Childhood's End

Coco is forced to choose between the lead in a show and her sick grandmother. When her grandmother dies and Coco puts in a fantastic performance, she loses confidence and worries about what kind of person she is becoming.

 Meanwhile Julie's cello is stolen and she worries that she can't play as well using other cellos. Leroy finds the stolen cello in a pawn shop but when he's stopped by the police they don't believe his story.  

After showing a number of earlier episodes out of order tin the U.K. the BBC returned for the normal running order for this episode.

This is a very heavy episode but having said that I do really like it. It is a particularly strong one for Erica and we get another great in depth view of Coco’s Character

The season of death strikes as Coco’s grandmother is killed off leaving her to question whether her dreams and striving for fame are healthy.She fears what she is turning into, as she was still able, not only to perform but give an excellent performance only a few hours after her grandmother died.

Her scene with Doris is so powerful and magical as both Val and Erica put in excellent performances and this scene always makes me cry. My heart goes out to a distraught Coco and it is such a Doris thing to do to go after Coco when they find out what has happened. Valerie doesn't even speak in this scene, instead just sits listening. Her face and the tears rolling down say it all. Also she is just so cute dressed as the rabbit!

I also love the song “Reach For A Dream” and it’s one of my favourite songs. It’s really appropriate for the show and particularly for this episode. I could never understand why this song never made it on to one of the 2 Fame albums that were released for this season. Years later I discovered it was actually released as a B-side to a single but sadly it was never released here in the U.K. I do believe this could have actually been a big hit for them.

Shorofsky is really sweet in the final scenes as he helps Coco audition. That’s the second teacher she’s got helping her break the rules about auditioning in just a few weeks. Also Lydia seemed to want her to audition too. So much for the rules!

Julie seems a little neglected this season and hasn't been given much to do so I tend to care about her less and less the more I watch. Her whining in this episode about her precious cello is more than a little irritating.

One of the funniest things in season 2 is the sight of Leroy sat in the street trying to play Happy Birthday on the cello. It really is laugh out loud stuff. His comment about perhaps the cop wanted the white man’s version is just a fabulous line. Then a passer by hands Leroy some money for playing as though he’s a street busker and he attempts to carry on playing until the cop has had enough and arrests him. It is just a really good scene. Sadly this scene is edited on the DVD release so MGM didn't have to pay the rights for using "Happy Birthday".

Despite the drama there are some other lovely moments of comedy. The on going story of Michelle’s costume is good and it’s nice how the dancers have been given their own little stories this year. There are also other little blink and you miss them moments like at the beginning Danny goes into the dressing and the 3 dancers in character, dressed as witches in the corner hiss and reach out to try and get him. Then Doris asks why Danny is going on about time, when she is playing the rabbit who is late! Also the kids banter in the library and police station is funny. All these little things help the episode from turning too depressing.

Just a couple of nitpicks: 

- How does Bruno know where to find his father at the hospital? All he says is it’s the big building but gives no indication of where in that building but Bruno doesn't seem to have any problems finding him. 

- Then Coco walks into the same part of the hospital. Surely E.R. (casualty if you’re in the U.K.) is where Mr Martelli went but I doubt that is being staffed by the same nurse who deals with patients in intensive care. For such a big building it seemed like a pretty small hospital with only one nurse!

Original  air date in U.S.A 02nd December 1982

Original  air date  in U.K. 30th June 1983,  Repeated The Children's Channel  Autumn 1992,  Now 80s 20th & 24th February 2022                                                 

Original air date in The Netherlands 21st July 1983   

Original air date in Italy 23rd February 1984   

Original air date in Belgium 07th January 1988   

Original  air date in France 26th March 1988