About:
Young Americans S1.E04 “CinderBella”
Total Tallies
Rowing: 2
Ending Up in the Lake: 0
Shirtlessness: 3
Coca-Cola Product Placements: 3
Nick Drake Songs: 1
Previous rewatch: “The Beginning” and “Our Time”
The third and fourth episodes of Young Americans are a strange pair—the former is ultimately uneventful and doesn’t do much to progress the plot along, but the latter is one of the best episodes of the series for fans of Hamilton and Jake. (Jamilton? Hake?)
We’ll hit the midway point at the end of today’s post, but rest assured, there’s plenty more half-sibling avoidance of romance and rich kid antics to come in the second half of the series.
1.3 “Kiss and Tell”
The third episode opens with Deep Thoughts with Will Krudski: “There are some days when you feel so lucky to just be, where you are, when you are, and who you are. And you can’t help wondering if everyone feels as lucky as you do.” Oh Wil.
As the boys are getting ready for more rowing (which, hilariously, thanks to FYA reader Another Sarah, I know now to be pretty inaccurately portrayed), Bella waves from a dock down the pond. Scout gets his “I know you’re my sister, but …” creepy grin on his face and waves her over. As she’s canoeing to them, a girl on a JetSki roars up and immediately compliments Scout on how good he looks. Of course, Bella looks a little like she wants to cut a bitch. When the girl, who we now know is Paige, asks Scout to go for a ride on the jetski, he offers Will up instead.
After the credits, another new/familiar face appears. Ryder (Charlie Hunnam) saunters down the hallway with a cigarette behind his ear. (Rebel alert!) Hamilton’s mom—wife of the dean—shows up and takes the cigarette, welcomes him back to Rawley, then heads into a classroom. Finn follows closely behind, and to seemingly ask her a question about a class syllabus, but soon cuts to the chase—and kisses her. WITH THE DOOR OPEN. (At this point, my husband goes, “Is he the dean?” When I said no, he said: “SCANDALOUS.” That’s why I married him, ladies and gents.) Oh, wait. Will walks by the open door and catches Finn and Hamilton’s mom making out. Ryder walks by, suggesting that since it’s summer session, anything goes.
Post-dalliance with Finn, Hamilton’s mom introduces him to Lena, who’s touring the Rawley campus. Jake meets up with the two of them and Lena takes an immediate interest, telling Jake that she looks exactly like her ex-boyfriend. Jake plays it off, as any good bro would in front of their friend.
Ryder later busts into a common area with a camcorder and declares that he’s making a documentary on the sad lives of the Rawley freshmen. He makes fun of Will and Hamilton, and Hamilton walks out. Ryder then records himself spilling the beans on Hamilton’s mom’s affair. Will gets in Ryder’s face and knocks the camera out of his hands and to the ground, where it lands at Dean Fleming’s feet, which he takes with him when he goes.
Paige and Bella have some girl bonding time, thanks in part to Bella fixing Paige’s car for free. While giving Bella a manicure, Paige announces that she’s been in love with Scout since she was nine and that she wants him to be her first. Bella turns green, but Paige doesn’t notice.
Will breaks into the dean’s office to get the camcorder back—in order to erase the tape, one assumes—but Hamilton’s mom catches him in the act. She takes the camera, not knowing what’s on it, and says she’ll have to bring it up with the dean. Hamilton’s mom lets Finn know about the video camera incident, which she believes Will was stealing. When Finn pulls Will aside to talk to him about the incident, and yells at him for stealing, Will yells back explaining that he did it to try and help Finn, to keep the dean from seeing the tape. Finn explains to Hamilton’s mom that Will took the camera out of a sense of duty to “some friends.” The two seemingly break off their affair.
Lena stops by Jake’s room and tells her that she’ll be transferring to Rawley Girls before kissing her. Jake tries to let her down easy and says that she’s in love with someone else. Lena says that she should have listened to Hamilton when he said it wouldn’t work. When Jake says that it’s because he likes Lena, she disagrees. When Lena walks out of Jake’s room, a bunch of guys in the hall cheer #becausedudes, and Hamilton congratulates Jake, but extremely half heartedly.
The episode ends with Scout and Bella heading to the lake to skip rocks, Hamilton and Jake both looking longingly into the sky, and more Deep Thoughts with Will Krudski.
Exam Time!
How many times do you see someone rowing on the lake?
2
How many times does someone end up in the lake?
0
How many times is someone seen without a shirt on?
0!
How many times does someone drink a Coke/is a Coca-Cola logo seen?
2
On a scale of 1–10, how adorably awkward does the flirting between Hamilton and Jake get?
4. When Hamilton tells Jake that she’s “won” Lena, Jake tells him it’s just a chemistry thing. That sometimes people just click. She also tells him that she’s sure he’s “clicked with a ton of babes.” Hamilton tells her that since she’s a guy, and Lena’s totally into “him,” Jake should go for her. When he walks away, Jake comments on the fact that there are so many things wrong with the situation.
On a scale of 1–10, how uncomfortably awkward does the relationship between Scout and Bella get?
6. Scout tells Bella that he hadn’t told her about his feelings for Paige because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Bella can barely hold back the tears.
Essay Questions
What was the most obvious rich kid vs. poor kid moment?
After Bella fixes an issue with Paige’s car at the garage, she comes up from under the car with a grease smudge on her forehead and then compliments Paige’s French manicure.
What was the best example of Finn trying to pull a Dead Poet’s Society?
Finn attempts to give Will a “right and wrong” lesson about the video camera, and even though Will turns it around on him, it was a very “teachery” moment.
What familiar faces appeared in the episode, and in what else have they appeared?
- Charlie Hunnam’s (Gregor Ryder) other credits include Sons of Anarchy, Queer as Folk and the upcoming Pacific Rim.
Extra Credit
How many times does a Nick Drake song play?
1
Final (Arbitrary) Score
60/100. There were some cute Jake/Hamilton moments, but a lot of the usual Rawley antics were toned down in this episode. (I blame the episode’s mostly rainy weather.)
1.4 “CinderBella”
It’s summer cotillion time at Rawley Academy. Will opens the episode mulling over his current lot in life—”A place where a guy from the wrong side of the tracks lives life like a prince.” Queue the slow-mo: A new girl has arrived on campus, and Will is obviously a fan.
A joint English class on the campus green introduces us to the fact that Rawley for Boys and Rawley for Girls share an occasional class. The boys (and Jake) are all in attendance, and so are Lena and Paige. When Finn makes a crack about the boys enjoying the coed class, Jake laughs, and Finn asks her if she’s had a crush recently. Jake falters a bit, but finally admits that she has. Finn then asks Jake what song describes her crush and she replies ”I Try” by Macy Gray. (It was 2000, afterall.)
I’ll keep my cool, but I’m fiendin’
I try to say goodbye and I choke
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not here
After class, Will presses Scout for info on the new girl, Caroline (Michelle Monaghan). Scout suggests that Will ask her to the cotillion, and in order to prove that he’s not scared of girls, Will does. She already has a date, but they shake hands as she leaves. I’m sure he’ll never wash that hand again.
Will asks Bella to go to the cotillion with him so that he has a date and therefore doesn’t look stupid when he asks Caroline to dance. (I’m not sure how this thinking works, but OK.) Lena asks Hamilton to go, since Jake’s “not interested in either of them,” and he accepts. When Jake hears, she mentions that she probably won’t be going any longer since the person she was interested in going with is going with someone else.
We meet Grace, Bella’s sister, for the first time this episode; she’s kind of awful. Bella asks her to be at the garage at midnight to take care of the gas delivery so that she can go to the dance and Grace begrudgingly agrees.
Everyone at the cotillion is dressed in all-white (which I didn’t know was a rule). Lena and Hamilton show up at the dance and Hamilton sees that Jake has showed up after all. Lena mentions that they’re obviously in love with each other—girl does like to speak her mind—and that Hamilton should throw caution to the wind and just follow his heart.
Caroline finds Will in a side room, playing pool by himself. Will plays it cool, repeating information he’s learned from Scout about her and thereby misleading her as to his background. She tells him to tell her how she knows, or else she’ll do something naughty to him. (Uh, what?) Bella finds Grace hanging around the cotillion—in a pink dress, how scandalous!—and has to run home to take care of the gas delivery herself. Will, ever the gentleman, leaves Caroline to go and help her. Sean’s there and has saved the day.
Jake and Hamilton lock eyes from across the room and awkwardly shuffle toward each other. When Jake says she needs to talk to him, he agrees, but then says he can’t. Jake leaves and heads to the bathroom. Hamilton follows her into the bathroom and, after making sure no one else is in there, kisses her. When he pulls back, shocked at how obviously great the kiss was, Jake reveals to him that she’s a girl. When Hamilton isn’t convinced by her words, Jake drags him into a stall and proves it to him by opening her shirt. Hamilton storms out. But, the next morning, Hamilton bursts into Jake’s room and and tells her “If you were a guy, I would punch you,” before kissing her.
The episode ends with another coed English class in which Will attempts to make amends with Caroline through his deep thoughts on Matthew Arnold’s poem “Self Dependence.” (It’s a little odd how Finn only seems to call on Will, even though other students also raise their hands. And how every poem seems to fit exactly what is going on in the students’ lives. Finn’s a total mind reader.)
Exam Time!
How many times do you see someone rowing on the lake?
0, but there is evidence that there was rowing between scenes at one point.
How many times does someone end up in the lake?
0
How many times is someone seen without a shirt on?
3 (All Jake this episode.)
How many times does someone drink a Coke/is a Coca Cola logo seen?
1
On a scale of 1–10, how adorably awkward does the flirting between Hamilton and Jake get?
10. Jake asks Hamilton what he’s wearing to the cotillion and then mentions that she’ll be going solo. When Hamilton says that he’ll probably do that too, Jake asks if he wants to go solo, together. Hamilton agrees. Plus: The kisses in the bathroom, the revelation of Jake not being a guy and the kisses in her room.
On a scale of 1–10, how uncomfortably awkward does the relationship between Scout and Bella get?
8. When Bella and Will show up at the cotillion, Scout can’t take his eyes off of her … or close his mouth. Later, he asks her if she ever pretends that their being half-siblings isn’t true, and they get awfully close to kissing.
Essay Questions
What was the most obvious rich kid vs. poor kid moment?
When will asks Bella to the cotillion, she hesitates on account of having to be the townie girl in the midst of all the richies. When Will says, “Let’s go and show these people how to have a great time,” she responds, “Oh, like we know. Easy chairs, warm beer, cold pizza … no.”
What was the best example of Finn trying to pull a Dead Poets Society?
Finn likens the feelings Jake gets from the Macy Gray song to the way Browning tries to get people to feel through his poetry.
What familiar faces appeared in the episode, and in what else have they appeared?
- Michelle Monaghan (Caroline Busse) has had other roles in Source Code and Eagle Eye.
Extra Credit
How many times does a Nick Drake song play?
0
Final (Arbitrary) Score
90/100. I can’t get enough of the Jake and Hamilton relationship.
Have y’all been watching along? I think it’s quite obvious who I adore, but who’s your favorite couple so far?
