Stand Tall is the ninth and last episode of Julie and the Phantom's first season and the ninth episode overall. It premiered on Netflix on September 10, 2020. It was written by David Hoge and Dan Cross and directed by Kenny Ortega.
Plot[]
The Orpheum Theatre is scheduled to host Panic! At the Disco and Downslide, the band opening for them. Walking along the sidewalk, Alex reassures Luke and Reggie that Willie will help them with their mission to play the Orpheum. The phantoms suddenly feel the painful jolts from Caleb's stamp. Teleporting behind them, Willie asks if they're okay. At their reassurance, Willie confirms that he successfully diverted the opening band (Downslide) and that they're now 200 miles outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Upstairs, the promoter of the Orpheum, Frank Wolfe, freaks out at the lack of opening band—yelling at the impossibility of a bus driving itself to a middle of a desert.
Alex talks privately with Willie, with Luke and Reggie moving farther away to allow them privacy. Alex worries about what Willie is risking in helping them, and thanks him. Willie sincerely replies that he'd do anything for him. Alex abruptly hugs Willie; Willie at first instinctively holds him before squeezing back tightly. After a moment, at Alex's prompting, Willie skates boards away before Caleb can catch him with the phantoms.
Before continuing on with the plan, the boys make sure Alex is okay, which he reaffirms. Teleporting themselves into the office of Wolfe, Alex knocks over a pencil holder, much to the confusion of Wolfe's assistant, Tasha. As Tasha the assistant goes to pick up the fallen objects, Alex hurriedly writes on her noted pad while Reggie quickly types in the band's Edge of Great YouTube video and clicks 'play.' Tasha is immediately intrigued by the band and shows her boss the YouTube video, which has "over half a million hits in two days." At the knowledge that they're located in Los Angeles, Wolfe tells her to book the band. Tasha goes to object the command as she has no idea where to start looking, but spots the band's name "Julie and the Phantoms" on her notepad and Julie's number underneath it. She is visibly spooked, but shrugs it off.
Teleporting back to the garage at the Molinas' house, the phantoms reassure a visibly jittery Julie that everything is going to plan. They band eagerly waits for Tasha the assistant to call Julie. She eventually does and asks questions about the band and whether the group would like to perform. Julie does her best to answer casually as the four teenagers start excitedly celebrating, at one point lifting Alex up into the air. ("We're playing the Orpheum, baby!" - Julie)
On the porch, Carlos is FaceTiming with his Tía Victoria about how him and his dad got rid of the ghost by making French dip. Victoria doubts whether the house is truly not haunted anymore, even as Carlos explains feeling the presence of the ghost being set free. Insisting that he's a ghost hunter, Carlos says he's planning to start a YouTube channel called, "Carlos the Ghost Toaster." Victoria is encouraging, but focuses once more on her concerns that the house is still haunted. Carlos, however, is no longer listening. He spots a CD cover with the faces of the phantoms in Julie's band. With proof that ghosts exist, Carlos hurriedly says goodbye to Victoria and ends the call.
In Carrie Wilson's mansion, Carrie is also watching Julie and the Phantom's trending YouTube video on her laptop. Her dad, Trevor Wilson, enters the mansion, sweating from his run. Trevor greets his daughter warmly and goes toward the stairs, but pauses at the music emitting from her laptop. Trevor comments that it "sounds good" and, after closer look, recognizes the girl singing in the video is Julie. Carrie explains that Julie is in a new band with a hologram gimmick, and that somehow they're playing a gig at the Orpheum. Trevor, able to see the other figures in the video and listening to his daughter's explanation, realize that the holograms were his deceased band mates frozen at the age of 17. Shocked, Trevor tries to gather himself as he calls someone unknown and requests two tickets to the Orpheum's concert that night. Carrie is confused and offended at this action, though Trevor reassures her, "only love!"
In the music studio around Julie's grand piano, the three phantoms are settling the set list. Luke reports that he and Julie were thinking Stand Tall as their first song, to Reggie and Alex's nonchalant agreement. Bothered by this, Luke emphasizes to his friends that this set list needs to be perfect and that their heads needs to be in the game for their second chance at playing the Orpheum. Reggie appeases Luke, but is more focused on the fact that they don't know what will happen if they cross over—whether they'll see each other there or not. The other two soften at Reggie's mention of family, but Alex is practical—the phantoms have no other choice.
At that moment, the boys feel a painful jolt from their stamps. Julie walks in just as they were adjusting from the pain, and her cheerful mood dips at their discomfort, though they try and reassure her. As she is talking to the phantoms, Carlos uses his phone to record his sister talking to ghosts through the garage door, presumably for his YouTube channel.
Julie asks Luke, if they could talk privately and he agrees—Alex and Reggie hanging back. Closer to the garage door now, Julie asks if she could ask Luke for a favor, to which he easily assents. Julie asks that if he sees her mom when they cross over, if he could tell her that Julie loves her and to thank her for bringing the phantoms to Julie. Outside the door, Carlos turns off his phone and stops the recording. Luke readily agrees to her request. After a moment of staring into each other's eyes, Luke calls a band circle. Holding each other's hands (with Julie's hands floating over Reggie and Alex), Luke begins his speech, declaring Julie a star and the phantoms will be watching over Julie, no matter where they go. Luke motivates the band to "give them a show they'll be talking about until the sun comes up." The "legends" dialogue motif is inserted here, shouted as the band does a classic Team Hand-Stack.
At the sound of the car horn—which Julie explains is her dad giving her a ride to the theatre—Julie glances back at the band, missing Carlos entirely as she exits. After a moment, Carlos enters the garage, confidently wishing the invisible ghosts a good show. Turning towards the kid, Luke is half-seriously offended when he asks, "Who are you calling, boyband?" Carlos is called away by his dad, and departs with a "watching you" signal towards a different direction than any of the phantoms. Reggie is shocked that Carlos knows that they're ghosts, while Alex is unsurprised given Reggie's antics in Edge of Great. Luke brushes off the potential trouble this might cause, stating that the phantoms will be gone soon enough.
Caleb takes this moment to appear atop Julie's piano, causing Luke to heatedly confront the ghost magician. Caleb, still pretending to have good intentions, congratulates the phantoms, revealing his awareness of the trio's plans to play the Orpheum that night. Angry at his facade, Luke tells Caleb that they know that he is responsible for the painful jolts they've been experiencing and that it's part of his plan to get the trio to join his house band. Joining in on Luke's anger, Alex declares that Caleb can't do anything to make them join him. Caleb remains unfazed at their protestations, merely remarking on the mystery of the 'other side.' With a snap and blow of his fingers, Caleb conjures smoke, forcibly teleporting the phantoms out of the Molinas' garage studio and into the Hollywood Ghost Club.
At the Orpheum in the evening, Julie prepares the finishing touches on her makeup in her dressing room. A stage manager named Rob then knocks on Julie's dressing room door, announcing the arrival of her 'roadie,' which turns out to be Flynn. As she and Rob the stage manager enter the room, Flynn cheekily remarks that Julie's holograms were ready. As soon as Rob leaves, Flynn relaxes, freaking out over being backstage and having sushi with Brendon Urie. Julie, feeling nervous about her performance, remarks that she practically threw up on the way to the venue. This prompts Flynn to cheer her up with a compliment and with news that she and the Tech Crew (who she made friends with) had great effects planned for her performance.
Flynn asks if the guys were in the room.
Julie tells her that she hasn't seen them since she left. We then cut to the Hollywood Ghost Club, where Caleb has taken the ghosts, dressed them in formal attire, and, using his powers, gets each of them on stage to perform.
Eventually, they escape, but not before Julie goes to the alleyway behind the Orpheum to cry and speak to her mother. A random woman passes by and gives Julie a white dahlia, (her mother's favorite flower). Taking this as a sign, Julie goes back inside and on stage, where she begins to perform "Stand Tall." During this performance, each of the ghosts eventually arrives, with Luke taking the longest due to Caleb's evil intentions.
Once Luke arrives, they finish their performance. Afterwards, they return home, and Julie is frightened to discover that the boys didn't cross over. As hope seems lost, Julie hugs Luke, and he begins to glow. In that moment, Julie tells the other two to join in, and as they hug, the stamps causing them the jolts fade, and they are freed. The following morning, Nick arrives at the Molina house with flowers for Julie. Caleb arrives and possesses Nick as a last-ditch attempt to complete his plan.
Songs[]
| Title | Sung By | Length |
|---|---|---|
| You Got Nothing to Lose | Caleb Covington | 3:04 |
| Stand Tall | Julie and the Phantoms | 3:33 |
Cast[]
Main[]
Guest Star[]Also Starring[] |
Co-Starring[]
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Trivia[]
- Willie steals merch from Downslide, the band he kidnapped and dumped 200 miles outside of Vegas. The merch is a jacket he wears in the opening scene, green with the band's logo on the back.
- Despite leading them to Caleb, Willie is amicable with the phantoms, even Luke and Reggie—as seen when Luke and Willie exchange a casual fist bump in celebration to him diverting the opening band's route.
- Julie's number in the show is (818) 555-0192.
- The area code account for the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles (geography-wise it's north of the more populous city), making the number feasibly possible for Julie to have.
- A set of a hundred 555 numbers have been officially designated for fictional use in Hollywood, 555-0100 through 555-0199
- A comment made by Tasha the assistant suggests that it has there is two days between Edge of Great and Stand Tall
- "It has over a half a million hits on YouTube in just two days."
- It is possible, however, that Ray uploaded the video later than the Friday Edge of Great was performed.
- While Julie and her phantoms are celebrating getting the call from the Orpheum, instrumental riffs from Now or Never start playing in the background.
- On the cover of Sunset Curve's CD demo, there is a picture of the four members with "Summer Tour 1995" written at the bottom.
- It's possible that the band had other events booked after the Orpheum show and that the Orpheum concert was the beginning of their success.
References
Template:Season 1