Kevin is starting a new school year but without his girlfriend Winnie, who is starting at a new school. Kevin faces a lot of challenges on his first. He doesn't have a locker, he takes industrial art but doesn't want to be there, and at his only high-point in the episode his ex-girlfriend literally knocks him down.
Furthermore, a new girl, Madeline, has just started, and Kevin is attracted to her witch is shown through nervousness and usage of the male gaze ( this becomes important later). He awkwardly flirts with her and when she kisses him as gradetude for being nice to her, she seems legitimately happy and confident that this will lead to something. She also says the line: "You have no idea how hard it is to be the new girl in school".Though, when Kevin meets with Winnie after school, everything seems alright, but then Kevin recognises someone who is walking by and we realise that it is Madeline standing in front of him. Kevin looks frightened and worried as Madeline sees him with his girlfriend. They don't greed. Madeline simply passes bye, after witch Winnie repeats the line: "You have no idea how hard it is to be the new girl in school" ( the last line of the episode).
This is of-course a great cliff-hanger, but I think it has a deeper meaning. Madeline is the new girl in school in the same way that Winnie is starting at a new school. She doesn't know, who she can talk to or who she can trust. Kevin is the only one who gives her attention, and she trusts him.
Then she sees him with Winnie, and it becomes apparent that she was just being objectified. As the episode concludes with Winnies line you can see Madeline in the background of the scene looking away maybe in denial of what she had just seen.
The episode ends on a thoughtful note, that Kevin in all his self-petty ends up possibly breaking the heart of 14 years old girl. The episode is also about how Kevin's manhood is being challenged as he is being delegated to industrial art in comparison to the more academically challenging subjects, that he feels suits his intellect, and a bully, who is much bigger than he is, has taken his locker. When he beats his ex-girlfriend Becky in a race he jumps up in the air to the composition "Thus spoke Zarathustra" from 2001: a space odyssey, which is completely subverted, when Becky punches him in the stomach. The themes of this episode emphasised by the last scene are interesting but apparently a bit too complicated sense the rest of the Madeline story-line completely ignores that this scene even happened, and from this point Madeline is just a femme fatale who does everything in her power to seduce Kevin, even though she should probably resent him. This is not how she is portraid in this episode. One might argue that she pushed her pen on the floor on purpose, so Kevin could pick it up, though this is of-course interpretation. Like most episodes of the wonder years every scene has a purpose. The script is very efficient. I do however think the scene were he finds out that his gym-teacher, is the contemporary guidance counsellor drags on for a bit too long. The scene is important to establish why Kevin ends up racing against Becky in the first place, but the scene is not really about anything except that Kevin has problems.
A 10/10 is an episode that stands on its own and still manages to take advantage of continuity in several ways. Find out that Greg Hobson Broke up with Becky and that is why she is angry with Kevin throughout the episode. This is not enough, but the episode is still a very strong 9/10.
Furthermore, a new girl, Madeline, has just started, and Kevin is attracted to her witch is shown through nervousness and usage of the male gaze ( this becomes important later). He awkwardly flirts with her and when she kisses him as gradetude for being nice to her, she seems legitimately happy and confident that this will lead to something. She also says the line: "You have no idea how hard it is to be the new girl in school".Though, when Kevin meets with Winnie after school, everything seems alright, but then Kevin recognises someone who is walking by and we realise that it is Madeline standing in front of him. Kevin looks frightened and worried as Madeline sees him with his girlfriend. They don't greed. Madeline simply passes bye, after witch Winnie repeats the line: "You have no idea how hard it is to be the new girl in school" ( the last line of the episode).
This is of-course a great cliff-hanger, but I think it has a deeper meaning. Madeline is the new girl in school in the same way that Winnie is starting at a new school. She doesn't know, who she can talk to or who she can trust. Kevin is the only one who gives her attention, and she trusts him.
Then she sees him with Winnie, and it becomes apparent that she was just being objectified. As the episode concludes with Winnies line you can see Madeline in the background of the scene looking away maybe in denial of what she had just seen.
The episode ends on a thoughtful note, that Kevin in all his self-petty ends up possibly breaking the heart of 14 years old girl. The episode is also about how Kevin's manhood is being challenged as he is being delegated to industrial art in comparison to the more academically challenging subjects, that he feels suits his intellect, and a bully, who is much bigger than he is, has taken his locker. When he beats his ex-girlfriend Becky in a race he jumps up in the air to the composition "Thus spoke Zarathustra" from 2001: a space odyssey, which is completely subverted, when Becky punches him in the stomach. The themes of this episode emphasised by the last scene are interesting but apparently a bit too complicated sense the rest of the Madeline story-line completely ignores that this scene even happened, and from this point Madeline is just a femme fatale who does everything in her power to seduce Kevin, even though she should probably resent him. This is not how she is portraid in this episode. One might argue that she pushed her pen on the floor on purpose, so Kevin could pick it up, though this is of-course interpretation. Like most episodes of the wonder years every scene has a purpose. The script is very efficient. I do however think the scene were he finds out that his gym-teacher, is the contemporary guidance counsellor drags on for a bit too long. The scene is important to establish why Kevin ends up racing against Becky in the first place, but the scene is not really about anything except that Kevin has problems.
A 10/10 is an episode that stands on its own and still manages to take advantage of continuity in several ways. Find out that Greg Hobson Broke up with Becky and that is why she is angry with Kevin throughout the episode. This is not enough, but the episode is still a very strong 9/10.
