Summary
With the story now bedded in, episode 2 presents what each character is passionate about with trouble looming ahead as their personal issues begin to surface.
This recap of Netflix’s Grand Army season 1, episode 2, “See Me” contains significant spoilers.
We recapped the entire series — check out the archive.
The opening
The start of episode 2 shows that Joey is quite the activist and she has strong views that she wants to spread to the school.
Joey gets ready for the day and receives texts from Tim talking about “blowing up the patriarchy”. She’s ready to show her body and wear revealing clothes to Ms Wilder who accused her of dressing inappropriately in the premiere episode. Joey and her father have a brief argument because the father calls terrorists “These people” while watching the news.
Paranoid
The consequences of the bombing continue to impact Sid — he’s irked by stereotypes and racial profiling.
Meanwhile, Sid is anxious about going to school. On the subway with his sister Meera, Sid feels everyone is looking at him due to the terrorist attack. On the way into school, Owen and Jay are playing jazz and the police break it up. Sid is still extremely paranoid around authorities.
Free the nipple
Leila asks Rachel why she isn’t wearing a bra. Joey then walks in with a top saying “Free The Nipple”. The plan is to keep the tops covered up until after the quiz. They are trying to prove a point. George then walks up to Leila and she feels awkward after they hooked up. He asks if they can hang out later and then asks if she’s going to burn her bra. Rachel is disappointed that Leila’s now going to join Joey’s cause just because of George.
I think Rachel is implying that Leila’s character is compromising herself in order to have an experience with a boy at school — at this point, she could have a point.
Giving the money back
In class, Jayson and Owen give Dom her money back that they lost. They ask her for a favor but she isn’t interested in small talk. Sid speaks to a teacher about an essay he wrote, presumably an application for college. She tells him that it’s “just fine” and she recommends that he gets an outside peer perspective to brainstorm on his essay.
Getting under Ms. Wilder’s skin
And here is another pivotal moment for Grand Army that seems to come thick and fast.
In class, Joey takes off her coat and reveals her top to Ms. Wilder who doesn’t react initially. Joey is disappointed that she doesn’t react straight away — she pours water over her white top and Ms. Wilder loses it and asks her to step out because it’s offensive that she’s dressed as a “hooker” and that she’s essentially selling herself.
This went from 0 to 100 really quickly.
Making a stand with her activism
And Joey’s activism is all systems go in the second chapter as she makes a stand and brings some important themes to the series that are provocative.
Joey goes to the principal’s office and explains what happened. The principal says it’s a dress code violation. Joey says it is not a violation and it’s a political movement. The teacher opens the door as he feels uncomfortable being in the same room as Joey with a see-through top soaked in water. Joey tries to show the double standard when her male friends walk in with the same top — her friends walk through the door. She then tells him how he’s regulating her body but not theirs. She also says that there are hundreds of girls today not wearing bras and gives him a list of names who will come to speak to him and he will also have to send them home — she notes that there isn’t a code that they need to wear bras. The principal sends her back to class. Joey tells the principal that Ms. Wilder called her a prostitute and wants an apology. Ms. Wilder walks in and apologizes.
Joey is celebrated by all the dance girls for what she did. Tim comes to see her and tells her that she inspires him. The pair kiss.
Meeting a student for another perspective
We learn what is truly conflicting Sid’s mind in Grand Army season 1, episode 2.
Sid meets another student named Victor about his application. He wants to talk about the bomber and perceptions of how people see him. The student thinks it’s a solid idea. Sid is consumed by the boy’s features. Sid’s girlfriend Flora walks in and she asks if he cured his boyfriend. When Sid gets home, he masturbates to men on his laptop.
Not only is Sid battling with racial profiling post a bombing, but also his sexuality as well.
An awkward hookup
George and Leila hook up. When she touches him sexually it hurts him so George sorts himself out and it’s awkward. He ejaculates over her clothes and then sits down as she stands there awkwardly before watching a video with him. George then talks about her dark nipples and he says he likes it. Leila then talks about how she’s half Jewish but he says she’s not technically part of the tribe. She then imagines a cartoon again where George is on Instagram looking at Joey and “Free The Nipple”; she forces George to eat her clit while Zombie Joey tells her to get it.
While the scene shows how naive Leila is being with George (not realizing she’s being used) it also shows George’s maturity, especially when he markedly talks about her dark nipples like it’s something alien to him.
Dom goes out with her mother shopping but it gets awkward as she cannot pay for everything. John comes over as he works there and asks for an employee discount to help her out. Dom is embarrassed when John introduces himself to her mother.
What did you do for her?
Leila tells Joey that what she did was cool. George quickly brushes Leila off and says he will see her later. Leila video calls her friend and expresses how hooking up with George was fun. George tells Joey that Leila couldn’t make him cum — Joey asks if George did anything for her; this was a cool moment with Joey reminding George that pleasure works both ways.
Joey heads home and invites George. She checks out her Instagram and sees how her cause has trended at school. She takes a photo of her pierced nipple and sends it to a group.
The ending
Owen and Jay are in trouble because of the lockdown prank that caused Dom to lose money. Dom doesn’t want them to get into trouble but Jay gets a suspension for 7 days. Owen gets a superintendent’s suspension which will mean a hearing as well. A tear runs down Owen’s face. His dreams as a musician could be shattered in this one moment. Joey tells Dom that she feels bad.
The episode ends with the text:
“This isn’t a cry for attention this is about your entitlement”.
With the story now bedded in, Grand Army season 1, episode 2 presents what each character is passionate about with trouble looming ahead as their personal issues begin to surface.
Faculty archives
- Anna asks Joey what her thing is with Tim but Joey brushes it off. Joey then gets her nipple pierced.
