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There are two problems I have with the episode IN MIRANDA LIZZIE DOESN'T TRUST

1. The episode tried to broach the very sensitive subject of racial profiling but then quickly backed off in favor of a more generic moral.

Two white kids and a Hispanic girl go into a store and all three of them are goofing around and the white male security guard singles out the Hispanic girl as a possible shoplifting suspect and you are going to tell me oh no our intent was not to do an episode about racial profiling.

2. The moral that They do go for is problematic. You should always trust your friends and be ready to defend them. That is great if Miranda is innocent. Her story I admit is a little flimsy. Later on in the episode when Miranda is accused of plagiarism it turns out She was actually guilty. That time Lizzie did try to defend her but it was pointless. So if Miranda was guilty of plagiarism was She also guilty of shoplifting? Then the moral should be you should always defend your friend regardless of how guilty or innocent they might be? Blind loyalty can be a dangerous thing so that is not a great moral to teach

Lizzie could have at least had called her Mom and told her the situation and have her come down and meet with Mrs. Sanchez.

Have a mom-daughter chat where Jo tries to delicately explain what happened and how She can be a good friend.

The moral then becomes casual racism sadly is a reality that Miranda will face more often than Lizzie ever will. Gordo do will no doubt encounter anti-Semitism. It sucks that it exists and you can't act like it doesn't. The best thing Lizzie can do as a white person is just to be empathetic and be exemplary in her conduct. Let everyone sweep in front of their own door and the whole world will be clean.

That is the BETTER moral and thus would have made for a BETTER episode

As for the Matt plot It is relatively unimportant. I do find it funny that in 2002 Matt McGuire basically became a YouTube personality before YouTube was ever even a thing. The ethics of lowering one's standards just to become more popular is timeless and applicable to a lot of things

Things I did like:

The running gag on this show that Mr. Dig teaches a new subject every time he appears is funny.

The dance routine between the really tall girl and Gordo was pretty cool.

Observation: Writing a 5 page book report on the Red Pony (a novella of only 100 to 131 pages) would be a ridiculous thing to ask a 14 year old kid to do. That may have been a joke on how daunting students always find assignments and they were just using hyperbole to make that point.

Despite airing as the fourth episode this was clearly the pilot. The pilot was filmed six months before the show started airing and you can tell! Everybody looks young! Even Adam Lamberg (who was 17 years old playing a 13 year old). Being short (Lamberg is 5'4") helps. I wouldn't know.

We're introduced to Lizzie struggling to complete an obstacle course in gym class. While the audience stares at the sight of Hilary Duff trying to hold onto a bar in mid air Cartoon Lizzie introduces herself. She says She is not a nerd, a jock, a rebel or a diva. She's D) None of the above although that should have been "E". So, Lizzie is unpopular and supposed to be an average girl.

This is interesting that the pilot establishes Lizzie as an average, unpopular girl who hasn't found her niche. Over the course of this series Lizzie becomes a teen model, becomes an award winning rhythmic gymnast, meets and gets kissed by Aaron Carter and gets to be in his music video, runs for student president, oh, and dates TV/movie star Frankie Muniz. You know, just like your average every day girl does.

One thing I love is how Sam (Lizzie's dad) has a nice moment where He gets to be a supportive Dad. There is a scene where Lizzie and him have a heart to heart conversation. It is seen from a distance and the audience doesn't hear what is said. I wish going forward there were more scenes like this showing Sam as a caring and involved parent. All too often on this show Sam is seen as the dumb, oblivious Dad or the fun, irresponsible man who just wants to have fun with his son while Jo has to be the killjoy.

I loved how sweet this episode is. Lizzie's angst feels real. She gets invited to a party but can't go because her Mom wants her to go to a birthday party for their grandmother. Lizzie then feels betrayed when Miranda not only decides to go with her but then starts being friendly with her rival Kate. Hilary Duff actually does draw a lot of sympathy from me as the viewer. All too often in future episodes Lizzie comes off as a spoiled brat whose "angst" just feels like your typical teenager making a mountain out of a molehill.

I loved the scene between Gordo and Lizzie in the library and Gordo saying "I know how you feel. My best friend is going to go to a pool party I wasn't invited to too."

Hilary Duff in overalls looked cute as a button.

This may be one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.

Oddly I think this is the only episode in the show that either doesn't have a separate "Matt" plot or involves Matt in Lizzie's main plot.

Wow! This may get my vote for the worst episode of the series.

How can an episode about cultural sensitivity be so, well, culturally insensitive?

There's a new kid from Indonesia in class (who BTW was portrayed by an actor who was of German and Indian-American descent) and He speaks hardly any English. Lizzie treats him like a dummy for not understanding her. The teacher puts the poor kid on the spot asking him to talk about his culture and the poor dude doesn't understand what's going on at all. Honestly, I feel bad for this kid. Ugly Americans, right?

There's a Mexican game show the kids like to watch despite not understanding a word of Spanish. Miranda's cousin Carlos arrives and says that He was scheduled to be on the game show, but his family dropped out. Miranda, Gordo and Lizzie then volunteer to go on the show.

What follows is the kids acting like fools on the bizarre game show and having no idea what to do because Nobody speaks Spanish. Seriously doesn't Miranda (who's supposed to be of Mexican descent) know at least some Spanish?

The show itself feels like a spoof of Double Dare. For a Disney Channel show this show seems to have a fascination with kids getting covered in stuff and being messy and food fights. I thought that was more of a Nickelodeon thing. Seriously Lizzie McGuire could have aired on Nickelodeon and fit right in.

Back in class Lizzie sort of apologizes to the new kid for being so insensitive saying that since She embarrassed herself on a Spanish game show She now knows what it is like to be in a new country where you don't understand the language. Lizzie then decides to give a report on Indonesia and wrongfully names Jakarta as one of it's islands. Jakarta is a city on the island of Java. Why couldn't Lizzie give a report on one of her own cultures? Sam is Irish/Scottish but is not sure which one, while Jo seems to be just descended from every ethnicity in Eastern Europe.

This episode was just so dumb, not to mention culturally insensitive. The episode might have been better if they had just had the kids appear on a game show where crazy stuff happens.

Observation: The host (Erik Estrada) pronounces McGuire as if it were a Spanish name. It sounded like "muh gear". It was weird.

The "Matt" plot was amusing with Matt and Lanny playing an extreme game of hide-and-seek but it does not save this episode.