*Popular gets scrooged*

Even though I expected Popular to really skewer Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" with its usual "surreal" machinations, I found out that there was more than meets the eye. I felt that placing Nicole as the Ebenezer Scrooge character and delving into her inner psychology was the greatest thing this show could have done to have its "annual holiday episode". There is something pitiful and sad about Nicole ever since the debut of the series. You wonder if she even has an heart with her continual antics of terrorizing the other students at her school. And then, you suddenly realize that she doesn't. But when the show places her in a vunerable position where she has no one to fight except herself, well, Dickens' old tale becomes alive anew.

The flashbacks begin to reveal exactly where the root of her problems lay. As a little girl, she was teased by the more popular students in her elementary school because she was "dumpy". Her parents--especially her mother--neglected her every need. The grandmother, who honestly loved her, had died when she was young. Because the people who mattered in her life "left her", Nicole felt that she couldn't have the capacity to be compassionate toward others. Now, this isn't to say that she doesn't deserve some cruelty exacted to her. Instead, I think that the show was trying to make the viewers care about her--even though she is such a witch. The later instances of her life (as well as what the other characters say about her in the program) reveal that she is. Not to mention that other word that rhymes with it.

The sickly, sweet Christmas party that was held by Sam and Brooke was too much for my taste (with that faux hug and those contrived Christmas gifts), but the most telling parts of the show had to be Nicole confronting Carmen and the Science Teacher (whom everyone calls 'Sir'). At first, she was unrepentant about her behavior. But that all changes when Nicole started to be visited by the infamous three spirits from Dickens' story. Here, she had to face her aggressors and then had to confront her own feelings about her cruelty to others. This is where the show gains some sense of conscience beyond the flashes of vanity.

Carmen being tormented by Nicole and her friends is a case study of what it is like to want to be accepted so badly that she could taste it. And when she was turned down by the cheerleading squad because she didn't look "beautiful", well, that could be easily written off as a 90210 episode (except even the "unpopular" kids were somehow comely there). But when Nicole had to witness for herself the trauma Carmen had to go through when trying to fit in, she had to change her colors. Nicole had begun to see that she and Carmen are mirror opposites in the same capacity. At any level in school, the torment--whether it is inner or outer--never changes. And the cruelty still belongs to those admired by the rest of the high school population. It takes a life-altering event and a horrible nightmare to face harsh facts.

However, when recognizing this, there is a place for change and newfound respect. Nicole--in repentance--comes to the "Christmas party" to see for herself that Carmen had other talents than the most superficial. And in an act of good will, she bestowed the greatest gift of all: a place in the cheerleading squad [!]. Small matter. There are bigger issues here.

Although they still used "eye-grabbing" gimmicks to keep the audience (let alone Gen X viewers) entertained, there's still a lot there to overlook the irritating moments that "jar" attention away from the show. I still think that if they stopped thinking that the audience only can take life lessons in small tid-bits through flashy material, the program might be worth its salt. The secret of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that most of the action weaves around the content of the show so it doesn't seem like it is "in your face all the time". Popular tries too hard to be a "smart show". Don't get me wrong. It's cool to blend smartness and entertainment together. However, these antics on Popular tip the scales toward one side or the other. There is never a happy medium when you get down to the bare bones of what the show is trying to offer. This latest episode truly demonstrates the emotive power Popular possesses when it isn't trying to go down in history as a cult favorite. By displaying the depth of the characters--who are cardboard cutouts from the typical "pretty teen show" on the first impression --makes the interest more palatable and fascinating in the long run.