The HPHS Scrappers take the stage as Scooter tells us that there was a lot of pressure, but they didn't care. All they cared about was playing it the way they wanted to play it. Well...if they wanted to play it craptastically, then I guess they achieved their goals. I'm kidding. They're not all that bad. They're nowhere NEAR the Chinese Prodigy Select, but they're holding their own. My foot was tapping. Really. And not just because I was impatient for this episode to end.

The Good Doctor's back again to tell us, "You look at a team that wins a championship; a close game that is won. That becomes a very special moment. There's the challenge. Let's do this together. That was a good experience." And he fights back tears. HE FIGHTS BACK TEARS. I'm not sure whether to be touched, or to turn my television off and never turn it on again because I'm so ooked out.

On the other side of the world, the spring breakers are winding up their trip. Roadster waxes philosophical about how there was a definite split amongst the group. Shanna waxes self-referential about how she learned a lot about herself on this trip and how there was a deeper meaning that she came away with than just partying.

Hallowed Highland Park Halls. The band kids share their pictures and memories of the China trip. Abalone and Shanna aren't as close as they were, and Abalone actually steps outside her self-involved zone of reference and realizes the different relationship she and Shanna now have. Shanna wraps it all up by saying, "This town? This place? These people? You know, I love 'em all. I love it all. I love all of it. But it's time to move on."

I agree. I wish I could move on. But there are three more episodes, and I'm trapped here with my Amstel and my cigarettes and my memories of a time when my VCR didn't suck and I was able to go to bed before midnight on a Wednesday.

Next time: It's the prom. THE PROM. Jesus. I just recapped a damn winter formal and now I have to recap the prom? Oh, this is going to get ugly. Real ugly. Real fast.