"Ties That Bind"
Episode Summary
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Written by: Jana Veverka
Directed by: Patrick Williams
Aired on Nickelodeon: August 6, 2000 at 8:00 p.m.
My Overall Opinion of the Episode:
This episode has several humorous moments, especially when Caitlin first starts playing on the soccer team. It is also a very serious episode that shows Caitlin dealing with aspects of her mother's death.
The Cast:
Cynthia Belliveau -- Dori Lowe
Lindsay Felton -- Caitlin Seeger
Jeremy Foley -- Griffen Lowe
Terry Lawrence -- Coach Lawrence
Karen McKenzie -- Kirsten
Jocelyne Pipe -- Goalie
Tania Saulnier -- Taylor Langford
Ken Tremblett -- Jim Lowe
The Music:
"Wishing for a Sail" -- Dig Circus
"Free Spirit" -- Free Spirit
"The Operator" -- Pleasure
"Smile" -- superGARAGE
Episode Summary:
Caitlin is forced to play on High River High School's girls soccer team after she carelessly kicks a soccer ball and breaks a window. Coach Lawrence claims that it is part of the school board's "let the punishment fit the crime" policy. Caitlin doesn't want to play on the team. Her difficulties are made worse when she is harassed by Taylor and Kirsten, who are both on the soccer team. In the end, however, Caitlin and Taylor actually work together to make a goal. Caitlin passes the ball to Taylor, and Taylor makes the score. They both learn a lesson about the importance of teamwork. Caitlin's says in her closing epilogue: "I always thought of a team as one single unit, one thought, one mind, one goal. Unity was its strength. Now I realize that a team's strength is in its individuals and how they form as one. Sometimes it can be a team of eleven working to win a soccer match. And sometimes it can be a team of four people [like the Lowe family], working to help each other."
Episode Highlights:
1. In one of the rare moments of civility between Caitlin and Taylor, the two of them complement each other on their actions in the game. Taylor says to Caitlin, "Good pass, soccer punk." Caitlin responds, "Good goal, soccer princess." Even though the words "punk" and "princess" are sarcastic terms, they are used somewhat humorously and the tones in their voices indicate some level of respect for each other.
2. Caitlin has a re-occurring dream that involves a school bus that won't stop. After one particular dream, Caitlin tells Dori, "It's always the same. Always about a school bus. Sometimes I'm on it and I wanna' get off. And this time it left without me." Dori asks, "And where is the school bus going?" Caitlin responds, "It's going home ... without me." Caitlin then tries to explain why she thinks she is having these dreams. She tells Dori that she was playing soccer with her best friend on the day her mother died several years ago. She missed the last bus and had to walk home. When she got home, they were taking her mother away in an ambulance. And she never saw her mother again. Caitlin tells Dori that the reason that she was so scared to play on the soccer team was because it reminded her of that moment when her life would never be the same again.
3. Jim and Griffen spend some quality father-son time on a fishing trip. Griffen tries to use modern technology to catch more fish. Jim, however, thinks that this takes all of the "romance" out of fishing and tries to convince Griffen that the old ways are better. It is interesting to see the discussion that occurs between them as they debate old versus new ways.
