| “ | Glee by the Sea guarantees fun, sun, and family-friendly activities. Fun, sun, and family-friendly activities not guaranteed. | ” |
–Glee by the Sea brochure | ||
"Glee by the Sea" is the twelfth episode of the second season, and the fifty-second episode of The Replacements.
Synopsis[]
The Darings go on vacation to a tropical resort. Todd falls in love with a surfer girl, Agent K believes that Dr. Skorpius is up to no good, and Riley waits at a payphone for Johnny to call her back.
Plot[]
Act I[]
The Darings fly to an island resort called Glee by the Sea. The family looks forward to having fun, except for Riley, who is mad about having to be away from Johnny Hitswell. Upon landing, they are greeted by Gleeful Glenn, the resort's overly perky manager. Since there is no cell phone service at the resort, Gleeful Glenn points Riley to the nearest payphone. Mr. Daring wants to spend time with the entire family, but Agent K suddenly has to take care of her own "vacation plans" by herself. Agent K sees her archenemy, Dr. Skorpius, and his wife arriving with a metal briefcase.
Inside the hotel, Todd and his father wonder what they should do first. Todd is too short to go surfing, so the only thing he can do is become a "Glee Buddy". Todd learns that Glee Buddies can only build sandcastles, but Dick does not mind.
Riley leaves a voicemail telling Johnny to call her at Glee by the Sea. She intends to wait at the payphone all day for Johnny to call back. C.A.R. teaches Riley about the six stages of boyfriend withdrawal. Riley is at the first stage: denial.
While disguised as a palm tree, Agent K listens to Dr. Skorpius and his wife arguing about his plans. Dr. Skorpius hears someone eavesdropping on their conversation, but when he looks out the window, he sees a "backflipping palm tree."
Todd meeting Bailey.
Todd has had enough of Gleeful Glenn's patronizing attitude. Suddenly, a giant wave knocks him over. He looks up to see a surfer named Bailey, who asks Todd if he wants to hang out with her. They spend time making fun of strange tourists and having burping contests. Later, Todd buys sno-cones for himself and Bailey and plans to ask her out on a date. To his surprise, he sees Bailey hanging out with another boy.
Act II[]
The other boy's name is Procter, and he is bigger and more muscular than Todd. Todd gives the sno-cones to Bailey and Procter, and Procter smushes his sno-cone on Todd's head and knocks Todd onto the ground.
Agent K posing as Dr. Skorpius's waitress.
Meanwhile, Agent K poses as Dr. Skorpius's waitress. She discovers that the mad scientist is recruiting minions at the line-dancing class. When Dr. Skorpius complains that his burger was overcooked, Agent K deliberately spills his drink on his shirt.
Riley still waits at the payphone. By this point, she snaps at callers who are not Johnny. C.A.R. tells Riley that she is at the second stage, which is anger. Riley denies that she is angry while she loses her temper.
Todd has a plan to win back Bailey. Mr. Daring poses as a beach bully, and Todd tries to stop him from knocking down sandcastles. Their plan is foiled when Dick gets tackled by his sandcastle classmates. Later, Procter challenges Todd to a surf-off where the winner gets Bailey for himself. Todd accepts the challenge despite not knowing how to surf.
Riley has reached the third stage: depression. She had convinced herself that nothing on the beach really matters. C.A.R. warns Riley that the next stage is panic. When she answers the phone, she goes on a tirade at the caller until she realizes that she is speaking to Johnny's mother. She pretends to be Sierra McCool, then she hangs up. At the same time, Agent K discovers that the contents of Dr. Skorpius's briefcase will start a "chain reaction."
Riley reaches the bargaining stage of boyfriend withdrawal. While C.A.R. gets a massage, Riley begs him to fly her back home. Riley promises to give her allowance to C.A.R., but he shoos Riley away.
At the beach, Todd fails at surfing. Gleeful Glenn condescendingly tells Todd that he should have stuck to sandcastles. Todd climbs the tallest palm tree he can find and calls Fleemco to have Gleeful Glenn replaced with a surfing instructor. Gleeful Glenn gets invited to the Sahara Desert Sandcastle Invitational.
Todd's replacement arrives in the form of Duke Waverly, who teaches him the basics of surfing. Procter surfs by on a fancy surfboard, and Todd demands to know where he got it from. It turns out that Dr. Skorpius built Procter's surfboard; Procter is Dr. Skorpius's son.
Act III[]
Agent K gets ready to bust Dr. Skorpius's plan. When she discovers that Dr. Skorpius is helping his son cheat at the upcoming surf-off, she gives Todd a wave manipulator so he can cheat back. Todd then visits Riley, who had reached the final stage: acceptance. Riley attempts to give Todd advice about having faith in Bailey, but Todd knows that it would be hypocritical if she still waits at the payphone. Realizing that it does not matter if Johnny calls, Riley walks away from the payphone. At that moment, Johnny calls Glee by the Sea.
Bailey kissing Todd.
At the surfing competition, Todd's wave manipulator gets eaten by a clam, and Procter wins. Procter flexes his muscles and leans in for a kiss, but Bailey tells him that she is not a trophy to be won. She reveals that she admires Todd's recklessness and his attempts to impress her. Bailey then kisses Todd on the cheek.
The Darings attend the luau. Before Dr. Skorpius can execute his plan, Agent K swings into action and kicks him into a chair, spilling another drink onto his shirt. Agent K finds out that Dr. Skorpius was on vacation, and that his master plan was a dance he invented called "The Earthshaker". Agent K is stunned because she is wrong about something, for once. The family confiscates Agent K's spy gear until they get home.
The Earthshaker.
Epilogue[]
On her way home, Riley claims that she doesn't care that Johnny didn't call, but "he better have a darn good excuse." In actuality, Johnny had spent a week rowing to Glee by the Sea, and he arrived after the Darings left.
Trivia[]
- A soundalike of the Wheel of Fortune theme song ("Changing Keys" by Merv Griffin) plays throughout the episode, particularly in scenes involving Gleeful Glenn.
- C.A.R.'s stages of boyfriend withdrawal spoofs the Five Stages of Grief.
Gallery[]
View the gallery here.