Escape to Beer Mountain: A Rope of Sand

"Escape to Beer Mountain: A Rope of Sand" is the first episode of Clone High. It was written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Laurence.

It originally aired on Teletoon in Canada on November 2, 2002.

Synopsis
Abe is hopes to make a move on Cleo at JFK's party. However he can only come to the party if he brings the beer. Meanwhile, Joan tries to win Abe's heart, by starting up a Teen Crisis Hotline. Gandhi accidentally agrees to help with the hotline, but ditches work for the party. All the while, Principal Scudworth plans to crash the party so as to better understand the students.

Plot
It's the first day back at school and Abe really wants to date Cleopatra. She tells him that she'll see him at JFK's party tonight but the only way he and Gandhi can get invited is if they bring beer. They try and get Genghis Khan to pretend to be 21, but he messes up every time, so Abe can only get non-alcoholic beer. Everyone thinks they're getting drunk, including Cleo, who kisses Abe. However, her current boyfriend JFK sees. Cleo calls the Teen Crisis Hotline and chooses Abe, but the police show up and bust the kids for underage drinking. The cop can only fit two people in the squad car so he arrests Gandhi, because he is acting drunk, and Joan because she's holding a beer. Abe then has to admit that it's non-alcoholic beer. Everyone have laughs at him, even the cop , and they are set free. Cleo leaves with JFK, but the next day at school she gives Abe a note that reads "Sorry, Luv Cleo".

Meanwhile, Joan wants Abe to notice her. When she hears Abe say that he likes Cleo because he "admires her commitment to community service" she starts a Teen Crisis Hotline, but the only people who volunteer are Gandhi and Mr. Sheepman. Later Joan wants to go to JFK's party and asks Gandhi if he will stay behind to work the hotline. He says he will, but instead he transfers the calls to his cell phone. He gets a call from Van Gogh and, trying to impress everyone, Gandhi puts him on speakerphone and everyone laughs at him and his sad story. Later Joan sees that Gandhi came to the party and starts taking the calls herself and she shocks Gandhi. She gets one from Cleo who needs help choosing between Abe and JFK. She first tells Cleo to pick JFK but, not wanting to hurt Abe, she tells Cleo to pick Abe. The next day, Van Gogh has painted a mural of naked Gandhi and everyone starts to laugh except Gandhi and Abe.

Also, Principal Scudworth must write a report on what it is like to be a teenager for the Board of Shadowy Figures. He kidnaps Joan as an attempt to find out, but without success. He then dresses as a student and goes to JFK's party with his robot, Mr. Butlertron. He was beaten heavily like a pinata by Genghis Khan. Mister Butlertron tells Shadowy Figure that Scudworth finnally knows how it feels to be a teenager ( and a pinata ). After this experience, Scudworth was spared... For now.

Major Roles

 * Abe Lincoln
 * Joan of Arc
 * Gandhi
 * Cleopatra
 * JFK
 * Principal Scudworth
 * Mr. Butlertron

Minor Roles

 * The Secret Board of Shadowy Figures
 * George Washington Carver
 * Van Gogh
 * Gandhi's Remaining Kidney

Trivia

 * When Abe, Joan, and Gandhi first make it to the school, DNA Dan is pictured on the bulletin board.
 * Gandhi and Cleo apparently go way back, with Gandhi having history of being Cleo's foster brother for ten years and donating one of his kidneys to her. Cleo doesn't remember a thing about him, not even his name.
 * Principal Scudworth titles his report, "What It's Like to Be a Teenage Clone: A Rope of Sand", parodying the title of the episode. Mr. Butlertron then critically acclaims the title, saying that it draws the reader (A.K.A. "viewer") in without giving too much away.
 * JFK has a list of the 150 women he plans of sleeping with this year, and Cleo is numbers 1 and 2 on the list.

Cultural References

 * The first part of the title is a reference to the film "Escape to Witch Mountain"
 * The second part of the title is a reference to a dare by Christopher Miller's roommate to add "A Rope of Sand to the title of every paper while studying at Dartmouth College.
 * Gandhi goes into the bathroom and asks Abe if he's dropping a Lincoln Log.
 * Peany the bio-engineered anthropomorphic peanut, seems to be a parody of Mr. Peanut.
 * The International House of Beer is a parody on the International House of Pancakes.
 * Principal Scudworth is a fan of Jay Leno.
 * Scudworth compares himself to Dian Fossey, a gorilla primatologist, studying his clone students and referring to them as "the gorillas". He even references to her movie, "Gorillas in the Mist".
 * JFK mentions the show "My Two Dads".
 * Gandhi addresses the Sheriff as "Kojack", in reference to the 1970's cop drama, "Kojack".

Historical References

 * JFK brags about having sex with Marilyn Monroe, saying that he "Invaded her Bay of Pigs". This is a reference to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a military invasion of Cuba, authorized by JFK, in an attempt to overthrow their leader.
 * One of the Elvis Twins overdoses on drinking a bunch of tranquilizer, and then passes out on the floor, quoting "I have left the building." This alludes to the real life Elvis Presely's cause of death and the famous quote, used to inform the public of said death.
 * Cleo mistakenly addresses Gandhi by the name "Benji". This could possibly be a reference to Benjamin or "Benji" Mays, a non-violent civil rights leader, who drew from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
 * Gandhi greets JFK in the bathroom, by chummily pointing finger guns at him. JFK flinched in fear at this, referencing to the death of his clonefather, being an assasination by firearms.
 * George Washington Carver's genetic modification of a peanut is a reference to the real life George Washington Carver's numerous failed attempts at making peanut-related products.
 * Cleo tells Abe, she's always seen him as "honest", a jab at Abraham Lincoln's nickname, "Honest Abe".
 * When Abe gets arrested, Henry Rathbone points and laughs at him. When he does, he holds a position, emulating that of his clonefather's, in the famous Currier and Ives print, depicting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In the case of the print, Rathbone is rising and pointing out John Wilkes Booth, as he witnesses him shooting Abraham Lincoln.

Errors

 * When Abe warned Gandhi about the three story drop from Mr. Sheepman's classroom window to the ground, his hair was black, instead of the usual brown. When Gandhi jumped, Abe's hair went back to it's original color.
 * In the close up of Peany in his jar, the top of the glass is the same color at the lid and the outline separating the bottom of the lid from the rest of the class is gone.
 * After Joan kicks JFK, the hair on the right side of her head disappears.
 * Gandhi drunkenly danced on the hood of the cop's car, shirtless, but in the frame, where the cop picked up and dropped Gandhi, he was wearing a dark blue shirt.