Ben leaps into the role of a girls' high school basketball coach with half a minute to play in a big game. His star player was just injured and he has to try to coach when he doesn't even know anyone's name, letting the girls pretty much tell him how all the substitutes are injured except one-and he calls to her, twice just calling her by her number-23-to go into the game, despite protests from all the other players wanting the girl with the injured ankle to stay in.
Of course, # 23 scores a three-point shot at the buzzer to win the game by one point. Ben, and Addison are then stunned to hear jeers from fans, supposedly of the school's supporters, who quickly leave the gym, clearly unhappy.
For Ben to simply refer to this player, two times, by number, no name, really makes a bad impression on the players, as it should. How would you like it if your coach didn't even know your name and simply called you by number?
Right then we learn that the player in question, Gia, was the daughter of Ben's new character. This would make anyone who heard him summon her only by number to seem brutally cold, and they could have made the whole episode about that if they had chosen.
We also learn that Gia, up until about age 10 was Ben's son. Through the support of both parents, surgeries, and beyond, the child is now a girl.
Moments after the game, Ben is then bawled out by the principal in the school hallway (not sure why they were in the school hallway after the game-you don't normally leave the gym by going through the classroom part of the building-for putting Gia into the game in the first place.
It gets worse. When he gets home, even his wife is furious that he put her in the game.
I couldn't help but being nauseated that somehow these people, supposedly supporting this young person's transfer from boyhood to girlhood, thought it would be a good thing to let Gia on the girl's basketball team, but never let her onto the court. How could they possibly think this is good for anyone-to basically just pretend to be on the team?
According to what was later said, originally the team lost because they finished the game with only four players on the court. How humiliating that must have been for Gia-they'd "rather play short-handed than let me out on the court." And when the coach is Gia's own father, that really sets up an unhappy home.
My review has nothing to do with the serious issue addressed in this show. I'm simply saying that for the coach to have agreed to never put his own daughter into a game, with his wife insisting on the same thing, is incredibly mishandling their situation.
They were saying that she should have stayed on the bench because Gia is now going to face a lot of abuse for gaining a victory for the school's team. Somehow in this not-to-be-believed world of 2012, nobody was harassing Gia at all, even though everyone knew all about Gia's history. As long as she just pretended to be on the team and never got onto the court, nobody cared, but as soon as she stepped onto the court...now they're going to be hostile to Gia. Really?
It develops that Gia actually has many good friends who treat her well. But after Gia foolishly breaks someone else's windshield, by accident, she decides to run away. Let's review-loving and caring parents who supported a radical change in their child's life years ago, when most parents would not; many good friends at school who accept her and are good to her; yet despite this, she's going to run away from all of this into...?
This episode gets a rare score of one. If I didn't make it clear before, I'll say it again-my review has nothing to do with the issue of trans athletes, or trans people at all.
38 out of 81 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink