Upside/Down(side) - “Spring Break”

So, exactly one month after we last saw Alex (well, images and sounds of her on Claire's laptop) in “Connection Lost”, we finally get to see her in a brand new episode tomorrow night. And, wonder of wonders, she has a story about her for the first time in almost two months (which hopefully lasts longer than that last story in “Rash Decisions”), as she takes time away from worrying about where she goes to college to go to a music festival with Haley. At least I think it's a story about Alex, but...


One question I had about this episode was answered in a sneak peek of an opening scene which ABC released. I wondered who initiated this decision to go the festival, and it looks like while Claire does indeed basically tell Alex to get out and do this, Alex isn't totally reluctant to go along with her. (Haley, on the other hand...)

Oddly (or maybe not so oddly given what I've been focusing on all year about Alex?), most of the upsides and downsides have more to do with the less interesting aspect of the story – what ends up happening in getting to and/or attending the music festival. The more interesting aspect of the story to me, of course, is what is going on with Alex's college aspirations.

And don't think I'm writing this post without trepidation, considering how the last episode for which I did a similar post ended up being just about all downside. And with that, here you go:

Upside:

1. The story gets its fair share of attention in an episode with 4-5 separate stories.
2. There's at least more than a passing mention of how Alex's college decision process shapes up.
3. No incidents (particularly involving law enforcement) happen to Alex and Haley during the music festival.
4. The story really is at least as much about Alex as it is about Haley (I'll take a 50/50 split but if it's more about Alex I won't complain).
5. We get a nice bonding scene between the two for a change.

Downside:

1. The story gets buried by the rest of the stories in this episode.
2. Alex's college story gets mostly overlooked.
3. Alex and Haley get into trouble at the festival (as I mentioned before in an earlier post Haley's past has every chance of coming into play here). And while a Haley transgression is the more likely cause of any trouble (with Alex being an innocent victim), it would be an even worse downside if Alex somehow is the instigator (that is not totally out of the realm of possibility).
4. The story ends up being more about Haley than Alex.
5. Haley gets and takes yet another opportunity to humiliate Alex. Or the opposite, given Alex's comment in the sneak preview scene about “ruining Haley's day” (I won't be thrilled if the latter happens, but on the other hand Alex deserves to get some payback for other incidents this season).

At some point after the show I'll post my reactions to whatever happens – it may not work out but this one has potential to be one of the more interesting episodes of the season.