"Belated Birthday"
Episode Summary
"Belated Birthday"
Written by: Edgar Lyall
Directed by: James Marshall
Aired on Nickelodeon: January 21, 2001 at 8:00 p.m.
My Overall Opinion of the Episode:
This is a very emotional and intense episode. Lindsay Felton's performance
is excellent!
The Cast:
Philip Akin -- Mr. Watson
Sean Amsing -- Jordan Clarke
Cynthia Belliveau -- Dori Lowe
Lindsay Felton -- Caitlin Seeger
Jeremy Foley -- Griffen Lowe
Alexandra Harvey -- Samantha
Al Holt -- Mr. Hogarth
Tania Saulnier -- Taylor Langford
Ken Tremblett -- Jim Lowe
Stephen Warner -- Brett Stevens
The Music:
"Wishing for a Sail" -- Dig Circus
"Prosheen" -- Gitch
"Cheat & Lie" -- superGARAGE
Episode Summary:
It's time for the annual High River Mentorship Prize. The student who
wins this prize receives the opportunity to work with a professional in his
or her chosen field. Each student is interviewed individually. Caitlin's
chosen field is photography. The committee selects Caitlin as the winner
of the prize. Dori and Jim later look over Caitlin's many excellent photographs.
They take a special interest in a particular photograph of a locket. Dori
asks Caitlin where she got the locket. Caitlin's reaction is to drop her
drinking glass in horror. The glass shatters into hundreds of pieces on the
floor as Caitlin's memory flashes back to the death of her mother. The locket
was her mother's. Caitlin suddenly realizes that it is her mother's birthday
and she totally forgot. Caitlin had always done something special on her
mother's birthday...until now. She is unable to forgive herself for forgetting
it this year. She tells herself that she doesn't deserve the mentorship
prize. She cries, "I was so happy I won that I forgot to be sad." Caitlin,
however, eventually decides to accept the prize since the reason that she
started taking pictures in the first place was so she could remember her
mom.
Episode Highlights:
1. Caitlin explains her love for photography to the selection committee.
She says, "I take photographs. Sometimes when I look around the world, I
don't get it. Feelings. People. And how sometimes their lives ... well,
they're pretty messed up. But when I look through the lens, it's my way of
making sense. I keep thinking that when other people see my photographs,
they'll have some meaning to them, too."
2. Caitlin tells Jordan that she started taking pictures because of her
mother: "She died when I was eight. And I found this old camera in her stuff
and I just started taking pictures."
3. After realizing that she forgot her mother's birthday, Caitlin tells
Dori, "I must have looked at that picture fifty times when I was putting my
portfolio together. All I ever thought about was winning. Her birthday never
crossed my mind. What kind of person does that make me?" Dori replies, "You
didn't mean to forget. It's okay." Caitlin responds, "No! It's not! You
know, I can't remember the sound of her laugh. I know it was beautiful, but
I can't hear it anymore! I feel like I'm loosing her all over again! I
mean, back home everything used to remind me of her. But here there's nothing
except my locket, and that didn't even ..." Caitlin says that she just can't
accept the mentorship prize. Dori tells Caitlin that her mom wouldn't want
her to give up the prize.
Episode Image:
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