Anyway. The long-awaited Mountain Trail Overnight is finally here! I have to say, I do like that there was build-up to this over the first two episodes. The episode begins with Mrs. Reg reminding the kids to be ready to leave on time. The Saddle Club are excited, but Mrs. Atwood puts a damper on things by showing up to make Lisa wear an emergency whistle. Veronica simpers about how this is a good idea, but as soon as Mrs. Atwood is gone she begins mocking Lisa. I have to say, getting the parents on your side and only being a bitch when their backs were turned … Veronica was playing some 4D chess there.
Outside, Veronica tries to load Cobalt into a float and he proceeds to freak out and bolt. Now, I understand that maybe things have changed since I was a kid taking riding lessons, but I swear back in my day I was told that if a horse bolts, you shouldn’t give chase because it’ll just make the horse run more. So Max, in his infinite wisdom, instead of telling people to stay put or, you know, going after Cobalt himself, proceeds to HELP STEVIE VAULT ONTO COMANCHE TO CHASE AFTER HIM. He also passes Stevie a helmet before she rides off, which I find completely hilarious. Like, Max is willing to let a child chase after a bolting horse while riding bareback with no bridle, but not willing to let her do so without a helmet. Safety first, kids! Stevie and Comanche chase Cobalt down (dangerous) and Stevie manages to lean pretty far out of her seat (dangerous) to grab Cobalt’s lead rope to yank him to a halt (DANGEROUS!) It also appears during this scene that both horses are in an enclosed paddock which really begs the question of how far Cobalt actually could’ve gone. Everyone claps for Stevie while Veronica pouts and vows that Stevie won’t get away with this. Cue opening titles!
The Pine Hollow kids are heading out to the Mountain Trail Overnight. Veronica is now alone since Kristi has decided to pull a sickie because she's realised Red's not coming on camp. Everyone on the bus is singing and Veronica mentally bemoans that she’s stuck listening to the ‘moron tabernacle choir’ which is possibly the funniest line in the entire show. To be fair, I’d find being forced to listen to ’99 pieces of tack left to clean’ pretty grating, too.
At camp, The Saddle Club squabble with Veronica — she doesn’t take good care of Cobalt, she’s a spoiled brat, she keeps trying to murder them, all the usual business. Max speaks to the group about their plans for the rest of the day. He shares that the Marsten family (important for later!) have agreed to let the Pine Hollow riders ride on fifty acres of their property. We find out that some woman named Wendy (who I believe we never hear from again) is taking the younger riders out on a trail, but the older students are going to be allowed to ride out on their own. Max is going to stay back at the camp to make chilli, which is apparently more important than supervising the minors in his care.
Out on the trail, Lisa is struggling with Patch. He’s acting up on the trail, and Veronica admonishes her. Then, Lisa falls off and doesn’t understand why. Stevie and Carole explain that Patch puffs his stomach to make his girth loose, and that Lisa didn’t pull it tight enough. Stevie tells Lisa that all beginners have trouble tacking up, and Lisa’s confidence begins to nosedive. The girls stop by a river for a break when Veronica intrudes. Stevie pranks her with a rubber spider, Veronica freaks out, and it seems like it’s going to be a same old Saddle Club v. Veronica squabble when Phil arrives. He’s Phil Marsten, as in, his family owns the property, and he tells the girls that they should stick to the trail due to the ‘wild animals’ in the area, including panthers, wild dogs, and snakes. Great job, Max! Seems like a wonderful place to let children ride around, completely unsupervised! Veronica introduces herself to Phil and shoves Stevie into the river — partially because she’s got heart eyes for Phil, and partially to get revenge for Stevie’s spider prank. While Veronica cackles, Phil offers Stevie his hand to help her out of the water, but drops her hand and laughs about it. Later, while Stevie is angrily muttering about what happened, Carole remarks about how cute Phil is, but Stevie doesn’t want to hear any of it — she thinks Phil dropped her hand on purpose. While Veronica and Phil are riding back to camp together, Veronica gushes over how much they have in common — their parents are members of the same country club! It’s meant to be, they’re written in the stars! Phil asks if Stevie has a boyfriend and, call me old and out of touch, but are eleven year olds really dating? That seems kind of young. Phil finds Stevie at camp and tries to apologise to her but she, again, doesn’t want a bar of it. (Which, honestly, fair enough.)
Veronica rings Kristi and asks for advice on how to woo Phil. Kristi says that Veronica should fall off Cobalt so that Phil can ‘rescue’ her. Ah, young love! Veronica heads out, loudly telling another girl, Megan, that Phil should totally come looking for her if she’s not back in half an hour. Meanwhile, Stevie is trying to usher Phil out of the camp by saying Max doesn’t want strangers at camp and implying that he has a horrible, violent temper, but it turns out Max knows Phil (because, again, he knows the Marsten family) and invites Phil to stay for dinner. Also, I must mention that in this scene Max is wearing an apron with horses on it, which is completely adorable and endearing. You can’t say the man didn’t commit to the bit! (Get it? Like a horses’s bit? #pun)
Veronica is off riding Cobalt and busy daydreaming about Phil rescuing her. Cobalt freaks out and rears, causing her to fall. Back at camp, the Saddle Club remarks about how peaceful and quiet it is … which means Veronica’s not around. Some kid remarks that Cobalt’s missing, too. Carole wonders if Veronica’s lost or in trouble, but Stevie isn’t particularly bothered. Cut to Veronica, lying unconscious in the grass. Oh no! Looks like the Saddle Club’s going to have to come to her rescue!
Running Tallies
Times Veronica Attempted to Straight-up Murder the Saddle Club: One count of attempted drowning by pushing Stevie into the river.
No comments:
Post a Comment