This show clearly has a thing for making people tap into their emotions. In this episode, it starts out by a student named PJ attempting suicide. Awkward silence…
Of course this puts Aaron deep in his feelings. He questions when it became okay to be depressed and why was that a wave people were trying to be on? Doug tells him it became okay when people in music began flaunting it and making it seem like it was okay, he then says PJ was “about that sad boy wave” and that it’s hard to determine how people really feel rather than if they’re really doing it for clout. Aaron then feels inclined to make it his duty to understand everyone’s mental state by holding a meeting for everyone that lives in Hawkins Hall to address how they really feel.
We see an appearance by reality TV star Jordyn Woods, who does a great job portraying a soft-spoken freshman that battles with depression due to being away from her family for the first time. Her revelation causes the other students at the meeting to start to take things seriously. They started to look within themselves and see that they also battle with mental health issues due to the stress of college life and even admit that they feel as if they don’t communicate how they feel.
Aaron is led to charge the administration of Cal U to take the mental health of its students more seriously. He goes to dean Charlie Telphie with his gripes. Charlie shows a bit of character growth in this moment. Normally, he’s the oddball comic relief that says outlandish things. However, he sympathies with Aaron and reluctantly says that there’s not enough money in the budget to invest in Mental Health at the school. Aaron then starts a campaign to raise money for more mental health counselors for the school, which even makes Luca impressed by his efforts.
Aside from that, we find out that Zoey doesn’t make it into the fashion program. Also another awkward silence because clearly the only thing she excels in is fashion. She takes it upon herself to create her own major, “the Sociology of Fashion,” in which she is very proud of.
