The Bird Scene

The Bird Scene

    The premise of The Bird Scene isn't established for the first 5 minutes of the episode, which is really a type of record for a nick show. I'd also say episode two has the first part of Victorious that is actually kind of funny to someone who isn't a 13 year old girl, which is the acting teacher (Sikowitz) hurling a plastic ball at people mid sentence. It's not comedic genius, but it works in context. Eric Lange as Sikowitz honestly does do a good job in the show throughout, and his character seems most suited as a foil to the rest of the cast- with jokes that more closely reminisce earlier shows like All That and Drake and Josh.  

     Rex (The puppet) also has a new look from this point onward, looking much more ethnically ambiguous presumably to qualm fears that having a black-ish puppet talking in Ebonics would be seen as a bad move. This being said, I was surprised to see that Rex was not actually voice acted by Matt Bennett (Robbie) doing a voice, but just by some adult producer dubbing over the scenes. This is also one of the only scenes where Rex is at all treated like an actual puppet, being thrown to the ground by Robbie at about minute three (also notable is that the puppet lets out a grunt when hitting the ground despite being separated from Robbie at this point, meaning that Robbie grunts for Rex even when he has no line of sight on him).

   The plot is a lot more straightforward than the pilot. Tori has to perform a skit (the Bird Scene) in a way that appeases Sikowitz, but there's some unknown trick or secret to it that everyone else knows but can't tell her. It's actually a pretty nice premise, and I think the show does best when it's structured in a Tori vs. Everyone way, where her inexperience in the school is a bit isolating.

There's also a B-plot where Robbie and Andre join a ballet class to try and hit on girls. It ends with 25 dudes running at full speed at a single vulnerable girl who is only trying to live her life. and then Robbie and Andre kick eachother in the groin or something I got a bit lost in thought and zoned out for a while.

   The episode ends with Tori finally standing up for herself and asserting that her scene was good, which was the secret all along. This is a nice lesson and all but it comes across as odd for two reasons:

1. Sikowitz told Tori that she did good after all of her performances. So there's really no reason she should feel the need to stick up for herself. She knows she's performing well, she just doesn't know what component she was missing. 

2. Sikowitz makes a point that as an actress she should listen to her own heart and disregard what other people say for her to do (and even avoid asking for feedback, in a school setting), which is absolutely not what you should do as an entry level actor/actress.

  So it's a pretty good episode. There's a lot of focus on the rites of passage Tori goes through at Hollywood Arts, which is seen again later on. Compared to later episodes it feels grounded. Everything is of course over the top, but it works. You feel like it's a scenario that could actually happen in this alternate version of growing up that the audience inevitably did not and will not ever experience, where rites of passage are clear cut and success is always encouraged and celebrated by everyone in a direct way.Victorious (and  things like Zoey 101) have that 'guilty pleasure' atmosphere. Not in the traditional sense where I enjoy it but feel I shouldn't, but because it feels so "perfectly imperfect" and picturesque and all. I can't describe it, but Dan Schneider is good at it.

I'd give it an 8/10. 

   

Some side notes:

• At about 7:30 there is what seems to be a 35 year old woman sitting as an extra in the classroom. She is then missing for the rest of the scene. 
• Ariana Grande speaks in a normal voice in this episode (and a lot of season 1). After a while she gets in the habit of speaking about an octave higher than normal.
• There's a scene where Tori tries to seduce Robbie into telling her the secret behind the Bird Scene. There's not really a fun fact here, but it did make me reflect 
• There are a lot of fedoras in this school. There's nearly at least one extra wearing one, and even when there isn't fedoras are constantly placed on desks and shelves as props.