"The Box" is the first segment of the ninth episode of Recess.
Synopsis[]
T.J. is sent to Finster's invention, the Box, and the results are unsettling.
Plot[]
After the Recess Gang's latest scheme of getting ice cream ends with T.J. getting caught after losing his shoe, he is punished by facing the wall, though this does little to deter him as he laughs it off. Miss Finster confides in Randall that none of the students take her seriously, but she has concocted a plan to change all that. The next day, Miss Finster invents the box, a small chalk square drawn into the playground's blacktop. She informs all the students that if they do anything to provoke or break the rules of the playground, they will immediately get put in the box for ten minutes. Everyone laughs at it and continues playing.
Right away, T.J. is the first to test out the box. At first he tries to pass the time with menial tasks, but soon the solitude begins to settle on him and drives him insane. Miss Finster releases him and forces him to do various school chores to stay out of trouble, which he does so willingly. The event has caused him to become frightened of anything square or box shaped, much to Miss Finster's joy. Not knowing what to do, Gretchen suggests that they need to have T.J. face his fears by putting him back in the box again, based on what she has read about Sigmund Freud. They succeed in having him sent back to the box, though Gretchen admits that it might drive him further insane.
T.J. is put back in the box and nearly loses his mind once again. Suddenly, a ball hits him in the head and a young child asks if he can have it back. When T.J. fails to respond, the aggravated boy steps into the box to get it himself. T.J. is baffled by this until he puts his foot outside and comes to the conclusion that it is nothing more than just four lines in the ground. Miss Finster and Randall delightedly go to check on T.J., but are shocked to see that he is perfectly fine and goes to rejoin his friends. He tells them that he knows better now and returns to play. Meanwhile, Miss Finster is left sobbing over her failed experiment while Randall backs away.
Cast[]
- Ross Malinger as T.J. Detweiler
- Rickey D'Shon Collins as Vince LaSalle
- Jason Davis as Mikey Blumberg
- Ashley Johnson as Gretchen Grundler
- Pamela Adlon as Ashley Spinelli
- Courtland Mead as Gus Griswald
- April Winchell as Muriel Finster
- Ryan O'Donohue as Randall Weems
- Jeff Wright as Hank
Trivia[]
- Miss Finster claims that the inventor of detention was Mildred Frizbone in 1952. This is false. The modern form of detention was not implemented into schools until the late 1960's and early 1970's and was initially created by a man named Jeremy Bentham.
- Initially T.J. was supposed to sing "How Much is That Doggy in the Window?" instead of "This Old Man".[1]
- Gretchen states that she has started to question Sigmund Freud's knowledge. This would actually be accurate as Freud's teachings have constantly been called into question long after his death.
References[]
External links[]
- The Box at the Recess Wiki
