Review of School House Rockz Episode 3 by Steven Ang

Today’s show opened with a hilarious fight in class. As every student screamed and trew things at each other, the entire class son descended into a chaotic warzone, which was all dutifully filmed down by a smarmy Inka on her handphone. What a fun way to start the show!

In today’s episode, we get to see a more serious side of Wen Bin, from his poor family home to his measly allowance. But ever the optimist, he turns his disadvantage into an opportunity: with his saavy biz sense, he makes a few extra dollars delivering newspapers in the morning and cleverly renting out his stationery to classmates in need. His never say die attitude should be an inspiration to us all.

Another first in this episode is getting to hear a teacher, or even an adult for that matter, sing a song. Ms Eng, a long-suffering teacher at Eastwood who can’t even afford to take MC when she’s sick, tells us that despite all the challenges her job gives her, she will nonetheless do her best to make a difference to her students. Strangely, Ms Eng’s flu disappeared while she was singing, only coming back when the song has stopped!

Meanwhile, Inka sets-up a plan to get back at Preety for bullying her during football practice, by stealing things from Preety’s friends and placing them on Preety’s desk, planning staple-traps on many students and loosening the screws of Ms Eng’s chair. This leads to a huge argument in class which quickly became a full-blown fight accompanied by Verdi’s music from his opera La Traviata. I never knew the great Italian composer wrote stuff for TV Musicals too! All this was filmed down by Inka, including a loud outburst from a disappointed Ms Eng. Inka now has proof to show her father that Eastwood is really as bad as she believed it was, but will she use it and risk having Ms Eng fired?

To make matters worse, her phone went missing! Luckily Wen Bin had picked it up, or perhaps took from her bag himself, and returned it to Inka the next day, and saw to it that the video was deleted. A relieved Inka made a pact with Wen Bin to win the Brain Juice competition together for Ms Eng. With contributions from all her other classmates, Inka came up with a lovely Get Well Soon card for Ms Eng who gladly accepted it, but more important showed Inka how friendly everyone was. Looks like Eastwood isn’t as bad as she had thought after all!

It was great seeing Alvina and Gerald on TV too, playing Inka’s classmates and fellow ‘combatants’! I will certainly keep my eyes wide open to spot other talented members of the Athenarts Performing Troupe!

Coming up next week, Wen Bin aka ‘Donatello’ accidentally calls Inka on MSN by her real name which sends her on a quest to find out which Eastwood classmate is ‘Donatello’. Will she succeed? What will her reaction be when she finds out its Wen Bin? Stay tuned to find out!