Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Victorious literally came out in 2010—been there, seen that. But when it finally hit online streaming this month via Netflix, I thought, what could be better than revisiting my childhood? After all, I grew up with these actors/actresses, and a part of me will forever be indebted to the laughs they provided for me. So on a Friday night, I decided to hole up in my room and tune into Hollywood Arts, unsure of what I may find. Here’s a rundown of the first episode and my ~hot takes~ so you can revisit your childhood along with me!
The episode/series starts out by jumping right into the life of Tori Vega in what is presumed to be her house. She opens it with the line “let’s see, the bread mold…” while examining a piece of moldy bread. Yeah, not the best opening line for a series, I must admit. She is working on a science project with a boy that is never named and is soon interrupted by who we later find out to be her sister, Trina. Trina demands Tori’s help with preparing a performance and pushes the science partner out of the house. Honestly, these first five minutes annoyed me more than anything, because while it’s not a scene that should usually be given second thoughts, it left me with endless questions: why is Trina so rude to her sister’s company? Does he ever get his possessions, including his laptop, from the Vega’s house after being thrown out without it? Does the science project ever get completed after Tori skips school the following day when it was presumably due? These questions are unimportant and minute but nonetheless surfaced from watching the opening scene.
Moving on, we meet Andre, who is at the Vega’s house to help Trina with her performance. He is remarked to be “fantastic” at the piano after playing literally 5 seconds worth of music on it. While it is something I certainly couldn’t do, for a boy attending a performing arts high school, that’s honestly not that wild of a concept. Regardless, Andre’s entrance sets the stage for the rest of the episode. On a different note, however, I could sense some real vibes between Andre and Tori that I don’t believe ever actually get played out in the series but which I wish had. We are transported to Trina’s performance pretty quickly and find that Trina can’t perform due to her tongue being wildly inflamed. Honestly, it was a pretty creative approach and made the entire situation seem a bit less clique and predictable. However, like you may be guessing, Tori ends up performing in Trina’s place.
Okay, so, the performance was like…pretty amazing. Iconic, some may even say. It included the OG Victorious bop “Make it Shine,” featuring Andre on the piano and Tori on vocals. It was a fun and lighthearted scene that made everyone feel good, but it did make me question the actual logistics of whether or not the writers wanted this scene to be believable or not. Tori fights going on stage but immediately jumps into singing when she gets there with little to no hesitation and is suddenly wildly good at both singing and dancing. Did she do vocal warm-ups before this? Did she have dance lessons in her past? I’m confused. After the performance, she is offered a spot at Hollywood Arts, the same place her sister Trina attends school. And here’s my biggest question: given the stakes and that it appears you must be asked to apply, or perhaps required to audition for a slot…how did Trina get into Hollywood Arts in the first place? Earlier in the episode when we saw her sing, she was innately bad at it, so why is it that Tori getting in is such a big deal? Do they have a pretty high acceptance rate or is Trina actually better then she’s letting on?
When she gets to Hollywood Arts, she is jumping in mid-semester (at least it appears that way) and she already begins to make both friends and enemies. She feels out of place and like an imposter in her new school. She spills coffee on a good looking dude named Beck, and his girlfriend Jade gets super mad at her. From that point on, Jade makes it her outright goal to ruin Tori’s first day at school. The plotline is pretty cliche, but honestly, effective at building suspense within the episode, especially given that it builds to Jade dumping an entire cup of coffee on Tori’s head in the middle of class (and their teacher does nothing about it?). The entire thing is comical and plays out fairly well. The episode ends with Tori’s second day of school, where she participates in an improv game with her classmates and ends up kissing Beck. It’s a suspenseful ending that leaves the viewer wanting to find out what the consequences will be for that choice and how they will play out.
Overall, I found this episode/show to be pretty delightful to rewatch. It definitely wasn’t as good as I remember, but then again, our views and ideas change and develop as we grow up. It had some comical moments and just the right amount of high school drama to keep me enticed enough to want to click the next button for the next episode. Victorious featured some amazingly talented people such as Ariana Grande, Victoria Justice, and Daniella Monet, and for that, I’ll give it major props for jump-starting some careers! I had a lot of fun reviewing and rewatching this show—thanks for coming along for the journey!