In the words of Coco Hernandez in Coco Returns "I sing, I dance, I act.....I do it all." She does indeed, and does it very well too.

Coco was one of the original characters in the show and left midway through the third season, when she got a professional gig in Breakdance. She returned for a one-off appearance in season 4 (the episode was called Coco Returns) and came back for the last ever episode, Baby Remember My Name

Coco was very singleminded about her career, which we saw when she tried very hard to get a screen test in Winners. It was also evident as early as the second episode, where she tried out for a show even though it was forbidden for her to do so. She ended up going toe to toe with Miss Grant for the part.

If Coco was concerned about her career she was also concerned about other people. Although she was none too nice to Julie Miller in Metamorphosis it was her speech in the ladies room that convinced Julie not to run back to Grand Rapids. The two eventually became good friends.

One of Coco's other good friends was Doris Schwartz, although the two of them had their troubles as well, especially in the episode Winners where Doris starved herself to try to be more like Coco. Doris eventually realised that no-one was perfect, not even Coco, when she found out that Coco had messed up her screen test. Coco had been too ashamed to admit that, so she lied to everyone about how things had gone. Both Doris and Coco learned a lot about themselves from this episode.

Coco's first serious boyfriend on the show was Julio (Words) but their relationship hit problems when he wanted to take things further than she was willing to go. Julio left to join the navy, and accepted Coco's decision not to rush their relationship, but the last scene of the episode featured Coco calling him back and hugging him, telling him "I changed my mind."

Coco also had more than a friendship with Leroy Johnson. As both were headstrong, independent and stubborn, they had a lot of fights before Coco left the school. But there was always a underlying of friendship and respect between them. It was only in Coco Returns that the two became more than just friends. When Coco wasn't faring well out in L.A. she turned to Leroy. He gave her the busfare to come back to New York, he put her up in his one room appartment, giving her his bed, and eventually ended up sharing it (platonically) with her. From the look on his face, and the way he acted around her, it was pretty clear that friendship wasn't all he felt for Coco, and that became clear to Coco when she cried on his shoulder one night. They agreed that it would be a mistake if anything was to happen between them, and then they kissed. When Coco left, they promised to stay in touch, and parted as friends.

One of the hardest things that Coco has ever had to face was the death of her abuelita, her grandmother. She had been sick in the hospital for some time, and Coco had been going to visit her in hospital every day after school. The night her grandmother died, she had a show to do, and she did it, even though her heart was breaking. Herself and Leroy performed "Reach for a Dream" and she was brilliant. Afterwards, all she could do was cry. She felt like she should have been at home with her family, or at the hospital, instead of having a good time, performing. "What's happening to me Doris? What is this place turning me into?" she cried.

Coco returned to the school because she'd gotten fired from a big show and had lost her confidence. When the going got tough, she ran to the place that was comfortable and familiar. She took the lead role in the play that was run there, being directed by legendary director Milton Adler. She exasperated him to no end, but when he had a heart attack, he told her that she was never going to get her confidence back hiding in school - and neither was she. It was this talk that helped convince Coco to leave to the school again.

Early on in the series, Coco was very self-confident, very assured in her talents. Unfortunately, she was so confident in her talents that she tended to be a little selfish, and blind to the needs of other people. We saw this in Winners when she blew off Leroy in order to prepare for her screen test. She really wanted to be a success and wasn't prepared to let anything stand in her way. Coco grew up throughout the series, and Coco Returns really proved that. She took responsibility for her actions and left to go back to the coast, to try to follow her dream. Coco's speech in Baby Remember My Name echoes these sentiments.

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