My So-Called Life: Season 1, Episode 6: "The Substitute"

Season 1, Episode 6: “The Substitute”
Grade: 8.5

This show is becoming an obsession of mine. I find myself thinking about it weeks after watching an episode. I find myself being depressed like everyone else that has seen it that it never lasted. I marvel at the amount of care and time and effort that is put into every single episode. Every single thing about every single episode is so perfect and specifically so. The writing is impeccable, the characters so unique and specific and special and the performances are incredible across the board with Claire Danes quite possibly giving the most impressive performance for a television series I have ever seen. I am not sure I’ve seen a more accurate, naturalistic or true to life portrayal of a teenager in TV or film. The stories are so unpredictable and they never turn out quite the way you think they are going to. They take you by surprise and have little twists that you do not expect which makes the storytelling feel so fresh and original 15 years later. What an amazing show this is.

So this episode has a substitute teacher coming to the school that takes everyone by surprise with his own rebellious way of teaching. It begins as a sort of Dead Poets Society sort of thing and ends with the teacher not being quite the amazing person we thought he was. The best moment of the episode was when Angela who was very inspired by him to fight for free speech goes to talk to him about his leaving and he calls her Amanda. But it does not end there as the episode really just shows how Angela makes a choice to pick her battle by handing out the student literature packet that had been banned from the school.

It has been almost 2 months since I’ve seen this so I really cannot remember a ton of specifics from the episode. I do remember loving the scene with Rayanne and Sharon when they discuss the banned racy poem that Sharon wrote which we had been led to believe had been Rayanne’s poem. The thing I love most about the show are the scenes with 2 characters interacting that you don’t expect to. All of the random relationships and interactions are explored and I look forward to those scenes possibly the most.

Quotes:
Brian (about Angela getting a ride from Mr. Racine): So, is there, like, anyone's car you won't get into?

Angela: Right. I live my life to annoy you, Krakow. You're, like, my world.

Brian: Shut up. I mean, he's old. He's a teacher.

Angela: What? You think I, like, did something with him?

Brian: I don't know. How do I know?

Angela: Are you demented? Do you just view everything in terms of sex?

Brian: Not everything.

Patty: So what is this substitute person like? Is Brian Krakow right? Is he mentally ill?

Graham: Ah, possibly. I mean, he, um, didn't give me any Kool-Aid to drink, or anything like that. No, actually, he's a pretty cool guy.

Patty: Cool? Cool is not what substitutes are. Substitutes have hard to pronounce last names and bad haircuts.

Graham: Well, this substitute is cool.

Patty: He's not a substitute. Maybe he's a narc.

Graham: Maybe you're a narc

Sharon: Oh god, do you know how over my life will be when people find out ..I..wrote it?Rayanne: Do you know how over mine's gonna be when they find out I ...didn't...?

Rickie (reading Angela's poem): There once lived a girl. She lived in a house made of gingerbread and candy. She was always asleep. One day she woke up, and found that the candy had mold on it. Her father blew her a kiss, and the house came crashing down. She walked down the street. Only the people were made of paper. She blew them all a kiss, and watched as they all floated away...