10 "HSMTMTS" Season 2 Things That Have Me Wondering, "What Is Going On With This Show?"

"If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule, don't mess with the flow, no, no, no..."

🚨SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2! You have been warned!🚨

And warned again, beware!

1. Beauty and the Beast instead of High School Musical 2

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Don't get me wrong, Beauty and the Beast is an extraordinary movie/musical/whatever adaptation you want. But this is HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES. Give me back some of my nostalgia, please. And it's not like the gang wouldn't have faired well with HSM2. HSM was an awesome feat for their theater program! If part of the issue was Nini leaving for YAC, open the role to others! I'm just disappointed the gang didn't take this route. ESPECIALLY after North High stole their BATB idea.

2. North High STEALING East High's ideas

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North High boasted about their top-tier theater program. They looked down on the students from East High and their "silly HSM musical". Yet, they have the audacity to copy their musical. And not just the musical. Every. Single. Aspect. Of. It. Why even bother? North High has the money to be AMAZING, why do they stoop down to the so-called "untalented works" of East High? It's baffling. And the harness? Don't even get me started.

3. The Menkies, or the lack of

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The plot device for the entire season, the main goal that everyone was working for was shattered in the last five minutes of the finale. Everyone decides, "No, competition isn't for me," when we've spent 12 EPISODES feuding, plotting, and working ourselves to the bone, just for a competition that we've all simultaneously agreed to drop out of. Now I've heard that COVID had an impact on the Menkies competition, but I feel there are thousands of other ways around that obstacle.

4. Miss Jenn’s Love Triangle

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Who knew being a drama teacher would get you so much action? Miss Jenn finds herself at crossroads as two very acceptable men open their arms: Mr. Mazzara and Mr. Bowen. Halfway through Season 2, Mr. Bowen and Miss Jenn call it quits in favor of Ricky, but during the season finale, Ricky gives Miss Jenn his blessing, only for Mr. Mazzara to profess his interest in the drama teacher herself later that night. What will happen to this love triangle? Both men have very different characteristics and are both equally reasonable matches for Miss Jenn. Still, if Mr. Mazzara isn't chosen, he leaves for MIT. I think we can see who'll be the last man standing here...

5. Gina and EJ's Relationship

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OKAY. HOLD ON. Before you come for me, I'm here to let you know I approve of this couple. What doesn't exactly make sense is how it will pan out. For starters, Gina is a sophomore, and EJ is a senior. These two are on very different lifestyle paths that are planning to diverge. What makes even less sense than that is how we were just left with an assumed kiss. Gina clears the air between her and EJ in the last few minutes of the show, asks him to be her first kiss, and the last we saw of the two of them nearly running into each other's arms for that perfect kiss. WHY WERE WE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE KISS? I remember perfectly well that Rini kiss at the end of Season 1. Hear me when I say we were deprived! Absolutely no sense we're making here.

6. Howie and Kourtney

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I was an early supporter of this pairing from the minute Courtney walked into Slices and demanded action. But as time progressed, this couple seems to consistently find themselves on the rocks. First, Howie doesn't tell Courtney that he is her LITERAL competition, and then he awkwardly ghosts and confuses her during opening night, only for him to admit that, "He was intimidated." I call baloney when I see it. It just doesn't add up. And HOW is he okay with handing East High the original broadway plans that North High originally had? We know North High stole East High's musical, but that much of a risk for a school he doesn't attend? Let's play fair and square, boys.

7. Lily and Ricky

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Now this is where we start edging on some strange couple formation that's baffling. Lily attended East High until Miss Jenn didn't reward her with the part of Belle. Then, she promptly transferred to North High and sought revenge over the East High theater. Somehow that included developing a crush on Ricky as well? Lily plants seeds of doubt between Ricky and Nini and causes arguments between them. She sabotages multiple aspects of the East High's show, even on opening night. She also tries to get back in Ricky's good graces with an emotional story, that may or may not be true. Her character is all over the place, yet someone she's found a way to start liking Ricky, confessing to him in the finale. And apparently Ricky's into it, as he calls her up in the final scene.

8. Asher Angel's Guest Star Appearance

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The Andi Mack crossover I didn't know I wanted. But just because I wanted it doesn't mean I needed it. Asher Angel's surprise role as the cute airplane boy, Jack, was an adorable temporary accessory to the show. That's the thing. It was temporary. We never hear from Jack again. To be honest, his character didn't even seem necessary to push the storyline of Gina and EJ. Take out Angel/Jack and you still have a lonely Gina waiting for a certain someone to nab that first kiss. Oh, and more screen time for other storylines...

9. "The Rose Song"

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NOW WAIT. Believe me when I say this song is absolutely beautiful from the music to the lyrics. Nini *cough cough Olivia Rodrigo* has a talent for producing lovely songs. Someone sign her to label or something. But the addition of "The Rose Song" to the musical was simply unnecessary. It doesn't truly reflect the "voice" of the rose (an allegory for Rini, we know), so I don't understand why everyone was so insistent on adding it. Taking out the Rini drama, "The Rose Song" doesn't fit in Beauty and the Beast, and had it been performed, would have disqualified the group from the Menkies. Did no one bother to read the rules? Oh, teenagers in a fictional world.

10. Every. Single. Episode. Cliffhanger.

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The run time for this show is short, and there is only so much writers can place into an episode. But why end nearly every episode with a cliffhanger that ceases to exist in the following episode. Episode 10 cliffhanger: Ricky falls from the harness. Episode 11: Ricky is in a cast, but it's barely even a hindrance to his performance. Episode 11: Ricky's harness is missing. How will the show go on without it? Episode 12: Yeah, they figured something out. To which, that something is something the viewer will never see. And finally. THE FINALE. Nearly every plot point was pushed aside and/or glossed over in favor of cliffhangers for a potential season three: The Love Triangle, Nini and Gina's brother, Ricky and Lily, and last but not least, Gina and EJ. Oh, and there's a summer season apparently?

So woah, Wildcats. This season was WACK...

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...in both a good and tolerable way. I still adore the show. I think the actors tried their best, and the songs that came out of this season still shined as always. But after finishing Season 2, is Season 3 even in the works? The writing to me seemed all over the place like we were still trying to find our footing, which doesn't make sense because this show is perfectly capable of standing on its own two feet. It shines! But Season 3? That's a decision that still seems up in the air for me. But I think, if I've learned anything from watching season two, it's that sometimes teenagers who go to a fictional-but-not-really high school in Utah, sometimes encounter situations that make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. I'm still wondering how this will all pan out. But maybe it is sometimes best to "stick to the stuff you know."

What were your thoughts on this season? Any theories for season three? Leave a comment down below!

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