Bright is the second episode of Julie and the Phantom's first season and the second episode overall. It premiered on Netflix on September 10, 2020. It is written by David Hoge and Dan Cross and directed by Kenny Ortega.
Plot[]
Beginning from where Wake Up left off, Alex goes to comfort a tearful Julie, only to be halted by Luke. With a look and a twirling hand signal by Luke, the phantoms silently teleport outside. Luke tells Alex Julie needs privacy more than an intangible ghost hug. Alex retorts that Luke just can't handle crying people, mentioning that the two didn't comfort him in the dark room. Alex then sharply refuses Reggie's attempt at late comfort.
Luke immediately focuses on the fact that Julie lied about not playing piano, causing Alex to remind him to not start a conversation like that and perhaps compliment her playing first. The trio are then interrupted by a crying Flynn, who is unaware of the ghosts watching her as she enters the studio. Reggie comes up with the idea of eavesdropping through the garage door.
Having located Julie through Carlos, Flynn says she has come to tell Julie that she can't give up music. She cites the fact that Julie's music is a gift and it would be a tragedy if she never performed again and that the two friends might grow distant because Julie quit the program.
Julie interrupts Flynn's worrying, revealing that she finally sang and played the piano again. Flynn asks what prompted this, and after a pause, Julie reveals that she found a song her mother wrote for her. She realized when she woke up that by playing music, Julie can keep her mom's memory alive. Flynn excitedly mentions telling the news to Mrs. Harrison, their music teacher. Exiting the garage, Julie greets and waves goodbye at the phantoms (who assume "natural" poses), but quickly covers for herself when Flynn turns around.
Entering the studio, Reggie and Luke wonder why Julie didn't reveal her musical talents to them. While climbing the ladder to the loft, Alex supposes that it must have something to do with her mom's death, sympathizing for Julie. Luke is more excited that Julie has music back in her life, just like the phantoms do. Alex then finds Reggie's backpack and a garbage bag with the phantoms' clothes from 1995; Luke quickly changes into a fresh tank top.
Ray enters the studio, walking through Reggie. Reggie comments on his sense that Ray has a kind heart and eventually realizes that Ray isn't talking to them, but as Alex says, to Julie's mom, Rose. Ray reveals he is taking pictures of the loft for the real estate site, how he is reluctant to move but supposes it's for Julie's best interest. Moved by his willingness to support his daughter, Luke tears up, causing Reggie's own tears—leading to Alex's exasperation. Feeling they're invading his privacy, the boys quickly teleport away to see Reggie's family.
At Los Feliz High School, Mrs. Harrison regretfully informs Julie that it's too late to rejoin the music program as they already accepted a new student. Flynn protests, but Julie is resigned to the situation—that there were no more spots and that she'd have to re-apply next year.
At the beach, the phantoms stand in front of the bike shack that used to be Reggie's house. Saddened by the fact that the whole neighborhood was torn down, Reggie supposes that his folks are gone. Alex worries over the fact that in 25 years, everything had changed and everyone they knew, including Bobby, was gone. Comparatively, Luke is relaxed. When Alex incredulously points this out, Luke defends himself, citing the fact that none of them were close to their families, with Luke's parents regretting buying him his first guitar, Reggie's parents always being on a brink of a divorce, and Alex's parents acting uncool after he revealed he was gay.
Luke explains that the trio had each other and their family was all they were ever going to need. Luke especially emphasizes that they can still perform and people can actually hear and feel their music. Luke then wishes he had his guitar with him when, with a flash, an acoustic guitar appears. Reggie tries summoning various objects (a hamster, a pizza) to no avail. Bummed out, both about the torn down house and lack of pizza, Reggie slumps to the sand. To cheer him up, Luke starts strumming This Band Is Back (Reggie's Jam), with Alex quickly catching on. After some encouragement, Reggie leads the song and the phantoms perform on the beach—to the entertainment and slight confusion of beachgoers, who can't discern the source of the music.
Back at the Molinas' house, Julie enters her bedroom to find the phantoms going through her things. Julie is more than annoyed and insists to the phantoms on boundaries. Alex, to his excitement, finds that he can pick up a picture frame for a few seconds before he anti-climactically drops it on Julie's bed. Already irritated, Julie sharply tells the phantoms that it is her favorite picture of her mom ("and if you break it, I'll break you"). She expresses her confusion that the trio can easily pick up their instruments but can't even hold tiny objects like picture frames.
The boys agree it's weird, and Reggie demonstrates the ability by summoning his bass—promptly falling over from the sudden weight, yet still grasping it solidly in his hands. Luke asserts it's because their instruments are attached to their souls. At that moment, Ray enters Julie's room to check on her, mentioning that he thought he heard her talking to someone, which Julie dismisses to be her laptop. After Ray leaves, closing the door behind him, Julie tells the phantoms that they can only have conversations in the studio as she's worried that her dad will worry and think she needs more therapy sessions with Dr. Turner.
Luke inquires twice about Julie's decorated box. Julie reluctantly reveals it's her dream box, containing lyrics she wrote before her mom's death, which she doesn't do anymore. Alex heedlessly mentions that she does perform, revealing that the phantoms secretly witnessed Julie sing that morning. With renewed annoyance by the lack of boundaries, Julie declares that they aren't allowed in her room—prompting the trio to quickly exit. After a moment, Alex returns and gently inquires whether Julie got into her music program. He expresses his condolences at her news that she didn't, before awkwardly exiting again.
Later, Julie goes downstairs where Carlos is on his iPad and Ray is browsing through the photos he took of the house. Julie compliments his photography and Ray shows the three blurred orbs present in garage studio pictures. The mention of blurred orbs captures Carlos' attention, and he immediately talks about how he's seen YouTube videos that think the orbs are photographed ghosts. Julie looks wide-eyed at this, however, Carlos supposes the orbs are Mom and some ghost friends she made, while Ray doesn't think much of the theory and trashes the photos.
Julie then mentions that she has changed her mind about moving and that if the two were okay with it, the Molinas should not move houses. Carlos immediately voices his support of staying. Ray asks what changed her mind and Julie says it was a combination of things; she knows that moving away won't help her move on, but she does know that the memories she has of her mom are connected with the house. Happy with this news, Ray immediately goes to the kitchen, with Julie accompanying, to cancel the move with their real estate agent. The moment the pair leaves, Carlos sneaks onto his father's computer to restore the trashed images and confirm the appearance of blurred orbs in the photographs.
Later that evening at the Molinas' house, Julie goes downstairs into the kitchen only to be startled by the presence of Luke staring into the refrigerator. Luke forlornly reveals that ghosts can't eat and just wanted to look at the food. Exasperated, Julie grabs the peanut butter from the fridge and closes the door through him. Luke gets over his annoyance quickly and segues right into Julie's amazing voice and piano playing. Luke dismisses the news that her music teacher rejected Julie's request, insisting that the right way to get her spot in the music program back would be to perform and force people to see how talented she was, citing the numerous times "Sunset Curve booked gigs by doing," not asking.
Giving in slightly, Julie states that she doesn't even have a song prepared. At this, Luke takes out a folded notebook paper from his pocket, containing the lyrics to Bright. Luke explains that it was supposed to be a Sunset Curve song, however, he states the band never recorded it, that it's perfect for Julie's range and could do with her piano instrumentals. Luke coaches her through the chorus and harmonies and Julie sincerely thanks Luke for the song, newly resolved to try out his plan.
The next morning, Julie enters the music room at Los Feliz only to see Flynn sadly playing trumpet scales off-key. Flynn explains that everyone is at the spirit assembly, much to Julie's disappointment. Realizing her plan, Flynn immediately takes her to Los Feliz's gymnasium, where the rally is taking place and Dirty Candy was currently performing in.
Julie and Flynn watch as Carrie's music dance group performed their song, Wow, to the enjoyment of the crowd. Julie is nervous to play in front of the school, but Flynn and the guys encourage her, and Luke even points out a keyboard that is conveniently set up on the stage. Julie runs onto the stage just as everyone is about to leave, and starts to play Bright. When she reaches the chorus, to her astonishment (and the whole school's), the boys appear onstage with their respective instruments. As the song ends, the rest of the band disappears, leaving Julie to smile nervously in front of the astonished students and staff.
Cast[]
Main[]
Also Starring[] |
Co-Starring[]
|
Songs[]
| Song | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|
| This Band is Back (Reggie's Jam) | Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner & Jeremy Shada | 1:40 |
| Wow | Savannah Lee May | 3:10 |
| Bright | Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner & Jeremy Shada | 3:12 |
Trivia[]
- Revealed that at age 6, Flynn and Julie promised form a band called Double Trouble.
- Flynn later made T-Shirts with the band name and gave one to Julie in 7th grade.
- Alex's blue duffle bag and Reggie's black jansport backpack seen when they exit the Orpheum in the beginning of Wake Up is seen again, revealing to be left in the studio's loft space for all this time. Unlike the two, Luke's clothes were kept in a big black garbage bag.
- While we aren't aware of their exact ages, it's a possibility Reggie's parents moved when their neighborhood was torn down and aren't dead despite Reggie's ambiguous description of his folks being "gone."
- Julie's camo jumpsuit pays homage to the actress, Madison Reyes's mother, Sergeant Reyes, who is serving in the Army Reserve for 19 years.[1]
References
Template:Season 1