OPENING SEQUENCE
NARRATOR: On the afternoon of March 21, 1973, at exactly 2.15 p.m., a rare astronomical event occurred: a total eclipse of the sun. As the sun, the moon and the earth began to move in line...
[Picture flashes to white, with sound effect.]
NARRATOR: ... so did we.
MR. PLENITZER [handing out leaflets]: Miss Corregliano(?), Mr. Godleave, Mr. Cashion, Miss Lackeroo, Miss Burke ...
MISS LACKEROO [to the student behind]: So I called him yesterday ...
MR. PLENITZER: Still lively, Miss Lackaroo? We need to be at the Nearman planetarium by noon. Mr. Gabler, Mr. ...
NARRATOR: A field trip.
[A football jock make “rabbit ears” behind MR. PLENITZER’s head.]
NARRATOR: It was a chance to bring education to the unwashed masses of the junior class.
MR. PLENITZER: Mr. Abramson ...
HARLAN ABRAMSON [eating, mumbling]: Present.
[HARLAN gestures with a Twinkie as he gets on bus.]
NARRATOR: Like Harlan Abramson, McKinley's living monument to polyunsaturated fats.
MR. PLENITZER [looking at a girl who smokes and looks lethargic]: Miss Genaro ...
NARRATOR: Or Mary Jo Genaro, senior year. She became the first girl with McKinley to take her parole officer to the prom.
[MR. PLENITZER takes the unlit cigarette out of MARY JO’s mouth.]
MR. PLENITZER: No smoking, Miss Genaro ...
MARY JO: What was I thinking!
MR. PLENITZER: Mr. Louis... [Louis has a lighter burning.]
NARRATOR: Louis Lanahan. When mankind discovered fire, they had not quite counted on Louis.
[LOUIS is playing with a lighter.]
MR. PLENITZER: Mr. Donlan, Miss Lowell. Alright, people, let's get moving.
[Louis lights the cigarette that MR. PLENITZER has still in his hands.]
MR. PLENITZER: We have a full day ahead of us.
[MR. PLENITZER turns around as Louis ducks under him onto the bus.]
[MR. PLENITZER scares himself with the now lit cigarette. He drops it and stomps it out.]
NARRATOR: And so did the cloud of smoke
and the mighty Hi-ho, Silver! ...
(Remark by Kyle Gittins: "Mighty Hi-ho Silver" is a famous Lone Ranger
quote)
NARRATOR: ...We were on the way to the Nearman planetarium. Thirty-four students and one teacher on the road to higher education.
NARRATOR: Such as it was.
MR. PLENITZER: Okay, listen everybody. I must have your complete attention. Please! Gentlemen! Students! People!
[He gets no reaction from the students.]
[The bus driver slams on the brakes. He stands up and faces the students.]
BUS DRIVER: Hey, get shut up there. Turn the damn radio off.
[The students comply.]
BUS DRIVER [to MR. PLENITZER]: Animals.
[The bus driver sits down.]
MR. PLENITZER: Thank you.
[Shot of bus going along the road.]
NARRATOR: All in all it was the lead opportunity to exchange ideals outside the confines of the classroom.
[KEVIN sits at the window next to WINNIE. ALICE PEDERMIER and CHUCK COLEMAN are turned around in the seat in front of them.]
KEVIN: Truth or dare?
WINNIE: Truth.
NARRATOR: To expand the boundaries of higher education ...
KEVIN: Who is the best kisser you've ever kissed?
WINNIE: The best? That would be [Pause] you. [She smiles.]
NARRATOR: To go where no man had gone before.
CHUCK: Are you going to play for real or not?
KEVIN: We are! Well, I asked her an honest question and she gave me an honest answer. [He smiles.]
CHUCK: Right!
ALICE: I mean, no one is taking this seriously.
CHUCK: Yeah. You could really learn a lot from this game.
ALICE: Maybe that's they are afraid of. Right, Pooh Bear?
[CHUCK put his arm around ALICE.]
CHUCK: Uh-huh..
WINNIE [to KEVIN]: Okay, truth or dare?
KEVIN: Truth.
ALICE: Make it a hard one.
WINNIE: Okay. If you had to change one thing about me, what would it be?
NARRATOR: Now, of course, moments like this had to be handled carefully.
KEVIN: I wouldn't change a thing.
WINNIE: Oh, come on, Kevin. There's gotta be something you want to change. You can tell me.
KEVIN: No. Nothing.
CHUCK [angrily]: Forget it. This is joke.
WINNIE: Come on, Kevin. You can tell me.
KEVIN: Well, I am! You're perfect. In fact, if I am absolutely forced to pick one thing, that would be it.
WINNIE [curiously]: What would?
KEVIN: Well, I'd have to say, if anything, sometimes you are too perfect.
[Doppler sound effect of honking car passing bus, as WINNIE’s expression sours.]
NARRATOR: Heh-heh!
WINNIE [hurt]: Too perfect?
[Shot of KEVIN.]
NARRATOR: Uh-oh!
[Shot of group of girls in conversation. SHEILA sits behind CINDY (window seat) and MARY JO.]
SHEILA: This field trip chews.
CINDY: I told you we should have cut today.
SHEILA: Oh, yuck! Look at that!
[Shot of HARLAN opening a “Ding-Dong”]
SHEILA: That Harlan kid is disgusting! What is he doing that for?
CINDY: Maybe, he is dieting.
[Both girls giggle.]
[Shot of HARLAN smelling the Ding-Dong.]
CINDY: So gross.
SHEILA: Can you imagine kissing him?
CINDY: No, not without barfing!
SHEILA: I wouldn't do it for a million dollars.
CINDY: I wouldn't do it for anything.
[MARY JO is scratching something on the seatback.]
MARY JO [suddenly]: I'd do it for thirty.
[Camera zooms in closer on MARY JO. Twangy guitar music starts.]
NARRATOR: There you had it.
[Shot of HARLAN.]
NARRATOR: When the ordinary mortals saw nothing but a fat kid with a cupcake...
[Shot of MARY JO.]
NARRATOR: Mary Jo Genaro saw the challenge of a lifetime.
SHEILA: Twenty-five?
CINDY: Yeah, and you gonna need a hickey for proof.
SHEILA: Yeah. A big hickey.
MARY JO [sad]: You got it. [Twangy guitar.]
[The camera goes back to Alice, Chuck, Winnie and Kevin.]
CHUCK: Come on, Pooky, we'll show them how it's done.
ALICE: Chucky, what's the one thing you would change about me? Honestly!
CHUCK: I guess you would have to be, uh... your voice.
ALICE [angrily, screaming, high pitch]: What do you mean? What's wrong with my voice?
CHUCK: Not your voice. Ah, your hair.
ALICE [angrily]: You don't like my hair?
CHUCK: No, I like it.
ALICE [angrily]: Oh, you ought to talk, Brillohead!
KEVIN: Come on, guys.
CHUCK: Pooky, this is just a game!
ALICE [yelling]: Fine. My turn. Truth or dare? I choose truth. Who is the weasiest, most disgusting, grossest thing that I have ever done in my whole entire life?
CHUCK [to KEVIN]: Maybe we should not play this anymore.
ALICE [yelling]: I've learned how you really feel about me.
[ALICE gets up.]
ALICE: Get out of my way!
CHUCK: Pooky?
[ALICE approaches LOUIS’ seat. He is reading a magazine about World War II.)
[ALICE stops. LOUIS looks up.]
ALICE: Move over, move!
[She takes the aisle seat. LOUIS returns to his magazine.]
ALICE: I’m so mad I could explode!
KEVIN [to Winnie]: Can you believe that? Getting upset about that stupid game?
WINNIE [coolly]: No, I can't imagine it.
NARRATOR: Okay.
KEVIN: Oh, come on, Winnie. You cannot be that mad... All I said was ...
WINNIE [angrily]: I heard what you said. In fact, I have heard you ... PERFECTLY!
NARRATOR: Alright, clearly it was time to put this fire out.
KEVIN: Winnie, I meant that as a good thing. I mean you are really a nice person. Well, I mean that as a good thing, too. You are like ... Mary Tyler Moore on TV. You know... perky.
[WINNIE nods, the situation seems to calm down.]
KEVIN: Winnie, you gotta admit you've always been kind of well-behaved. I mean, there are certain things you would never do.
WINNIE [steamed]: Like what?
NARRATOR: Hmm, skipping the obvious.
KEVIN: Well, like that for instance.
[KEVIN indicates a boy throwing spitwads at MR. PLENITZER and hitting him at his glasses. Sound effect of hitting and bouncing off.]
[WINNIE opens her purse and gets a piece of paper.]
KEVIN: That's not a bad thing, well, you ...
[WINNIE tears off a piece of paper and chews on it. KEVIN looks surprised.]
KEVIN: It's just, I mean, you don't have to do that. Winnie!
[WINNIE throws the spitwad and hits MR. PLENITZER hard at his cheek.]
MR. PLENITZER: Ah!
[MR. PLENITZER stands up.]
MR. PLENITZER: Okay, that does it.
WINNIE [to KEVIN]: You were saying?
MR. PLENITZER: Excuse me.
[MR. PLENITZER walks sternly up to WINNIE.]
MR. PLENITZER: Miss Cooper!
[MR. PLENITZER bends forward, and speaks in a softer voice.]
MR. PLENITZER: Miss Cooper, did you see who threw that spitwad?
WINNIE: Yes.
KEVIN: Winnie!
WINNIE: I did it.
[MR. PLENITZER laughs under his breath.]
MR. PLENITZER: I admire your reluctance to turn in your fellow students.
[WINNIE looks disappointed for not been taken serious.]
MR. PLENITZER: However...
[He stands up, turnsto the whole group and raises his voice]
MR. PLENITZER: I will not tolerate no more rowdy behavior on this bus!
[He goes back to his seat. Two boys are making farting sounds.]
[KEVIN looks at WINNIE.]
NARRATOR: And with that quantum leap forward in human dynamics...
[Shot of bus pulling into reststop.]
NARRATOR: ...we moved on to more pressing matters.
MR. PLENITZER [V/O]: Okay, people, we are making an emergency rest stop for Mr.Abramson who suffers from a nervous colon.
[Shot of students giggling.]
[Shot of MR. PLENITZER standing in front of HARLAN.]
MR. PLENITZER: But I must ask the rest of you to please remain in your seats until we reach the planetarium on schedule.
[Shot of KEVIN and WINNIE.]
NARRATOR: It was a thoroughly reasonable request. So, of course...
[Shot of bus door opening. Students unload.]
NARRATOR: ... we ignored it.
CHUCK [yelling]: Alice, you have a beautiful voice! Like a nightingale.
ALICE [high pitch]: Shut up, ratface!
[ALICE folds her arms and keeps walking.]
CHUCK [angrily shaking his head, to himself]: I should have chosen dare.
[He trots of after ALICE.]
[Shot of WINNIE catching up to KEVIN.]
[WINNIE wears a red skirt, a blue sweater and holds her light brown purse with both hands. She imitates Mary Tyler Moore.]
WINNIE [mocking]: Excuse me, Mr. Grant, I must see how Rhode is doing. [Transcriber's remark: Lou Grant was character in Mary Tyler Moore.]
[KEVIN shakes his head in disbelief as WINNIE walks away, as Mary Tyler Moore.]
KEVIN: Great.
NARRATOR: It seems that there was something to be said for keeping higher education confined to the classroom...
[KEVIN enters the restroom. The door hits Louis, who drops a bunch of explosives.]
NARRATOR: ... because a little knowledge could be a dangerous thing.
KEVIN [to LOUIS, both are alone]: You dropped something.
[LOUIS picks up his stuff.]
NARRATOR: Enough cherry bombs and ash cans to take out an armory.
LOUIS [speaking with a lower-class accent]: This is something, aren't they? A guy in North Carolina keeps me supplied. See that baby?
[LOUIS hands KEVIN a cherry bomb.]
KEVIN [holding it]: Yeah, it's a ... great.
LOUIS: That's what they make. Beauty, ain't it?
NARRATOR: Great! I was stuck in the men's room with the mad bomber himself.
[KEVIN hands cherry bomb back to LOUIS.]
LOUIS: I got plans for this baby! Look, Arnold, you seem to be a trust-worthy kind of guy. Do you know what's gonna happen at exactly 2:15 today?
KEVIN: Yeah, there's going to be an eclipse.
LOUIS: Nanana, that's not all there gonna be. They got a toilet at the planetarium. The cherry bomb goes in and then ... tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, boom!
NARRATOR: Maybe he was in some sort of Gestalt therapy...
[The front door opens and CHUCK rushes in. LOUIS hids his bombs under his jacket. CHUCK is very nervous and upset.]
CHUCK: There is no use. She does not want to come out of the ladies' room.
LOUIS [calm, to Kevin]: Remember, Arnold, 2:15 sharp. Cover your ears.
[LOUIS leaves.]
CHUCK: Wait, I thought we are supposed to look at the eclipse ...
KEVIN: Forget it, Chuck.
[KEVIN washes his hands.]
CHUCK: What am I supposed to do? I should have played safe like you.
NARRATOR: Yeah, right.
[Suddenly one of the toilet doors opens and HARLAN comes out. He squeezes between KEVIN and CHUCK.]
HARLAN: Excuse me.
[Shot of HARLAN leaving restroom with toilet paper on his shoe. MARY JO waiting for him outside the door]
MARY JO: Harlan, right? Wanna Yodel?
[She offers him a cupcake.]
NARRATOR: Yodel-ay-ee-hoo.
[Shot of KEVIN at sink, the while door closes.]
CHUCK: I was just so confused. I mean there were so many things to chose from.
KEVIN [angrily]: Look, Chuck, I've got my own problems. Okay?
[He leaves CHUCK in the men's room.]
NARRATOR: The way I saw it in the doggy dog world of scientific exploration: There was every man for himself.
[Shot of CHUCK combing his hair with his hands in front of the mirror, looking at his curly hair while the bus honks.]
CHUCK: I don't think it looks like Brillo ...
[CHUCK tries to open the front door but it is jammed.]
HARLAN: I think that was really nice of you.
MARY JO: I'm a very giving person.
[HARLAN takes a window seat in the middle of the bus.]
MARY JO: Mind if I share your seat?
[They sit.]
[A boy approaches MARY JO.]
BOY: Excuse me, but...
MARY JO: Go blow, Poindexter!
BOY: OK.
[He walks away.]
[MARY JO offers some candy to HARLAN.]
MARY JO: How about some Good-N-Plenty?
CHUCK: Somebody let me out! I’m going to miss the bus!
ALICE [still yelling]: He better not try to sit here either. I don't want to have him anywhere near me.
NARRATOR: As things turned out, that would not be really a problem.
[Shot of bus pulling away.]
CHUCK (V/O): Let me out here! One, two, three ... Four! Hurry up!
NARRATOR: And so in the spirit of intellectual discovery and personal enrichment, we finally reached our destination, the Nearman planetarium.
[Students unload behind MR. PLENITZER.]
MR. PLENITZER: And remember, we all meet on the lawn properly at two o'clock. If any of you need to use the restrooms, make sure you go before that.
[Shot of Louis stooping and covering the explosives with his long coat.]
LOUIS [low voice, to himself]: Check. Tick, tick, tick, boom ...
[Harlan and Mary Jo leave through the middle door of the bus.]
HARLAN: Think about this place, alright. We're going to see something new here.
MARY JO: You know it, pal.
NARRATOR: The stage was set.
MR. PLENITZER: People, let's stick together.
NARRATOR: The opponents were in their corners... [Winnie walks a half step behind Kevin.] The lines were drawn.
KEVIN: So, we wanna see ... [Winnie gives him a look and rushes away.]
ALICE [comes quickly from behind]: Have you seen Chuck anywhere?
KEVIN [angrily]: No!
ALICE: If you meet him, tell him I don't wanna see him.
KEVIN: Sure. Fine. I gotta go.
[KEVIN rushes off. ALICE watches him.]
ALICE: Men!
NARRATOR: All in all, it promised to be one heck of an eclipse.
[CHUCK is climbing through the window of the men's room and runs to the road.]
NARRATOR: From now on, he was navigating by the seat of his feet.
CHUCK: Where is everybody?
MR. PLENITZER [V/O]: So, you see the movement of the earth causes the pendulum to knock down another peg exactly every five minutes.
NARRATOR: So, with eager faces we entered the stimulating world of ... astronomy.
[Shot of some students chewing gum, others moving their heads and watching the pendulum with not much of an interest.]
MR. PLENITZER: Now, at precisely two o'clock we will meet on the front lawn and I will hand each of you a special viewing card.
[Close up shot of pendulum knocking over a peg.]
NARRATOR: With the eclipse of the century only an hour away things were really popping.
[Transcriber's note: The following scene in red was not shown in several reruns.]
[Camera pulls back.]
[HARLAN and MARY JO are alone at a display window, facing away from camera.]
MARY JO: What is this, anyway?
HARLAN: It's an electrical step-transformer.
MARY JO: Pretty creepy looking.
HARLAN: Huh? Oh, no! It actually proves electricity is all around us.
[MARY JO takes a long, bored look at HARLAN.]
MARY JO: You don't say.
[MARY JO turns to look at her girlfriends, who are watching them. and makes a gagging gesture.]
[Girlfriends giggle.]
HARLAN: Electricity is at the heart of every chemical reaction.
MARY JO: How about we hang out together?
HARLAN: Really?
MARY JO: After all, ya'll are kinda cute.
[MARY JO takes HARLAN's hand.]
[Shot of both hands reaching out and touching the display button.]
[Shot of both of them as lightning bolts shoot in the display booth.]
[WINNIE walks up,wearing a dark-blue baseball cap, and stands in front of KEVIN. She adjusts the hat.]
WINNIE [friendly]: So, what do you think?
KEVIN: Well, you know ...
WINNIE: I know. It's not me --whoever that is.
KEVIN: Look, I love the hat. Here, I can buy it for you.
WINNIE: Kevin, don't bother. I think I just ... wear it.
[WINNIE leaves the boutique with the hat on. KEVIN looks at the saleslady.]
NARRATOR: Just one little problem here.
KEVIN: Oh God.
SALESLADY: May I help you with something?
KEVIN: No, we were ...
NARRATOR: Let's see.
KEVIN: I ... I was ... just, uh ...
NARRATOR: Let's call it ...
KEVIN: Never mind. [He rushes out after WINNIE.]
NARRATOR: ... shoplifting.
KEVIN: Winnie, are you crazy?
WINNIE: I don't know. Maybe.
KEVIN: Ya, well, don't do it again! Next time you might get caught.
WINNIE: I won't worry about it, Kevin. Besides it is your turn!
KEVIN: My turn?
WINNIE: Ya, you don't know, I think about it. You're pretty well-behaved yourself.
KEVIN: Oh, get out of here!
WINNIE [clearly mocking]: You are nice. You are sweet. And to tell you the truth: Well, I have always admired you. Beaver Cleaver.
[WINNIE giggles.]
NARRATOR: Ouch.
KEVIN: Get out of here! I do not.
[They stop walking.]
WINNIE: Kevin, you know, you talk a good game. But I don't see you doing anything.
KEVIN: Fun. Should we go shoplifting something??
WINNIE: I've already got a hat. But I'm sure you could think of something - Theodore.
[WINNIE turns to walk away.]
WINNIE: Bye! [Twangy guitar.]
CHUCK: Hey, hey, give me a ride.
[The truck stops. CHUCK trots up and gets in.]
CHUCK: Man, thanks for the ride. You won't believe this but you probably saved my ... [End music.]
[CHUCK pauses as camera pans to driver. He looks like Charles Manson.]
DRIVER: Don't mention.
[Shot of truck driving off.]
NARRATOR: Let's face it. This eclipse was beginning to affect everybody.
MARY JO: 290 pounds? Now I'm the big load.
[MARY JO looks at HARLAN.]
MARY JO: Oh, I'm sorry.
HARLAN: It's okay, Mary Jo. That's an unusual name, isn't it?
MARY JO: Like you should talk, Harlan.
HARLAN [hit]: Oh, no, I meant it's pretty --like you.
MARY JO: Oh, it's short.
HARLAN: Hmm?
MARY JO [embarrassed]: Mary Josephine.
[She looks at the display and smiles.]
MARY JO: Oh, I bet I weigh a ton on Mars.
MR. PLENITZER: Attention, everybody. It is time to assemble. I want you to follow me to the front lawn.OK, right this way. [He leads the students out; they follow him.]
NARRATOR: No doubt about it. As the moon's orbit drew closer to the sun, there was more going on here than simple physics..
[MARY JO takes HARLAN's hand and leads him out.]
MARY JO: Come on, let's get out of here.
HARLAN: Oh, yeah. I don't want to miss this eclipse.
MARY JO: Trust me. You won't miss it at all.
[Shot of TV display. A Saturn rocket blasts off the launch pad.]
NARRATOR: Meanwhile I was on a mission of my own.
LOUIS: Forget it, Arnold. I work solo. It's a lot cleaner that way.
KEVIN: Let me do something. I mean you can really help me out with my girlfriend. See, she has this crazy idea.
LOUIS: Okay, okay. Maybe you can be like a lookout.
[LOUIS looks at his watch.]
KEVIN: Great.
LOUIS: When I get to flush.
KEVIN: You got it.
LOUIS: Okay, let's rock n' roll.
[Sound of clucking chickens.]
CHUCK [nervously]: I tell you, we are probably getting pretty close to the planetarium. [Pause] Thanks for picking me up. [CHUCK giggles. Pause] You know what I'm thinking about. You know that Alfred Hitchcock episode, this guy is picking up all these hitchhikers. He's got this big butcher knife and he k... [Dramatic music starts.]
CHUCK: Never mind. You probably didn't see the episode, did you?
DRIVER: Twenty-seven times. [DRIVER smiles.]
[CHUCK blinks, jumps out of the running car and rolls down a slope.]
[Sound of a buzzard.]
MR. PLENITZER: Remember, don't look directly at the sun! Look at your cards.
NARRATOR: And so with the great event just moments away. Meanwhile I was on a mission of my own.
MR. PLENITZER: We are also lucky to be here. This is the best viewing spot in the entire state!
LOUIS (V/O): Here we are, Arnold.
NARRATOR: Final preparations were being made.
[Shot of KEVIN and LOUIS.]
LOUIS: Ground zero. Isn't that beautiful? [Gestures.]
NARRATOR: One little thing: This wasn't just shoplifting!
KEVIN: Look, Louis, may be that isn't such a good idea.
NARRATOR: This was ten to twenty in the State Pen.
LOUIS: What's the matter, Arnold? Are you chicken?
KEVIN: No, just the whole place can blow up or something ...
[LOUIS playing with a fuse and a lighter]
LOUIS: Yeah, it's a risk.
NARRATOR: That was one way to put it.
KEVIN: Lou, let's forget about it.
[LOUIS imitates chicken noises and lights the fuse.]
[The door bursts open and a security officer enters.]
LOUIS: Uh-oh!
NARRATOR: Was I looking to bail on this whole thing?
[LOUIS throws the bomb to KEVIN who throws it back. LOUIS then throws it into the toilet.]
KEVIN: No, don't!!
[LOUIS flushes the bomb down the toilet.]
NARRATOR: I was a tad too late.
[LOUIS rams the security guard and runs out.]
SECURITY GUARD [runs after LOUIS]: Hey, come back here!
NARRATOR: And realistically speaking, there was only one thing left to do.
[Shot of smoking toilet.]
KEVIN: Oh my God!
[KEVIN runs out to the hallway.]
MR. PLENITZER: Okay, here it comes. We're going to achieve totality in 20, 19, 18, 17 ...
[HARLAN comes out of the bushes somewhat dazed, followed by MARY JO looking equally dazed.]
CINDY [to SHEILA]: Oh my God, look at that hickey.
[KEVIN runs down the hallway to the exit.]
MR. PLENITZER: ... 10, 9 ...
[CHUCK comes out of the bushes.]
CHUCK: Alice! Pooky!
[ALICE turns around.]
CHUCK: I made it!
[KEVIN comes out of the planetarium.]
MR. PLENITZER: ... 4, 3, 2, 1 ...
[A big blast is heard, and the camera jiggles. The total eclipse suddenly darkens the scene. Kids scream and scatter.)
[Shot of LOUIS in the middle of a panicking crowd.]
LOUIS: Top of the world, Ma.
MR. PLENITZER [left alone on the lawn, reading from a book, yelling, totally absent minded]: There it is. Isn't science beautiful?
[Sounds of crickets.]
[MR. PLENITZER looks around and sees no one.]
MR. PLENITZER: Hello?
NARRATOR: I guess you can say that the laws of nature aren't always predictable.
[Shot of MR. PLENITZER standing inside bus, shaking his head and talking to students.]
MR. PLENITZER: Well, not only did you all miss one of the great natural events of the century. But the planetarium, I am shamed to tell you, has now decided to ban any future field trips from McKinley High School.
[KEVIN and WINNIE are sitting together and looking at each other. She is wearing the blue cap.]
NARRATOR: Still, when it came to matters of cause and effect ...
MR. PLENITZER: I hope that you're all very proud of yourselves.
NARRATOR: ... I think we have managed to learn a thing or two. [MR. PLENITZER takes his front seat.] Perhaps that day, despite all the chaos, there really were cosmic forces at work ...
[HARLAN smiles at MARY JO. SHEILA sits behind her and CINDY aside her on the window seat.]
SHEILA: I can't believe you gave him a hickey.
CINDY: That must have been the longest thirty seconds of your life.
[SHEILA and CINDY giggle.]
MARY JO: Shut your face, Cin.
[MARY JO looks at HARLAN.]
[HARLAN rubs his neck.]
NARRATOR: Forces so powerful, so profound, they defied all our attempts of rational explanation.
[Shot of the girls. MARY JO is smiling at HARLAN.]
CHUCK [to ALICE]: And then, finally, I jumped out of the truck and I ran all the way to the planetarium so that I could see y ...
ALICE: Chuck! Instead of making up all these idiotic stories, just be a man for once and say that you are sorry.
CHUCK: But I ... I mean I did.
[ALICE shakes her head.]
CHUCK: I am sorry, Pooky.
ALICE: I forgive you, Pooh Bear.
[They smile and hug.]
NARRATOR: I mean, hey, it has taken only 5000 years to understand the moon ...
KEVIN: Winnie?
NARRATOR: So, may be, we were making progress ...
KEVIN: About today ...
WINNIE: Kevin, I paid for the hat.
KEVIN: I knew that.
[They smile at each other. Kevin puts his left arm around her shoulders.]
[Music plays The Grateful Dead: "Truckin'"]
[Shot of the bus going down the road.]
NARRATOR: Then when it came down to it, may be, we learned enough for one day.
Please mail to reynders@merck.de Peter if you find any errors, or if you have any comments or suggestions. Thanks to Kyle Gittins for the additions and corrections.