Summary
A well-written pilot that sets the stakes for what is ahead in future episodes.
This recap of the Amazon Freevee series High School season 1, episode 1, “I Bet It Stung,” contains spoilers.
This series, based on the book High School from Tegan and Sara Quin, is on Amazon Freevee. The show stars Railey and Seazynn Gilliland as the Quin sisters. The pilot has arrived, and let’s recap everything that went down in the premiere.
High School season 1, episode 1 recap
The episode begins with Sara jamming to music in their living room. However, this leads to us seeing Tegan on the couch watching TV but interrupted by the music. So Tegan heads upstairs and blasts her music which causes Sara to storm into the room to ask her to turn it down. One thing leads to another, and Tegan socks her sister right in the face.
Obviously, the following morning is slightly awkward with the family because of the punching incident. Their dad drops them off at the bus stop, and we join the duo as they head to school. As they both lead to picking up their schedule, a funny moment happens where the lady asks if they are twins, and Tegan says yes, and Sara says no.
In the classroom, a preppy kid walks up to a seated Tegan and tells her to move. She hits back by saying a seat is open in front of her, but the kid pushes back, leading to her moving, and the kids call her a freak. Next, we move to lunch, where Tegan is looking for somewhere to sit. However, instead of sitting in the lunch room, she moved outside to eat her lunch.
The school day is over, and Tegan gets on the bus when the kid from class says she is sitting in his seat again. Tegan mouths back a little until a group of kids walks up and tells him to move along because everyone else is waiting to get on the bus. As the sisters walk home, they are supposed to go somewhere together, but Sara suggests she’ll be bored where they are going, so Tegan goes home.
When Tegan gets home, she thinks that her mom is gone, but when she walks in the door, her mom asks how her day was. Then, her mom asks her why she isn’t with her sister. Tegan says she isn’t cool with her sister, and Phoebe doesn’t want her around anymore. Finally, her mom mentions that this might be a chance for her to make her own friends.
The next day at the bus stop, Tegan sees the kids who defended her on the bus at a distance. Next, she walks into a classroom to sit down, and the girl asks why she is sitting there when she can sit next to her. We find out her name is Maya, and Tegan awkwardly tries to shake her hand (haha). After that, the duo walks the halls after school to get to know each other. Back home, Phoebe calls the house, and Tegan answers. She mentions that they miss hanging out, and deep down, so does her sister.
Back to school, Tyler (the troll from earlier) begins to pick on her, and while in the halls, Maya realizes that Tegan has gum stuck in her hair. Tegan gets home and goes into the bathroom to get the gum out of her hair. The next day we see Maya have Tyler by the collar and drag him to Tegan, where she forces him to apologize for what he did. Maya mentions that Tegan is her friend and would hate for anyone to mess with her. Tegan is thoroughly impressed by her new friend and thanks her for what she did.
We transition to the episode where the screen goes black with white writing and says Sara, where I believe the narrative will shift. It shows her first day at school and the stuff she went through eating outside like her sister, but not with her sister. Next, we go to Phoebe’s house, where Sara shows off her face and where Tegan punched her. Phoebe mentions she might have deserved it, but she is jealous of what they have. The duo kiss and talk about the upcoming school year, where Sara says she will struggle without her.
Now we are in a drama class where a man talks about how male students are more qualified to play male-like roles. However, Natalie (a student) is challenging this notion much to Sara’s happiness, who is smiling while watching on. It followed with us seeing the aftermath of Tegan freaking out over the gum in her hair in the bathroom with Sara helping her cut it out.
The ending
Sara heads into the bathroom at school, where she sees Natalie and her friend talking. Natalie asks about the mark on her face, mentions her sister punching her, and says “cool”. Next, Natalie invites her to the party tomorrow. A thrilled Sara is excited and ready to go. Outside of school, Tegan introduces Maya and Evan, her new friends, to her sister.
As the episode closes, the sisters have a bonding moment over renting a movie (THEY HAD A BLOCKBUSTER BAG). Both of them were super excited, but as they approached their home, Phoebe was there, and Sara said they would watch the movie later, causing Tegan to be upset. What a way to end the episode, a very well-thought-out pilot that hooks you immediately with the story.
What did you think of High School season 1, episode 1? Comment below.
