Tamal Kundu
The Paramount+ series ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ serves as a prequel to the 1978 classic musical film ‘Grease.’ Set four to five years before the events of that movie, the narrative of the show revolves around the formation of the Pink Ladies. In episode 8, ‘Or at the High School Dance,’ the students prepare for the dance, but the parents have different plans. Asked to be the date of both Buddy (Jason Schmidt) and Richie (Johnathan Nieves), Jane (Marisa Davila) tries to choose a more diplomatic option and attend the school dance with her friends, but the other three Pink Ladies have their own dates. As the dance takes place, truths come out, old rivalries are renewed, and the Pink Ladies linger close to disbandment. Here is what you need to know about the ending of ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ episode 8. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Episode 8 Recap
As ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ races toward the season 1 finale, the main conflict of the show remains between tradition and change, with the four protagonists representing the latter. The 1950s were when rock music started to gain prominence among the youths, worrying their parents to no end. This episode captures those sentiments as Rydell High prepares to host its first rock-and-roll school dance.
Meanwhile, Buddy’s struggles with his lies continue. With no one else to talk to about this, Buddy confides to his father, who urges him to continue to hide the truth, claiming that it’s better for everybody. In reality, as always, he is most concerned about his own political ambition as he is set to run for the city’s mayoral office. With Buddy missing, the Pink Ladies and Susan and her cohorts hold the meeting about the upcoming school dance. The Pink Ladies know they will have trouble convincing the parents to let them host the rock-and-roll school dance, but Susan asks them to let her do it. She tells Jane and her friends that she speaks “parents.”
Susan does put forth a sound argument in front of the PTA and even allows the parents to oversee the event. The Principal, who reluctantly attends the meeting as Asst. Principal McGee is not there because of a death in the family, and also happens to be Susan’s father, agrees to the proposal, much to her mother’s dismay. The Pink Ladies think they have won the round and start celebrating.
Hoping not to disappoint either Buddy or Richie, Jane tells them both that she will be going to the dance with the other Pink Ladies, but all three of them end up getting dates. Olivia (Cheyenne Isabel Wells) is asked to the dance by Gil, while Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara) asks Potato. Cynthia’s (Ari Notartomaso) situation is a bit trickier. She wants to ask Lydia to the dance, but this is supposed to be the 1950s after all, and she ends up asking Shy Guy, a member of the T-Birds.
What Jane wants is to go to the dance with Richie. Kissing Buddy after the election increasingly proves to be inconvenient and foolish. She doesn’t know how to react when Dot asks Richie to the dance, further increasing her sense of loneliness. Meanwhile, Wally asks Hazel to the dance.
On the day of the dance, the Pink Ladies arrive with their partners at the school gym and find Susan’s mother standing there, refusing to let them in. She has apparently found a loophole to deny entry to the students she dislikes, and the Pink Ladies feature quite high on that list. Ultimately, the girls find a way around this. They simply change the venue of the party to the restaurant run by Nancy’s parents. Dot brings the booze — vintage whiskey from her father’s collection. And even the musician Buddy convinced to come to the dance attends the party and plays for the students.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Episode 8 Ending: Does the Pink Ladies Disband?
Initially, the party goes well until Susan’s arrival. Olivia has reasons to continue to mistrust Susan. When she sees Jane spending more and more time with the other girl, she becomes concerned. At the dance, she refuses to let Susan enter, blaming her for her mother’s actions. Soon, the situation devolves into utter pandemonium as accusations and counter-accusations are thrown back and forth. Susan brings up that she recently saw Olivia kissing Mr. Daniels, which breaks Gil’s heart, and he leaves. In response, Olivia brings up that Susan had sex with Buddy.
It comes out that Buddy hid the fact that his father and the Principal rigged the election. Fights are on the verge of breaking out, but poor Dot gets accidentally injured. The police arrive and arrest Buddy and Richie. Afterward, Olivia and Jane have a massive argument, and the former visits Mr. Daniels at the end of the episode, having learned that he broke up with his fiancée. When Jane returns home, she finds Olivia’s Pink Ladies jacket.
It seems that the Pink Ladies have effectively disbanded, but as those who have seen the movie or the stage musical will know, the clique is very much active five years later. Arguments and frustration are often natural parts of friendship. What is more important is to find a way around them.
Was Susan Pregnant? Who Was the Father?
We have known that Buddy and Susan had sex from the apology letter that Buddy wrote to Jane. In this episode, Susan’s mother heavily implies that Susan got pregnant after the encounter. The family subsequently went to a doctor, who they knew could be discrete for an abortion. Susan’s mother also makes it clear that they never told Buddy about it. In ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,’ Susan’s mother represents the hypocrisy of the traditions. On the one hand, she claims that rock-and-roll is evil. On the other hand, she forced her daughter to undergo an abortion so the family wouldn’t have to face uncomfortable questions.
Read More: Is Ari Notartomaso’s Cynthia Gay in Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies?
