Fast Reputation is the third episode (23rd overall) of the second season which was broadcast on February 24, 2002.
Synopsis
After being called a "nice" girl for too long, Ginger, along with Dodie and Macie, crashes a high school party. There, she runs into a "cool guy" named Jake. Rumors spread that Ginger and Jake made out and her reputation is ruined. Meanwhile, Carl and Hoodsey start their own food cart business featuring dishes with gross-out names.
Recap
The episode starts with Ginger Foutley, Dodie Bishop and Macie Lightfoot outside and walking towards a school assembly with several other students. Before they enter the building, Mipsy Mipson cuts in line right in front of Ginger and comments Ginger is ‘so nice’ for letting her. The trio enters the building after her, but the teacher tells them all seats are taking, so they have to stand in the back instead. Mipsy takes her seat next to Miranda and Courtney in the back and maliciously points out that ‘nice girls finish last’, causing Miranda to laugh along with her. At the front principal Milty starts the assembly and reveals that the last several weeks, some junior high students were found hanging around ‘the Wall’, where they aren’t allowed to be since it is part of the high school. The students react with (mocking?) shock. Milty then warns them that if any more students are caught in the area of the wall in the future, they might be suspended. Hearing this, Miranda addresses Ginger and tells her she would like her to hang out at the wall so she wouldn’t have to see her for a while. Courtney innocently responds that Ginger would never do such a thing since ‘Ginger is a nice girl’. Like with Mipsy before, Ginger and Dodie share an uneasy look.
At the Lucky Elementary school Mrs. Gordon hands out forms to her students to choose an elective class, though she clearly doesn’t think much of it. Carl Foutley smells an opportunity and signs himself and Hoodsey Bishop up for cooking lessons. At first Hoodsey isn’t excited by the choice, but Carl attempts to convince him by explaining his plan for their future success and fortune. Basically, with the rising popularity of cooking shows, Carl is convinced that if they learn to cook, make a few good dishes and get noticed, they will get their own cooking show and franchise, the first to feature two boys as cooks. Hoodsey remains doubtful because neither of them can cook, but Carl confidently responds that they don’t cook YET.
Meanwhile Ginger is in gym class with her friends running on a track course outside. The Wall is situated right next to the course and shows several high school students hanging out, giving off a cool attitude. Ginger wonders at Courtney’s words earlier about her being a nice girl. She, along with Dodie and Macie, realises that the hidden meaning behind them implied Ginger being uncool, dorky and a general loser. Halting at the fence, separating the junior high from the high school, Ginger looks at the Wall and notices an older guy leaning against it. Dodie identifies him as Jake, a cool 10th grader and when Ginger almost seem bitter that someone like Jake would never talk to a nice girl like her, Dodie teases her for her possible interest in the high schooler. Ginger plays along and says she can be like the leaner girls (Chantal and Andrea) currently talking to Jake as well. The conversation is then cut short by Ms. Powell, the gym teacher. Before they leave, Ginger plays with the idea of hanging around at the Wall.
The idea of going near the wall becomes the main topic of the BFF’s. The next day Dodie tells Ginger that thinking about it and actually going are very different things while Macie has had it with the subject and asks them to drop it. She worries about getting in trouble and damaging their reputation, but Ginger reminds her that their reputation might already be damaged as ‘nice girls’. When Macie then reminds both Ginger and Dodie about the threat of suspension, Ginger falters, especially when Macie also reminds her about her brush with the law during ‘Ginger the Juvey’. She already has proven she is not just a nice girl. Dodie however claims everyone has forgotten about that already. She suggests a compromise: instead of hanging at the wall, they could just walk past it. Ginger however can't make it because she has a dental appointment. Macie jokes that Ginger can also change her image by replacing her front teeth with golden teeth, but the joke falls flat.
Meanwhile Carl and Hoodsey attend their first cooking class where the teacher (Ms. Conners) clearly bears a grudge against TV channels whom she blames for her failed restaurant business.
At the dentist, Ginger is in the waiting room killing her time when suddenly Jake and his friend Sean enter. They don’t notice her and talk about an upcoming high school party at Lexi’s house when her parents aren’t home. The dentist comes in and unknowingly embarrasses Ginger by referencing to her picture hanging up, proclaiming her the ‘Clean mouth of the month’. The smirks on the boys faces indicate they heard it as well. Later at home Ginger bemoans her bad luck and the humiliating image it presented to Jake. She also mentioned Lexi’s party and Dodie immediately sees an opportunity for Ginger to reinvent her bruised image. She suggests crashing the party and Ginger is very excited by the idea. Macie has her concerns, but they are put aside by both Dodie and Ginger.
Later Ginger comes down into the kitchen and asks her mother what they’re having for dinner. Lois reveals that they will be eating Carl’s food, which immediately turns on alarm bells in Ginger’s head. Carl puts her worries aside however when he serves his dish ‘feetloaf with trashed patato’s and fried bunions’. It actually seems edible and after sampling it, Lois proclaims it’s great. Naturally, Carl is over the moon.
It’s Wednesday night and Lexi’s party is in full swing when Ginger, Dodie and Macie arrive. They pretend to be 9th graders and manoeuvre their way through the crowd. The party overwhelms them and Dodie suggests they stay at the snack table so they won’t be required to dance or talk if they don’t want to. The night drags on and neither of the three move from their positio and Ginger is disappointed their plan hasn’t worked or saw Jake. They plan or leaving, but at the last minute Macie makes everyone check for their keys. Ginger then realises her keys are gone and head back to the party to find them. She returns to the snack table and ends up crawling under the table to look for them. There she bumps into a rear, which turns out to be Jake’s. Jake recognises her from the dental office and calls her ‘clean mouth of the month’ before asking her what she’s doing under the table.Ginger explains she lost her keys to which Jake replies he just lost his nachos. They lean closer towards each other, but Ginger backs out at the last moment and turns to leave. Before she does however, Jake asks her name which Ginger quickly shares. Outside and back with her friends, Ginger mentions she bumped into Jake. Dodie wants to full scoop, but Ginger says nothing happened: he was cool and she freaked.
The next day Carl and Hoodsey open their food stand on the school yard. Blake Gripling passes by and orders both french flies and mac and sneeze to see if the food pleases his high standard tastes. He is quickly impressed and not much later Terrence comes by and ends up ordering after proclaiming the food looks better than chef Bob’s. Other children start crowding the stall and farther away chef Bob ominously appears.
Back at the running course at Lucky Junior High Ginger, Dodie and Macie are running again and Ginger says that their primary goal, namely crashing a high school party, had been a success. Dodie says more than that had been achieved since Ginger ended up talking to Jake, but Ginger doubts he will even remember her. Just when she says this, she hears someone call out to her. It’s Jake standing near the fence twirling her house keys around his finger. Ginger heads over to him and tries to take the keys, but Jake holds them out of her reach. Jake takes on a flirty tone which makes Ginger flustered. She does end up taking her keys back and after bidding her goodbye so she can get back to class, Jake tells her they’ll meet the next party. When she rejoins her friends, Courtney and Miranda – who saw the whole interaction – confront Ginger about her knowing Jake. Ginger reveals they crashed a high school party, much to Courtney’s jealousy. Confused as well, Dodie wonders how Jake got a hold of her house keys to which Ginger replies that he must have found them under the snack table after their ‘tête-à-tête’. Courtney presses for more information but Ginger remains vague and runs off.
Meanwhile Chef Bob complains to the teaching staff about Carl and Hoodsey’s food cart, while the boys criticize his cooking style. Mrs. Gordon and Ms. Conners confront them and demand they close up the business. Carl immediately protests and lets Mrs. Gordon taste their ‘Gross-beef sandwich with potato’s au rotten’. Mrs. Gordon absolutely loves it and lets the boys keep their stand, much to chef Bob’s frustration. He realises he needs bigger guns to shut Carl and Hoodsey down.
Not much later Carl and Hoodsey’s stand is open again and its success is steadily growing, now attracting students outside the elementary school. Courtney and Miranda approach the cart as well, though not for the food. Instead they hope to get any type of information out of Carl concerning Ginger and Jake. Before they get to ask him however, Miranda notices Jake himself lining up at the stand to buy some food. They quickly walk up to him and inquire about Ginger. Jake confirms that he knows her, but refers to her as ‘clean mouth’ confusing both Courntey and Miranda with its implication. Jake goes on to talk vaguely about their meeting at the party, not realising both Miranda and Courtney misunderstood him. They interpret his words as a statement that he and Ginger made out at the party and especially Miranda can’t wait to spread the news.
At lunch Dodie tells Ginger she now has a reputation. Mipsy strolls by and addresses Ginger, referring to her as a ‘bad girl’. Ginger is shocked at her tone, but both Dodie and Macie remind her that not long ago she was upset for being called a 'nice girl'. Soon the entire school knows about the rumours and it follows Ginger everywhere, even in the toilets where she has gone hiding. Two girls gossip about Jake and her making out and question the nature of him having her house keys earlier. Ginger is devastated by the comments and Dodie and Macie come to comfort her. They believe her side of the story, but acknowledge that the rest of the school doesn’t.
The next day, Ginger tells her mother about her reluctance to go to school because everyone will talk about her. When she wonders what she is supposed the say to them, Carl answers with a single sentence: ‘rubber glue, back to you’. Lois is impressed by his smart comment and advises exactly that approach to Ginger. Ginger is doubtful at first, but Lois ensures her that she doesn’t have to explain anything to anyone. Just let them think what they want to think.
Later that day, Carl and Hoodsey are once again managing their food stall when suddenly an older man arrives. Carl initially thinks it’s a representative from a foodc hannel, but his hopes are crushed when it turns out to be health inspection (send by chef Bob). The inspector quickly sees fault after fault and closes the stand immediately, to Carl and Hoodsey’s horror.
At least one day later at Lucky Junior, Ginger, Dodie and Macie are talking about Carl’s misfortune and Ginger jokes that ruined reputations must run in their family. Ginger also realises that while she may have wanted to get rid of her nice girl image, she didn’t want to be known as the girl who made out with older boys under picnic tables. Courtney and Miranda then pass by the table and Courtney turns her attention to Ginger, telling her how relieved she is the rumours about her and Jake have calmed down at last. She also apologises for any part she played in the spreading of the rumours and is glad she herself is the limelight again. When she says she almost felt like she didn’t know Ginger anymore, Ginger tells her friends that for a moment she also didn’t recognise herself.
Appearances
- Ginger Foutley
- Courtney Gripling
- Macie Lightfoot
- Girl #1
- Girl #2
- Dodie Bishop
- Carl Foutley
- Hoodsey Bishop
- Hygenist
- Miranda Killgallen
- Lois Foutley
- Terrence
- Blake Gripling
- Ms. Conners
- Mrs. Gordon
- Mipsy Mipson
- Principal Milty
- Jake
- Andrea (cameo)
- Chantal (cameo)
- Chef Bob
- Vice Principal Perucci
- Food Inspector
- Sean
- Will Patterson
- Guy
Quotes
Carl: Slam dunk! Today, the Foutleys, tomorrow, uh, everyone else who eats.
Blake: Both. After all the name Gripling is synonymous with culinary adventure. Hoodsey: I thought it was synonymous with Gripling.
Jake: Kinda like when Cinderella left her house keys, right? Ginger: I, uh, thought it was a glass slipper. Jake: Huh, I'm not really into literature.
Hoodsey: But I've got a hood! I don't need a hair net!
Macie: That pierced eyebrow has got throbbing infection written all over it.
Ginger: Like my mom always says: "What’s life without taking chances?"
Mipsy: Heard little miss clean mouth had herself quite a night. Seems like bad girls finish first.
Carl: Rubber glue, back to you.
Macie: Observe as they bust a move to the funky remix.
Trivia
- Darren is absent in this episode.
- When Ginger, Dodie and Macie talk about Courtney’s words at the assembly, Dodie and Ginger claim that Courtney not only said Ginger was a nice girl, but also said they always finish last. The last comment however, was said by Mipsy.
- A list of Carl and Hoodsey's food menu:
- Feetloaf with trashed potatoes and fried bunions = Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and fried onions
- French flies = French fries
- Mac and sneeze = Mac and cheese
- Gross-beef sandwich with potatoes au rotten = Groundbeef sandwich with potatoes
- Skevy Jones
- Slimenade = lemonade
- When Carl offers Courtney and Miranda a slimenade, Courtney responds by saying "Shaken, not stirred." A famous catchphrase said by James Bond whenever he gives his preference of martini cocktails.
- Ginger, Dodie and Macie didn't seem to recognize Chantal and Andrea as the two of them were talking to Jake. Instead, Ginger refers to them as "leaners".
- In The Right Stuff, Andrea wore a blue skirt. However, in this episode she wears a green skirt.
Gallery
.jpg "Hqdefdsault (1).jpg (23 KB)")
