Main cast: Charles Haid (Coach Billy Bolt), Jonathan Crombie (Kenny), and Page Fletcher (The Hitchhiker)
Director: Eric Till

Ooh, Coach is still not in France, and I can only wonder whether the Franch government has booted this show for bringing disgrace to the country. Is it a coincidence that the quality of the episode actually goes up in the process? Life can be strange like that.

Billy Bolt is a bully and a tyrant of a coach, browbeating his athletes for this and that. His target is his own son Kenny, whom he dismisses as untalented and good for nothing. Billy warns Kenny that he will not let Kenny tarnish his own track record. He will not have losers on his team, okay?

Thanks to the power of a magical necklace of a hot girlfriend, Kenny makes a wish over the necklace, to surpass his father just to shut the man up. What do you know, soon Billy is losing his mind because his kid is shaping up to beat the record set by and has been held by Billy over 20 years. How dare that kid do that? Who does he think he is, Billy Freaking Bolt?

While the necklace thing suggests that something paranormal will happen during the denouement, this episode actually hands a pretty down to earth comeuppance to Billy. That fellow is one of those sad, sad types that base their entire existence on a single moment of glory in high school. I’m sure most of us will know at least one fellow in real life that’s like that. This makes that denouement all the more satisfying, especially as Charles Haid plays Billy pretty well as that villain that makes me feel so good to root against.

You know what will make this episode even more satisfying? Having Kenny achieve his accomplishments through his own efforts, instead of by magic, would have made the impact of his father’s comeuppance even more powerful. As it is, Kenny’s victory feels unearned.

Oh well, that’s this show. One step forward, two steps back.