Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a homebody. You won’t find her on the dance floor. Her demeanor is literally in the title of the show: She’s a good girl. But to solve the Andie Bell mystery, Pippa needs to attend a “calamity party†with her friends. Sounds … calamitous? Cue the thrumming techno beat of “Sail,†by AWOLNATION — a terrible yet fitting needle drop — and incessant strobe lighting, both of which signal that things are about to get really messy in this investigation.
What is a calamity party, you ask? Unlike EPQs and Jammie Dodgers, calamity is not a word that exists with this usage in British lingo. A calamity is a Little Kilton specialty — basically a rave. As described by Max Hastings, a calamity “is hot and sweaty and noisy and fucked up in all the best ways.†You can call them “calamity parties,†or if you’re cool about it, they are simply calamities. They are mind-boggling mythic happenings and, boy, are they exclusive.
Here, we get a tiny mystery inside the preexisting mystery. If Pippa’s artsy friend group wants to make an appearance at the next calamity, they’re going to have to figure out where and when it’s happening. This is actually the first act of kindness Pip has done for her friends, who like to drink and party but haven’t dipped their toes in the calamity pool quite yet. Cara and Lauren are eager to see what all the hype is about — especially since their respective crushes, Ruby and Ant, will likely be at the party.
After researching in the library, finding some cringey hashtags (who the hell would use #calamityparty), and getting a little help from Mr. Ward — who, by the way, is an English teacher at the school — the girls crack the case. Saturday night. A mysterious spot in the woods. A date with destiny.
Pippa, Cara, and Lauren get ready together at Pip’s house. Pippa’s outfit — a sweater and her Converse — is quickly vetoed, leading us to a seminal high-school makeover. Gosh, doesn’t Pip look so good with a pound of glitter on her eyelids? Hopefully, a cute boy will be waiting for her at the party. The new and improved Pip deserves a little male gaze as a treat.
You already know whose name I’m about to say: RAVI. But, sigh, Ravi has already declined Pippa’s invite to the calamity. If you’re going to put feminism a few steps backward by forcing a girl to wear foundation and curl her hair to fit in, you’d better at least show me the main guy’s face when he finally sees the girl sans overalls for once. What a damn waste.
Pippa practices her drink order while walking to the party with Lauren and Cara: “One piña colada, please!†She’s shocked to discover that the calamity isn’t being held in a piña colada–carrying establishment, however. Pip approaches what appears to be an abandoned cave, redone as a mazelike club. Is this thoroughly unrealistic? Uh, yeah. Euphoria is a bit of a fantasy at times; now teenagers are partying in literal caves.
But is it also a damn feast for the eyes? Absolutely, yes. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened to Pip in the show so far. Sigh … if only Ravi were here too.
Pip joins in on a game that seems like a crossover of Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven, hoping she’ll gain intel on Andie’s drug-dealer friend from the handful of folks snorting white powder in the circle. One of the sniffing dudes spins the bottle and it lands on Pippa. Petrified, she agrees to follow him into an empty room ripped straight out of the Upside Down. She asks to buy drugs instead of kiss. He takes her to Howie (Thomas Gray), the resident dealer.
Howie is an easy interview, probably because Pippa bribes him with cash. She pays 20 quid a question, which jeopardizes her journalistic integrity but that’s okay because she gets answers. Andie stashed a burner phone and drugs like weed, ketamine, and Rohypnol (a.k.a. roofies — am I old, or is that an insane thing for kids to be buying) inside a toy rabbit in her room. Poor Pip is scared senseless after this chat and is even more rattled when that guy from the circle tries to come on to her. She races home immediately.
Up until this point, this episode was one of the most exciting to date. There was so much potential that just falls flat the minute Pip flees the party. The calamity was just getting interesting — I was genuinely expecting this party to take up the entire episode, and it’s disappointing that it was just shy of a ten-minute affair. There was more lead-up to the calamity than there was the actual calamity, which is disappointing to say the least.
At the end of the night, Ravi and Pippa share a phone call from When Harry Met Sally …, which sets the episode back on the right track. Ravi calms Pip down by explaining what’s happening in his video game and apologizes for missing the calamity. “We’re a team,†he says. Pip promises she’ll give him the full debrief from the party tomorrow. A debrief session is a very important step in a relationship. It’s getting serious.
But, ugh, freaking Becca Bell (Carla Woodcock) — Andie’s younger sister — has to stick her nose into Pippa’s business. (I say this as if Pip weren’t already sticking her nose into Becca’s business.) Becca confronts Pip in town and begs her to stop working on the case. This isn’t something Pippa takes lightly. Instead of getting drinks at the bar Ravi works at, Pip ditches him and calls Cara instead, a safer lifeline.
Ravi has been stood up. Hearts around the world shatter as he twiddles his thumbs at the bar waiting for the best part of his day, the calamity debrief. Ravi even made a personalized, nonalcoholic cocktail just for Pip. Girls, if he doesn’t invent your very own version of a Pip-mopolitan, dump him!
To add insult to injury, when Pippa gets home, her mom confronts her about hanging out with Ravi. It’s going too far — Pip needs to drop the EPQ topic. For a minute, it seems Pip may oblige. She’s had a long, exhausting weekend. But any dead end is a new page for Pippa, and that toy rabbit harboring a burner phone has been bugging her. Plus, Leanne only told her to pick a new EPQ … not to abandon ship completely.
So basically, we went through Pip standing up Ravi and getting this lecture from her mom all for nothing. Pip was always going to return to the case. Introducing angry Becca Bell makes sense, but this fake-out is kind of infuriating — I’d rather have spent an extra ten minutes at the calamity than watch Pip go back and forth over her EPQ. Everything new and juicy and exciting in this episode came from the calamity, so it’s a real bummer we didn’t get more time there.
But we’ve got to get back to business. Pip invites Ravi to sneak into the Bell household, find the toy bunny, and steal the burner phone. For the most part, this plan goes off without a hitch. They find the bunny, but it’s full of drugs and the phone is nowhere to be found. Still, the drugs confirm that Howie was telling the truth. Becca returns early, nearly catching Ravi and Pip red-handed, but hiding in the closet — enclosed spaces, squeal, they hold hands, squeal — saves them.
There have been some growing pains, but as we reach the midpoint of the season, Pippa can finally embrace the bad-girl lifestyle. She and Ravi flee the scene giggling, enthusiastic about having just broken the law together. Not only that: Pippa ditched school to do this with him. Our little Sherlock and Watson have become Bonnie and Clyde.
Ring a Bell?
• Cara suspects Pip’s desire to go to the party stems from her obsession with Sal and Andie. “Can’t I just be trying to YOLO,†Pip says. BRB, working “trying to YOLO†into my everyday lexicon.
• Speaking of Cara: She and Ruby dance and kiss at the calamity. It doesn’t go much further than that because Cara starts to worry about missing Pip. But finally! Pip’s actions have resulted in a net good for her bestie.
• When Becca returns to the Bell household and nearly busts Ravi and Pip, she’s not alone. Dan da Silva is with her. This man is everywhere.
• Ravi and Pip argue about which one of them is Sherlock and which is Watson. One would think Pip, the show’s lead, is obviously Sherlock. But Ravi makes an argument that convinces me: Pip is obviously Martin Freeman. Sold. She’s Watson.