A Different Drummer

Synopsis

Reggie ends up suspended from school when her desire to make people see things differently puts her in serious trouble.

Meanwhile Dusty's Reverend Father is visiting and concerned by what he sees happening at the school wants Dusty to leave and return home with him.

My Review

This is one of the better episodes in season 6, although it does seem a little short on cast members; Carlo, Albert, Billy and Ann are all missing and Gene and Debbie only make brief appearances. Also the fact that one scene is set in the English class really makes me miss Carol. Miss Elliot is no replacement for Miss Sherwood. In an earlier season we would have got a scene in the teachers lounge where the teachers debate Reggie's behaviour with Sherwood against it and Paul arguing her case.

Anyway Reggie takes centre stage and we continue to see how different her character is now to the person we met part way through season 5. The new Reggie is far more complex, which makes her far more interesting although I have to admit I don’t always understand her actions. Also I don’t always understand her storyline. Here she gets suspended from the school as her behaviour is deemed so bad. We don't know how long it is for but the way they show her leaving the school it's as though she's been expelled and she's never coming back to school. However after the protest march/song for the homeless the episode just ends and next episode Reggie is back at school as normal as though nothing has happened. Whatever happened presumably it has taught Reggie a leasson as she doesn’t behave this extreme in the future! I always find it strange that Reggie is suspended anyway, what on earth did she do? It's not as though she incited a riot she just sings and dances in the cafeteria? Yes she is supposed to be in class but the teacher of that Mr Seger is really enjoying the performance so who called Mr Dyrenforth? The cafeteria is already pretty full of other students so it doesn't really make much sense.

Dusty gets the B story and I always think she is one of the most under used characters on the show. She rarely gets a lead story and is often relegated to the B storyline. Here we get to see a little of her back story and her relationship with her Preacher Father. I love how Dusty cringes at Reggie's behaviour in English class, just after she's told her father it's a normal school. However I find it strange that Dusty would write to her Father telling him how nice the people are at her school but talk about people who have only recently started at the school like Ian. Surely she woukld have written that kind of thing when she first started over a year ago. Yes she’d talk about Nicole and Danny and Chris but not Ian or Reggie. I also find it strange that Dusty would lie about things. Surely she could have just said things like people are really nice and friendly and she’s learning a lot. I’m not sure exactly what Dusty’s Dad was expecting, sending his daughter to live in New York City all alone to go to High School there. Then he’s not happy with the people she’s mixing with and wants her to go back home with him but she stands up to him after the song in the streets the problem is never mentioned again.

I do love the song "Never Give Up On A Dream" that she gets to sing and think this is one of the best songs of season 6. When Dusty's father arrives he meets Ian and Jillian in the main corridor outside the dance class. He asks where he can find Dusty's dance class and Ian directs to the end of the lobby, second door on the right. Not sure why we need this and he can't be directed to the classroom in it's normal position.

"Think and Shout" is and interesting mash up of 2 60's songs.

“We Have the Right” is a good song and I like that it’s a protest song and that it’s performed on the streets of New York but I don’t feel it’s as strong a song as it could be. Also part of it is talked over, which is always frustrating. Couldn’t they have had the little speech before the song started?

I always find it quite interesting that when the song started we briefly see Leroy, who we haven’t seen all episode, suddenly join the group walking down the street, then as the group turns a corner he disappears and we don’t see him again! Michael Hoey's Book (See Trivia link below) states Gene was having problems at this point and had fell in the bath, where he was later found unconscious so missed a days filming. The brief scene we see him in must have been filmed on a different day and it was cheaper to use the footage than reshoot it without him!

Jesse Suddenly has this link to the woman helping the homeless person! Where Did that come from? It's not been mentioned previously and doesn't get mentioned again and there's no explanation as to how he knows her, she's just in the episode. It sort of makes me feel that the homeless storyline is just an ad on and not really a main focus for the episode, which is a shame because it could have been a really interesting storyline, particularly it might have been interesting to see one of the kids being homeless and how difficult it is for them.

Episode Pictures