‘Clone High’ Episodes 1 and 2 Recap & Ending Explained: How Do the Characters Adapt to 2023?
Welcome to the Recap and Ending Explained for Episodes 1 and 2 of Clone High on HBO Max. The now classic show comes back with a vengeance thanks to the efforts of Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and Bill Lawrence, who never really forgot about this creation of theirs. The result of this new revival is a show that has the same vibe and sharp humor as the original but offers new characters. These situations feel more relevant to the now and social commentary that feels quite natural coming from characters that are supposed to be teenagers. The show is really just fun.
The entire team of animators also developed some greatly improved visuals that retained the original’s quality and style. It is not an easy task to revive such a niche show, but the team manages to do it with great success. Classic characters like Joan, Abe, and Cleopatra come back, while the absence of Ghandi is felt. However, new characters like Confucius, Frida Kahlo, and Harriet Tubman still show with their personalities and openness towards these old teenagers who need to face the realities of the new world. At least for these introductory couple of episodes, seeing how our heroes adapt to the year 2023 seems to be the focus.
The following paragraphs contain Clone High (2023) episodes 1 and 2 spoilers. Read at your own risk.
How Do The Characters Adapt To 2023?
The first episode of this revival is titled “Let’s Try This Again,” of course, it refers to the show returning after being canceled after just one season back in 2003. The episode begins by giving us a glimpse into the organization that runs the clone program. We are told that the clones are part of a breeding program that looks to raise the world’s future leaders. These leaders are supposed to be manipulable, and so historic figures possessing the characteristics of great leaders have been chosen to be part of the program.
We meet a new character named Candice Sampson, who is basically the liaison between the kids and the leaders of this shadowy organization. We also get refreshers from the past season, mainly focusing on the characters of Abe, Joan, and JFK. We learn that Abe is in love with his best friend, Joan, and that she loves him back, but after being rejected, Joan ends up going to the prom with JFK. Of course, Abe realizes the severity of his mistake and tries to declare his love for Joan during the prom. Sadly, the entire school is frozen, and it is not until 2023 that they are unfrozen.
Every single character, except for Ghandi, is unfrozen, and they are forced to go back to school once again. Principal Scudworth and his loyal robot servant Mr. Butlertron come back as well, but now Scudworth has to deal with Sampson, who has taken the position of power that Scudworth used to hold. All the students go back to class and are up-to-date with everything that has happened in the last 20 years, which is quite overwhelming for them. Joan sees the opportunity to make new friends while Abe gets ready to declare his love once more.
However, things don’t work that way. JFK is still the popular guy, and he takes Joan as his girlfriend. Frida Kahlo, Harriet Tubman, Confucius, and Topher Bus, who is actually a clone of Christopher Columbus, start teaching the old characters about the world of 2023. Abe gets canceled for the use of his 2003 vocabulary, and in the end, he is forced to apologize for all the insensitivity that comes out of his mouth. The characters still don’t understand what has happened to the world around them, but they take the chance to become better people. We learn that Joan is JFK’s girlfriend, but she still has feelings for Abe.
How Do The Old Characters Start Relating To The Old Characters?
The second episode of the new season, titled “Sleepover, ” gets into how the old characters start relating to the new characters. The social commentary depicting the differences between both generations is quite sharp and accurate, which results in some very good jokes. The episode begins with Harriet and Frida having their own Wiccan ritual. Joan oversees them and tries to include herself. However, there seems to be insufficient space for her in the girl’s coven. Joan also has a strange dream while in class where she has sex with Abe’s head. It disturbs her.
Feeling guilty about rejecting Joan, Harriet, and Frida plan a sleepover where they can share their darkest secrets. Joan accepts, leaving JFK adrift. JFK realizes that he doesn’t have any friends in this world and that when Joan sends him to spend time with the boys, he has none. However, Confucius sees JFK’s desperation and organizes their own sleepover at their house. Abe does the same and plans a sleepover at Topher’s house. Because of colonialism, Topher never reveals his true identity to anyone, and he doesn’t really have friends either.
At the girls’ sleepover, the girls do all sorts of activities and have a lot of fun. Frida proposes that they should play “I Have Never” so they can all share their darkest secrets. It all begins very innocently, but when Joan says she has never killed someone, Harriet and Frida confess to them murdering a young man named Federico eight years ago. Joan doesn’t believe them and thinks it is all a trick, so they can learn her secret and tell everyone at school. They decide to go to where they buried the man so Joan can be convinced they killed someone.
Meanwhile, JFK and Confucius have a great sleepover, and Confucius introduces JFK to a TikTok-type app, and he becomes obsessed. Things get nasty when they jump into the comment section, and Topher and JFK engage in an online battle. In the end, Confucius defends JFK by correcting Topher’s grammar. JFK realizes that he has a friend and he is not alone anymore. On the other hand, the girls discover that the body is not underground anymore. The man appears and confesses that they saved their lives by killing him and that he is a lot more open with people now.
Joan finally confesses her secret, her dream with Abe, and the girls promise they will never share their secrets with anyone else.
