Friends, Family & Guests: From opening credits Kristin Dattilo (Allyson), Jon Maynard Pennell, Robert Munic (Rob & Marty). From closing credits: Stephen Miller (Mr. Townsend), John Destrey (Mr. Burke), Michele Goodger (Mrs. Dawson), Robert Metcalf (Mr. Anderson), Sean Solberg (Musso), Stephen Fanning (Student #1), Shawn Clements (Student #2), Victoria Maxwell (Beth).

Opening Scene: Accompanied by pounding music, a pretty blonde woman leaves her house dressed in workout gear, at night and gets in her car. A group of kids leaves a liquor store, piles into a yellow pickup truck and heads to the local park ("Brookside Park, hours 6 AM-Sunset") to party and get drunk, as the woman drives to the park to jog. This is the same park usually shown, with a grassy bank, some benches looking out at the water, the downtown skyline on the other side, rusty looking concession stand and some picnic tables. She gets out of her car and stretches as they are popping open their beers, and then they run through the park in a pack, yelling and horsing around. She jogs alone through the park, and then one of them spots her. She jogs past them, and they follow her. The music fades, and there is just the howling wind and their footsteps, and slowly she becomes aware of being followed and begins to run faster, sobbing and whimpering. They chase her through the park and knock her down, get on top of her, and take her charm bracelet and watch, and then they rip her shirt open. The last thing she sees is a rock coming down to smash her in the face, and then everything goes black.

Lincoln High School is all lit up as a thunderstorm rages outside. It is so dark that it looks like night. The same guys are messing around in the gym locker room as some classmates finish a basketball game, talking about how Marty has been "weirded out" and not playing right. Marty comes in and apologizes. They argue about the game, and someone defends Marty and talks about running with the team at all times. The other guy storms out onto the gym floor, and they snit at each other some more. Rob tells Marty if they stick together there won’t be any trouble. Marty says he’s been freaked out over his girlfriend, Allyson, and not to tell him how to play basketball. Rob tells him he’s not talking about the game, he’s talking about the park. The bell rings, and Penhall, playing "Coach Peterson" (and wearing a purple and white #81 shirt), enters, yelling for them all to hit the showers. "Did you take a shower?" he asks Hanson, who is wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt and inexplicably has a foam boxing helmet and gloves on. Hanson says no, but Penhall insists that he take one. Rob comes over and starts saying "Boom shaka laka," but Penhall stops him and says "You sweat, you shower." The other guys start chanting, and they pick up Hanson and take him into the shower room. Penhall cheerfully calls after them "Make sure you wash behind his ears!"

In the principal’s office, people are getting irritated and wary. Some of the faculty are having trouble getting there because of the storm. Penhall comes in and announces that the gym roof is leaking. They want to cancel PE. Penhall objects because the kids will all be cooped up with no outlet. Another teacher suggests letting school out early. The principal says no. Someone says that as long as they keep up the appearance of order, the kids will behave. Hoffs says goodbye to some girls and goes to her locker, where Hanson is waiting, and they confer quickly, Hanson tossing an orange up in the air and catching it the entire time. Neither of them have found anything, and Hanson is having a hard time believing these kids are the ones. Hoffs says they all seem too normal. Hanson walks off. In another part of the hallway, Marty asks Allyson if it's true that she wants to break up. Allyson says she doesn’t want to, but he broke a date with her to go out with Rob and friends. They argue. He tells her they just rented videos and went to Ed’s house, and it’s hard to say no. He doesn’t want to break up, he didn’t even want to be there with them; the whole time he was thinking, why aren’t I with Allyson? Then he gives her a present - an apology gift - a charm bracelet, which he says was his mother’s. He tells her that he had to replace the clasp because it was broken. She accepts his apology, and they kiss and walk off holding hands. Outside, thunder booms. In class (Psychology? History?) Mr. Anderson is doing a "prison experiment" to teach the kids about peer pressure. Hoffs is in the class. Allyson is chosen to be the victim. Hoffs asks, "what if we don’t pick anybody? You can’t flunk all of us." One of the "guards" grabs Allyson. The lights flicker. Mr. Anderson asks why no one except Judy spoke up against the peer pressure and came up with an alternate option? Tomorrow they’re going to switch roles. Allyson shows the bracelet to Hoffs. Hoffs asks where she got it and Allyson tells her, adding that it’s an antique except for the new clasp. Thunder booms and a transformer blows. In shop class, Hanson's wearing goggles and looks up when the lights flicker. Then, the lights go out and everyone cackles and laughs.

The hallway is eerily lit with a pink light, shiny tile and emptiness, with forbidding music. Penhall finds a generator. Principal Townsend has been calling to get busses - they will be there in 3 hours. The generator is out of gas, and they decide to siphon some gas from a car. Mr. Anderson says the kids are corralled and they should leave them in the classes they’re in. In shop class, Marty and Hanson are doing shadow animals. The shop teacher, Mr. Burke, yells at them. Another teacher is burning a candle and telling ghost stories. In Lit class, where Hoffs, Rob and Allyson are, the teacher, Mrs. Dawson, is talking about silence, and she asks them all to close their eyes and listen to the rain and the silence. Rob gets up and sneaks out of the class while everyone’s eyes are closed. Allyson and Hoffs follow him. They walk quickly down the hallway. Hoffs eggs him on. Allyson says she’s going to get Marty out of shop class and ditch with him, but Rob overrules her, telling her to go get Marty and everyone else out and they’ll have some fun and see what develops. She reluctantly agrees, and Hoffs goes with her. Back in the office, Penhall takes Mr. Anderson aside and asks him why everyone is so concerned, adding that there’s a rumor that the kids who were wilding in the park go to this school. Mr. Anderson says they are not the only kids to worry about, that there has been so much talk here and some others might copycat. Penhall doesn’t think anything will happen and thinks the darkness is getting to them.

Back in shop class, Hoffs, Rob & Allyson come in. Hoffs lies and says they’re supposed to go on to their next class. Mr. Burke, frustrated over being the last to know, lets them all out. Hoffs looks uncomfortable and Hanson follows her out behind everyone. The guys throw a trash can and run down the hall, whooping and screaming. Hoffs tells Hanson that Allyson’s bracelet matches the jogger’s, right down to the charms. The guys decide to terrorize Mrs. Dawson. Allyson tries to make Marty stay with her instead, but he won’t, and the pack of kids runs through the hall toward Mrs. Dawson's room, hitting lockers and making noise. They bang loudly on the door, and she is startled. She opens the door and someone leans in and screams loudly. Then they shut the door and continue on, Hanson and Hoffs following behind them and keeping up. The rain continues to pour down. In the office, Principal Townsend is angry at someone on the phone - there’s 3 feet of mud and the busses can’t get through at all. Penhall comes in with gas. They’re stuck till after dark. In the hall, Rob smirks as he leads the kids and asks how they’re going to top scaring Mrs. Dawson?

In the office, Penhall has rigged up the generator, but when they turn on the PA, it shorts out the whole system. The teachers and the principal argue about whether to tell the teachers anything without checking with the school board first. Mr. Anderson yells at the principal to quit consulting the school corporation and make a decision. Penhall agrees that they need to talk to the teachers, and Penhall & Mr. Anderson are sent to go around and tell everyone to keep the kids in their current classes. Another teacher comes in to tell them that Mrs. Dawson has locked her class in her room and won’t open the door. The principal tells him to combine the classes. They argue some more. Penhall is sent to calm down Mrs. Dawson. In the hall, the pack of kids are gloating about what they’re doing. Rob yells that they’ve got the run of the school, and Marty excitedly says "Yeah, first the other night and now this." Allyson asks "what about the other night?" and the guys talk about it vaguely as a party with unplanned opportunity that just took off. Hanson walks with them and listens. They continue down the hallway. Allyson stops Rob and asks if the party was at Ed’s house and asks what happened. Rob walks off. Hanson gets Marty alone and asks about the bracelet. He says he got it at a store on Main Street, and Hanson asks if he had to pick out the charms or if they came with it. Marty says he picked them out. Hanson says he likes the spoon, the fork and the pyramid, but what do the initials "H.K." mean? Marty says it’s personal and walks off. Hoffs is listening to Rob and some other guys talking about Mr. Burke and making fun of a shirt that he wears all the time. Over by themselves, Allyson asks Marty why he didn’t tell her about the party. The guys decide that Mr. Burke needs a shower and they’re going to give him one. Hoffs says "we can’t do anything to a teacher." Rob says "boom shaka laka laka," and they all crowd around him and chant it. Hoffs and Hanson just watch. Thunder booms. In Mrs. Dawson’s class, a girl named Beth asks if they can go, but she refuses to let them go, even though it’s past 3. Dissension begins to build, and Mrs. Dawson shrieks for them to sit down and shut up, then calms down a bit and tells them to sit quietly. Outside, rain is falling. In the hallways, the chanting gets louder as the pack of kids jogs down to the shop room. Allyson tells Marty that it’s lame. He says she’s starting to get lame. She calls him on it and reminds him of what he said earlier. He says they’ll stop after this, but Burke is a jerk, and they follow the kids. In the office, the principal is arguing on the phone again and the phone goes dead. A staff member asks the principal what they're going to do about getting the kids home, but she gets no answer.

In another hallway, the chanting gets louder, and Mr. Anderson hears it and turns to listen more closely, and then he runs to hide. Hoffs and Allyson trail behind everyone, and Allyson suggests they just go somewhere else. Hoffs persuades her to tag along (so she can be there to help Hanson if she needs to). On their way down the hall to catch up, she asks Allyson what she and Marty did Saturday night, and Allyson tells her Marty was with the guys. Hoffs asks, "at the park?" and Allyson asks her to tell her what's going on. Thunder booms, and Mr. Burke is alone in the shop room. He hears the chanting and goes to the door, and they reach the door and scream and yell as they burst in and chase him, and then they catch him. He orders them to get their hands off him, and they drag him off, chanting "Shower! Shower! Shower!" as Allyson, Hoffs and Hanson watch, looking ill. Rob stops to pick up some hammers on the way out. Penhall reaches Mrs. Dawson’s room and knocks, asking her to open the door. Beth opens the door and tells him that Mrs. Dawson is just sitting there freaked out. Penhall says he’ll take care of it. He asks if she is okay, and she looks at him and apologizes, saying that the thing in the park has scared her and she's scared of the kids. Another guy enters the room and says "they’re sending Mr. Burke to the showers." Penhall goes down the hall and faces the pack of kids, telling them to let him go. Rob says cockily, "your rules: he sweats, he showers." Penhall orders them to let him go. Hanson, looking wild, pushes Burke away toward Penhall and says "why don’t you switch places with him?" Then the kids come for both of them, chanting again, and Penhall backs Burke against the wall to protect him as much as he can.

Rain continues outside, and Penhall & Burke have been locked behind a wire door. Hanson is a smart ass, saying he hopes they don’t breed. Rob wants to go get more teachers and lock them up, and Hoffs tries to get them to just go home. Penhall tells them it’s not too late to stop before someone gets hurt, and then he yells louder "before this becomes another incident like in the park!" Hoffs hears him and glances back at him, looking a bit scared, but she follows the others down the hall. The kids go down the hallway, kicking trash cans. Hoffs hangs back with Hanson and suggests ID’ing themselves. Hanson disagrees, saying they will just get thrown in with Doug and that they have to break it up from the inside. They discuss a plan of pitting Rob and Marty against each other, using Allyson, and Hanson says he’s going to try to get to Principal Townsend. They continue down the hall, still chanting, going toward the office. The principal and has locked the door and he tells them to go back to class, sounding intimidated. Hanson says in a sicky sweet voice that if he comes out and asks nicely, they will. Then he leans against the side of the doorway, halfway grinning, as they pretend to be the big bad wolf blowing the door down. Inside, the principal is panicking, and then they beat on the door. Hoffs pulls Allyson aside and says that she knows who the woman was who was attacked in the park and that the bracelet belonged to her. She says if Marty was one of the kids, it could be happening all over again. Allyson defends him. They beat the door in, and Hanson comes for the principal, suggesting that they have a little talk, and the principal decks him. The kids destroy the office and two of them start pounding on the principal. Hoffs decides she has had enough and knocks Rob down, intending to handcuff him, but she stops to flash her badge and yell that she’s police. Everyone freezes, and Hanson gets up with his badge out too. The kids get up and start chanting again, and Hoffs & Hanson race out of the office, with the kids hot on their heels.

Allyson tries to stop Marty, but she can’t, so she follows him. Hoffs and Hanson run down the hall as fast as they can, and the kids are chasing them even faster and chanting faster and faster. All the doors are locked, and there is nowhere to go. A teacher refuses to let them into his classroom. Mrs. Dawson tells them to come in her classroom. Allyson asks what is wrong with Marty. She begs him to stop. Hoffs and Hanson open the door to talk to Allyson and Marty - and Marty yells that they’re there. Mrs. Dawson tries to pull them back in, but they are grabbed. Allyson begs Marty not to let "it" happen again. Hanson is dragged by his feet down the hallway. Allyson rips the bracelet off and throws it on the floor. In the principal’s office, the phone rings. Back in the hallway, where Penhall and Burke are behind the wire door, some of the guys push Hoffs down onto the floor. The rest of them have Hanson, and he tries to break free and help Hoffs, but they grab him and throw him into a bank of lockers. Penhall yells for them to let Hoffs go, but they hold her down and smack her. Penhall looks sick, knowing he is helpless. Allyson screams for then to stop and get off of Hoffs, but Rob pushes her roughly away. She continues to scream and asks what they are doing, and tells them "you all act like it’s okay just because you’re all doing it." Some of them start to look up at her, and Penhall says "Listen to her, she’s right." She says for them to think about themselves and not what everyone else wants, and that they’re hurting police officers. She points out that most of them are scared to death of a speeding ticket. Her words make them sit back and think, and then, like magic, the lights are turned back on. Hanson still lies on the floor, her face bruised, and Hanson crawls over to her to help her up. Rob silently hands Hanson the key so that he can let Penhall and Burke out.

Closing scene: The sun is out. Allyson is walking at the park. Marty runs up to her and apologizes about what happened and tells her that it wasn’t him, that he was at the park that night but he didn’t do anything. Allyson says doing nothing is the same as doing it. She walks away. Marty watches her go and then walks over to the spot where it happened. The guys are there and ask if she’s going to give him his alibi, and he says no. They tell him to forget about her, they’ll never get us if we stick together, right? He walks off, not saying anything, and Rob laughs and says he won’t say anything. The screen goes black and then lines of type tell us the following:

 Cyndi Glass: What a way to finish the season - it really looked out of control there for a while, like one or all of them might get killed. Good edgy non-verbal acting and a constant build-up of suspense, with Hoffs and Hanson working the case even though it's out of control. Our knowledge of Hoffs' previous rape adds to the suspense as the action builds, though it is never openly mentioned. When Penhall yells from behind the door, it isn't just a warning to Hoffs, it's also a plea to Hanson to stick with Hoffs and defend her, since he (Penhall) is trapped and helpless. To his credit, Hanson does seem to try to protect her, but he is outnumbered. I winced when they had her down on the ground near the end, and though I find it incredible that the lights coming on and the pleas of one girl could stop the whole thing, the tension is believable and intense, and that part of it is well-scripted and acted.

Still, there are a lot of things about this episode that bother me in a different way. This episode was filmed way before most of the ones surrounding it in the schedule and was obviously held back so that they could have a Depp episode to finish the season with. But that is no excuse for the lack of character continuity. Hanson seems completely unfocused and uses facial expressions that have nothing whatsoever to do with anything. Hoffs reminds me of her Season 1 and 2 self, a little more unsure and naive than the woman she is in most of Season 4. After all that Hanson and Penhall have been through together, I find it inconceivable that Penhall would suggest that the gang of boys take Hanson in the shower room and force him to undress and take a shower. At that point the boys weren’t actually the only suspects, but the possibility was there, or else the case wouldn’t have been opened at that school. Hanson’s been to prison, and I don’t think Penhall would deliberately retraumatize him with even the possibility of what might happen to a small guy being forced to take a shower by 9-10 wacked out larger guys with a mob mentality. I could see if it was a rehearsed technique, like some of their other falsely antagonistic cover-protecting arguments, and maybe it was written to be that, but it comes across totally wrong. Later, when the gang has the shop teacher and Penhall, who has been pretending to be a coach, and everything is out of control...instead of being the adult and taking charge, Hanson delivers the low blow, suggesting that they force Penhall to take a shower. It’s mean-spirited, and it’s just badly done. I realize he’s still in character, but he seems to be making the situation worse. It’s hard for me to believe that these particular writers would handle this stuff this badly, considering (ironic, isn’t it?) that they also wrote #74 "La Bizca"! Penhall supported Hanson all through his wrongful imprisonment, and Hanson put his own life at risk going to El Salvador with Penhall. Throughout the series, Hanson and Penhall have been not only partners but best friends. Some of the dialogue here is unnecessarily cruel and very strange. In comparison to the episode in Season 1 where they are held hostage in a school (#7 "Gotta Finish The Riff") I have to say that I prefer the former.

It’s a disturbing episode, and maybe that was its intent. Throughout the episode, just about everything Hoffs and Hanson do COULD have helped but ended up just making things worse. The previous episode shows what happens when a cop is in control and makes all the right decisions, and this one shows what happens when everything goes out of control and even the right decisions turn out badly.

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