"The Hypnotist" is the second segment of the fourteenth episode of Recess.
Synopsis[]
Principal Prickly is hypnotized into thinking he is a little kid again and spends recess with the kids.
Plot[]
The school gathers in the assembly hall for a hypnotism show, to which no-one is enthusiastic about The Amazing Jeffrey calls for a volunteer, but no-one volunteers. He chooses Miss Finster for his trick, asking her how old she is. She refuses to say, so he chooses 25, and tells the audience that he will hypnotize her into believing that she is a child of 6. As he carries out his trick, Principal Prickly finds himself being slowly hypnotized. After the trick, Jeffrey asks Finster how old she is, to which she again refuses to answer. However, Prickly answers "He's 6, but he'll 7 in June!"
At recess, the gang mock Jeffrey's failure. Meanwhile, Jeffrey demands payment for his act, but Finster refuses. Prickly then runs out of the school, and starts running around the playground, acting like a little child. Gretchen correctly deduces that Jeffrey accidentally hypnotized him instead of Finster. Gus tries to tell someone, but T.J. insists that this is a golden opportunity to have things their own way for a change. However, Randall overhears, and tells Finster of what happened.
The teachers try to confront Prickly, but are unsuccessful. The gang then approach him, and convince him to act like the principal. At a teacher's meeting, Miss Finster tells the faculty that The Amazing Jeffrey is unavailable because he's on his way to a bitmizah, and self-appoints herself as acting principal. However, a disheveled Prickly storms in, and starts reading out a new set of rules in a child-like manner. Finster goads him into his office, before locking him in until she finds another hypnotist. Prickly finds his microphone, and starts burping and making armpit farts over the system.
As the teachers break their way into the office, Prickly climbs out the window and finds the gang. T.J. tells him that they will always be friends, but the others remind him that he cannot be a kid forever and that they have to turn him back. T.J. is reluctant, until Finster unknowingly broadcasts to the entire school that she will now be acting principal (due to Petey taping the PA microphone to "on" during his earlier antics with the P.A. system). The gang try to convince Prickly that he is a grown-up, but he becomes scared and tries to climb away from them. Gretchen follows him, and successfully hypnotizes him to bring him back to his normal adult self.
In Principal Prickly's office, Miss Finster brings the gang in to face his judgement. However, before he can tell them their punishment, he is distracted by his picture on the wall, which he had drawn a red goatee on whilst in his child-like mind. When Finster tries to bring him back on point, Prickly lets them off with a warning, saying that "kids will be kids". Finster leaves with the kids, and T.J. thanks him as he leaves. Prickly then muses that he should grow a goatee beard, before taking a yo-yo out of his pocket, and playing with it as he looks out of the window, whistling.
Cast[]
- Ross Malinger as T.J. Detweiler
- Rickey D'Shon Collins as Vince LaSalle
- Pamela Adlon as Ashley Spinelli
- Ashley Johnson as Gretchen Grundler
- Jason Davis as Mikey Blumberg
- Courtland Mead as Gus Griswald
- April Winchell as Muriel Finster
- Dabney Coleman as Peter Prickly
- Allyce Beasley as Miss Grotke
- Klee Bragger as Digger Sam
- Ryan O'Donohue as Digger Dave
- Anndi McAfee as Ashley Armbruster
- Tress MacNeille as Teacher #1
- Sam McMurray as The Amazing Jeffrey, Teacher #2
Trivia[]
- When Miss Finster tries to trick Prickly into getting locked in the principal's office by claiming he can play games on his computer, the latter reacts with excitement at the idea. Recess: School's Out revealed that he was a young adult during the late 1960s, meaning the six-year-old "Petey" should not even be aware of what computer games are.
- Contrary to popular belief, hypnotism cannot force someone to do something against their will. Instead, as Gretchen points out, it taps into the subconscious mind. Hence, when the Amazing Jeffrey attempts to mentally regress Miss Finster into a six-year-old, she is not affected in the slightest, while Principal Prickly, who is nearby, starts thinking he is a first grader. Therefore, this episode implies that Principal Prickly misses his childhood.
External links[]
- The Hypnotist at the Recess Wiki
