Speechless – R-O-Roll M-O-Mode

By: Taylor Gates

While grocery shopping, Maya (Minnie Driver) finds a special needs dad and his son and asks JJ (Micah Fowler) to be the kid’s role model. The kid, Owen (Cale Ferrin), wants to be a stand-up comedian, and JJ has no interest in taking him under his wing.

Maya continues trying to force the relationship, telling JJ to reassure them that he’s funny and that people will love to come to his birthday party. JJ reiterates that he’s not mentor material and tells Maya that she never lied to JJ. Instead, she was honest and made him believe in himself.

Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) sees JJ flipping through old photo albums, and JJ tells him that his role models were actually inspirational leaders. For example, one time he ran into the first nonverbal wheelchair user in space. Kenneth is suspicious, never having heard of him. They go downstairs to confront Maya about setting the whole thing up to help JJ feel like he could do anything. Maya apologizes, and JJ says she can make it up to him by preventing Owen’s dad Corey (Todd Robert Anderson) from making the same mistakes.

Maya tells Corey to undo everything she told him to do for Owen. Corey does so, but because he doesn’t bribe any of Owen’s classmates to come to his birthday party, only Maya, JJ, and Kenneth show up. Owen is crushed, and JJ lies, saying that he’s actually a famous comedian that wanted to celebrate with Owen.

JJ assures Owen he’s not a mentor but does tell him that things got better for him with time. After all, he’s going to graduate and go to college, plus he’s achieving his dream of making films. This does inspire Owen, and he asks to get together with JJ to hang out sometime, which JJ happily agrees to do.

Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) tells his staff that, since some luggage has been at the airport forever, it is now theirs. They all grab suitcases and leave behind a cardboard box that happens to have a 60-inch television inside it. Jimmy is so excited that he spruces up the entire living room so that it’s up to the TV’s standards.

Jimmy’s respect for the TV, however, quickly gets out of control. He dresses up in a suit in order to sit on the couch and feels guilty for watching his favorite reality shows because they’re too trashy. He even starts doing push-ups because he feels like the TV is mocking him for being inferior. It takes Ray asking him what’s wrong to realize he’s overreacting and should probably take the TV back since having it there isn’t healthy for him. He leaves it where he found it, and another man stumbles upon it, falling into the same trap.

While looking for the graphing calculator Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) stole from him on school grounds after dark, Ray (Mason Cook) spies a group of hot girls walking into Lafayette High and follows them. Inside, he finds a support group for teens to talk through whatever is bothering them. Dylan wants to leave until she spies guys carrying in free pizzas for the meeting.

When it’s their time to say why they’re there, Dylan speaks as if she’s Ray, saying her problem is that her younger sister is cooler than her and she’s a mess who cries in her sleep. Everyone in the group affirms Dylan, saying they’re glad she’s there but she’s great just the way she is, and Dylan is surprisingly touched. She tells Ray she doesn’t feel right taking advantage of the group anymore and tells him he’s not allowed to go back either. Ray, however, has other plans.

Ray goes back, wanting to get his crush’s last name, and Dylan is there waiting for him, trying to usher him out before the meeting gets started. Unfortunately, they don’t make it out before the counselor Maude (Phoebe Neidhardt) kicks off the group. Ray stands up and blurts out that he has a disease and got in a motorcycle accident, and Dylan tells everyone it’s all false and he’s just there to meet chicks. The counselor kicks them out, telling them not to come back.

Ray gets angry at Dylan for sabotaging him, but Dylan admits that she wanted to go there and talk about her feelings. Ray is shocked she has emotions, but Dylan angrily assures him she has had them for about a year and could have really used that support.

Ray takes Dylan back to the support group, asking them to let her stay. Although the counselor says they need to find support elsewhere, Dylan and Ray start finding clarity just by thinking aloud. Dylan realizes she does think her opinions matter because she’s both the sibling of someone with a disability and the baby of the family. Ray feels like he doesn’t deserve love because he’s the middle child. They get excited about having breakthroughs as they’re being pushed out the door.