Welcome back to Teeny Bopper TV Breakdown! Today we recap Radio Free Roscoe, episode 3, “About a Girl.”
Our foursome is hanging out in the high school hallway as a girl named Audrey comes by to give Lily back her notes. Audrey immediately clocks that 1) Travis is cute and 2) Lily needs a break from hanging out with guys all the time. She invites Lily to do some “secret girl stuff” that day after school, and Lily accepts immediately, letting Travis know he’ll need to cover for her when it’s RFR time.
Travis might have all of Lily’s song choices cued up, but Ray has to introduce them, and he flounders a little while doing so. He’s also the “anti-love” foil to Robbie’s deep-in-a-celebrity-crush rose-colored glasses.
Meanwhile, the “girls’ day” is going exactly as expected: while listening to Radio Free Roscoe, Audrey gave Lily a makeover, after which they ate junk food and filled out magazine quizzes, and now it’s time to gossip about boys! Sure, Audrey is trying to find out more about Travis, but she also reveals to “one of the guys” Lily that a certain Lee Johns thinks Lily’s cute, and Lily is stunned, considering he normally tends to go for the “girly girl” type. Audrey is sure Lily could pull that look off, and Lily is convinced: the next day at school, Lily shows up in a dress, complete with makeup and jewelry.
There are some pretty immediate signs, though, that while Lee might be handsome, he might not have the best personality: Audrey advises Lily to ask him about himself, as that’s his favorite subject, and that even if he isn’t funny, Lily should pretend to laugh. It does work, though, because he remembers her from English class. After the successful flirtation, Lily walks back over to the other three boys; Robbie and Travis are neutral (though Robbie does remind Lily that RFR is a commitment that shouldn’t just be ditched, which is fair), but Ray is very much nonplussed over Lily’s sudden changes.
Audrey has less luck with Travis - she tries to ask him out, but he says he’s all booked up. When the others ask why he let a girl like her go, he says he’s been through this before: girls like him because they think he’s mysterious, but then they get to know the real him (aka his nerdy interests), and the relationship is over.
After school, Lily has brought Lee to Mickey’s, and Ray decides to go over and talk to them (Robbie and Travis do try and dissuade him, but it doesn’t work). Except it’s not so much a chat as an attempted sabotage - the first thing Ray says is, “Hey, Lily, how’s your rash doing?” As the conversation continues, Lee gets visibly more and more uncomfortable until he makes his excuses and leaves. Ray might be in denial about having a crush on Lily of his own, but I’m thinking he’ll learn acting out like this was NOT the way to handle it.
The next day on RFR, Ray tries to call Lily out for “playing dress-up” instead of “discussing important issues on air,” but she turns it back around on him and asks, “Why are sports and video games considered male bonding, but when girls do it it’s frivolous?” The phone lines open, and the next hour is several girls all agreeing with Lily. Afterward, Lily mentions she has a date with Lee to get to, and Ray is shocked, saying, “He still asked you out after…” and trails off, realizing he just gave himself away. Lily says she told Lee that Ray only said those things because he’s secretly in love with her and would do anything to keep other guys away; when she walks out, Travis and Robbie consider she may actually have a point and confront Ray. He admits that he does like her, but feels like he’s not supposed to feel that way about his friend.
Unfortunately for Lily, the date with Lee is stilted and awkward. She tries to play a game of “Choose” (like “Would You Rather”) that she often plays with the usual three, but Lee doesn’t take the bait. Are the implications supposed to be that Ray would?
Travis tries to warn Robbie that the latter’s long-distance text-only relationship may be a fantasy, and Robbie shoots back, “Says the guy who won’t commit because he’s afraid of rejection.” Travis takes his point, pulls out the slip of paper with Audrey’s number on it that Lily slipped to him earlier, and actually uses it, but is too afraid to say anything when she picks up. As Robbie stares at a “We have to talk :(“ message, Ray finds Lily and apologizes for his behavior. Lily admits she and Lee are no longer together, and Ray is sincere in saying she deserves better anyway. Lily then asks Ray the same “Choose” question she asked Lee, and they actually make a conversation out of it. So the answer to my question earlier is definitely yes.
Don’t change that channel! We’ll be right back on Teeny Bopper TV Breakdown.
