Date of airing: August 3, 2001 (Disney Channel)
written by: Douglas Tuber, Tim Maile
directed by: Mark Rosman
Finally, an episode in which Lizzie and Matt do not hate each other all the time. Okay, the half hour started that way, and it continued that way up until the third act of the episode, but I liked that the writers finally decided to focus on the titular sibling bond, as it was necessary to do so. Otherwise, Matt would have turned out to be one of the worst characters in the history of Disney Channel siblings, and I am aware that I already called him one of the worst characters ever, right beside Alex Russo’s little brother Max in WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE. Creating this episode to showcase that Lizzie and Matt can also have a deep and meaningful relationship as older sister and younger brother was wonderful, and considering I was the little brother in my family, I would have liked to have had such a connection with my big sisters when I was of single-digit age. Not unlike when I was flashing back to and remembering my own childhood while watching and crying my way through A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (in a movie theater no less – good thing the theater was only a third full, so I had my privacy while wiping away my tears with my sleeves), this episode gave me a view on how my childhood could have looked like if maybe one of my sisters would have respected me as a brother during the 1990s.
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| Lizzie is putting on her thinking arms. |
It became obvious that Lizzie and Matt are not the most brilliant kids in town, since they could not even get rid of each other while handcuffed. They had an entire Saturday to figure out how to break the cuffs or how to cut them, so they would at least be separated while continuing to carry the cuffs like Jin did in most of the first and second season of LOST, but for some reason, they decided not to think about freeing themselves and instead hang out together, albeit forcefully. Granted, it made for great comedy during the picture booth scene when Matt’s arm was doing things to Lizzie (it was a perfect way to include sketch comedy into LIZZIE McGUIRE and I loved it), but considering how needy Lizzie was and how she had to be at Ethan’s side while he was mini-golfing his way to an award, I would have thought Lizzie was moving heaven and earth to get Matt away from her and to get a little creative when it comes to at least cutting the cuffs.
But alas, it should not have been this way, and instead, the writers
focused on bringing Matt and Lizzie together, so that for the first time
in the show (or since she babysat for him), the characters were allowed
to be siblings for once, and to tell their young viewers that you can
also be nice to your younger siblings and maybe you will spend a great
day with them and beat away the bullies. There was a great moment
between the two when she realized he was being bullied, and she told him
that she is the only one allowed to beat on her little brother. There
was some truth to it – anyone who teases Lizzie’s little brother is
going to expect her wrath upon them, because only she is allowed to
bully her brother. That is the privilege of being a sibling after all.
Besides that, being bullied gives them another connection, as Lizzie was
experiencing something similar in her life with Kate, and the two
shared a very special bond of sorts, finally understanding each other
for the first time. Okay, Lizzie was still thinking violent thoughts,
but defending her brother from a bully, just so she has the sole and
exclusive rights to bully her brother? Yeah, that is a pretty cool
sibling moment. That is something I would have wished to have happened in my life as well.
The rest of the episode was okay. Consider me surprised that Sam had a “day off” and was allowed to hang out at home and watch a game while his wife was running the clothing drive (the lazy man could have helped her out), and consider me laughing hysterically when Sam threw the key over the pond to the kids, essentially risking that the key will fall into the water, and Lizzie and Matt will continue to spend time with each other, looking for the key in the pond. But then again, the moral of sibling bond would not have worked if Lizzie and Matt had not caught the key together to end their ordeal. Plus point for Sam’s happy smile after that catch though – that is what a father should look like and feel when looking at his offspring. I feel envious of these fictional kids again.
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| Kate has wet herself again. |
Meanwhile, it was about time to do something with the Ethan issue. The boy might have gotten a bit smarter since the last time we saw him, as evident in the classroom scene during which he did not fail, but I am getting a little annoyed by the non-actions everyone takes around Ethan. Kate has the hots for him, Lizzie has the hots for him, Miranda probably has the hots for him, Gordo does not like him because he is such a cool dude and cool dudes are so not Gordo’s style, and Ethan has ... something else going on in his mind because he probably does not even realize all of this is happening. It is time to develop the story and have Lizzie and Kate battle it out of the soul of this boy who will probably end up an alcoholic in his mid-20s. Would the revival series have answered that question?
