Tamal Kundu
Created by Annabel Oakes, ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ serves as a prequel to the 1978 popular film ‘Grease.’ Set four to five years before the events of the movie, the plot revolves around the founding of the clique known as the Pink Ladies. In episode 5, titled ‘You Can’t Just Walk Out of a Drive-In,’ with the election set to happen the following day, Jane Facciano (Marisa Davila) has a premonition that something terrible is about to happen. As their fellow students at Rydell High celebrate Halloween, the Pink Ladies seek revenge with the help of the T-Birds. Here is everything you might want to know about the ending of ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ episode 5. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Episode 5 Recap
The 1950s was an interesting decade in more ways than one. The world was multi-polar, and the Cold War began to take shape. After Soviet Russia became nuclear-armed, the type of video shown at the start of the episode became quite common. Buddy (Jason Schmidt) realizes that Jane got the momentum and the people’s mind have already been made up, but Susan, his former girlfriend and current campaign manager, disagrees, believing that they can still turn their luck around.
As she watches the drill video, Jane starts to think something terrible will happen that night. Even though her friends think she probably feels jittery this close to the election, Jane can’t shake off the feeling. The girls decide to go to the drive-in with the T-Birds. Earlier, Richie (Johnathan Nieves) told Jane that they need to talk, which only made Jane more worried as she feared that Richie wanted to break up with her. Olivia (Cheyenne Isabel Well) assured Jane that her brother wanted to make their relationship official. However, as they spend time at the drive-in, Richie tries to put his T-Bird jacket on Jane, but she refuses.
Meanwhile, it’s Halloween night, and Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara) discovers that she might have a secret admirer and tries to find out who the person is with the help of Potato, one of the T-Birds. In the end, it is revealed her parents set up the entire thing so she wouldn’t be alone on Halloween night. Their impromptu matchmaking seems to work, and something has clearly started to brew between Nancy and Potato.
Elsewhere, the drama teacher realizes that there is an absolute lack of chemistry between his two leads and instructs Lydia (Niamh Wilson) to give lessons to Cynthia (Ari Notartomaso). One thing leads to another, and they end up kissing, which ultimately does help Cynthia’s performance opposite Buddy.
After Susan and Buddy mock her campaign on a video shown on the drive-in screen, Jane and the girls decide to crash the party thrown by their rivals. However, things don’t go according to plan. Olivia slips away from the group to visit the house that Mr. Daniels has brought from himself and his new fiancée and runs into the man himself. Jane’s revenge prank is cut short when Buddy confronts her. An argument ensues, followed by a candid conversation. Richie sees them from the outside and misconstrues the situation. He and his boys subsequently light up all the firecrackers they have brought. With the drill video fresh in their minds, Buddy, Jane, and the others think for a moment that a nuclear bomb was detonated over the town. In the aftermath, as Buddy deals with the situation, he asks Wally (Maxwell Whittington-Cooper), who earlier broke up with Rosemary, to take Hazel (Shanel Bailey) home.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Episode 5 Ending: Who Wins the Election?
Admittedly, the revelation of the election result is quite a surprise as we presumed the election would serve as the primary plot point throughout the season. As Rydell High votes for the next class president, Buddy and Jane reach an understanding. It’s not perfect, but they promise to stop vicious back-and-forth attacks.
Ultimately, when all the votes are counted, it turns out that Jane has won the election. Jane is understandably ecstatic, while Asst. Principal McGee (Jackie Hoffman) is demonstrably happy, knowing the school will have its first class president since its establishment. The principal can’t care less, but it seems he knows it will make some very powerful people in the town unhappy, including Buddy’s father, who is present during the counting. And he is right.
After Jane and McGee leave to celebrate the victory, Buddy’s father appears to force the principal to count again. The implication is clear. He wants the principal to declare that Buddy won the election. The man has his ambition to run for the mayoral office. He fears his son’s defeat in a high school election will negatively impact his chances. As a result, he is prepared to do anything necessary to ensure Buddy’s victory.
Will Jane End up with Buddy or Richie?
Blissfully unaware of this, Buddy and Jane connect over what they know about the election results. They both acknowledge that they desperately wanted to win, which prompted them to do certain things that they are not particularly proud of. As the episode ends, Jane kisses Buddy.
Earlier in the episode, Jane and Richie had a falling out because the latter felt that Jane had misgivings about their relationship. While Jane vehemently denies this, it’s not far from the truth. Jane is incredibly ambitious and driven, making her the polar opposite of the spontaneous and easygoing Richie. Despite this, given what we know about the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies, between Richie and Buddy, the former is more likely the end game for Jane. Of course, the character dynamic might change as the story goes forward. But with how things stand now, Jane and Richie will probably reconcile later in the season.
Read More: Is Ari Notartomaso’s Cynthia Gay in Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies?
