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HENRY: What?! I'll be right there! PUNKY: Henry? What's the matter? HENRY: That fire truck was for me, my studio's on fire! HENRY: Everything is ruined. Everything. PUNKY: [voiceover] With the studio gone, we ran out of money. Henry worried so much, he got a bleeding ulcer. Just when things were looking bad, they got worse. CHILLINGS: Madam, I am Simon Chillings from the Department of Children and Family Services. CHILLINGS: Sir, I am deeply sorry about your misfortune but in cases like this the guidelines are quite clear. You cannot demonstrate that the child will receive adequate support. Not only that, but your own health is in question. I'm afraid I have no choice in the matter. I am herewith removing Punky Brewster from your custody. PUNKY: Where will I live? HENRY: Fenster Hall. PUNKY: NO! PUNKY: [voiceover] At Fenster Hall, I met my new roommates. Liz and her little sister Anna, Milly, and Wheezy (Wheezy's a TV addict). MILLY: Her mother was the same way. She named her Wheezy after George's wife on The Jeffersons. WHEEZY: I even have a brother named Matlum. CHILLINGS: I'm considering placing Punky with other foster parents. MIKE: Well un-consider it! That little girl and that old man love each other! HENRY: I'm getting out of here! BETTY: You can't do that! HENRY: Watch me! The sooner I get my life together, the sooner I get Punky back. PUNKY: Henry? Mike's here with me. He just talked to Mr. Chillings, and he said as soon as you get out of the hospital and re-open your studio, I get to come home with you. HENRY: [incresingly strained] I'm taking out a loan and opening a new studio, so don't worry, you and I will be... [Henry collapes, obviously in pain.] PUNKY: Henry! HENRY! And now Part 3 of "Changes"... |
 Season 2 Original Air Date: February 16, 1986 Review completed February 26, 2007 "Changes, Part 3" Back at Fenster, Punky has been adjusting well, but Henry is in intestive care following his surgery. Cherie, Allan, and Margaux pop in for a surprise visit, and the two groups aren't getting along too well. Meanwhile, Chillings is not convinced by the reports from Punky and Henry's initial assessment and is still set on placing Punky with different parents. To this end, he will not even allow Punky to see Henry in the hospital. However, Punky's friends have a plan and, after some difficulty, convince the Fenster group to help. And so, Margaux stays behind disguised as Punky while Punky leaves with the rest of the group as Margaux. Unfortunately, it's all to find Henry unconscious and very much in need of recovery, and a bonus of overhearing from Mike about Chillings' plans. In light of this, Punky says her final good-byes and goes back quietly. After switching back in with Margaux, she takes the official news from Chillings about her status. A while later, Henry comes around to find a goodbye note from Punky. Ahem, anyways, let me get to discussing the actual episode rather than its buffer material. Once again, despite the fact that the "last time" segment takes up about two minutes by itself, there's plot by the bucketloads here, and that means that I've got a lot of writing to do. Check that; a lot of writing in very little time, so anyone who's complained about me being wordy is going to get one heck of a break today. The way the episode starts is really good, as it catches us up to the events that have passed in the small amount of time between Parts 2 and 3 and uses a very nice camera trick of having most of the action in this scene center around the picture of the Warnimonts in happier times. And as a bonus, it uses the best possible reason for Fenster's inmates to make nice with Punky. The Fenster group doesn't make so nice with Punky's friends a minute later, but then again, maybe they're just mad that they don't get their own entrance. Seriously, am I the only one who was waiting for the big audience reaction to be piped in when the Punky clique popped up at the door? They should have went all the way with it and had an announcer reading off weight and hometown. Then again, Allan's quip at Head Fenster Butch reminds me that he occasionally deserves an announcer-led entrance. Speaking of entrances, is the scene of Chillings reading off a report a bit of continuity from the very first episodes? Then again, I'd be scoffing right along with Chillings if I read a report written like that. C'mon, I know Randi was a greenhorn and all, but you'd think that she could have used a bit more technical explanation in writing up the report. I hope Mike didn't read that first before using it as a weapon. Now is the time for me to become, technically, a hypocrite. I ranted a bit in the last episode's review about converting Chillings from a straight-laced worker to a comically stuffed shirt. That said, though, the idea of Chillings being anal and vain enough to record his conversations was kind of funny, particularly when the idea is run with all the way to using it for his memoirs. I have to say, Chillings as a whole is handled much better this time around. Back to the charges in Chillings' care; the interactions of the Fenster girls and Punky's friends and the plot they have to work together on creates something that's been lacking thusfar, and that's a theme for the individual episode. It's not a perfect concept, particularly in the long set-up shots of Liz being the hard case and Anna's half-acted comments to fling that point along, but it's more than we've had. Plus, it still works to advance the overall plot, so it's not like it's guilty of grinding everything else to a halt. And what a mini-plot it is! Soleil Moon Frye and Ami Foster do a scarily good job at looking like each other. Not really sounding like each other, but that's most of the point. And unlike with Eddie and Mike's in-episode endorsements, I can take the characters putting this one over, as it's actually good. I also don't think it's a lapse at all for Chillings to be the only one fooled, as he doesn't know Margaux from a paper bag and doesn't pay that much attention to anyone younger than him anyway. Other props also go to Mike being very technical in his reasoning to excuse himself from this little deception. More props go to the writers for remembering Punky's self-sacrificial traits and bringing them up in a way that had me thinking of "Henry Falls in Love" all the way. Good scene on the surface, even better scene to those who'd remember (or are watching on a home video format, heh), and done even better than that original episode because Punky's reason is much stronger this time. More on "remember when?": Margaux standing up for Punky against Chillings gives a definite answer to the "are they friends or not?" question that's been sitting unspoken even since way back in the fourth episode. It's a very small thing, but it's the kind of thing I both look for and like to see. It's so great, I'm going to craftily ignore just how Margaux comes up with the answers in the ink blot test. I'm not sure what level of mental disability you need to get a Picasso out of a hot-dog-looking blot, but that's just strange. Henry popping up only at the end seems a little strange, but he's been unconscious for most of the episode, so we'll let it slide. Besides, he gets his sarcastic force back during Betty's feeding attempt, which I am a shameless fan of. It also makes for a contrast to his reaction. That the reaction ends off the episode is a nice touch, because after seeing Punky being quietly led away to her fate, it looks to put a "The End" on the story of Punky and Henry. It's a little odd for a show like Punky Brewster to have an ending this downbeat, but it's good for the point of the story that we're at. This was a very good installment of the story arc, and shows some true advancement in the story. Kids watching at the time had to really wonder what was happening here, and it will make the goings-on next week seem all the more interesting. Unfortunately, I'm going to spoiler all over the place if I write much more, so I'm going to have to leave it to the "NEXT WEEK" blurb to close this review out... - Jimmy Vibes |
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WELL-DRESSED MAN: She is truly charming. WELL-DRESSED WOMAN: We'll take her. HENRY: I don't want you to put Punky with anyone else. CHILLINGS: I've just placed Punky with new foster parents. BUTLER: Ms. Punky Brewster. [Punky enters an ornate dining room in a formal black dress...] |