Coco Returns

Having dropped out of school the year before Coco Hernandez returns to the school of the arts to get her high school diploma. Before the dust even settles she and Nicole are competing for the lead in a school show being directed by famous visiting director Nathan Adler.

Coco gets the part but she and Adler clash and Coco's insecurities over previously being fired from a show come back to haunt her.

When Fame was actually airing I would always check the TV guide on the day it came out to check to see what it said about that weeks episode.

For this episode there was picture of Erica on the bottom of the page. It was a picture of her from the U.K. concerts and I thought at first it had been printed in error or that the BBC was repeating the concert from the Royal Albert Hall. Then to my excitement I saw the episode title. I had no advance knowledge that Erica had returned to the show and was so looking forward to seeing her again.

I suspected that she was only back for one episode but hoped she was back permanently and I think I was looking forward to this episode more than any other.

It's a really fun and exciting entrance and Erica looks fantastic in that cream top she has on. It is a very unusual design and I don't recall ever seeing anything like it before, very short with huge sleeves, it doesn’t seem particularly practical but looks great. Even the background music the class are dancing to adds to the excitement, an instrumental version of Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard For The Money” and I love that song.

I love how Erica jumps into Debbie's arms it looks so genuine that they are so happy to see each other. I knew I'd missed Coco since she'd left in the 3rd season but it wasn’t until she came back that I realised exactly how much I'd missed her.

I do have to question how Coco can suddenly re-enrol into the school. Lydia seems totally surprised to see her but wouldn't Coco need to audition and wouldn't Lydia be the one holding the auditions and making the decisions?

Erica's presence really lifts the episode and there seems to be so much going on that for me it could have so easily been made into a two parter and for once I don't mind the guest star talking over the show.

I love the rivalry between Coco and Nicole and how unimpressed Nicole is when everyone is fussing over Coco, “How great can she be”? I’m not quite sure how Jesse can know all the things that Coco has been doing since she left as he’s never met her before. Personally I think the cafeteria scene should have included Leroy or Danny, someone that knew Coco as it would have been realistic for them to know what she's been up to. It’s a shame that Carlo was missing from this episode, I would have liked to see Coco and Danny reunite.

"Saved By The Bell" is a great number and it was so wonderful to hear Erica singing again, the performance was amazing and that old magic was definitely still there. Even Nicole had to admit that Coco was pretty great.

I love the scene between Coco and Doris in the locker room and we get the first hint that all is not well with Coco. A concerned Doris asks "what happened to you out there?" They get interrupted by Nicole and I was frustrated that Coco doesn't get to answer. I just wanted to listen to what she had to say, what had happened and see Doris supporting her friend.

I do get a little confused later on when Doris says that she didn't think she and Coco were ever that close and then she states that she lied about that. I don't really understand why Doris would say that. There are plenty of scenes in the first 2 years where Doris and Coco are close, like Coco confiding that her grandmother had died or going to Doris for advice on whether to have sex with her boyfriend who’s leaving town. So to tell the lie in the first place makes no sense but to admit to it 30 seconds later confuses me more. Maybe Doris was just angry at Coco and didn’t want to admit that she was upset by her leaving again but Doris being Doris couldn’t actually carry the lie on very long. Personally I wish the writers hadn’t given Doris that line and they had just said there goodbyes.

Erica performing “New York New York” is also a great scene. It’s not really a favourite song of mine and we don’t actually hear that much of it but what we do hear is stunning. Love the proud smile on Lydia’s face and Nicole’s realisation that she can’t compete with Coco.

Later it’s nice that Coco and Nicole can work together and Coco offers Nicole advise and helps with the "Overnight Success" routine, which is another great song and for me this has to be the duet of the season. Nicole and Coco singing a great song together.

There are so many good scenes in this episode but my favourite scene is the one between Leroy and Coco where they are lying in bed and she tells him how he's always been there for him. There really was such a special bond between the two and that scene made me cry the first time I saw it and still makes me cry now. That’s exactly how I felt about the show when I was a teenager, whenever I was hurting or down I could always turn to “Fame” and it’s cast to pick me and comfort me and it never let me down.

I like also that Leroy starts to have feelings for Coco. Although it’s only a small part of the episode it seemed totally realistic that Leroy would feel like that. Although I was a little confused because I thought he was going out with Cleo or is that supposed to be over now? There is a scene in this episode where Cleo and Leroy are in the auditorium in the background and Cleo is braiding Leroy’s hair which implies they are close.

The main story of Coco against the director is interesting and it’s good to discover what has happened to Coco outside the school. Really the story is pretty standard for the show, have a guest star on who’s experience of Fame has damaged them someway, but with the person the story evolves around being someone we already know and care about the story is so much more interesting and has a greater impact.

When I originally watched I was less interested in Mr Adler and really wanted to concentrate on Coco interacting with the rest of the cast. Originally I found the hospital scene after Adler has had his heart attack frustrating but watching it now I can see it is an excellent scene and Erica and Milton Berle really play off each other wonderfully.

When Coco goes to see Shorofsky he dismisses his class early but won’t they get in to trouble with the hall monitor because he didn’t give them hall passes?

In comparison to the rest of the episode I do find "Right Here, right now" a little boring and it’s not up to the same standard of the other songs in this episode also I'm more interested in what is happening to Coco.

I do love Leroy and Coco’s final scene and sadly all too soon she’s gone again!

Eartha Robinson was choreographer on this episode. I'd never realised before how many of the dancers were actually allowed to develop on the show and not just dance. So it’s nice to know there were such opportunities for them.

In the end credits there is a shot of Adler in the street next to what looks like a big black limo but this scene is not part of the episode.

Original  air date in U.S.A 02nd March 1985

Original  air date  in U.K. 10th June 1985,  Repeated on The Children's Channel  Broadcast Autumn 1992

Original air date in Italy 07th September 1986

Original  air date in France 07th February 1996