That ’90s Show – Episode 4 Recap & Review

Rave

Episode 4 of That ’90s Show opens in the basement where Ozzie and Gwen are discussing an upcoming Rave party when Leia claims that she has been thinking about Jay non-stop since the night in the car. Leia claims that when he did not kiss her, she started falling for him even harder. Leia adds that she wanted a boyfriend now and it did not matter who it was.

Meanwhile, Nate and Nikki talk to Jay about the shame he was bringing to his family – The Kelsos who had a reputation for being the horniest family in Point Place. Jay claims that a voice in his head that told her to care about Leia’s feelings. Nikki claims that this means that Jay likes Leia but the guy is not sure if that is right.

On the other hand, Gwen claims that Leia is not ready for a guy like Jay who has already had sex in the lake. Gwen and Ozzie convince Leia to forget about Jay in order to protect her heart from breaking. Meanwhile, Nikki convinces Jay to make the first move on Leia.

Jay states that his father warned him against doing so in order to never let women have control in the relationship. Leia still wants to give Jay a shot and promises Gwen and Ozzie that she will make Jay come to him first. However, Jay also wants to make Leia come to her first making their situation somewhat tricky.

Upstairs, Kitty and Red chat about Leia. Red states that they were not meant to be friends with the kids. He wants Kitty to draw the line when it comes to getting too close to Leia but the old woman does not take his words to her mind. Later that day, Jay rubs baby oil all over his body to impress Leia and it seemingly works until he starts slipping around everywhere.

Gwen tries to convince Leia to go back inside but Nikki asks her to stay back and hang around with Jay. Gwen and Nikki talk and the latter claims that Jay really likes Leia but cannot ask her out because of some family rules. Meanwhile, Jay is helping Leia play the guitar. Gwen takes Leia inside and Jay wonders why his charm did not work on Leia.

Leia finds Nikki in her room and tries to get her to go on a movie date with Jay but Gwen and Ozzie show up. Leia declines the offer and claims that she has plans that night. Ozzie mentions that they were going out to a rave and Nikki states that she would join them there.

Leia does not feel comfortable about going to a rave but Gwen convinces her to lie to her grandparents. Leia claims that she will be going to the movies with Gwen and Ozzie but Red knows something is wrong with this. Kitty is certain that Leia would not lie to her. At the Rave, Jay is with Nate and Nikki when Leia and Gwen arrive. The two recall a little too late that they had left Ozzie back at home.

At home, Red finds Ozzie and claims that something fishy was going on with the kids. He tries to question the teenager about Leia’s whereabouts but it seems like he cannot get past Ozzie. Meanwhile, at the Rave, Leia tries to confront Jay about how their friends got involved and messed things up for them.

They decide to confess their feelings for each other on the count of three but Jay does not say that he likes Leia as she does. She is upset and calls him a player for messing with her. The two bicker and both parties claim that they would have better luck finding partners at the rave. Nate is still continuing his trick of answering calls for Nikki’s dad who is a doctor.

Back at the Forman House, Kitty plays good cop and convinces Ozzie to tell her where Leia and Gwen as well as the rest of the kids were. Meanwhile, at the rave, Gwen tells Leia that Jay was already coupling up with some guy so Leia tries to one-up him by dancing around a man. As it turns out, the man is her grandfather, Red.

The rave party is cut too short so Gwen and Leia end up in the Forman house discussing what the aftermath of lying to Leia’s grandparents would be. Gwen eventually tells Leia to pursue Jay if she really wanted to. Red and Kitty confront Leia and grounds her for a week with additional punishments but this time, Red takes the high road and tries to be sweet with Leia.

Kitty is shocked that Red is making her the bad cop this time. The next day, Leia is shooting hoops and Jay arrives to apologise to her about how he behaved. They try confessing their feelings for each other at the same time again and this time, when Jay says that he likes Leia, she says that she wants to just be friends with him.

Jay is shocked but agrees with what Leia said. Leia tells Gwen how she has the power in their relationship now because of how she handled Jay. Ozzie tries to ease his own frustration of being left out by holding a personal rave in the basement.

The Episode Review

The show is slowly picking up but it seems like the humour here does not seem organic but rather forced. The makers did a good job with the casting of the kids and Jay really is a spot-on copy of Kelso with all the charms Ashton Kutcher showed viewers in the original show.

However, the acting of these young actors seems to be raw and it could be because this is the first acting project for most of these teens. Debra Jo Rupp & Kurtwood Smith playing Kitty and Red Forman really still ‘got it’ when it comes to their comic timing and dialogue delivery.

I feel like with some time, these characters will pick up and make the show their own. However, will it guarantee success like it’s predecessor – That ’70s Show? That is one we will only find out with time.