We are coming up on a lot of silver anniversaries. First Back to the Future, then The Goonies; now even the Lancer University Hellcats are turning twenty-five! And of course they have to do it in style. Yes, folks, on this week's episode of The CW's breakout hit Hellcats, the cheerleading squad throws an anniversary party like none other in which they travel back in time to a year well before they were born: 1985.
And what would any good eighties throwback be without a wardrobe change montage, a Heathers reference, leg warmers, suspenders, too much hairspray, and some Michael Jackson and Madonna? Any chance to get stars Aly Michalka and Ashley Tisdale behind a microphone, right!?
But the episode entitled "Back of a Car" is so much more than the spectacle the crazy hair, make-up, and wardrobe make it out to be. Within it, some very real relationship issues get brought up when Lewis (Robbie Jones) and Dan (Matt Barr) both end up crashing in their girlfriends' room on the same night. Savannah (Ashley Tisdale) is sensitive to the fact that Marti (Aly Michalka) allows her boyfriend to sleep in her bed with her and worries that she is being seen as a prude for not extending the same courtesy to Dan. So she hatches a plan to finally try to get over her hang-ups about her virginity. By losing it.
Again, another very popular theme with pop culture in the 1980s.
For the first time, in LA TV Insider Examiner's opinion, Hellcats takes a very real, very relatable issue and has a frank and open discussion about it, though at times the advice Savannah is being offered isn't always what she wants to hear. Michalka, Tisdale, and Barr all do a great job at handling the topic with respect. It's especially nice see Barr handle the issue with sweetness and care after his promiscuous bad guy role in Ten Inch Hero! But more than that, Tisdale is making a stereotypically socially awkward stereotype into an actual real and regular person. Savannah has hang-ups from her religious upbringing and from years of building something up in her mind so much she's bound to be disappointed, and Tisdale isn't afraid to delve into vulnerability as an actor to let it all shine through.
"Back of a Car" proves that Hellcats the show, just like the cheerleaders themselves, shouldn't be passed off as just pure fluff; it has real heart underneath its entertaining exterior.
Also in the episode, Alice (Heather Hemmens) is feeling disrespected in her own relationship and decides to take matters into her own hands, inviting a reporter to the Hellcats party to show off what the lesser-known athletes can do. And Marti digs a little deeper in her casework only to find there may be someone out there who doesn't want the truth to come out.
Tonight's episode of Hellcats is a must-see, even if you've fallen off for a bit during the season. Tune in when "Back of a Car" airs at 9pm only on The CW.
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