I bet you were wondering how the whole thing would end, what with the previous episode ending with that ghastly cliff-hanger. Wait no longer!
Plot summary
At the end of part 1, Lisa, rather than Eric, crashed the car Belding bought for his wife and so very stupidly left with Slater for the weekend. Fixing it requires expensive parts, getting the money for those parts requires a rigged lottery scam involving cheating a friend out of his winnings, a rather clueless teacher. Keeping Belding happy involves an expert mix of technobabble and foreign-sounding mostly-nonsense. Honesty is, as always considered as a last resort.
Jessie finds out about the blackmail which makes her not want a stepbrother anymore. Eric finds out Lisa only went out with him because of a bribe which makes him so annoyed with Zack and Slater that he complicates their car-repair efforts by getting the auto shop class to take apart the entire car (and get an A in the process. Attaboy!), and then puts it back together after Jessie punches him in the face. He also decides to go back to NYC, but comes back on that decision when the gang makes nice. Except Kelly. Her we do not see all episode for reasons not explained, an absence I didn't notice until that last group scene. Vaguely distressing, that.
Anyway, it seems like the only free room at Jessie and Eric's place is part of the Saved by the Bell Bermuda triangle, because we sure as hell don't see Eric ever again. Shame. I was starting to like him.
Conversational clues
Apparently Zack has ideas that involve Screech being naked in a jar of jelly beans. He seems rather pleased with himself over that. I wonder what the censors thought of that.
Whenever Zack and Slater are having a nice bit of chat with Belding, they finish each-other's sentences in a way that suggests they're quite attuned to each other. It's amusing, them throwing random technobabble at Belding. especially Slater going camp by doing the German.* He did spend some time there after all. I'm left wondering what Slater was saying to Zack after they'd gotten rid of Belding by trying to get him to say Fahrvergnügen and the volume of the background music got turned up. Anyone with mad lip-reading skills able to help me out?
They were at it again later in the episode when telling belding about the 1000-piece car, managing to upgrade it to unison in the end. That's knowing each-other, people!
Zack going on about Slater being their only hope had a decided Obi Wan/Princess Leia vibe to it, and Slater following that up by saying his great dimples, good teeth, and the biggest muscles in the school should be enough for his friends seems like a rather odd thing to say for a stereotypical high school boy, which I think shows that he isn't one. It also shows his vain gymbunny side.
For more on this, see the Quote of the episode.
Looks
Not only are Zack and Slater good at finishing each-other's sentences, they know to tell Screech he'll be a (rigged) winner just by looking at each-other. Aww. You just know they'd be a bit more touchy if they weren't in the middle of the only hallway.
Touches
When Zack and Slater are doing their technobabble, they're standing closer to each other than strictly necessary. Closer than the personal space of a teen boy would allow for a friend. Really, any closer, and they'd be hugging.
They're clearly comfortable sharing their personal space.
Slater, the tough jock muscle-man, doesn't hesitate at all putting his arm around Screech when he starts crying or when he has to be told that he can't keep his winnings. Macho, but not afraid to show tenderness publicly.
Speaking of hugs, Jessie wastes no time enveloping a self-hating Lisa in a hug.
And there's more from her. Episode of hugs, this one. Jessie and Eric have a pretty firm hug after they've made up. The most notable thing about this hug is the way they're a keeping a little too close to each other afterwards, looking as if they may well kiss. The way they looked at each-other before the hug seemed less than innocent as well. All somewhat iffy, seeing as they're stepsibs now. Sure, they've not grown up together so the Westermarck effect probably doesn't apply, but still. Iffy.
Cross-dressing
None.
Queer gear
Zack starts the episode wearing something with a (mock?) turtleneck. It makes him look a little more dapper and artistic than his public image befits, and with him wearing proper slacks and being surrounded by guys in overalls, he looks like the polished well-groomed one. Once in class, he toned it down to jeans and a shirt-t-shirt combo that may have been fashionable once. Trust Zack to be able to fly under the gaydar.
Not that he's well-groomed to the point of fatuity. When necessary, he's perfectly prepared to don overalls, not worried about getting his hands dirty. Or at least less worried about getting his hands dirty than getting in trouble with Belding.
Screech doesn't bother with his rainbow suspenders this time, which is a pity. However, his waistcoat has some badges that appear to have some kind of message. It's not legible, so we can't say if it's queer gear or not. We can spot him wearing pinkish shoes, though. I'm pretty sure that "guys wearing pink" thing wasn't happening yet in the early 90s, so that can be counted among Screech's bold statements.
Random observations of note
In the first part of this two-parter, we had Screech mentioning the bushes in a way that could be interpreted as an acquaintance with the somewhat covert park-based cruising some men engage in. This episode, we have four guys in the bathroom, and I can't help thinking of cottaging. Quite risqué doing it in school, but then Bayside High seems to take up most of Bayside, especially if you consider The Max is on Bayside High land, and they have to get their kicks somewhere.
A little more background, but in the auto shop class, we can clearly see one of the nerd girls, fairly short-haired and wearing overalls like the rest of the class.
Traditionally a pretty butch hobby, car repair.
I really prefer to not think of this as subtext because Mr Sachs seems like a decent man, but him saying "lets see who can stump me today, eh?" comes across as totally getting crap past the radar to me. Possibly related to my love for Adam Hills. **
Quote of the Episode
Two this episode.
Quote the first:
Jessie: "You are a selfish, inconsiderate excuse for a human being. if I was a guy, I'd punch you out."
Eric: "Too bad you're just a chick."
Jessie: "Just a chick? JUST A CHICK?" :punches Eric in the face:
Well, if he's going to be her stepbrother, he's going to find out sooner or later. Even if he's living in the Saved by the Bell Bermuda triangle.
Quote the second:
Zack: But Slater, we were counting on you. I mean, you are our only hope.
Slater: "Look, I don't need this pressure. I'm the captain of the wrestling team and the football team, I've got great dimples, great teeth and and the biggest muscles in school. Come on, isn't that enough for my friends?"
Mixing CampGay and HardGay traits in one sentence. Bravo Slater!
It gets extra point for making me think of Star Wars, though in all honestly I doubt it was set up as a subtle reference. Apart from anything, Kevin was nowhere to be seen.
Rating
6/10
I had expected this episode to be slim pickings again like the first part of this set, but with multiple clues that Zack and Slater's friendship might well be a little more special than they care to publicly acknowledge, Screech wearing pink shoes, Zack knowing what to do with jelly beans, and Jessie letting her stepbrother know about being transgender in her own special and awesome way, this episode had more queer content than I remembered.
* See this video:
** That comment might make more sense if you watch this:
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