"Crush and Burn" (stylized as "Crush + Burn") is the 15th episode of the first season of Pepper Ann. It aired on November 15, 1997.
Plot
Pepper Ann lies to Milo's insane crush, Gwen Mezzrow, about being his girlfriend -- which turns into a tangled web of deceit involving everyone in school.
Synopsis
Milo receives a love note from a girl named Gwen Mezzrow and is put off by her weirdness. He asks Pepper Ann to help her and she responds by telling Gwen that he and Milo have been a couple since the fourth grade. Gwen begins telling everyone of their supposed relationship and it reaches the ears of Nicky who is upset but told that it is just a ruse by Pepper Ann. When Gwen reveals that Pepper Ann told her that Milo broke up with her, Nicky says that she broke up with Milo to pursue playing the autoharp and adds that Pepper Ann was raised by nuns at an orphanage. As they leave the arcade, gossip editors Tessa and Vanessa James try to report on the going on in Hazelnut and learn just now that Pepper Ann and Milo are a couple. Embarrassed for them, Pepper Ann tells Gwen that they are starring in a Twin Mint gum commercial and have been busy which they purport.
Milo becomes unfocused without his hat (Pepper Ann is wearing it to signify their relationship) and Nicky takes up the autoharp which she is angry about due to the instrument's difficulty. Cissy and Trinket are both dragged into lies as well when Pepper Ann tells Gwen that the two volunteers at the soup kitchen with Ms. Stark happily congratulating the two. When Gwen visits Pepper Ann at her house, she sees her family and is confused, leading to Pepper Ann tossing a wheel of cheese out the door so that Ned could leave. Everyone attends a concert held by Nicky who can now successfully play the autoharp and nuns come and visit Pepper Ann's house with Lydia becoming suspicious. Cissy, Trinket, Nicky, Tessa and Vanessa all voice their abhorrence at Pepper Ann's actions while Milo finally admits that he has a crush on Gwen now which upsets Pepper Ann as she feels that they need to keep up the lie.
Principal Hickey calls for an assembly for all the students to announce the school's awards. When Milo and Pepper Ann are about to be announced as best couple, Pepper Ann finally sits up to reveal that their relationship has been nothing but a lie to help her friend. This results in Tessa and Vanessa admitting they are not famous, Nicky admitting that she hates the autoharp (even though she has learned to master it), Trinket admitting that she hates volunteering (less than three hours to Ms. Stark), Cissy admitting that she is not actually a dumb blond (so as not to be intimidating to others) and Gwen reveals that her crush on Milo was to make Dieter jealous who, ironically, does not care for her. Milo forgives Pepper Ann and she returns his hat, resulting in him becoming his usual self.
Cast
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson
- Jeff Bennett as Ned Diggety, Dieter Lederhosen
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- Clea Lewis as Nicky Little
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson, Abriola Stark, Nun, Additional Voices
- Kath Soucie as Cissy Rooney, Additional Voices
- Jenna von Oÿ as Trinket St. Blair
- Cree Summer as Tessa and Vanessa James, Additional Voices
- Kimmy Robertson as Gwen Mezzrow
- Susan Tolsky as Janie Diggety
- Don Adams as Principal Hickey
Desk Gag
"All right, Mardi Gras beads!"
Trivia
- Being that this episode marks Gwen's first appearance, it's also the beginning of Milo and Gwen's on-again-off-again relationship.
- We first find out about Gwen's crush on Dieter in this episode.
- The title of this episode is a twist on the title of the 1990 film Crash and Burn.
- When news of Pepper Ann and Milo's supposed relationship spreads overseas, a woman yells "get out!" while shoving the person. This is a reference to the character of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld.
- Twin Mint Gum is a parody of Double Mint Gum.
- On Disney+, this episode segment and "Soccer Season" are swapped.
External links
