Grand Army Season 1 Episode 8 Recap – Spirit Day

[00:01:00] Tim, Luke, and George all get back in Grand Army while Joey goes to the DA’s office to check in on their next step for the case. Anna tells Tim everything will be okay. She tells him everything is Joey’s fault. Meanwhile, the attorney tells Joey that the results of her rape kit are inconclusive. Everything is against Joey, including the videos posted online the night that she was raped. The statement of all three guys collaborate: everything that happened that night was consensual. Joey can’t accept the results; neither can her parents. They want to look for the cab driver, but it’s impossible to find him without details about his description or even a license plate. Joey tells the attorney that her panties were ripped. The attorney responds that ripped panties do not mean rape.

[00:03:00] The DA’s office tells Joey they don’t have anything for defense, and they don‘t want to put her through the trauma of having a full trial and end up getting humiliated. Somehow, she could hear the three guys explaining their side and how they bent the truth of what happened that night. Joey knows no one could help her, and somehow, it was really her fault. Meanwhile, Sid is dealing with his own problems. He receives a voicemail from Harvard stating that he won‘t get in. Sid looks at his essay Orlov posted online. It is still getting comments from all sorts of people. Sid tries to volunteer as a host for their restaurant, but his father doesn’t want his help. His father tells him he can’t host because he has a broken nose.

[00:07:00] Sid knows his father doesn’t want him to host because he is gay. Meanwhile, Jay is practicing with Mr. Knight for his performance. He keeps getting stuck in some part of the piece, so Mr. Knight gives him tips on maintaining his air while playing the saxophone. He asks Jay what he wants to sound like, but Jay hasn’t decided yet. John and Dom get into an argument because she tells John to stop saying students of color. She wants John to just say it as it is: black kids. Dom has so much going on in her life that she’s losing time for other stuff. Dom forgot some papers, so she needs to redo them. She leaves the cafeteria to redo the papers. John goes after Dom to give her some money. He wants to help with her expenses.

[00:10:30] Dom doesn’t want to accept the money. She tells John she doesn’t need his help. Dom somehow gets offended by John giving her some money. It‘s a huge amount: 300 dollars is no joke. She tells John to take his money and leave. John takes the money and leaves Dom in the hallway. He tells Dom not to make time for him in her busy schedule; he no longer wants to put up with her pride and attitude. Dom leaves to continue her papers. Dom is still reading when the teacher tells her to put the book away. The teacher gives them the exam and tells them to start. Dom looks at the paper and her classmates taking the exam. She doesn’t know what to do as her classmates start answering their papers. Dom does the only thing she can think of.

[00:12:30] Dom takes out her phone and searches for the answers online. She is doing great as she‘s able to answer majority of the questions, but the teacher sees Dom and takes her paper. He sends Dom out to have a little talk. Dom begs the teacher not to fail her; she might face expulsion for cheating. The teacher wants to report Dom to the principal, but she pleads with the teacher. He gives her another option: failure or expulsion. Dom can’t do anything but cry in the hallway. Meanwhile, Leila is still getting bullied by the other Chinese students. They tell Leila that her boyfriend, George, is a rapist. Leila says George isn’t her boyfriend. Leila receives her paper with a lower grade than what she expected, so she confronts her teacher.

[00:15:30] The teacher tells Leila she can’t feel her personal connection to her chosen topic. Leila explains she’s Chinese, but her parents are Jewish, so she chose the topic. The teacher tells Leila that her topic is great and her research is okay. But she didn’t write anything personal on the paper, so she received a lower grade. Leila just accepts the grade of her paper. The teacher tells her to find a personal connection so that she would get a higher grade. Leila receives a message from Omar; her mood lightens. She finally gets her chance in the drama club. Omar tells Leila she got the part for their play. Leila smiles as she goes to the drama club to practice her role.

[00:17:00] Leila feels she is doing great, but Meera thinks otherwise. She finishes her lines, but Meera doesn’t feel she‘s the best fit. She tells Omar they need to use someone else; Leila isn’t strong enough for the role. Leila is full of anger as she leaves the drama club. She tears a poster outside and throws her necklace at the door. Leila swears at Meera and the drama club. She knows she can’t throw her necklace away, so she picks it up along with the poster she tore down. Meanwhile, Joey continues to attend therapy. She has a lot going on in her life that she doesn’t know what to talk about in therapy. The therapist focuses on her new life in a new school.

[00:20:00] Joey is transferring to a new school, and she will stay with her father. Joey doesn’t like her father coming to visit them, but after what happened to her, it‘s the first time he has come back. Joey’s father cheated on her mother, and she became so angry at him that she no longer considered him her father. After what happened to her, Joey and her father get back on track, and she knows he is still her father, and she’s still his daughter. Joey blames herself for what happened. The therapist tells Joey she’s not responsible, but she already knows the truth. She chose to go with Luke and George. She chose to get fucked up, which makes it her fault.

[00:22:00] Meanwhile, Sid goes down from his room to answer the door. He checks who it is, but he doesn’t want to open it. Sid no longer has any choice, so he opens the door and allows Flora in. Flora confronts Sid about what happened. She asks him about all the promises he told her about college and dating. Sid tells Flora he wants everything to be true. He thinks focusing on Flora and their relationship can make him forget about being gay. Flora is pissed at Sid for using her. She knows it isn’t his fault, but she loves Sid despite what happened. Sid explains that Flora makes him feel normal. When he is with Flora, he feels like he is the man her parents want him to be, the guy the swimming team needs.

[00:24:00] Sid tells Flora she loves her, but Flora is so confused she doesn’t want to hear it. Flora asks Sid if he ever hooked up with guys. Sid couldn’t completely tell Flora what happened, but she already knows from just looking at Sid. She feels like a complete idiot for coming over. Flora takes her jacket and just leaves. Meanwhile, Leila goes to the rabbi and tells her no one is accepting her apologies. Leila can’t understand why Rachel can’t accept the little changes she made to herself. She feels like an idiot because she thinks the ways of religion aren’t working for her. Leila wants a quick fix, but the rabbi tells Leila there are no quick fixes on the road of repentance and forgiveness. Leila takes the rabbi’s shawl and smelled it for a bit. She takes the shawl and leaves the library.

[00:27:30] Dom is out buying her supplies with her friends. She is slowly falling apart, and no one can help her. Her friends tell her to give herself a break, but even that pisses her off. She goes to the counter to pay for the items she will buy. Dom notices that the prices went up. She asks for a discount, but the owner tells her they don’t offer any discounts. The owner thinks Dom doesn’t have the money to pay, which offends her. She opts not to pay for the items and leaves. Her friends follow her out of the shop and ask her what’s wrong. Dom tells her friends she’s good, but she can no longer hold her tears back. She sits on the sidewalk and starts crying. Dom could no longer handle the pressure of working and studying at the same time.

[00:30:00] Her friends tell her to relax, but she can’t. Dom knows there is no time to relax when they don’t have the money to pay the rent. She can’t study and rest properly because she needs to work. Dom finally looks at her final option. She no longer knows what to do. Dom tells her friends about Ronald and how he needs his green card. Dom needs to marry Ronald so that he can get his green card. Ronald’s family opts to pay them 10,000 dollars to have a civil wedding. Dom’s friends tell her there’s always another way, but she has already tried the other way, and she still couldn’t handle the stress and pressure that came along with it.

[00:32:00] Jay plays his saxophone under a bridge when a few black kids pass by. Jay hits a tough note and breaks the song, making the kids laugh. They ask Jay if it is supposed to sound like such, so he plays another song to show them his skills. The boys acknowledge his skills, and they talk about his upcoming performance. Jay tells them the spot belonged to Owen, and they are in a tough spot in terms of their friendship. The boys tell Jay he needs to tell Owen the truth. Jay wants to buy some weed from them, but they don’t sell. They offer Jay to take a few hits, so he takes it. Jay leaves after a few hits; he needs to meet with his father.

[00:34:30] Jay goes out with his parents for dinner. They watch a live band in the restaurant playing jazz music like Jay. His father is so proud of him. He tells Jay that he will be playing for everyone one day while inspiring other people to follow in his steps. Jay tells his father there are other ways to inspire people, like the sit-in they will do in school. They are doing the sit-in for Owen so that they could save him and get him back to Grand Army earlier. Jay’s father tells Jay to focus on himself instead. Jay responds he didn’t get the seat in all-state; it was Owen’s in the first place. Jay’s father doesn’t care. He tells Jay to make the most of his opportunity because getting Owen back at Grand Army won’t change a thing for him.

[00:36:30] For Jay’s father, his future matters the most even though he wants to make things right with Owen. He tells Jay what happened to Owen is a thing called life. Jay asks his father about Owen’s future, but he doesn’t care. All his father cares about is Jay’s future. Meanwhile, Sid goes to their restaurant to help out. They are short on staff that day, but his parents doesn’t want him to help. Sid’s parents don’t want other people to see Sid with a broken nose. They don’t want people to gossip about him. Sid doesn’t care what other people have to say. His parents try to make him leave, but Sid plans to stay and help them. Sid tells them he’s gay and nothing will change it.

[00:39:00] Sid dares his parents to talk to him about it, or they can just leave him alone and let him do the dishes. Meanwhile, one of Joey’s sisters, Nina, gets her first menstruation at their father’s apartment. She can’t believe that she gets her first at her father’s apartment because it is a total disaster. Joey helps Nina remove the bloodstain from the towel while their father offers to go out and get what she needs. Joey tells her father she will send a picture of what to buy. Nina tells Joey to fight back against her oppressors, but she can’t. She tells Nina the guys already won. Nina shows Joey a picture of Luke, George, and Tim. Everyone at Grand Army knows they raped Joey, but no one dares talk about it. She tells Joey she needs to stop them from destroying her.

[00:42:30] Leila freaks out on the sidewalk with her mother. She confronts her that she doesn’t know who she truly is. Leila doesn’t know the real her, and it’s slowly killing her. She wants to know her past so that she can face her future. Leila’s mother tries to calm her down so that they can go home first and have a talk, but Leila doesn’t want to go home. She leaves her mother on the sidewalk without saying another word. Meanwhile, Dom goes home and sees her mother and sister in pain. They laugh while they handle the pain. Sabine is nursing her back while her mother slowly massages her feet and ankles. Dom tells them she will marry Ronald in exchange for the money.

[00:46:00] Dom’s mother gets up to comfort Dom. She’s making a huge decision for the sake of their family. Dom tells her mother some of the money needs to go to her college fund. Her mother agrees with her terms and hugs Dom for sacrificing herself.