The Hunted

The Hunted is the 42nd episode of 6teen and the 16th episode of the second season. It aired on Teletoon in Canada on January 19, 2006, and remains unaired in the United States. When Nikki notices a hot guy while working at the Khaki Barn, she asks Caitlin to ask him out for her. However, Caitlin ends up falling for Hunter as well. Meanwhile, Jonesy gets offered a job as a neck model and Underground Video starts getting calls intended for a psychic hotline.

Main Plot
Nikki is at work when Kirsten starts to bug her. To get away from her co-worker, Nikki heads towards the changing room, where she spots somebody she recognizes as working at Albatross & Finch. Soon, they start talking, and learn that they have a lot in common. When Hunter leaves, he invites Nikki to stop by when he's on his break, and Nikki readily agrees, letting out a girlish squeal once he's out of sight.

Later that day, Nikki is sitting by the Big Squeeze when Caitlin notices that she's doodling Hunter's name in her journal. When Caitlin presses Nikki on why she's doodling some guy's name, Nikki confesses that she likes Hunter, but isn't sure how to find out whether he likes her back. Upon hearing this, Caitlin decides that she'll get to work and find out whether Hunter likes Nikki, and when break time comes along, she sets off for Albatross & Finch. There, they get into a conversation that starts when Hunter recognizes Caitlin from gym class and asks Caitlin to choose the shorts for Albatross & Finch's fall season lineup. After this, Hunter asks Caitlin to go out for dinner with him, and Caitlin instantly forgets why she came in and accepts.

Soon, Caitlin is happily prancing through the mall until she finds herself outside the Khaki Barn. There, she realizes that she has betrayed Nikki, and when Nikki calls to ask Caitlin what transpired Caitlin swiftly lies and tells Nikki that she has a date at seven that night at the Gigantoplex. Nikki happily accepts this lie and thanks Caitlin for helping her, which leaves Caitlin with a guilty feeling in her stomach.

That night, Nikki gets dressed up for her date, and Caitlin wishes her friend well before heading off to meet Hunter. She and Hunter have a good date that concludes at the ice cream parlor, but that is where Jen catches Caitlin and Hunter together. Jen comes in, drags Caitlin out, and confronts her friend over betraying Nikki. Caitlin accepts Jen's accusations and confirms her statement that Hunter must be dumped, but when she comes back in she finds out that Hunter has ordered her the most romantic sundae that the store serves. Upon seeing this, Caitlin finds herself unable to break up with him, and decides to continue dating him.

Nikki isn't happy about being stood up, however, and when she sees Hunter walk by she decides to confront him. When she does so, though, she learns that Caitlin never said anything about Nikki and instead went out with Hunter the previous night. Nikki is not happy to learn this, and she storms off to the Big Squeeze to confront Caitlin. There, Caitlin admits what she did while under duress, but this does nothing to quell Nikki's anger, and she heads to the Penalty Box to look for weapons. While there, however, a conversation with Jen convinces her that physical violence is not the answer; anything she does to Caitlin will have to be commensurate with Caitlin's tactics.

To get her plan off the ground, Nikki calls Hunter while pretending to be Caitlin. When Hunter confirms that he and Caitlin have a date that night, Nikki says that she's sick and can't come, ensuring that Hunter won't show up. As a result, when Caitlin goes to Super Terrific Happy Sushi for her date she ends up being stood up the same way that Nikki was the previous night. However, when Nikki watches Caitlin burst into tears at having been stood up, she realizes that her revenge has only made her feel guilty, and she reveals herself to Caitlin. While Caitlin and Nikki are working things out, though, they spot Hunter on a date with Kirsten and realize that Hunter is cheating on Caitlin. They decide to get revenge on Hunter for this, and when Hunter brings his next date (Chrissy) to the food court, he finds every girl he's been dating waiting there for him–with the exception of Caitlin, who merely watches the chaos with her friends.

Sub-Plot One: Neck Modelling
Jonesy's new job is to put up fliers advertising a psychic hotline. As Jonesy doesn't particularly care about doing the job well, he puts them up all around the Big Squeeze, but the moment that he finishes somebody calls on him to freeze. This person is Fréderika Casenoveda, an international parts modelling agent, and she thinks that Jonesy has the best neck she has ever seen. Naturally, she wants to sign him up as her newest hot neck model.

Jonesy is on board with this idea, and soon he begins walking around the mall flanked by two Salon Ladies and wearing equipment to make sure his neck stays in great shape. However, before his plans of becoming an international model can come to fruition, disaster strikes when Lydia jumps on him while wearing a bunny suit and gives his neck a kink. This causes Jonesy to lose his shot at becoming a model, and Jonesy ends up lamenting all that could have been–especially the fact that he chose not to sign a million-dollar insurance contract on his neck.

Sub-Plot Two: Psychic Hotline
Jude and Wyatt are lazing around at work when the phone rings. When Wayne answers it, however, Wayne is soon made angry by the fact that the caller was looking for a psychic hotline and not for Underground Video. When Wayne hangs up, however, the duo get an idea, and from then on whenever anybody calls Underground Video, they answer by claiming to be a psychic hotline.

Soon, they get two callers: Lydia and Coach Halder. Lydia has been nursing a crush on Jonesy and wants to know what to do, while Coach Halder is desiring a sundae and wonders if he should break his training regimen to get one. Jude answers Lydia's query by looking at a tarot card, reading it incorrectly, and telling Lydia to stand in the mall fountain like a scarecrow. With Coach Halder, however, Wyatt shakes a magic 8-ball and sees that the response is "seize the day"–which Jude interprets to mean that Coach Halder should relax and have some ice cream.

The next day, the duo receives calls from their returning customers. Lydia is disappointed that Jonesy never noticed her even though she stood in the fountain for four hours, but Jude reassures his client that she's done well, and that the cards now say she should dress like the Easter Bunny and grab the bull by the horns. Coach Halder, meanwhile, is upset with the advice he got from what he thought was a physical hotline–until Jude sets the man straight about it really being a psychic hotline. Upon hearing this, Coach Halder asks for advice about asking out a woman he finds cute only to be informed that the "woman" he's talking about is actually just a man in a wig. Upon hearing this, Coach Halder is shocked, so Jude suggests that he get some glasses.

This advice is actually helpful for Coach Halder, as it allows him to see everything more clearly. Unfortunately, for Jen the restoration of Halder's vision is a curse, as now he can see everything and is now catching minor infractions of the rules that he wouldn't have seen before. Naturally, Jen tries to get Jude and Wyatt to shut down the hotline, but when they refuse she decides to use more drastic measures, and pretends to be the real psychic in order to get them to shut it down. They do so when Jen's psychic act seems threatening, and soon Jen "accidentally" sits on Coach Halder's glasses when he sets them down on a counter, returning things to normal.

Quotes
Kirsten: What are you doing? Nikki: Calculating the cost of my future therapy bills. Jonesy: Okay, hot Euro-chick. Wyatt: (whispering) Gonna need a better line. Lydia: Okay, here's the thing. I'm head-over-heels for this guy named Jonesy, but he never even notices me. What should I do? Jude: Let's see what the cards say." (poorly reading a tarot card) Well uh, they say to stand in the fountain like a scarecrow. Your dream dude will find you there. Lydia: Cool! Okay thanks! Nikki: Oh would you just! Shut! UP! Lydia: Yeah, so I stood in the fountain for–for–achoo! four hours, but Jonesy never came. Jude: Okay, the cards say you have done well, but now you have to, uh, dress like the Easter Bunny and grab the bull by the horns. Lydia: And that will get Jonesy's attention? Jude: He won't be able to miss you, bra. Lydia: Yay! Nikki: That's what I love about you, Caitlin. You're always thinking about other people. First you try to get me a date with Hunter; then, when he stands me up and leaves me crushed, you make me a lemon squishy. Caitlin: That's the kind of friend I am. Nikki: Oh, so you wouldn't be the kind who stabs one in the back then? Kirsten: Friend drama, by the giant lemon! Nikki: "Make sure you flush!
 * Nikki: Yep, I'm doomed. Ugh, it's gonna cost a small fortune.
 * Caitlin: I rock I rock I r–oh no! Nikki!
 * Wayne: I'm only gonna tell you this one more time–SHUT UP! This is not, I repeat, NOT, the psychic hotline! Man, that's the fourteenth time today that Lydia chick has called! I'm surrounded by idiots.
 * Fréderika: Freeze! I have never seen such a perfect neck.
 * Jude: Psychic Hotline: We put the sick back in psychic.
 * Jen: I have one question. Did you, or did you not, twirl your hair?
 * Kirsten: So, did you actually get stood up at the movies? That must have been so embarrassing for you!
 * Wyatt: Psychic Hotline.
 * Caitlin: (nervous) Nikki! Hi! Want a free squishy?"
 * Jude: Making people do stupid things is way too much fun, dude.
 * Jude: Psychic Hotline: Not just for crazy people anymore.
 * Jonesy: Excuse me. I have to go drown myself in a toilet.

Trivia
Reason for firing: He did the former job quickly. For the latter job, Lydia tackled him, leaving Jonesy with a bad kink that forced him to wear a neck brace.
 * Jonesy's jobs: Psychic Hotline flier hanger; Neck modeler for International Parts Modelling
 * This episode did not air in the United States due to one of the scenes in the main plot showing Hunter and the many girls that he cheated on, which is considered adultery.

Errors

 * When Caitlin and Nikki are on the phone after the former talked to Hunter, Caitlin has a pink cell phone.
 * Nikki calls Hunter's phone when it was never explained how she got his number.
 * When Chrissy and Kristen run to meet up with Kirsten at the Big Squeeze, they are seen as blurred red shapes.

Episode connections

 * The Salon Ladies, who first appeared in the episode "Major Unfaithfulness", reappear in this episode.
 * The scene change music from the episode "The Swami" that plays after the first hotline call is reused in this episode.
 * Nikki's line "Oh would you just. Shut. UP!" is reused from "Fish and Make Up", where she said the same thing to Caitlin when she wouldn't stop talking about then-boyfriend Wade.

Cultural references

 * Rollout Watches are a reference to real-life high-fashion/high-class watchmakers Rolex.