Elle and Liz are at the police station with Eva and Wyatt waiting for Donna. Eva tries to hide her facial expressions, but Liz knows that she doesn’t trust Donna. Eva and Wyatt help bail Donna out, who says she has a lawyer ready to go.
The next day at a coffee shop, Elle and Liz meet with Donna and her lawyer. Her lawyer says that things aren’t looking too good, given Donna’s past and Principal Anderson’s reputation. Elle looks outside the window and sees a bus with Dean Wilson’s face on it. She then gets an idea: they should put on a campaign for Donna to prove how good of a person she is. Liz thinks it’s a great idea. Later, Elle notices principal Anderson on the phone with someone. When he steps out, she redials the number and learns that it’s a business regarding earthquakes. She knows that something isn’t right.
When Elle returns home, she finds her mom in a very odd suit. Eva tells her that the office had a carbon monoxide leak, so they can’t do the debate the next day. Elle gives her the idea to hold it in the school gym. Eva then sees that Elle has a stack of cassette tapes in a box. Elle tries to explain the campaign for Donna, but Eva shuts her down, telling her to let the professionals handle it. Elle really wants to listen to her mom, but something in her gut is telling her to go through with all of this.
At Donna’s house, she and Liz learn she could get up to 10 years in prison. Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. It’s Kimberly with a few tapes — including her own — with kind words about Donna. Liz immediately calls Elle for help.
A montage shows Elle, Miles, Dustin, and many other students videotaping their words for Donna. After everything is finished, Liz hands Elle a present. It’s her very own flannel, and of course, it’s pink!
It’s debate night. As Dean Wilson and Eva prepare, Elle, Miles and Dustin are ready to go as well, as they plan to showcase their finished Donna video in front of the community. Eva pulls her daughter aside and tells her that Donna pled guilty to her charges. This shocks Elle. Eva says she tried to warn her, and that Dean is the one that hired Anderson in the first place, and he truly does his research. Elle runs off crying. Dustin finds Elle in the hallway and comforts her. She lets him know that this was a huge mistake. If Dean is the superintendent, then he would have definitely caught something when Anderson was in office. He oversees everything. Something clicks in Elle. She runs off to the gym.
In the gym, Elle, Miles and Dustin expose Anderson’s corruption. They reveal the receipts for purchased items that never came to be, including the stop sign that could have saved Robin’s life.
In his defense, he explains Donna already pled guilty, but Liz explains she only did that so she wouldn’t go to prison.
Elle then reveals Anderson embezzled funds to support a secret family. When he thought this secret was going to be exposed, he framed Donna. Lastly, she reveals the earthquake business was none other than Dean Wilson, who was stealing funds for his campaign. Anderson and Wilson are immediately arrested.
Back at home, Elle comforts her mom and apologizes. Eva tells her that Dean immediately dropped out of the campaign. Elle tells her that from now on, she should really listen to her gut.
The next day at school, everything seems to be in place. Donna has her job back and Principal Anderson is out of office. The students even throw a little party for Elle with pink balloons and cake. Everything is finally perfect, until Shannon arrives. Claiming to have unfinished business, she reveals Elle’s winning Cosmopolitan magazine essay. In it, Elle wrote some very hurtful things about her new friends. That they don’t have class and how she’s thankful to be a LA girl. Plus, Shannon tells everyone that Elle kissed Miles and that she’s nothing more than a mean girl.
This episode was intense, mainly due to the payoff of Principal Anderson’s reveal. The scene was well-acted, and reached great drama. The way the writers followed that win with Shannon’s reveal was a surprise, setting up a new conflict for Elle. All in all, a good episode.
8/10
