Teenagers Web Series Episode 6 (Video & Review)

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“Look…I think we should keep this on the DL…for your sake.”

As Ash and Bree lie in bed together, presumably after having sex again, Ash tells Bree they should keep their relationship a secret in order to protect her reputation.  “I don’t really care what people think,” Bree says.  Their quick conversation takes various twists and turns as the two’s relationship becomes a bit deeper.  Bree questions whether or not Ash would be around if he weren’t infected, and whether or not he ever thinks of the other girls he’s slept with.  They’re all valid questions, ones that make Ash uncomfortable, and honestly it’s difficult to believe he’d stick around if it weren’t for the layer of guilt underneath his shallow nature.

After visiting the clinic in Episode 5, we see Bree has regained her composure.  Before finding out Ash had Chlamydia, we saw a young woman whose sexuality was awakened after losing her virginity.  The appearance of Ash’s former fling Melissa in this episode brings about a powerful contrast to Bree, who finds Melissa crying in the bathroom at school.  Melissa’s behavior is what you’d expect to see in a teen drama: a character who suffers serious consequences, and is emotionally devastated by the manner.  Bree defies that type, and one could say she’s rejuvenated in Episode 6 as she admits to her friends Olive and Sara that she slept with Ash.  They’re shocked at first, but as Bree’s friends the two don’t judge her one bit.

Ash thinks he’s protecting Bree by ignoring her in the hallways at school, but it only pushes her to do what she wants because she feels she doesn’t need protection.  Bree is partnered up for a science project with Ash’s ex-friend Gabriel, who asks her out on a date.  At first she declines, citing “I’ve got issues and stuff,” but after it’s clear Ash is indeed ignoring her “for her own good,” she accepts.  As things go forward the question becomes will Bree use her empowerment with great responsibility, or will it become a tool that allows her to behave recklessly?

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“I will not let him turn out like you.”

I’ve mentioned before that T is far better than the situations he finds himself in, and this episode reinforces that notion.  When the opportunity presents itself to exact revenge on Jeremy for the brutal beat down he received, T simply turns the other cheek.  T, Ryan and Gabriel spot Jeremy from a distance after school, with Ryan and Gabriel wanting to attack him.  “I squashed it guys, I let it go,” T says before walking away.  As a result of that attack T wants nothing to do with Olive at the moment, as he behaves coldly when she tries to apologize for what happened to him.

This episode also deals with T’s other story arch involving his brother Ricky.  In previous episodes Ricky has been an intimidating character, instilling a sense of fear in his brother T.  However, Ricky is the one who’s terrified as he arrives at T’s doorstep asking for the bag of drugs he gave him in Episode 3, because the people who they belong to have threatened him.  But even scarier than those people is T and Ricky’s mother, who arrives as the two are still at the front door.  It’s been clear since Ricky’s first appearance that he was kicked out of their house for his bad behavior; their mother simply confirms it here.  “I will not let him turn out like you,” she says to Ricky, knowing that she must do whatever it takes to protect T’s bright future, even if it means turning her back on her own son.

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