The second episode of Hailey’s On It! Has arrived and picks up, kind of, where we left off in the premiere episode from a few days ago.
To recap the premiere – It’s New Year’s Eve and Hailey is with her best friend Scott Denoga, who she insists is only a friend. Then, a time traveler appears to stop a robot that was sent back to destroy her miles-long To-Do List of things she wants to accomplish. Why? Turns out that that list is something Hailey will, in fact, finish. In turn, the impressive nature of some of the things on the list garner awards and grant money that will lead Hailey to inventing a machine that will clear up the air on the planet and reverse climate change, thus saving the world. However, there are aspects of the list that 14 year old Hailey doesn’t necessarily want to do – namely Kiss Scott Denoga. When she tries to erase it, the world around her changes, showing the true gravity of her list. If there is ever any kind of threat to the future, the world around her also becomes more susceptible to evil time traveling bots. Sounds like a video game, doesn’t it?
To aid with these efforts, the time traveler that greets Hailey also gives her the most advanced AI tech that exists, a small tablet named Beta. With a bit of exposition, in the next scene we find out that Hailey has installed Beta into a plush teddy bear thanks to her robotics class at school. Trusting her BFF Scott, he also knows about all the events that occurred and promises to help her finish his list, except Hailey never told him about the whole kissing thing. Later in the episode, they are at a carnival completing one of the tasks when a social-media savvy fellow student thinks the two are dating and when she discovers that they are not, asks Hailey if she can ask Scott out on a date. Hailey, insisting the pair are just friends, allows this much to Beta’s dismay – because now she has a 0.02 percent chance of finishing that simple task.
Most of those events are forgotten as we head into the second episode of the premiere season of Hailey’s On It!, the first half of which is Beta’d and Hooked.
Today is the most exciting day of the entire year, The Taco Festival! Don’t get me wrong, I agree. But one of the tasks on Hailey’s list is to win the contest being held at the festival for creating the best tasting taco. Fortunately, Scott and Hailey have already created a beautiful recipe for a new fish taco, using ingredients from their parents for all the toppings, and the most important ingredient, Sweet Onion Pringles—um, er, Dingles. They just don’t know what fish to pair with it yet.
Cue a story from Hailey’s dad, whom we meet for the first time, that explains that the meaner the fish, the tastier the fish. One Eyed Jack, is a one-eyed ono that knocked him off his paddleboard and got sent into a riptide that pulled him deeper into the water. The one eyed fish went straight for him, mouth wide open, and the next thing he knew, he woke up on the beach next to his broken paddleboard. Sharing how lucky he is to be alive, he insists that he is the meanest fish around, therefore the most delicious. Beta, who has been hiding in a cabinet, adds that if they want to lock in the win at the contest, they need that fish.
Fortunately, Hailey’s Uncle Chuckle owns a boat, a poor investment considering he is afraid of boats, but alas. Hailey and Scott set out to catch the ono, but despite how thrilling fishing sounds, it really isn’t. It isn’t until they begin tossing the Pring—er, Dingles to each other that the fish comes out, to which the duo decides to bait the fish with the chips. The ono proves too big and starts carrying the boat in tow. Beta tries to harpoon the ono and finds himself launched into the depths of the sea.
The ono swims by and gulps up Beta and the ono jumps onto the ship, Jaws-style, and regurgitates the AI sidekick onto the deck. There, they realize the ono is a good ono, and must have rescued Hailey’s dad based on the story, the same way it rescued Beta. They decide not to catch and cook the ono, and settle on the frozen fish sticks they had laying around the house as the final ingredient in the taco. They end up winning the contest regardless because of the fish taco’s other ingredients, and the fact that the judge found it delicious and had a yoga class to get to in 10 minutes. Soooo. There’s that.
The Wild, Wild Mess
Back when Hailey was 9, she wrote on her list that she wants to become Sheriff of Cowpoke Corral, a wild west tourist attraction that has since become a run-down ghost town – that Scott thinks is actually haunted. As Hailey heads deeper into the town, it's exactly as she remembers, though not as crowded. There are rules here now though, including no bikes and no phones, much to Scott’s chagrin. So, he quietly sneaks his phone back into his pocket and while Hailey sets out to win the Sheriff’s badge, Scott heads up into the nearby hills to record some sweet bike tricks.
As all the games are designed for children who have yet to enter the double digits in age, Hailey easily wins and becomes Sheriff of Cowpoke Corral, adopting a full accent and everything. Scott comes back from doing his bike tricks and shows Hailey that his videos are spreading rapidly on social media getting tons of likes and shares…even though phone use is strictly prohibited.
The damage is done though. Now, dirt bikers from far and wide have shown up to Cowpoke Corral to enjoy the fresh dirt as well. They begin to tear up the town before Sheriff Hailey has to step up and challenge their leader…but she doesn’t have a bike. All she has is the wildest horse in the small town. She approaches the horse to try and tame her, and we are treated to a hilarious flashback – turns out Bertha the horse was abandoned by her former owner when he was a young boy who got his hands on a dirtbike. She too, wants revenge and is ready to help Hailey.
After a number of stunts that only a dirtbike can do, it seems all hope is lost. But Hailey and Bertha aren’t giving up. They run up a ramp and pull off a full 360 in the air as Bertha swings her body around herself. The crowd is amazed and the dirt bikers leave, they lose fair and square. So, Hailey then leaves herself with Scott, handing the sheriff badge to another young girl, before she and Scott mosey out of town contemplating that very real possibility that Mr. Nickels was a very real ghost.
This episode of Hailey’s On It! Is now available on Disney Channel and Disney+. You can also catch it on the DisneyNOW app.