Plot - Coach Reeves is volunteered by the principal to be the substitute gym teacher. Lucious Robinson, a menacing ne'er do well is a student in the class who refuses to participate. Reeves cajoles him into standing up at which point he lashes out at Reeves. Reeves catches him and sends him off, and then receives a cheap shot punch in the face from Lucious. Reeves quickly retaliates with a sharp right to the mouth and we are on our way to a compelling episode about corporal punishment.
There are different camps around the school. The team is unhappy about it and question Reeves' intentions. Reeves is mad at himself and really broken up about the incident as he opposes getting physical. The adminstration supports Reeves and moves to expel Robinson. The faculty treat Reeves as a hero. Reeves was willing to "spare the rod" until Robinson makes a very unwanted advance on Ms. Buchanan and loses all hope.
Observations - A welcome return to a quality episode after the last two turkeys. The director did excellent with some different camera angles. The lack of music augmented the tension rather than detracting from it. Solid acting all around from the cast.
At one point Reeves visited the Robinson house expecting to see a rat-infested house with an abusive drunk father. The parents were humble and admittedly had struggled with raising Lucious. In the small but well-kept house there pictures of JFK and MLK on the wall. I've seen this before on TV and movies from that era. It used to be ordinary for people to put a picture of the president or other figure on the wall. Today it would appear odd to see a picture of a national figure such Dubya, Obama, or the Grizzly Mama and would seem to cause serious tension with half of the people that see it. Such is the divisive country we live in.
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