Beauty and the Beast

The second-to-last episode of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” has finally grounded the series in exploring the chaos of high school theater — the primary reason its first season garnered positive attention.

With the spring musical rapidly approaching, the students at East High in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” are quickly losing confidence in their ability to defeat their rivals at North High.

It seems that dance battles and duets won’t suffice for the two clubs to “work this out.” It will take an award and, naturally, many more musical numbers to end this rivalry once and for all. 

Though the East High Wildcats may seem to be able to resolve anything with a musical number, the sixth episode of the second season of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” demonstrates that perception is not always reality. 

The first three episodes of season two highlight its strength as a series; it doesn't need to rely on the narrative or the music of “High School Musical” in order to keep audiences engaged.

So the question remains: Is Marvel ready for outspoken queer visibility in its franchise?

“The Owl House” is one of the first steps in normalizing important queer representation for kids on television and it should be applauded as such — Disney executives just shouldn’t be the ones we’re applauding for.

What’s the best space opera about an intergalactic war fought by weird alien species? (It’s not “Star Wars.”) What’s the most emotionally investing fantasy series since “The Lord of the Rings”? (It’s not “Game of Thrones.”) And what’s one of the best comic books of the last decade? (It’s not a superhero comic.)

“They dared me to kiss you because you’re so depressed,” he asserted matter-of-factly, before scurrying back to his friends.

With this week’s episode, we have to jump right into the drama again and vaguely remember what went on a whole seven days ago.