Disney+ is taking us to Washington D.C., Miami, and back again with the introduction of their newest original series Diary of a Future President. While Alex already gave his review of the new series, I’m back as your resident recapper. Every Friday, I’ll be giving you the break down of what’s happening to Elena in Miami Glades, FL on her way to the White House. However, in the true spirit of the middle school experience, we’re going to take a shortcut with the homework. We’ll be breaking down the episode’s events in a Sparksnotes-esque 60-second recap. It will be an easily digestible morsel of information that will hopefully help you finish that book report in time for sixth period. Start the clock…ready? GO!
Okay, so we’re in the White House and even though I know this will eventually turn into a show set in middle school, I already feel like we took a wrong detour into a series we didn’t belong in. We see future Elena on her first day in the White House and her mom has FedExed her the diary she kept in middle school. Does her mom not see her? She couldn’t have given it to her on inauguration day? Can you just mail things to the president all willy-nilly? Also, Aisha Tyler is here? Sure!
We jump back to middle school Elena who loves to talk in big words, showcase her vast knowledge of the world for all to hear, and her abundance of To Kill A Mockingbird references. We also meet her brother, Bobby, whose key character trait right now is “angsty teen who smells.”
Their mom, Gabi, is going through a romantic reawakening, as her husband passed away three years ago and is finally getting the courage to introduce her new beau, Sam, to her kids.
Meanwhile, Elena is in school and one of her former best friends is present and being visibly mean to her. She is showing off that she has gotten her period already, but not so fast, as Detective Elena has figured out it’s all a lie so she can stay popular. Escandalo!
Elena forgets that she has a project due that day in social studies, and since her mom won’t let her immediately transfer schools (rude), she adlibs the oral presentation and relates diplomacy across the globe to her beef with the former best friend.
Elena’s speech softens the hatred between the former best friend and her, along with teaching her a lesson about allyship. Elena gets home, eager to start writing in the journal her deceased father had gifted her, but whoops, catches Sam and her mother kissing before a proper introduction. Yikes.
Oh, and Bobby wants to pay for cheeseburgers in pennies.
TIME. That was the pilot episode. Did you get that all down? Be sure to read this over just in case you get a pop quiz before next week.