A 30 Year Old Rewatches "My So-Called Life": Episode 6, "The Substitute"
Rewatching the TV series that defined my youth as a curmudgeonly 30 year old.
In this episode, Angela (Claire Danes) finally has a substitute in her English class. But Mr. Racine (Roger Rees) is more than any of the students bargained for. Soon Rickie (Wilson Cruz) and Rayanne (A.J. Langer) start showing up to Angela’s English class just to get a glimpse of Mr. Racine. Everyone is hypnotized by Mr. Racine, except for Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall) - NERD! Mr. Racine is also particularly hard on Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto), giving him extra assignments.
Mr. Racine and the class are tasked with writing poetry for the sophomore class’s lit journal. One day in class, students swap poems and someone has to read a rather sexual poem written by one of their classmates. The students (minus that loser Krakow) rally for the poem to be published, with the poems being printed anonymously. Patty (Bess Armstrong) and Graham (Tom Irwin) agree to publish the journal, but are both concerned that Angela may have been the author of the raunchy poem.
Both individually bring their concerns to Mr. Racine who gets them to agree to publish the journal. Once the journal is published, students begin to suspect that Rayanne is the author until Sharon (Devon Odessa) discloses to Rayanne that she was the one who wrote it. As Sharon worries that people will learn she wrote it and get in trouble, Rayanne is mortified that people might learn that she wasn’t the one to do it. The same day, the principal bans the journal from distribution and Mr. Racine leaves the school. Brian Krakow is happy to see him go, but all the students are up in arms by Mr. Racine’s exit - including Jordan Catalano who calls him the best teacher he ever had.
Angela then goes through a “down with the man” phase by skipping class to reprint the journal on school property and protesting Mr. Racine’s leave of absence. Graham privately asks the principal what happens and learns that Mr. Racine was served papers to appear in court due to not paying child support. Graham and Patty decide to tell Angela who tracks down Mr. Racine to confront him. The episode ends with Angela reflecting on the impact of Mr. Racine, even with his complexity and faults.
My Takeaways
This episode certainly had me thinking about my high school teachers. Rarely did we have a substitute who made a profound impact on me. I did have one substitute who made blatant Antisemitic remarks. His name was Mr. Tennis (said like the game, but I know spelled differently) and I have never seen an entire class turn on a person so fast in my life. I’m still proud of all of those 15 year olds who called out that repugnant man. But outside of that, I never had a cool, thought-provoking as Mr. Racine.
I think there is something very intriguing about the time your education woke you up to something you found unjust. I honestly loved seeing Angela become a bit of a 90s-beatnik-wannabe. That is very on brand for 15 year old white girls, and to me, that’s magical.
As a grown-up now, I do understand Patty and Tom’s concerns about Angela making big decisions that could get her in trouble. Previously, I thought her parents were lame, but I can understand as a person who is an adult, that teenagers sure love to make every issue feel like the end of the world. Patty and Tom also weren’t outright in opposition to Angela’s view, but they certainly wanted to make sure she wasn’t making decisions that would completely alter her life.
Now to complain about Brian Krakow. I don’t understand how no one has hit this kid. Violence is not the answer, but it sure would make me feel better. I don’t know if he ever does this, but I am just waiting for him to say, “Not to be the Devil’s Advocate but…” I think we all knew at least one person in school who benefited so much from what authority figured had to offer, that they did anything to uphold the status quo. Brian Krakow sucks.
In this episode, I did love the start to Rayanne and Sharon interacting. They both deeply care about Angela, and I knew that everyone slowly joins the same circle, but I have always felt the Rayanne and Sharon has a lot in common. They’re both interested in how others perceive them. They are loyal friends, but do want their friends to fit into a certain box. And they are both super funny. I love that it was Sharon that wrote the extra raunchy poem. I think it just tells you so much about the layers to that character. Rayanne’s horror in finding out that it was Sharon and that there would be a possibility people would learn the poem wasn’t written by her was hilarious. A real great moment in the girls’ bathroom.
Angela trying to reprint the journal is very rock’n’roll of her. Often on TV, we see a guest actor come in, shake things up, and find our protagonist where they were at the start of the episode. This time, we actually see that Angela was impacted by what Mr. Racine taught her, even if he straight up abandoned his family. I think it demonstrates her malleability, as well as her independence. She did that all on her own without consulting Rayanne or her parents or anyone else. I am excited to see where this next episode takes Angela considering we are seeing her make decisions independent of her friend groups.