiscuous and scantily clad sister. I guess now this line would provoke a well-deserved “Why don't you get your porn on the internet like normal people?”

Nurse Jesse Glass has found an effective way to battle irresponsible behaviour in the light of the no-condom school policy (“because that would be promoting sex”): “I say do what works for me: Stay home on Friday nights, pet the cats and watch Providence.”

Obligatory movie reference: 

This is apparently the title of a gazillion pop songs, but it followed me around like a virus because Le Tigre’s I’m So Excited (“Tonight's the night we're gonna make it happen”) has been stuck in my head for a week now.