A Lesson in Tightropes is the fourteenth episode (54th overall) of the third season which was broadcast on October 23, 2016 on the former Teen Nick hour The Splat (now renamed NickRewind).
The Meaning of Life Lesson[]
"Have you ever been struck by the feeling that something is wrong? Nothing in particular mind you. Nothing what you could quite put your finger on.
Just an overwhelming sense that things in your universe have well shifted and even if the answer is right there staring you straight in the eye. Somehow you still don't see it."
- Ginger Foutley
Synopsis[]
Darren finally decides to tell Ginger the truth, and he breaks up with her. She returns home where her friends try to comfort her, until she eventually cries herself to sleep. When Lois comes to check on her, she finds her daughter unconscious with a fever. This all turns out that Ginger is having an acute appendicitis attack and she is rushed to the hospital, where Dr. Dave saves her life by performing an emergency operation. As she is recovering, many of her friends and family come to visit, including her father, Jonas. Carl becomes worried that their father's appearance will rekindle Lois's feelings for him and ruin her relationship with Dr. Dave. Meanwhile, Ginger reflects on her relationship with Darren and Orion comes to reveal his true feelings for her.
Plot[]
It's mid morning and Ginger is seen walking down the hallway of the high school. She starts telling the audience about the subtle changes in your own universe. Then, she sees a figure and stares at it suspiciously. As it gets closer, it's revealed to be Simone.
Both girls say "Hi," but not in a typically friendly way. Meanwhile in the boy's bathroom, Darren can be heard talking to himself about how to tell Ginger the truth and can't keep misleading her this way. Darren sheds tears and crumbles a paper that says "My Ginger".
Later, Orion and his band meet up for practice. Ginger is sitting on the floor writing lyrics for her new song. Orion brings her lunch, but Ginger asks him to start playing her new song. Ginger and the band begin to play "Splinter In My Heart," but the band stops when Darren arrives. He says that he and Ginger need to talk. The two of them walk a ways down the block. Ginger is happy that Darren wanted to have a talk. Darren tries to tell Ginger what is on his mind but she keeps interrupting him. Ginger is hoping that both of them will work harder on their relationship.
Darren finally tells Ginger that their relationship is over. Ginger is in disbelief and Darren explains it again, telling her he is interested in someone else. Ginger correctly guesses that it is Simone. As Darren is about to leave, Ginger tries to stop him and claims that she will try harder by being there for his football games. Darren stops her and tells her that they will both be miserable and that is not who she is. He continues to explain that while he does love how headstrong and opinionated she can be, they are arguing all the time and things are easier with Simone. He asks if Ginger will be able to forgive him one day. Ginger responds "But, I won't Darren...the thing is...I never will.'' Ginger runs home crying.
Meanwhile at the Bishop house, we hear Hoodsey reading one of his mother's romance novel, and Carl is bored. He asks about the language used in the book, and mocks the name of the male protagonist. The door bell rings and Hoodsey goes to answer it. It's Darren, asking to talk to Dodie. Darren burst right into her room tells Dodie that he told Ginger the truth and broke up with her. Dodie is shocked, but tries to calm Darren down. She says that Ginger will go through several emotional stages, including anger and bitterness, but eventually will move on. Darren is more concerned with what to do at that present moment, stating that even though Ginger will be okay eventually, she did not look okay when he broke the news.
Later, Dodie and Macie visit Ginger at her house. Dodie picks up a shattered picture frame of both pre-teen Ginger and Darren. Ginger is lying on her bed and saying in a weak voice that her insides just exploded. Macie suggests an outlet for her pain, like martial arts. But after Ginger starts to cry, both girls think it best for Ginger to be left alone. They turn off her lamp and leave.
Later the evening, Lois enters the room. Ginger is still in the same position that her friends left her at that time. Lois tells her that her friends told her what happened and ask if she wants to talk about it. She turns on the lights, notices that Ginger is unresponsive and begins to realize something is wrong. Lois feels Ginger's forehead and finds that her daughter has a fever and calls Dave to come in. Dave comes in to see Ginger's condition, and he calls the hospital and says they need an ambulance dispatched immediately.
Back at the Bishop house, Joann is preparing dinner. Carl asks Hoodsey another question about the romance novel, but Hoodsey tells him to be quiet, as he doesn't want his mother to know he's been reading her novels. Joann questions if Carl will be leaving soon, and Carl decides to call his mother to see if he should be home soon. Before he does, he notices an ambulance in front of their house.
At the hospital, Dr. Dave determines that Ginger has appendicitis. He vows to Ginger that he won't let anything bad happen to her, and tells comforts Lois before preparing for surgery. In the surgical room, he puts Ginger under anesthesia and she falls into a deep sleep. Dr. Dave and his team work on Ginger's ruptured appendix, which has started to hemorrhage. Ginger's life begins playing through her mind while "Splinter In My Heart" plays in the background. She sees herself as a little baby, a young girl, and even a fond memory with Darren before they started their relationship. It ends with her as an adult in a laundromat. Future Ginger sees her present-day self in a reflection in one of the washing machines, then opens it up to get a better look.
Later, Dave tells Lois that the surgery was a success, but Ginger will need plenty of rest to recover. Jonas arrives and embraces a worried Lois, prompting Dave to quickly leave. Lois explains Ginger's horribly day to Jonas, including news of her breakup. Ginger starts to wake up and jokes that both of the situations seemed to be brewing for a while before actually happening. While Lois and Jonas comfort their daughter, Dave watches from outside, worried about his spot in the family. Carl arrives and hugs Dave, asking if he saved Ginger's life. Dave tells Carl that he did, and offers for Carl to go in and be with his family. Carl declines and stays outside with Dave, holding his hand.
The next day, Darren and Simone are in the hospital's gift shop, looking for a "get well" present for Ginger. Simone offers some ideas, but Darren snaps at her. Simone starts to leave, but Darren apologizes. Simone correctly deduces that Darren feels guilty about Ginger's condition, but she reassures him that her being in the hospital is not his fault. Darren feels that Ginger probably would not want to see him anyway, and throws away the "get well" card he was writing.
Hoodsey comes to visit Ginger and reads aloud to her from Joann's romance novel. The material makes Ginger feel worse and she asks him to stop. Hoodsey decides to leave entirely, just as Dodie and Macie arrive with gifts and well-wishes. Dodie asks point blank if Ginger almost died. Ginger simply says that she was "lucky." Dodie and Macie tell Ginger that Ms. Zorski will be coming by soon to see her as well. Ginger asks if Darren will be coming. Her friends say that Darren knows what happened, and is worried, but that he won't be coming to see her. Ginger tries to play it off by saying that almost dying makes her breakup seem trivial. But, she quickly reveals that that isn't true.
Jonas comes to the hospital with sunflowers for Ginger. Dr. Dave sees him and strikes up a conversation. Things go awkwardly at first, but he tells Jonas that he loves Lois, Ginger, and Carl, and hopes that Jonas bears no ill will towards him. Jonas says that while he loves his ex-wife and kids as well, he bears no ill will towards Dave, and thanks him for saving Ginger, calling him the "better man." Meanwhile, Carl leaves the hospital's chapel, where Lois sees him. Carl tells her that even though he's an atheist, he needed to "talk to the big guy." Lois comforts her son and tells him Ginger will be okay. She heads off to bring Jonas some coffee, calling him "the man of the hour," for bringing Ginger flowers and playing a song for her on his guitar. This makes Carl angry, and he vents to Hoodsey, stating that Dave did more for Ginger than Jonas had.
At the Foutley house, Dave and Lois are talking. Lois is worrying about what might have happened had she not been there. Dave reassures her that she can't just sit around at home waiting for something bad to happen. He also expresses his worry that Jonas' arrival has caused Lois to become confused about her feelings. Lois tells him that while having Jonas nearby is comforting, the one she loves is Dave. Carl, who was listening nearby, is pleased to hear this.
Back at the hospital, Orion pays Ginger a visit. He tells her that when he heard she was in the hospital, he felt like his heart broke. Ginger is both moved and flattered by his words. Afterward, Ms. Zorski arrives. Ginger is happy to see her, and tells her about her problems. She says that Darren is the person she wants to see most, and is hurt that he hasn't made any attempt to contact her. A janitor arrives and starts emptying the trash cans, but Ginger notices Darrren's discarded card. She asks the cleaning lady to give it to her, and she starts to read it.
Darren writes that he does want to be there for her in her time of need, but is not sure how. The note ends with "I just want you to know that-". Ginger starts to cry, wondering why Darren didn't finish the note. The cleaning lady responds, "He did finish it. It just doesn't have an ending."
Appearances[]
- Ginger Foutley
- Carl Foutley
- Nurse Betty
- Macie Lightfoot
- Hoodsey Bishop
- Darren Patterson
- Dodie Bishop
- Lois Foutley
- Old Lady
- Orion
- Ms. Zorski
- Dr. Dave
- Joann Bishop
- Simone
- Jonas Foutley
- Cleaning Lady
Quotes[]
(Animatic uncut version)
Ginger: And this wrong it's it's, so huge, so tangible, but it's plainly obvious to everyone but me.
Dodie and Macie: (whispering)
Ginger: What's wrong?
Dodie: Nothing
Ginger...Macie?
Ginger: That's it, that's all he wrote. Why didn't he finished it?
Songs[]
Wrong (instrumental)
Darren's card[]
"Dear Ginger, I feel so helpless right now. More than anything I want to be there for you - but I don't how. In spite of everything that's happened between us, I just want you to know that."
Trivia[]
- While Ginger Foutley is dreaming with the song "Splinter In My Heart" playing while in the hospital, you can see the character in Ginger's poem from the episode "And She Was Gone"
- Darren Patterson wrote Ginger Foutley a letter while she was in the hospital but decided not to give it to her. It said "Dear Ginger, I feel so helpless right now. More than anything I want to be there for you, but I don't know how. In spite of everything that's happened between us, I just want you to know that . "
- After Ginger Foutley finds the letter Darren Patterson wrote to her in the nurses trash can, she wonders why he didn't finish it. The nurse then says "But he did finish it. It just doesn't have an ending." This is most likely hinting towards things not being permanently over for the two.
- This is the second time that a boy breaks Ginger's heart.
- Courtney and Miranda do not appear in this episode.
- This episode reveals that Carl is an atheist. This was revealed by Lois.
- When Carl responds to Hoodsey about his mother's romance novel, he says "Isn't Clifford the name of a dog?" A reference to Clifford the Big Red Dog.
- The title of the episode is named after a lyric from the Rufus Wainwright song "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk". [1]
- There were a few scenes in the uncut animatic that were removed:
- In the uncut version of the episode, in a deleted scene which takes place in the cafeteria Ginger still talks about the troubling universe. We see Dodie and Macie talking about Darren's secret relationship with Simone but stopped as Ginger walks to the table that they're sitting on, making Ginger a little mad and confused asking both girls "what's wrong?" both denied of anything wrong. Ginger is not buying it and becomes suspicious as Macie turns her head facing Ginger after getting a glimpse of the person who they were talking about. Ginger sees this and looks around and sees that person. Then Ginger looks around, sees her rival, staring at her in a suspicious look and says "Simone".
- Ending Tagline: "This is fate's way of saying, 'Now, you get nothing!'" - Hoodsey
- During the song "Splinter In My Heart" half of the song is sung by Orion.
- In the uncut video both Ginger and her mother were supposed to shed a lot of tears.
- After the surgery, in her hospital room when Ginger is beginning to open her eyes sees Lois and Dr. Dave standing at the foot of her bed talking to each other, Ginger sees a flash of Dr. Dave looking like Darren for few seconds.
- After the operation Ginger's room is already full of balloons, "Get Well" cards and flowers.
- During bed resting Ginger's hair becomes wavy.
- A picture of a young Ginger and Darren (without his head gear) was shown in Ginger's room.
- This is the last episode to premiere on the former TeenNick late night block (The Splat/NickRewind).
- This episode revels that Hoodsey wears reading glasses.
Animatic video[]
Gallery[]
