Spirit Day

**Spirit Day** is the eighth episode of the first season of Grand Army, and the eighth episode overall. The episode released on October 16, 2020 on Netflix.

## Synopsis

Joey copes with a difficult setback in her case. Choking under pressure, Dom breaks trust with a teacher — and John. The real Sid stands up.

## Plot

A text reads “There’s no way to mask how fucked up you all are”.

At school, there’s an 80s theme day. George, Luke and Tim return to school and Anna greets them. Anna tells Tim that Joey is going to regret all of this. Joey goes into the police station and they tell her that there is no-one that can corroborate her statement so there’s little they can do. She is furious that she’s been made out to initiate what happened in the taxi. The video with the sex toys did not help her evidence. Suddenly, Joey imagines what George, Luke and Tim said to the police.

While Jay is practicing the saxophone, the teacher asks him what his “sound” is and tells him that he needs to go deep. Afterward, Jay and his friends talk about the potential sit-in. John runs after Dom and gives her three hundred dollars. Dom feels like he is trying to save her and she’s offended and gives him the money back. John sarcastically tells her not to make time for him in her busy schedule and walks off.

In an exam, Dom is immediately struggling with the questions and she looks at the clock. She uses her phone to cheat and the teacher sees her. The teacher tells her that this is grounds for expulsion — he gives her two choices: “An F or expulsion”.

Leila has got a part in casting. She takes part in rehearsals. Meera tells her she has her emotional wall up and she doesn’t know who she is when she acts. Leila loses her part due to her rehearsal performance. She’s also struggling with her identity in her essay papers as well.

In therapy, Joey talks about how she’s ruined her life for no reason and that she has to start a new school. Joey then delves into her father and how he has been more involved recently — she felt angry due to him cheating on her mother but recently he sat on the couch in their apartment and cried and they both hugged for a very long time. Joey feels responsible for what happened.

Sid talks to Flora about the situation. Flora is angry but also wants to be there for him because she loves him. Sid explains that being with Flora made him feel “normal”. He tells her that he loves her but Flora is frustrated and asks if he ever did anything with men while they were together.

Leila meets the Rabbi and she’s upset that no-one has accepted her apologies. The Rabbi tells her that atonement is a practice and that she should come to a service with her family. Leila wants a quick fix but the Rabbi explains there is a difference between a spiritual adviser and a therapist.

While Dom is at a shop to buy hair products, she gets angry at the price and walks out. Her friends are worried about her — she’s burned out and she can’t get a break. Dom reveals how her mother’s friend has a nephew who needs to get married for a green card. The family will get $10k if she goes through with it. Her friends insist she doesn’t do it.

Jay talks to his father about the sit-in for Owen while at a jazz night. The sit-in is before the All-State Performance. His father doesn’t want him to risk it before the performance. Jay tells him he was an alternate and he wants to save Owen’s future. The father tells him to take his shot.

Sid heads to the family restaurant to help his parents. He doesn’t want to be by himself. The mother doesn’t want people to talk. Sid tells his parents that he’s staying and that he cannot stop being gay. Sid is trying to encourage his parents to talk about it.

Joey’s sister Nina has had issues at school with students saying, “You like it rough like your sister”. Joey tells her that she’s sorry and that they won. Nina wishes that Joey would not let them win and destroy her.

While out with her mother, Leila asks her mother if she’s a joke to her. She wonders why she’s called Leila and that it isn’t a Chinese name. She wants to know who she really is and she feels like her parents plucked her from another country and placed her in a foreign one and didn’t think of how it would impact her.

When Dom returns home, she sees how happy her family is and it makes her think. She agrees to marry the man for the money.

A text reads “There’s no way to mask how fucked up you all are. So you need to be destroyed.”

## Cast

* Odley Jean as Dominique Pierre
* Amir Bageria as Siddhartha Pakam
* Maliq Johnson as Jayson Jackson
* Amalia Yoo as Leila Kwan Zimmer
* Alphonso Romero Jones II as John Ellis
* Thelonius Serrell-Freed as Tim Delaney
* Anthony Ippolito as George Wright
* Brian Altemus as Luke Friedman
* Brittany Adebumola as Tamika Jones
* Naiya Ortiz as Sonia Cruz
* Crystal Sha're Nelson as Tor Sampson
* Marcela Avelina as Flora Mejia
* Ashley Ganger as Meera Pakam
* Zac Kara as Omar Biller
* Lindsay Wu as Wendi
* Tiffany Alycia Tong as Mei

* Jennifer Tong as Su
* Glenna Walters as Maya
* Micah Solis as Nick Rodriguez
* Raekwon Haynes as Mil
* Giuliano Escalante as Jamal
* Michael Brown as Shawn Jackson
* Katie Griffin as Rebecca Connely
* Rod Wilson as Matt Del Marco
* Ava Preston as Nina Del Marco
* Lynn Weintraub as Rabbi Sadie Schultz
* Magaly Colimon as Antoinette Pierre
* Sagine Sémajuste as Sabine Pierre
* Raoul Bhaneja as Soujas Pakam
* Sonia Dhillon Tully as Jyoti Pakam
* Paula Boudreau as Judith Zimmer
* Rob Stewart as Steven Zimmer
* Marissa Rutka as Ms. Miya Nakamura
* Vanessa Matsui as Ms. Kate Wilder
* Geoffrey Pounsett as Mr. Knight
* Amy Stewart as Dr. Caroline Nevins
* Jason Weinberg as Principal Michael Metta
* Patrice Goodman as Regina Wilton
* Andrew Moodie as Mr. Phillips
* Kit Koon as Korean Employee
* C.J. Byrd-Vassell as Making Out Guy
* Shanise Donegan as Making Out Girl
* Gurleen Singh as History Student #1
* Merlin Simard as History Student #2
* Lindsay Ivan as ASL Student #1
* Kira Gelineau as ASL Student #2
* Daniella Roman as ASL Student #3
* Maya Franzoi as ASL Student #4
* Maeve Simon as ASL Student #5
* Melody Cao as ASL Student #6
* Daniella Molina as ASL Student #7