You know in Into the Woods when the Baker’s Wife kisses the prince, turns to the audience, and exclaims “…what was that?” That was my consistent reaction during this week’s episode. She was messy and not necessarily in the best ways.
The evil reign of EPIC ruining the camaraderie associated with sports, summer vacation, and the concept of children continues as they get ready for the draft. Every camper will be drafted, a la an actual NHLseason, onto one of eight separate teams they’ll remain a part of for the rest of the camp. The drafting order is initially created via random selection, leaving Coach Cole in first and Coach Alex in last place.
Obviously, Alex is wanting to show her worth to everyone at camp, while also sticking it to Coach Cole. Thanks to Nick’s calming delivery and Alex’s genius bartering tactics, she ends up switching her way to the second position prior to the draft.
While this is all happening, Evan and Sofi’s relationship is (hilariously) crumbling. Was it forced? Absolutely. Yet, their sweet young love ended by the start of the episode’s credits. Evan is thinking far too much about hockey (shock) while Sofi is at a crossroads of not knowing what she wants out of life. Their differences have become too much to bear and they decide to end things. Sofi gets to keep the pizza necklace, thank god.
As draft night arrives, Alex makes one more deal with Coach Cole to switch for the first draft pick. She frames it as being a greater failure for herself if she loses. Since Cole is clinically evil, he likes the concept and lets her pick first. Yet, instead of going with the number one on the camper leaderboard, Alex picks Nick. From there, she continues to acquire every Duck at camp to complete her team. Evan, of course, doesn’t want to be under the guise of his mom and is instead a Coach Cole pick. Alex goes with Jace, helping him get away from his own dad.
The episode ends with the team names being announced and, reader, I laughed and cringed. Every team name is a buzz word of empowerment that made me spit out my Dr. Peppy. Of COURSE Coach Cole’s camp would be too self-serious to function. Dominate? Accountability? I can’t handle it. Leave it to Alex to save it by announcing they are sticking with The Mighty Ducks. Ducks fly together!
Penalty Box Thoughts:
- I have nothing else to add other than…did y’all expect the concept of hook-ups to be mentioned on this show? ‘Cause I sure didn’t.
- AJ not being chosen first is a beautiful dose of schadenfreude. You know he is absolutely insufferable in school, too.
- Evan and Sofi sneak out at one point and Evan is terrified that a bear will attack him. Yes, a California hockey compound is the best place for bear activity. Maybe he actually does need to step away from hockey and, like, read a book…