The mysteries of that room at every school combined with a pre-programmed destiny chosen by test results make this episode of Kiff relatable to students everywhere.
Faculty Lounge
We have always wondered (assuming we’re not teachers) what happens in the teacher’s lounge at any school. Kiff and Barry are wondering the same thing. Standing outside the doors, Kiff is approached by Principal Secretary and asked if everything is okay. When Kiff expresses interest in what happens in the faculty lounge, Principal Secretary seems very touchy about the topic, short answers…something mysterious is happening in there.
Now it’s up to Kiff to figure it out, meanwhile Barry is stuck with a car getting….Toad? Kiff infiltrates the lounge and sees one of the teachers eat Miss Deer Teacher’s sandwich before anybody else gets there. As the rest of the teachers arrive, Kiff finds herself struggling to escape, and the teachers seem to be behind her every move. When she hides under the couch, the staff decides to move the couch to a different section of the room. When she hides in the cabinet, it’s time for coffee and the mugs happen to be in that same cabinet.
Realizing she is stuck and in trouble, Kiff calls Barry begging for him to cause a distraction so she has a chance to escape. Speaking of distraction, every time Miss Deer Teacher approaches the fridge to acquire her sandwich, that teacher who ate creates a stir to ensure that she doesn’t go into the fridge. At one point, the staff breaks into a musical number about how much they love teaching even though the rewards aren’t that great. Afterward, they come across the window where they see Barry stuck in the swings outside – causing the required distraction for Kiff to leave.
As she makes her way toward the door, the silhouette of Principal Secretary appears in the door, and she makes haste toward the closest closet. Once again, she finds herself unable to leave without being caught. She sees her window when Miss Deer Teacher discovers that her sandwich has once again been stolen, and Principal Secretary vows that nobody will leave the room until this mystery is solved – even though he has to go to the airport to pick up a new guidance counselor that he hired – sight unseen. The interview was a phone call. Though there is a possibility for a full outfit for her to disguise herself in, Kiff only dons a pair of glasses and comes out of hiding and explains that she is the new counselor ready to work at the school, and ready to leave the room.
But, Kiff has her principles and stops on her way out the door to explain that someone should probably come forward and explain that they ate Miss Deer Teacher’s sandwich. Using her subtle hints, and the fact that MDT’s label is still on his shoe, the teacher is caught and forced to help clean up the toads outside.
Kiff makes her way out of the room and helps Barry, who got actually stuck while pretending to be stuck. As for that new hire, well, she might still be at the airport.
Personal Assistant
Miss Deer Teacher has brought out one of her favorite machines for her students to use. It’s that thing where you take a test and it tells you what career to pursue. Barry got a profession near to me so more points for his character – Investigative Journalist. However, before Kiff can run her test, Helen comes in and interferes with Miss Deer Teacher’s Day. As she is ushered out, Kiff runs her numbers and gets tasked with P.A. – a personal assistant. Kiff is hard-pressed to see how she could possibly have got that result as there is no way she couldn’t be an astronaut, or the successful person that needs an assistant but never a personal assistant herself.
Miss Deer Teacher is convinced that the machine is never wrong, so she gives her the task of being a personal assistant for a week, and if she gets fired, then she’ll let her retake the test. Well, what a coincidence – Helen is still right outside and she just happens to need a personal assistant. So there’s the antics we can expect.
For the next few days, Kiff finds herself quite successful while completing Helen’s list of tasks. Maybe she is meant to be a personal assistant after all? No, she can’t have that. This weekend happens to be Table Town’s Humanitarian of the Year Awards, and Helen wants that award. Kiff strikes up a bargain – if she loses the award then Kiff should be fired. With the stakes now in place, and a whole lot of laughing, the two set out to win (or lose) the award.
At the ceremony, just before the announcement of the winner, Helen takes the stage and makes a plea for the award. Up in the rafters, Kiff is working with a big banner and Helen’s bag of crullers. As Helen is talking, Kiff is ready to drop the banner and falls from high above. Helen sees her crullers falling (not so much the child), and rushes to save them. Though Helen was never up for the award, considering her reputation, suddenly because she saved a child in front of the crowd she is now the top contender. Just as she’s ready to accept, investigative journalist Barry has arrived on scene to reveal his findings.
Turns out, when Helen was in MDT’s classroom, she bewitched the career machine so it would give Kiff the role of personal assistant so she would have someone able to do all of her chores. The award was revoked, though Helen steals the trophy anyway.
This episode of Kiff is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW app. You can catch up with earlier episodes of the series on Disney+.