Disney+ is back with another season of everyone’s tea time favorite: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. I am looking forward to Fridays since episodes come out each Friday! Relax and get ready for Episode 2 on May 21 and Episode 3 on May 28. Season 2 Episode 1 was ready to watch on May 14.

As everyone knows the show is called High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, but close to the end of the first episode Miss Jenn (Kate Reindeers) announced, “We are not doing High School Musical 2. We are doing an American classic: Beauty and the Beast.”

There was a lot of change in this episode. Since the episode was called “New Year’s Eve,” there are resolutions, and one of Nini’s (Olivia Rodrigo) resolutions was to follow her dreams and see where those take her. But, on the other hand, that also means Nini needs to get Ricky (Joshua Bassett) in the loop and tell him what’s going to happen in the future. Nini has a huge opportunity to move to Denver and be a student at the Youth Actors Conservatory, meaning she would leave East High and Ricky.

I was looking forward to watching the second season, but to be honest it surprised me a lot. The episode started with a song, but then the first words were, “Ladies gentlemen, or however you identify, welcome to the East High Instagram page,” said by Frankie A. Rodriquez. Ashlyn also says, “Couple goals,” to Carlos and Seb. I find this a big step for Disney, as they have not done this in the past. This representation opens the show up to a wider range of audiences.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to all the songs. One of my favorite songs in this episode was “Something in the Air.” I find it very cute, alive, and put together. I enjoyed how all the characters were shown in this, too.

I noticed when Gina Porter (Sofia Wylie) sees Nini and Ricky singing “You are the Music in Me,” she has a face of jealousy towards Nini and Ricky. I find this important to the episode since Nini and Ricky are together, and Gina isn’t in a relationship.

A little touching moment in the episode was when Ricky opened up Nini’s gift, a skateboard, which turns out to be his first gift under the tree that his mom gave him. Ricky and his mom have a rocky relationship, and this is his first Christmas without her since she has moved to Chicago.

This can also tie into drama with Olivia’s songs. Basically, viewers think that Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo had a relationship and had a falling out. Joshua Bassett then started dating Sabrina Carpenter. You can read more here, but beware, it’s a lot.

The end of the episode was a jaw-dropper; right when the ball dropped, and the party got started: Nini tells Ricky she is moving to Denver in a few days. She also reveals this to basically the whole drama department. The party goes silent and Natalie (Alexis Nelis) states that the “Party is just getting started.”