Signs

The actors and dancers are struggling to work together on a joint project that Mr Shorofsky has set up. During a jam session to try ease the tensions, Chris who is trying to impress a girl has an accident and hits head.  He later discovers that the accident has caused him to lose his hearing. Initially the Kids try to cover for him but when Morloch is nearly injured the truth comes out and Chris has to leave the school to transfer to one specifically for deaf students. Chris struggles to adjust to his circumstances, while the two schools  come together to work on the show.

Meanwhile Sherwood is concerned she is in line to take over as vice Principal when Morloch gets another job. 

I like this episode and think its a good idea to do an episode about someone having to adjust into a World where they can't hear. This was obviously a subject close to Valerie's heart and she co-wrote this episode with Michael Hoey. I assume Valerie really had worked at some kind of summer camp for the deaf and I know she has said she'd got quite a few friends who are deaf. The actress, Jackie Kinner  (now Jackie Roth) who plays Chris' love interest Christina is a real life friend of Valerie's. 

 The only issues I have, stem from again trying to fit a huge subject into the Fame format , with events that obviously take place over a few weeks if not months trying to be fitted into one episode. We've only just seen Chris fit into his new school when suddenly he can hear again so it all feels very rushed. Also the incident never gets referred to again. Personally, I like that Chris starts seeing Christina and it would have been nice had she continued to be his girlfriend for awhile, featuring in future episodes so that they really could explore the issues of deafness.

Billy was missing from the previous 4 episodes, except a brief scene in the "The Deal" so for me this episode would have worked better had it taken place earlier in the season, with him having the accident and having to leave the school. This would have then explained his  absence as he was at the new school. Then in the season finale instead of the episode with Chris' family we have a story with him regaining his hearing and he then rejoins the school of the arts.

 However as usual, the producers and writers don't think about any events outside this episode, which is a great shame because I believe this could have been such a much stronger episode had it been planned better.

 Also I think it should be made clear that Chris’ hearing loss was just going to be temporary. They tell him that he needs to plan for never getting his hearing back and then when he does get it back say it’s a one in a million case. It feels like the drama is deliberately over played to try and make the story more powerful but for me it makes it less realistic.

 I do love the “We’re All The Same” song and routine with everyone signing the words. For me it’s not just it’s context in this episode but the lyrics highlight issues of tolerance for all people regardless of gender, sexuality, race, culture, ability, disability etc.. which was always an underlying theme of the show and one that I really related to. I wanted the whole World to be like the Fame World.

Now one thing that I get a little confused by is the story line that the singers and the dancers can’t get along. I realize it is there to add to the tension and make the finale work better, where everyone comes together. However the problems seem to come from nowhere. Danny, Doris, Holly are always in dance class with the other dancers and get their fair share of leads even in the production numbers and no one seems to have had an issues with that in the past. Actors, singers, musicians and dancers have been performing together since season 1 so to suddenly have an issue with that seems bizarre.

Michelle in particular gets singled out for not being able to sing in tune but if this is true why did Holly and Coco want her to join the “Drive Me Wild” number for the show in “Hail To The Chief”. Also in a couple of episodes time she’ll be singing with Holly and Doris, the very people criticising her here on “Starting At The End”. It really doesn’t make much sense to me apart from setting up the jam session so that Chris can have his accident but surely they don't really need an excuse to have the Jam session.

 Chris and Danny both seem to be vying for the attentions of Kim, she is obviously very popular because she was kissing Michael in the previous episode.

 Having been missing for a few episodes Leroy make a very brief appearance here with one line during the English class but it’s a shame he wasn’t involved in the final production number.

 I’m not sure why there was a rock n roll act playing at Caruso’s because I didn’t think Caruso liked that kind of music. Personally I would have thought that would have been an ideal opportunity for Danny to be singing that song instead of some unknown person.

 The story of Morloch also leaving comes out of no where and personally I don’t think it gets enough time here to do it justice. I think it would have been better in the season finale as we may have really thought he was leaving. Still it provides a great scene between Sherwood and Morloch when she’s telling him she doesn’t want him to leave and how much more efficient things have been since he joined, only to discover he wasn’t going after all.

In the credits Jackie Kinner is listed as playing Theresa but when she introduces herself in the episode she says she's called Christina.

Original  air date in U.S.A 13th May 1984

Original  air date  in U.K. 06th July 1984,  Repeated on The Children's Channel  Autumn 1992

Original air date in the Netherlands 31st July 1984 

Original air date in Italy 17th August 1986

Original air date in Belgium 01st September 1988      

Original  air date in France 29th April 1989