Bye Bye Nikki? Part 1

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'''Bye Bye Nikki? Part 1''' is the first part of the two-part series finale of 6teen. The two episodes were shown in Canada on Teletoon as a single hour-long show on February 11, 2010. In the United States, however, they aired separately, with this part airing on June 14, 2010. Nikki just found out that her dad got a job in Iqaluit, which means that she'll have to move and leave her friends behind. Because the group doesn't want to split up, they do everything they can to ensure that Nikki doesn't leave. Meanwhile, Jude tries to find a place to live in the mall after he loses his house key while his parents are on vacation.

Main Plot
Everyone but Nikki is gathered around the regular table. Jen and Caitlin are watching a movie about backpacking across Europe, and Jen mentions that it would be fantastic if the entire gang could do so, going across France, Italy, Spain, and Hungary. At the mention of this last one, Jude agrees, as he is indeed hungry. At that moment, a man passes by with a burrito, and Jude chases after him, hoping to get in on it. As soon as Jude leaves, Nikki arrives, and drops a bombshell: her family might be moving. Her dad has a big interview the next day, and if he aces it, her family will have to move up north for the job. The whole table is stunned by this information, and Jude comes back soaking wet with the announcement that he lost his house key and his parents are on vacation, so he needs a place to stay.

Once Jude is filled in, though, his problems seem trivial. The rest of the gang is broken up about Mr. Wong possibly getting a new job, as good as it may be, except for Jonesy, who seems to be taking it all in stride. While Wyatt is unable to truly savor coffee in Grind Me, Jonesy's reaction is to celebrate his independence. However, Wyatt thinks that something else is going on: Jonesy is going through the "seven stages of anguish", and has skipped the first step (panic) and gone straight to denial.

Despite Jonesy not taking the news as hard as might be expected, the rest of the gang is broken up in many ways. Besides being unable to properly appreciate coffee, Wyatt is also writing sad songs about Nikki leaving, and Caitlin is constantly on the verge of tears. Jen, meanwhile, is testy at work, accusing everyone around her of wanting to move and leave everyone who cares about them behind.

Soon, though, Jonesy starts going through the next few stages of grief. It starts when he bargains with Julie at Wonder Taco for extras on his food but only manages to wrangle a bit of hot sauce out of her. After getting his tacos he heads to Gametorium to play some Rock Maniac but soon is hit with the next stage: guilt. He feels guilty for not doing more for Nikki, and soon becomes angry at the world for taking Nikki away. After that, he heads to the Gigantoplex and starts watching a kung-fu movie, where he sinks into the depths of depression.

However, when he hears a kid behind him suggest that acceptance is next, Jonesy wakes up and refuses to accept that Nikki is leaving. He has never accepted anything–not failing at every job he's had, not being rejected by numerous girls–in fact, his inability to accept failure has made him tenacious and kept him upright. This causes the patrons of the theater to cheer him, and Jonesy gets up, determined to keep Nikki around.

Jonesy decides to make sure that Mr. Wong flunks his interview. He plans to do this by pulling a double-reverse: he'll rebook Mr. Wong's interview to instead be with Jude and Caitlin, who will refuse to hire him, while he himself will dress up like Mr. Wong and take the actual interview with the goal of failing it. In order to get this to happen, however, he needs Caitlin to call Mr. Wong and reschedule the interview. Caitlin does it, reads through the script, and gets Mr. Wong to agree to go to Grind Me for an earlier interview instead. She also gives him explicit instructions to not call back to confirm, which Mr. Wong agrees to do.

Jonesy tells his friends that they have to keep Nikki from finding out about the plan, just in case she lets slip what they're doing. Nikki has problems of her own, however, because she's afraid that she'll be a friendless loser at her new school due to being a mid-term transfer. Her friends assure her that that won't be the case, and they'll do everything they can to help her stay, no matter what it takes. They then all ask their parents to let Nikki stay with them, but most of them refuse. However, Emma Masterson is willing to consider taking Nikki in for the rest of the school year, which leaves Nikki a lifeline to work with. When Nikki asks, though, her parents refuse, on the grounds that they don't want her living in the same house as her boyfriend at sixteen. Caitlin has a suggestion, though: Jonesy and Nikki should break up. At first they're aghast at her suggestion, but when she explains the logic–that the Wongs objection to her staying will disappear–Jonesy and Nikki swiftly agree, and begin fighting with each other. This fight ends with a fake breakup, and leaves Mr. and Mrs. Wong smiling at each other.

The next day, Jonesy has his interview with the company, while Mr. Wong interviews with Jude and Lola (Caitlin's disguise). Jonesy does his best to throw his interview, proclaiming that he'd ban kids, not allow any bathrooms or bathroom breaks, and be out of his office frequently due to his irritable bowel syndrome, which acts up frequently–and to punctuate this last one he farts loudly. However, the VP interviewing him loves these proposals, as he believes that they will attract a richer clientele, cut down on building costs, and lead to increased oversight. At the end of his rope, Jonesy states that there will be no sugar or cream in his break rooms because there will be no breaks, and so saying, dumps an entire container of cream on the man's head. This only makes the VP even happier, however, as this will (according to him) cut overhead down immensely. Jonesy is hired on the spot.

Jude doesn't do well at his assignment either. When he asks odd questions about favorite color and space aliens, Mr. Wong answers in ways that Jude enjoys, and when Jude asks a question about how Mr. Wong would respond if a skateboarder came into his store and did an impressive trick on the counter, Mr. Wong responds that he would probably start applauding. Upon hearing this, Jude instantly hires him, much to the displeasure of "Lola."

Later, the table is discussing the failure of Jonesy's plan when Nikki arrives, father in tow. Jonesy acts disgusting, and Nikki's reaction (combined with her harping on how important her studies are) convinces her father to grant her a trial sleepover with Jen to see if she can stay. This cheers the gang up, as it seems that Nikki just might be staying after all.

That night, Jen and Nikki have their sleepover. Unfortunately, the two immediately begin having trouble. When Nikki opens a soda, Jen instantly puts a coaster under it. When Nikki begins eating chips in bed, Jen begins vacuuming up any and all crumbs. To make matters worse, Jen is still obsessed with cop shows (much to Nikki's surprise), and she talks in her sleep.

The stress of the possible move combined with their incompatibility as roommates causes Nikki to sleepwalk, and she wakes up in the pool out back. Jonesy lets her in when he finds her in the morning, but this sets Jen off, as Nikki is dripping all over the floor. Nikki starts to worry as she realizes that whether she moves to Iqaluit or not, she'll end up in a worse situation.

Sub-Plot: Jude Gets Locked Out
Even though Nikki may be moving, Jude still has to deal with his lost key situation. His first choice is the Big Squeeze, so he gets skateboarding magazines delivered to the lemon and sets up a welcome mat outside. Caitlin is not pleased with this state of affairs, especially since Jude is doing his laundry there, but is willing to take in a friend while his place of business is being sprayed for roaches.

Ron isn't so accepting of this living arrangement, however, and he kicks Jude out of the Big Squeeze. As a result, Jude ends up heading across the mall, looking for places to sleep. He first tries Super Terrific Happy Sushi, but Hiro threatens to slice Jude in half when he catches Jude bathing in the fish tank. His next attempt is inside a pyramid at the museum store, but he leaves that behind when he finds it to be too cramped for him to sleep comfortably. Ron sees him in the store, though, and adds another strike to Jude's record.

The next night, Jude sleeps in a beach store. Ron finds him there, and adds a third strike to his record. This means that if Ron can get ahold of Jude just once, Jude will be banned from the mall.

Quotes

 * Jonesy: I may have gone through the first six stages, but the Jonesmiester doesn't accept anything! Not rampant failure at my many jobs, not rejection at the hands of too many girls to count, and I will not accept that Nikki is moving away! Watch out, world, you've unleashed the beast!
 * Ron: This is a food stand, not a flop-house, maggot!
 * Jonesy: (disguised as Mr. Wong) No sugar and cream in my break room because there are NO BREAKS!
 * Jonesy: Ahh! Quick! Somebody pull my finger!

Trivia
Reason for firing: he deserted the cart when he saw he wasn't selling anything in order to get a coffee. While he was busy inside Grind Me, a bunch of people stole all of the merchandise.
 * Goof: Mr. Wong thinks that Jude looks familiar, as if this is the first time he's seen Jude. However, Nikki asserted in The Big Sickie that she'd been friends with everyone in the group besides Caitlin since kindergarten, so Mr. Wong should know Jude pretty well. Not only that, but in The One with the Text Message, Jude was the one who distracted Mr. and Mrs. Wong and kept them away from Nikki.
 * However, it's possible that despite not recognizing Jude when Jude interviewed him, the recency of the interview triggered him to notice similarities between his interviewer and Jude.
 * Goof: Ron fumbles with his keys when he tries to roust Jude out of the beach store, but in Deck the Mall he was supposed to have a master key that would open any door in the mall.
 * Goof: Jude tells Caitlin that Gameatorium is being sprayed for roaches and that's why he has to move into the Big Squeeze, but he, Jonesy, Caitlin, and Wyatt are all seen in Gameatorium by the time that Jude has started moving in with Caitlin.
 * Jonesy's job: Selling sunglasses and scarves from a cart
 * This is one of the only two 2-part episodes in the series. The other is Labour Day. Both 2-parters are in season 4.
 * Several stores make their final appearance in this episode. In order, these are:
 * Wonder Taco: Jonesy bargains for extra toppings on his taco during his final visit there.
 * Gameatorium: Jonesy plays a final round of Rock Maniac and becomes guilty, and then angry, about Nikki's imminent move.
 * Vegan Island: Nikki and Wyatt pass it while talking about her possibly moving.
 * Stick It: Nikki freaks out in front of it when she starts thinking about a mid-term transfer.
 * Super Terrific Happy Sushi: Jude tries to take a bath in the fish tank, but Hiro stops him.
 * Jen's love of cop shows, first seen in "The List," is brought up once again in this episode.
 * "The Sisterhood of the Backpacking Shorts" is a parody of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants".
 * This is the second time "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" has been referenced, as in "Midnight Madness" Jude asked for a copy of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Khakis" while at Taj Mahome Video.
 * Apparently, before this episode Mr. Wong was the senior manager of Discount Dave's Fashion Cabana. (The job he took was as Vice-President of Ruts, which is an extremely cool clothing brand in the 6teen world.)
 * Wyatt mentions that he is drinking a blended coffee from northern Sumatra at one point, but can't savor it due to Nikki's leaving.
 * Jonesy is seen playing the Rock Maniac game from "Quit It" again in this episode when trying to have fun.
 * Jonesy says that the speech he wrote is worth an Oscar, or at the very least a Gemini. His voice actor, Terry McGurrin, has been nominated for four Gemini Awards, and the cast of 6teen was nominated for a Gemini Award in 2008.
 * The name of the game store Jude has been working at is revealed to be Gameatorium.
 * Apparently, one of Julie's friends is a Texan immigrant named Tessa who moved to town in the middle of a term and is even reviled by Darth.
 * In an attempt to throw the interview, Jonesy says that there will be no washrooms in his stores. Canadian law mandates that there be at least one washroom for employees (although not necessarily the public) in all stores.
 * The "seven stages of anguish" that is tackled in this episode is based off the five stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance), only with two more additional stages (panic, guilt).
 * Regarding the seven stages of anguish that are mentioned above, Jonesy had gone through all of them in this episode, except acceptance:
 * Panic: Wyatt mentioned that he skipped it. Regardless, it is possible that he has been feeling it already after hearing the news about Nikki's move, as he initially asked her about it emotionally.
 * Denial: He seems to be jubilant about his "independence" after Nikki moves away. However, he may have only been playing it because he doesn't want to openly feel about the news.
 * Bargaining: He orders at the Wonder Taco the "Super Stack Combo", which comes in two, and asks for extra hot sauce. Julie believes that they're for him and his girlfriend Nikki, to which he "denies" it. He also tries to order some additional sides, but she rejected his subsequent requests, knowing his condition.
 * Guilt: While he is playing Rock Maniac at the Gameatorium, he suddenly realized that enjoying himself without his girlfriend Nikki doesn't feel right.
 * Anger: As he continued playing Rock Maniac, he paused for a brief moment, and then starts to aggresively break the guitar controller out of frustration from the news about Nikki's move.
 * Depression: While watching a kung-fu movie at the Gigantoplex, he completely starts to feel miserable about Nikki's move, to which he is determined to prevent it from happening, only for it to be backfired. This continued through and until the subsequent episode.
 * Acceptance: He later felt and experienced this in Part 2.

Video
This clip was provided by YTV Direct on YouTube.