I Will Be Smiling Forever

## Episode guide

"**I Will Be Smiling Forever**" is the first episode of the first season of *Melodrama* and the first episode of the series overall. It was released on August 21, 2020.

## Synopsis

Dina returns to City High for junior year. Walter is committed to starting the new year fresh despite rejection from Dina and pressure from Ty, who puts plans in place for a killer back-to-school party. Filo and Addie dance around their feelings for each other.

## Plot

A car is parked outside of City High School. From the driver’s seat, Dina’s older sister, Jude, asks Dina if she’s ready for the new year. As Dina ponders the question from the passenger seat, a montage shows that she spent some of the previous school year in a residential treatment centre for depression. Jude repeats the question and Dina shrugs it off, saying she doesn’t really have a choice before getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her.

As Dina makes her way to the City High building, Ty unsuccessfully tries to negotiate a deal to buy alcohol from Walter, who insists he’s turning over a new leaf in the new year. Walter spots Dina in the distance and greets her with a wave, which she returns with a middle finger. As she walks through the hallways, it feels like the entire student body is watching her every move. When she gets to her locker, she watches from afar as Addie talks to and eventually walks off with Filo. She is brought back to earth when Meghna purposefully bumps into her on the way past before sarcastically welcoming her back to campus. The school bell rings.

Suzanna Martinez welcomes students to her drama class and encourages them to sign up for the drama club and audition for the fall play, *The Glass Menagerie*. She then holds Filo back at the end of class to personally recommends that she audition for the play based off the strength of her work in the class last year. Filo puts her name down on the sign-up sheet for auditions immediately thereafter. Ty is right behind her and signs up while telling Amar about the revelatory summer he had. When he spots Inés in the distance, Ty encourages her to sign up, too, and invites both Amar and Inés to a party he’s throwing on Friday.

Jude drives Dina to therapy after school every day from Monday to Thursday. Dina is uncooperative with her therapist and neglects taking her antidepressants at home. When her father Daniel realizes this one night over dinner, he and Dina have a screaming match, at the end of which Dina storms off to her room.

After school on Friday, Dina heads to the auditorium for *The Glass Menagerie* auditions, where Suzanna welcomes her back into the fold as assistant musical director. Dina sits next to Amar, who hands her a copy of the script and catches up with her as he starts taking technical notes in his own copy. Things get awkward when Walter joins them, as Dina purposefully ignores him. Meanwhile, Filo auditions as Amanda Wingfield with Addie as Laura, which Ms. Martinez describes as “electric”. Backstage, Filo and Addie nearly kiss, but Filo moves away at the last second and insists they should just stay friends.

After he auditions for the role of Tom Wingfield alongside Inés as Laura, Ty sneaks up to Walter’s seat and invites him to his party in exchange for alcohol, but Walter refuses and tells Ty to get a fake ID instead. Ty gives up but tells Walter the invite to the party still stands, which he extends to Dina. Auditions end with a scene from Meghna and Neil, after which Suzanna Martinez thanks everyone for showing up. Ty then announces that everyone in the auditorium is invited to his party that night, sans Ms. Martinez.

Dina and Amar leave the auditorium together. Amar asks how Dina’s first week has been, and she admits it’s been overwhelming being back. Jude pulls up in her car and rolls the window down to call after Dina. As she makes her way to the car, she asks if she’ll see Amar at Ty’s party and he agrees to go.

## Credits

### Cast

#### Starring

* Chana Wilson as Dina Shulman
* Flávia Baptista as Filo de Sousa Teixeira
* Joshua Hollis as Walter Fleming
* Ralph McCowan as Ty Norton
* Gabby Mendoza as Inés Montoya
* Shahid Nawaz as Amar Khan
* Constance Presley as Addie Nadeau
* Saraswathi Radhakrishnan as Meghna Menon
* Maya Levin as Jude Shulman
* Nadia Orenstein as Ilana Shulman
* Barry Reiss as Daniel Shulman

#### Featured

* Veronica Blanco as Suzanna Martinez
* Ethan Morse as Neil
* Tanya Rainsford as Carolyn Michaels