Music Box and The Election

[BestTVever]

Music Box and The Election appear back to back in season 3. Even watching as a child these episodes really impacted me. Both episodes deal with extreme bullying. I suppose since I was a bullied child they hit home for me. Nellie was always mean and sinister. However in Music Box she is the most cruel. I read an interview with Alison once where she actually went to the producer when she got the script of Music Box to express her reservations that she thought it was too cruel even for Nellie. Music Box is brilliantly written. Nellie is jealous of Laura's friendship with a stuttering girl. Nellie teases and bullies the poor stuttering girl at school so bad. This makes Laura's friendship with the girl even stronger. Laura takes a music box from Nellie's room and Nellie finds out about it. Nellie promises not to tell if Laura does everything she wants. Nellie's plan unfolds to invite everyone to a party at her house so she can humiliate and bully the girl again in front of everyone. Nellie even goes to the girl's house and talks to the girl's parents. The parents are suspicious but happy that their daughter might start to have friends. Nellie than bullies Laura into not protecting the stuttering girl anymore. Suddenly Laura is a slave to Nellie. Mary notices it and confronts Laura and Laura gets mean towards Mary. Laura is so traumatized that she has nightmares and wakes up sweating. Not only is Nellie mean but she is horrifically sinister in her manipulation of Laura to also be mean to the stuttering girl. This poor girl is bullied, humiliated, and now her only friend has turned on her. Personally I still find it difficult to watch this episode. The poor girl. The poor parents of the girl watch their daughter go through this hell. Poor Laura used as a puppet to be mean.

The next episode is The Election where poor Elmer is bullied beyond belief by the boys in the class. They do such cruel things to him yet Elmer thinks they are his friends. Its so sad. The nominate him to be class president as a joke. Sure enough Elmer's dad sees the bullying and the torment his son has to deal with at school. His dad insists Elmer pull out of the election.

Both episodes end in sort of a happy way. Laura comes clean about stealing the music box because she cant take the guilt anymore. Charles makes her apologize to Mr Olson. We see him take a belt up to Nellie's room. The class elects Elmer class president once the other bullied kids rise up.

Both episodes impacted me as a child watching in real time and still open up wounds I have from dealing with the same things at school. Season 3 also had another episode "Bully Boys" where the father and son bully the entire town.

Bullying has always existed and always will. These episodes are so brilliant and ironically they are back to back in season 3.