Last night’s episode of Red Band Society featured a homecoming dance, the worst mother in the world, and some questionable decision-making.
Red Band Society season 1, episode 4 aired last night. In this recap we discuss all the different storylines, and ask the questions that need to be addressed.
Kara
“I’d rather be feared than loved.”
Kara (Zoe Levin)’s storyline this episode was pretty straightforward, and yet revealed something new about her personality (although it still doesn’t make much sense).
In an attempt to get back to normalcy, Kara goes back to high school for the homecoming party, where she intends to remind people of her fearsome existence.
Instead she is treated like a homecoming hero; all her former enemies now love and pity her, and she has to accept the homecoming queen crown while sitting in a wheelchair.
Earlier that evening, Kara explained to Leo (Charlie Rowe) that she hated the attention; she didn’t want to be pitied, she wanted to be feared. Understanding this, Leo jumps onto the stage to interrupt the false celebration of her, throwing insults at Kara we now know she doesn’t only deserve, but also actively seeks out.
This revelation is somewhat reassuring for viewers who have been scratching their heads at Kara’s behaviour. What she says and does is not born out of some misguided attempt to be popular, and she doesn’t actually think it’s acceptable; Kara is, for some reason, actively pursuing being a legitimately bad person who it is impossible to like.
It’s nice to know that there’s a reason for her behaviour, though when the revelation of why she wants to be hated comes, it’s probably going to be something predictable like, “love is easy to lose, but fear you can control.” We’ll see.
Leo
“I’m not gonna be the soccer player who survived cancer.”
Damn, Leo is one insightful teenager.
At the beginning of the episode Leo is flashing back to his soccer playing days. He’s been contacted by a scout from Stanford who wants to see him play, and as he explains to Nurse Jackson (Octavia Spencer), he won’t be able to attend college without a scholarship.
Leo and Nurse Jackson then work out a pretty fantastic plan where a famous athlete with a prosthetic leg will come to the hospital and train him up. That’s like, make-a-wish level awesome right there. So far so good.
But then Leo attends homecoming (to make Emma feel less alone, aww) and runs into one of his old soccer rivals. The boy is uncomfortable with Leo’s condition – legitimately so, because he’s a teenage guy and because it’s always hard for people who haven’t been through something so horrible to know how to react.
Leo then decides that he doesn’t want to be defined by his condition. “I don’t want to be a sob story,” he tells Nurse Jackson when he cancels his training, “I want to be a regular guy.” He rejects the scout’s request, and decides to move forward from where he is.
And while that’s great in theory… hello? College? We’re not saying Leo should “accept his role” as goodwill mascot. But you know what, Leo’s leg will always be amputated, no matter what career he pursues. And training himself up again to where he’s good enough to play with his old teammates, getting a scholarship, those things still matter in the real world! Take the ticket, Leo, for crying out loud. It’s a recession.
Emma
“I just don’t have the discipline for that.”
And here comes the most important storyline of the episode: Emma (Ciara Chota)’s. Disagree with us? Please keep reading.
There is a big problem with Emma’s character on the show. We know that the writers know that anorexia is a serious illness. We know that they’ll eventually address the actual physical repercussions of the disease on the show.
But until they do? Emma’s character is presented exactly like her new fangirls see her: as an inspiration.
Emma is beautiful. Her skin is clear, her teeth are white, her clothes are stylish, and she’s always got a witty comeback ready. She’s the girl all the cute guys want, and why wouldn’t they?
But how long has she been in the hospital again? She’s constantly cheating on weigh-ins, she eats a total of 13 calories a day (if this episode was any indication), and yet… nothing. No visible signs of her disease, no indication that it’s taking any toll on her at all.
Anorexia is more than just marking calories in a notebook and pushing your meals away (in an inappropriately victorious way). You know what anorexia does to the body? Organ damage. Kidney failure. Difficulty focusing. Hair loss. Heart attacks. How do we know this? Certainly not from watching this show.
The problem with Emma is that her (and Dash (Astro)’s, to be fair) condition is the only one which is not shown to have any effect on her whatsoever. Emma is the love interest, the smart girl, the nice girl, the one who solves other people’s problems.
And that would be fine, if we weren’t seeing her actively reject food every week. We should be seeing her be affected by this, straight away, because otherwise Leo’s words become true.
“No one pities you. You don’t have to be in this hospital,” he tells her. And while we know that’s not true, the show isn’t showing us why it couldn’t be. She may not be eating, but look at her. She’s beautiful, she’s liked by all the cute guys, and she’s fine. Show us that she’s sick, please, rather than just telling us.
Jordi
“I guess he’s ours now.”
We saved the best for last. Jordi (Nolan Sotillo)’s story played out exactly how we feared it would in this episode, and the poor thing is now back exactly where he started: alone.
Eva (Catalina Sandino Moreno) tried, she really did. Jordi had a really apt observation about her: that being a mother for her was like going camping; she got really excited at first, but after a couple of days, she wanted to go back home. Sadly, a lot of people are like that.
Nurse Jackson saw it from a mile away. McAndrew (Dave Annable) didn’t, but we don’t blame him. You don’t actually want to believe that some people could abandon their sick child when they needed them the most.
But Eva’s reaction was realistic, and we’re glad the writers committed to telling her story this way. Eva wants what’s easy. As long as she could do something quick and practical for Jordi, which made her feel good about herself, she was happy to do it. But the minute there was nothing for her to do except be there, she bailed.
And watching someone you care about go through hell, watching their health decline and knowing that they might die while you’re holding their hand? That takes such an incredible strength, which Eva just doesn’t have. We might judge her for that, and make a vow that if we’re ever as unfortunate to be in her situation, we would do a better job – but until we are in that situation, we cannot judge it. Watching someone you love suffer is unbearable, especially for someone inherently self-obsessed like Eva.
Now, Jordi is alone. Except of course for McAndrew and Nurse Jackson, who are the closest thing he has to family.
And speaking of family: the episode left another clue about Jackson’s backstory for us. She doesn’t have children, and she judged Eva for not appreciating how lucky she was to have a son. Is Jackson not able to have children, or has she perhaps lost a child in the past?
According to Octavia Spencer, we’ll learn more in episode 7.
And that’s our recap and honest review of Red Band Society season 1, episode 4. Share your own thoughts in the comments.
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