KP EbE - Even though you're my best friend, I still think you're a freak (Attack of the Killer Bebes, post 1)

Ok, so we're moving to a four post per episode approach in hopes of cutting down on both walls of giant post and wait between installments and such.  On average each post will cover five minutes and twenty seconds, but depending on where the good points to break are that'll vary a bit.  (This post will cover a minute more than average, for example.)

The whole idea of one post per episode was either overly ambitious or vastly underestimating how much Disney was cramming into these things.

That said, I think that the first post in this new format might be a bit of a slower one so we'll see what happens.

Quick note on the episode title though.  They don't kill anyone, they don't try to kill anyone.  One character calls them "deadly" but they're really, very much, not.

* * *

We start with Ron backing out of a room at the school.

Ron: No, no,  No problem.  No, thank you.
*door slams*
Ron: My life is so over.
*Ron slumps to the ground*

Of course at this point we have no idea what his problem is, so. . .

There is only one place we can go to have our questions answered.

* * *

We arrive at Bueno Nacho, for it is the place where all maters of import are discussed.

Kim thinks that Ron is being overly dramatic and tells him to turn it down and eat.  Ron and Rufus are a sort of toned down version of Shaggy and Scooby.  They're always hungry and their gaping maws are black holes into which a seemingly infinite amount of stuff can disappear.

Also, they're the only people in their gang who have a well developed sense of cowardice (but that's toned down even more than the gluttony.)

So when Ron declares he's not hungry you know this is a big deal, what you still don't know is what "this" actually is.  Rufus, for his part, capitalizes on Ron's lack of hunger by diving (quite literally and in a full body fashion) into Ron's food.

And it finally comes out.  The guidance councilor is making Ron get an extra curricular activity because the guidance councilor apparently has more power than you'd expect and a lack of understanding of what the "extra" in "extra curricular" is there to signify.

To be clear, we're not talking about an elective.  This isn't something where it's a "Doing something is mandatory but which one you do is up to you" situation; this is something that you're not supposed to be forced into at all (unless you have overbearing parents who run your life.)  This is something that Ron will have to do on his own time and could conflict with long existing plans.

On the other hand, it's also because of long term planning since apparently the guidance councilor is pushing Ron to do this because it'll look good on a college application.

Thus Ron and Kim confer:

Kim: There's plenty of teams and clubs out there.  You could join . . . the Mathletes.
Ron: (sarcastic) Yeah right.  (serious) I can't get in that kind of shape.
Kim: How about the debate team?
Ron: Look, I'm not gonna argue with you Kim.

Kim's two ideas are to set up two jokes.  First, Ron has totally no idea what a mathlete is and thus responds in a way that's completely wrong.  Second, Ron's response to the debate team is a rhetorically perfect, if jerkish and overbearing, way to discourage further debate and thus win the point.  In other words, a sign that he'd be good on the debate team.

Those two gags out of the way, it's time for us to move toward the inevitable conclusion.

Kim: After school activities are great.  Like cheer squad for me.
*Ron's eyes open wide, his posture straightens out, and he gets a big smile*
Ron: Cheer Squad.
*Kim has a look of horror on her face*
Kim: For me; not you.
*In her shock Kim drops the pompom*
Ron: That's it.  I'm upbeat; I could do that!

Kim: Do what?
Ron: Cheerleader.

There's a bit more where Ron picks up Kim's dropped pompom and gives a short cheer and then, his appetite returned, picks up his burrito only to find Rufus is inside of it, but we've covered the main points.

* * *

Title Sequence and Theme Song

* * *

Kim: My life is so over.

Pause to note that that is word for word identical to what Ron said at the beginning of the episode.

Anne: I think it's cute that Ron wants to be a cheerleader.
Kim: Mother, boy bands are cute; brown bear backpacks are cute.  Ron as a cheerleader: not cute.
Anne: He'll wear a different outfit, won't he?
*Kim gives a mirthless laugh*
Kim: Knowing Ron?

Pause also to note that Anne Possible, who was in the role of [Nameless Mother] until the very last episode of the post-cancellation fan-movement-revived season, actually gets to say things.

True, she has spoken in previous episodes as well, in fact she had lines in two of the three previous episodes.

Lets do a tally though.  In the first three episodes she's said a total of 85 words.  James Possible, Kim's dad, has had 291.  It's a little under three and a half times as many for dad as compared to mom. (3.42ish times as many words for dad to be slightly more precise.)

So you know what would be great?  If we could somehow bring dad into this conversation right now, or even make the episode all about him, so that this conversation between Kim and her mom doesn't threaten to reduce the gap in coverage.

Have I mentioned that this series was the brain child of two fathers?  Perhaps they should have had a mother or ten on hand to point out that mothers can do things other than say stuff is cute, tell you to eat all your peas, and silently cook breakfast while everyone else in the family talks around the table.  (that's what she's done so far, you see.)

Things get worse when we consider that uber-nerd and untouchable cousin Larry is only ever shown or said to have a mother, the same is true of Dr. Drakken, and I feel like there are other examples I simply can't bring to mind here.  Oh, also Bonnie, the quintessential popular mean girl and Kim's high school rival.  Mothers having too much of an influence on you apparently makes you socially untouchable, evil, or a mundane asshole.

But before we get to Anne switching the focus to James (which happens the very next line when she pulls out a phone) let's talk bout what we've got here.

Kim thinks it's the end of the world because Ron is going to try to join the pep squad.  Kim is the cheer captain so the pressure is all on her.  That said, not the end of the world.  Ron could be a spotter or just a strong base, or he could just not make the squad.

It's worth noting that Ron is every bit as athletic as Kim.  His body is on her level.  His mind . . . not so much.  I'm not talking about intelligence, Ron is shown to be incredibly smart when freed of his normal inhibitions.  The biggest of those inhibitions is low self esteem.

Ron's body can do pretty much whatever Kim's can do except for the fact that he doesn't believe it can and so things end up like this Disney flash game in which you record a cheer routine using Kim, Ron, or Rufus.  (Rufus has never considered joining the squad, so you can imagine how canon it is, but it gives a good idea of what happens when Ron-brain is holding back Ron-body.)

None of this really matters because Ron as a cheerleader is not cute (in Kim's eyes) and her life is so over.

The last thing before we move on and never have to hear another word from Kim's mom again is to repeat:

Anne: He'll wear a different outfit, won't he?
*Kim gives a mirthless laugh*
Kim: Knowing Ron?

Kim thinks Ron may well be thinking of wearing one of these outfits:

The cheer uniforms actually date the series.  After 2007 the rules of high school cheerleading changed so that the uniforms couldn't be nearly so midriff baring.

Anyway, Kim is the person who knows Ron best in all the world, so her thought that Ron would be totally ok with wearing that uniform is presumably accurate and actually kind of prescient.  We don't know exactly what changed Ron's mind, but when he shows up to try out for the pep squad he has something other than cheerleader in mind in spite of that being his original stated goal.

Two episodes later, though, is the body switching episode and as we saw in the title sequence that will include Ron, while he's in Kim's body, wearing a Middleton High School cheer-leading outfit.  He'll like it.

Our final thing to note before leaving Anne Possible behind is that she's supportive of Ron even when Kim, Ron's best friend, is not.  This will never be a major theme, but it will show up again next episode and it's kind of a nice thing for Ron to have.  Ron's own parents are uncommunicative and generally aloof (though not in the condescending/showing of distaste kind of way) so it's nice that somewhere out there is someone who's actually got his back and is sticking up for him.

Kim Possible always has an A and B story.  We've got one of them: My best friend is embarrassing and my life is so over.  Time to get the other:

* * *

*Anne holds up a finger because she just dialed the phone*
Anne: (into phone) Hi, Hun.  Pizza for dinner; what do you want on yours?

James: Hmm . . . toppings?
*turns away from window and leans on those red slider thingies while thinking*
*Beeping starts*
James: Well, you know I love bacon on pretty much everything.
*Launch countdown reaches zero*

James: Ok.  See you in thirty minutes or less.
*James laughs at his own joke*
*James turns round and sees the empty launch pad*
James: Ooh.  Gotta go.

James gets a call from his friend Bob Chen at the observatory.

We have now reached one more friend than Anne will ever be shown to have.  (Unless I've forgotten something.)  In other words, Anne will never be shown to have a single friend.

Anne currently outnumbers James in coworkers (when she had Kim on speakerphone during brain surgery she had a co-worker on either side of her, while none of James' have been shown yet) but that will change in future episodes and the people James knows will get much fuller characterization than the ones Anne knows.

So, yeah, Kim's mom being under utilized because dads are the ones that matter damn it (or so the show seems to be saying) is kind of a theme.

For the rest of this episode Anne is gone so once we've gotten to the end of this sequence, we're going to to be unable to say much more about her.  First we have to get to the end though, and that will take us to one more point to make about Anne vs. James.

Mr. Chen called James because he saw something that shouldn't have been there through the equipment at the observatory, so let's pick up there:

Bob Chen: Did you launch something over there?
*red eyes suddenly glow into visibility in the shadow behind Chen*
*observatory scene setting music gets a bit creepy*
James Possible: On the QT, Bob, prototype G6 rocket, went up like a dream; too bad it wasn't supposed to launch until next week, though.
*observatory scene setting music gets a bit more creepy*
Bob Chen: Lean on a button again?
*another pair of glowing red eyes open*
James Possible: Rodger on that, Bob.
*robot vision scans Chen*
Bob Chen: So, will we see you at the class reunion this weekend?
James Possible: Wouldn't miss it.

As you might have guessed by now, Chen is about to become the beginning of the save-the-day plot of the episode.  Before we get there, though, let's talk about Anne.

We will never find out what Anne did in her past.  We will not get flashbacks, we will not get people who know her well enough to knowingly ask, "[action] again?" we will not get her college friends, we will not get discussion of her class reunion, we will not have any Anne based missions.

James Timothy Possible is a character who exists in his own right.  He has his own history, his own friends and co-workers, his own reasons to call Kim in on missions, his own life.

Anne [Question Mark] Possible née [Unknown] exists in relation to others.  She is the mother of three children and the wife of one guy.  If she isn't in one of those roles she doesn't exist.  She has no life, no friends, no family aside from the guy she married and the kids they had, no story, no history, no . . . anything.

I like Anne.  When she's allowed to have character she's level-headed, smart, and nice.  That's a good combination.  But the fact that I have to preface that by saying, "When she's allowed to have character," is deeply fucked up.

We will never hear Anne in a conversation like the one James is in because outside of being a mother to Kim, Jim, and Tim, an being a wife to James, she doesn't exist.  Talking to a friend is out of the question.  The closest we will ever come is overhearing her say things like, "I need a suture here," to one of her coworkers when Kim calls her at work and the only reason that we get to hear that is because Anne is is a mother who is available to talk to 24/7 which means that sometimes she's trying to be an understanding and accessible mother to her daughter while preforming brain surgery.

So bonus points I guess for setting an impossibly high standard by which we can judge adult women while at the same time setting a depressingly low standard of how much to care about characterizing adult women.

In a show that was originally supposed to last (less than) three years at the absolute most it took them (more than) five years to even give Anne a name.  A character, a history, a circle of friends, a family outside of the one she married into or directly produced as the designated-womb-haver?  No.  They didn't care.

But the really, truly, horrible part is that I don't think this was part of some active decision.  I think they cared so little about Kim's mom that they never even noticed how little they were using her.

We are meeting James' college friends.  We will meet his coworkers.  We will see him save the day.  We will meet his brother and his niece, we will learn his childhood hero, we will hear stories of his past, we've already met Larry who is pretty clearly James' nephew and we will eventually meet Larry's mother June who is probably James' sister.  We will see things James has produced at his work (we will not see people Anne has operated on) we will see a villain who has sworn revenge on him, we will see him having plot-vital knowledge.  We will see . . . James has a life.  Anne does not.  We'll see her having none of that.

We won't see all of the above in this episode, but we're already making a start.

James: Ouch! Ugh.  Looks like the military is scrambling around my rocket, better hop off Bob.
Bob Chen: See you at the reunion buddy.
*Chen turns around in his chair but his eyes are on the phone he's hanging up.
*creepy music continues*
*Chen laughs*
Bob Chen: Same old Possible.

There are now three of the things with glowing eyes and robot vision and in the reverse shot we get pictures of more than just eyes glowing from shadows.  We get outlines.  Like this one:

And with that . . . well, with three of those, we cut back to the other plot of the episode.

* * *

It is an unfortunate fact that boys' and girls' --and indeed men's and women's-- restrooms and changing rooms are sometimes created by gender essentialist shitheads who will try to use architecture and color scheme to try to force girls (and women) to be "girly" and boys to . . . actually they tend to think of boys as default and so just make ordinary rooms for them.

Even so, the cheer changing room pictured above is way over the top and absurd.

Anyway, let us not focus on the room and instead the people in it.

If one compares the cheerleaders here to the cheerleaders in the shot above I used to give an example of what the uniform looked like, it will become apparent that one has been swapped out.

This is still early in the show and they're still working out who is who.  For example in the first episode there were all of five cheerleaders shown and one of them we may never see again.  The shot I used for uniforms is from an episode later than this so one might think that that this is more of things not yet being settled and not a choice.

Also, cheerleaders pop in and out of existence at random throughout the run of the show so. . . yeah.  In fact, at the end of this episode, there will be one cheerleader who pops out of existence before we can get a look at her face (she was in the back row.)

The main squad, however, is pretty well set.  They'll even end up with names.  Why all eight weren't in the shot I used for the uniforms I'm not sure, but I know exactly why they aren't all here.

Tara, the cheerleader with the wavy blonde hair, is a Ron fan.  She might be weirded out by Ron wanting to become a cheerleader (or might not), but she wouldn't be firmly against even allowing him to try out.

So she can't be here because the writers wanted this to be a thing that was unanimously against Ron.

She will be back for the performance at the end of the episode.

Bonnie: You cannot allow this, Kim.
Kim: Bonnie, I'm as freaked out about this as you are, but there is no rule that says Ron can't try out.
Bonnie: Check you're calendar, This is not "befriend a loser" week.
Kim: Ron is not a loser.  He's just . . . different.

Unfortunately Ron can't just wait outside while they have a "be pissed off at Ron" conference.  He has to do something really stupid and wrong.

He has his eyes covered (and presumably closed) so he won't see anything, even by accident, but it's still a case of, "No.  Just no."

*Ron opens the door to cheer changing room and sticks his head in*

I repeat: "No.  Just no."

Ron: Hey Ladies, Ready to boogie?
*reaction shot with six pissed off cheerleaders and a "What did I do to deserve this?" Kim*
Ron: Ladies?
*Three of them slam the door so hard that Ron goes flying*

Ron lands in the pompoms.  Make note of that thing in the lower right, by the way.

Ron: They take a long time to get dressed.

Yeah, no.  They're all already dressed.  Kim was the last one to get dressed and it looked like all she had to do was tie a shoe.

What they're taking a long time to do is have an anti-Ron meeting.

It's kind of disappointing that we didn't get to see more of that meeting because it would have given us a chance to get to know the squad and have them be more than background props.  Instead we get Bonnie vs. Kim and Bonnie is presented as "High School Evil" throughout the show.

She's a bully (words, not fists) she's stuck up, she's pissed off at anything that violates her hierarchical version of how high school is supposed to be, she embodies the the "Popular Bitch" archetype that appears in so many things, even ones like this show that would never allow the word "Bitch" to be uttered.

Bonnie is, in other words, a mass of negative stereotypes some of them explicitly misogynistic ones.  (In case my use of a misogynistic slur to describe the archetype she embodies didn't tip you off to that.)

Having her be the only one to actually voice opinions about the Ron-thing while the others remained silent in the background thus missed a lot of opportunity to look at reasons they might not want Ron that don't stem from, "I'm everything you hated about mean popular girls in high school."

For example, the pep squad is all female, that could make it a safe space for some of the girls on it who have had bad experiences.  Or just, "This isn't when we accept new applicants," or questions of if he's got the right personality.

We get none of that.  We get: "He's a loser, so make it not happen."

Also note that Ron isn't wearing the usual cheer uniform.  He's already failing to live down to Kim's expectations.  Things are better than she expected if we don't look at the "No.  Just no," bit.

*Kim pops her head out*
Kim: Hey
Ron: Where's the squad?  I'm pumped!
*Kim walks over*
Kim: They . . . um . . . uh . . . they take a long time to get dressed.

I'm tempted to note the fact that Ron being bodily thrown across a room doesn't faze him in the least and then go on about how this is another indication of the bullying against him that Kim doesn't notice.

He's so used to this treatment that it doesn't even occur to him that they might be pissed off about something.  It's unremarkable.

But that's not what we should be spending this post on.  Nor is it an idea time to dwell on things like the morality of lying to spare someone's feelings in a way that's pretty much doomed to fail anyway and will just lead to the person you're lying to trusting you less.

For one thing, it's such a fraught topic because of abusive situations.  No matter which route you take, you could be setting off someone's triggers.  For another, Kim immediately gets an out so the lie that should have failed might not because as it turns out, things are not as people assumed.

Kim (verging on shouting) Are you totally sure you want to be a cheerleader, Ron?
Ron: Oh, I'm not gonna be a cheerleader, KP.
Kim: (elated) You're not!?  Great.
*Kim realizes how this could look*
Kim: I mean, um, why not?
Ron: Because I'm going to be the mascot!
*Ron puts on mask*

Middleton High is home to the Middleton Mad Dogs.  With the dog mask he's got one part of it done (the dog part) but it is worth noting that most mascots have more than just a mask while he never will.

*Bonnie comes out in the background*
Kim: Where did you get that mask?
Ron: I made it with my Movie Makeup Magic kit.

I told you the thing in the corner would matter.

In, apparently, one night, Ron has decided to not be a cheerleader, quite possibly because he managed (in retrospect or off-screen interaction) to figure out how freaked out Kim was by that prospect, found a vacancy no one else has ever bothered to fill on squad he wants to join, and on his own created the equipment necessary.

This does get a vague kudos, though not for any of the stuff I just said.

*Rufus trots out in a Kim mask*
Rufus: What's the sitch?
*Kim picks up Kim mask*
Kim: I'm impressed.
*Kim picks up Beast --from Beauty and the Beast-- mask*
Kim: And disturbed.

Ron, however, does not know how to sell things.

Recall that if he gets the job he's going to be on the court or field and the people will be away in the bleachers.  They will definitely not be a few feet away, directly in front of him.  Thus when he shows his next feature (the Mad Dog, as a mad dog, foams at the mouth) it results in this:

That would never happen to spectators at a sporting event, and if by some chance some little bit of the foam did get on someone, Ron has what he thinks is a solution.

Ron: The crowd will eat it up.  I me-- Taste it.  It's banana cream.

But the crowd will not be left dripping with it.  Ron had a real shot here and he killed his chances.

The pep squad thought he was still hoping to be a cheerleader which they were dead set against (though other than Bonnie not wanting to associate with a "loser" we don't actually know why) so this is essentially serving as a much more palatable alternative proposal.

While Kim was far from sold, she wasn't against it until she ended up dripping in foam.

Kim: (slow sarcasm) Yum.
*Rufus climbs up Bonnie*
Rufus: Banana!
*Rufus starts to lick it off*
*Bonnie pulls Rufus off of herself*
Bonnie: This idea is idiotic.  The entire student body will laugh at you.
Ron: But--
Bonnie: Not "with", "at".  Loudly and cruelly, they will laugh.
Ron: You don't deserve to be kissed by a naked mole rat.

As insulting as she is, as annoyed as she is, Bonnie is actually . . . how to say this? She's not trying to be helpful, but she is actually trying to keep Ron out of a situation where he'd be humiliated.

That's kind of as close to nice as she gets.  Sure, she's doing it because she doesn't want to share the stage with humiliating mascot (who she considers a loser anyway), but since he's going to be separate from the squad it won't actually reflect badly on her and could be used to argue that Kim shouldn't be head of the pep squad.

Plus, it's more Bonnieish to see her trying to set up a situation where the entire student body will laugh at someone than prevent it.

She's pissed off, she's just been foamed (foam magically disappeared when the shot cut to Ron and then back to her), and so forth and yet . . . she's trying to diffuse the situation.  In the rudest and most insulting way, but she's trying to diffuse before Ron meets public humiliation.

I don't know exactly where to go with that.

She started with an insult, but most of what she said was a warning.  Caustic delivery, but she thinks it's a completely accurate warning.

And it's definitely more honest with Ron than Kim's "they take a long time to get dressed."

Back to the scene:

Kim: Ron. . .
Ron: I know, Kim; I know.  You believe in me, and you'll work on them.
Kim: Um, I. . . I kind of agree with Bonnie.
Ron: (looking at Kim) Oh.  (looking at Bonnie) Oh, I see. (looks back to Kim)
*Ron picks up the Mad Dog mask and walks away*

* * *

Part of me wonders if Kim is about to talk about this with her dad because she knows her mother might take Ron's side given that Anne thought it was cute that Ron wanted to be a cheerleader.

Another part of me wonders if I should tell the first part to shut up because she's talking to her dad about this for PLOT and STORY reasons and, furthermore, they basically never use Kim's mom (as talked about up-post) so . . . yeah.

Though it is worth noting that in the very next episode Kim will also have Ron things to deal with and end up talking to both of her parents (James at much greater length than Anne) so I think there's still room to say that she's trying to avoid the Ron-friendly viewpoint her mother might put forward.

Anyway:

Kim: Dad, I have a problem
James: Frankly . . . eh . . . your mother has the good advice vis-a-vis boy trouble.
Kim: This isn't about a boy. It's about Ron.
James: Oh. Gotcha.

Glad we cleared that one up.

Kim: Everyone got down on Ron, and I don't know, maybe I should have stuck up for him.
James: But you didn't . . .
Kim: He was foaming at the mouth. I'm only human.

This isn't entirely accurate.  She stuck up for him enough to say, "Ron is not a loser," which she then followed up by saying he was "different".  But that was the limit of her defense.  She was freaked out by the idea of him trying out for the squad, and she was as quick to dismiss the mascot idea as Bonnie.  (In her defense on the second point, she was covered in banana flavored foam.)

We don't know what happened before the scene in the cheer squad dressing room started.  Apparently everyone had their turn to get down on Ron off screen, and Kim didn't stick up for him then.

It would have been nice to see that, not for the Ron bashing but rather for the cheer squad characterization.

Anyway, as we learned in episode two, going to dads for stuff has them go off on tangential rambling rants.  But this tangent actually sticks close to the curve:

* * *

James: Well, you know, Kimmy, back when I was in college, I had a group of friends, my uh . . . my posse, if you will.
*flashback*
James: (voice over): It was the night of the big science department mixer.  In those days I wasn't exactly a ladies man.

James: Where's Drew? He was supposed to be here a half hour ago.
Chen: I knew he wouldn't come through with dates for us.
Ramesh: Hmph. What did you expect? He cannot even come through with a date for himself.
Chen: This was folly.

Granted I don't know a lot about social gatherings, but isn't the point of a mixer that you go there to meet people?  (You know, you go there to mix.)  I'd think being single was pretty acceptable and normal since it's a place where you might meet someone you'd want to date.  That could be awkward if you go there with someone you've never met before and thus may have no interest in.

"Go away random person I got as a date so I wouldn't be alone here, I want to flirt with this person, whom I actually find interesting," does not sound like a line likely to please anyone involved in the situation.

Anyway, Drew was supposed to acquire dates.

James: It was a nice dream, though.
*Drew opens door*
Drew: The Dream Is Real!

This will not go well for you Drew.

Chen: Drew! You found girls!
Drew: Found, ha! Gentlemen, tonight we make history. I give you the future!

Ok, this has potential.  They show up at the science department mixer with a bunch of robots and they're totally going to have a decent ice breaker.  They're not going to have the, "I'd like to meet someone who I could see myself dating but I have on my arm some random woman a friend found somewhere so it'll be awkward talking to people to find out if they're someone I can see myself dating," problem.

It's going to be science people talking tech.

This is before the parents Possible got together, a big class reunion is coming up, so this was at least 20 years ago.  This episode takes place in 2003, meaning that the flashback that Drew made the robots in takes place in 1983 or earlier.

Self driving, self propelled robots that respond to verbal commands are guaranteed to be a major conversation starter.  Drew didn't come through for their, frankly, stupid request.  But he did pull off something much better.

They show up with these things and they're guaranteed to be the center of attention in a very good way.

Just don't ask them to dance.

*James, Chen, and Ramesh look on with a mixture of disappointment, annoyance, and shock*
*maybe a bit of disgust too*
Lead Robot: My name is Bebe.
Drew: Bebe, would you like to dance?
Bebe: Affirmative. Bebe will dance.
*the robot starts dancing with Drew*
*the moves are fine but it's using way too much force*

*Drew makes embarased laugh*
Drew: As gentle as a summer shower, no?
James, Chen, and Ramesh: No.
*James, Chen, and Ramesh laugh*
*Drew growls*
Drew: All right. Go on, laugh away, but one day my genius will be recognized! Bebe will be perfect
*Bebe tightens grip*
Drew: (in obvious pain) and I will be the one laughing.

I wonder if this could be in any way related to the fact that robots with female silhouettes came after Bob Chen the week before their college reunion?

Anyway, back in the present, Kim's dad is finishing up the story

James: Drew dropped out and we never saw him again. I don't think he ever forgave us, and in some small way, maybe we never forgave ourselves.
Kim: For just a giggle fit?
James: No, no, Kimmy. We laughed for days. Long and loud with youthful abandon.
Kim: Oh. That was bad.

Assholes.

Granted I can see how it's funny in a "full of cringe" slapstick sort of way and I'm sure the weasels would laugh through the whole sequence, but we just saw a real show of genius and the only problem inherent in the device was that it was too strong with its dance partner: a calibration issue.

It was dancing fine (it even dipped Drew.)  Mind you it then hugged Drew so tightly that, after the last line I quoted, Drew's body was forced into the robot with such force that the Bebe knocked its own head off (which implies a safety feature: they break before they break someone) so the "too much force" issue was pretty extreme.

Still, there were two working models that they still could have taken to the mixer to be considered the awesome science people.  Instead they laughed at Drew when he was in pain.

James: So, you'll reconsider Ronald's dream?
Kim: I don't think so. His mad dog routine is way stupid.

So, stuff.

Kim hasn't seen his routine.  She's seen his mask and the mask's hidden "foam at the mouth" feature.  She and Bonnie alienated Ron enough that he stormed off after that.  He never showed his routine.

So now she's putting it down sight unseen.  She's beyond not sticking up for Ron, she's actively putting him down in ways she isn't even checking are accurate.

And that is where we close for today

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