Speechless – T-H– THE C-L– CLUB

By: Taylor Gates

JJ (Micah Fowler) and Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) go through their morning routine at school, which includes giving everyone in the hallway a lengthy, intricate handshake. When it’s Ray’s (Mason Cook) turn, Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) knocks him down and swoops in to steal his big finish.

Maya (Minnie Driver) takes Ray (Mason Cook) shopping for women’s winter clothes and he groans about never getting to do anything he wants to do. Maya tells him they can go swimming just for him, but Ray already overheard the physical therapist saying the pool would help with JJ’s muscle tightness. Maya tells Ray she would love to find something just the two of them could do, but she doesn’t know what they could bond over.

Some of JJ’s teammates come over after their hockey game. One of them tells JJ to ditch Kenneth and get an electronic board that can talk for him. JJ tried one years ago, but he likes the human connection Kenneth can provide. Another teammate asks everyone to see a movie the following Saturday and JJ agrees without consulting Kenneth first. This irritates Kenneth since he already had plans. That night, Kenneth tells JJ he feels taken advantage of and JJ gets upset back, apologizing for getting in the way of his life and being such a burden.

The DiMeos sneak into a country club to use their pool. Ray is paranoid someone will catch them and throw them out, but he quickly forgets about it while getting sucked into a life of pampering and luxury—it’s finger sandwiches, strawberry water and complimentary sandals galore.

The next morning, Ray reads the itinerary for that week’s club activities: tennis clinics, taste of Tuscany and afternoon tea. Maya is thrilled at the prospect of tea, but she tells Ray his outfit is going to need some work. Her Britishness makes her an expert of “sartorial nonsense.” She agrees to teach him about all the finer things in life at the club. JJ comes downstairs, using his friend’s old electronic board, which makes Kenneth jealous.

Maya and Ray arrive at the club and Maya gives him a few precursory tips: don’t act impressed by anything, lie about extravagance and—if someone questions you about details—just tell them you’d “rather not say.” They have a great day laughing and ballroom dancing together and Maya gushes about spending with Ray to Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) that night. Ray tells Jimmy about it too, but it’s clear he’s more obsessed with the fanciness of it all rather than the fact Maya is there with him.

At school, Kenneth decides he’s going to be the voice of the really quiet girl instead. Still salty, JJ tells Kenneth to wait for him in homeroom. He has recruited Dylan to perform his daily handshake with the faculty. Unfortunately, Dylan is disastrous at it. Frustrated that the two are being so stubborn, she arranges for Kenneth and JJ to watch The Parent Trap together, but it backfires as they both think the movie is dumb.

Maya buys Ray new tennis whites for the mother/son tournament coming up. Despite trying not to act eager, it’s clear Ray is ecstatic. The two pass by a table where his friend Spencer (Zack Michael) and his incredibly rich family are dining. Maya casually jokes around with them. Ray gets angry since he wants to try and impress them, but Maya reminds him that they’re not actually like the people at the club. It’s all a facade.

Spencer calls Ray, inviting him to play in the club’s tennis tournament with his mom instead. Ray agrees, making up a lie about needing to go to a trigonometry study group in order to bail on Maya. Maya goes to drop off a snack at his study group, but when she doesn’t find him there she goes to the club and her suspicions of betrayal are confirmed.

That night, Ray asks Jimmy to help him smooth things over with Maya. Jimmy tells him he’s going to have to give her a big apology—he deliberately made a decision that he knew would hurt her.

Dylan orchestrates another plan using technology on her phone to sound like the voice on JJ’s screen. With it she impersonates JJ, telling Kenneth he was acting dumb and wants to move on and be friends again. Though JJ didn’t issue the apology, he tells Kenneth he heard what Kenneth said about loving him and wants to make up anyway. JJ is afraid of needing Kenneth, but Kenneth tells him he has nothing to be afraid of—he’s got him. Kenneth says that even though he has a life, that doesn’t mean he wants to spend less time with him. They make up by doing an elaborate handshake.

Ray apologizes to Maya by setting up a tea party in the backyard complete with homemade fascinators. He tells her the best part of the club was spending time with her. She responds that, one day—if it’s important to him—he’ll figure out a way to get back to the club.

Ray gets a job as a cabana boy and is forced to wait on his family as they sneak in, wanting free stuff. He decides it’s not worth it and quits, but not before Dylan pushes him into the pool.