Stage Call

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Season 1, Episode 3

**Stage Call** is the third episode of *MODS'* first season and the third episode overall. It premiered on February 19th, 2021.

Jan and John get suspicious about Yogi’s constant absences in the internship and will try to find out what is he hiding. Archi coaches Euijin in for an audition he has soon while Perry tries to figure out how to help Rita’s career take off, while trying to advice Dan to make some changes in the department, still in the hopes of keeping the theater department.

The episode was directed by Lagoona Bloo and Jan, and written by Rosé

## Plot

Yogi is seen walking away from the campus when he bumps into Jan, who asks him about his whereabouts, Yogi just lets him know he needs to run to see his doctor; Jan is confused about it as Yogi has always claimed he never gets sick and has never seen him that way as well; Yogi walks away, leaving Jan with the word in his mouth, as the older of them both looks at him with disbelief.

Euijin walks away from the auditorium when he stumbles upon Dee, who asks him if he has seen Aries, but Euijin says he hasn’t seen the singing twin in a while, Dee sighs, walking past the boy and continuing his search; as the music kid continues his walk, he finds Aries, who asks if he has seen Dee, Euijin points to a certain way and just lets the other twin follow the pathway.

Rita is accommodating some fabrics inside luggage when she answers to a call in her phone, who lets her know the results for a costume job she applied to are in and she should check her email; Rita hangs, thanking the caller and then logging onto her email on her phone, reading her latest mail, finding out she got the position.

Archi talks with some students as they express their worries with some songs and auditions, they have coming up and how the teacher can help them to succeed in them. Euijin is once again late to the class and Archi scolds him for messing it up, but Euijin replies he was returning from a callback for the ensemble of an upcoming theater soundtrack. Archi lets him pass and after the class wraps, he calls Euijin, asking him how the audition went; the student tells him the story of him flatlining for his first song choice but then being asked to sing something outside his range, to which Euijin sang something from The Boy of Oz. Archi then tells Euijin he auditioned for Julliard with a song from The Boy of Oz, both say The Boy next Door at the same time, giggling after realizing they had the same choice. Archi asks Euijin if he made it and Euijin confirms so, telling him he needs to sing the same song but in front of the directors and whole choir in the final audition so he sure will be practicing when the time comes.

John finds Jan rehearsing one of their favorite numbers to teach students to, John starts bickering about how he saw Yogi skipping two tutoring sessions and asking John to cover them for him; which he did, Jan expresses his concern about their colleague’s activities inside their job schedule, to which John suggests they could try to follow Yogi one day to see if everything’s alright, as Yogi refuses to tell them anything, Jan is doubtful at first about spying on the life of their friend, but agrees on the idea, expressing that if Yogi doesn’t want to speak honestly then they should figure out their way into helping him out.

The following day, the same event occurs with Yogi sneaking out of their 12pm meeting; he is seen walking away, taking the bus downtown. Jan and John follow him shortly, taking the next bus that appears, but they soon realize they took a bus into the opposite side; Jan is worried about their situation as it’s the first time he’s taking a bus anywhere, John laughs about the situation, letting him know they’ll go down in the next stop, which is the last one that coincides with the bus Yogi took. A few minutes later Jan is seen fascinated by a woman knitting, asking her about it, John is mortified as to why is Jan talking to a stranger, but the woman finds it funny, explaining how to knit to the intern, who tries to pay attention as the bus keeps on meeting bumps. Their next stop comes and as John hurries Jan to go down, the latter is heard trying to repeat the steps the woman told him.

Perry walks into Dan’s office with a few papers on his hands, blasting them into his superior’s desk, starting to explain that he’s come up with a very meticulous plan into a way of saving his job and the theater department, which Dan doesn’t seem to pay much attention to, instead keeping an eye on his fishbowl, which it seems to be lacking some fishes. Perry talks about cutting budgets, salaries in half, firing some interns and making cheaper plays instead of full budget; the worker finishes with handing Dan a binder with a schedule on it, indicating the process they should follow. Dan sighs, standing up as he walks up to Perry. The director asks him if he’s worried about the program shutting down or the possibility of his job being gone, Perry tries to stutter into defending the program but soon speaks about not wanting to be fired, and the way he feels selfish for wanting to keep the program alive solely on that motive instead of focusing on the rest of people that will be affected by the soon to be defunct program. Dan tells him that nothing can be done, and to better accept the fact, and mentions he was going to offer him a new spot in the music department, as someone had quit, Perry sighs, leaving the office without saying another word.

Jan and John decide to walk the final two streets they need before reaching downtown, although they aren’t so hopeful of finding Yogi anymore, as they have no clue which other turn he could’ve taken. As fast as they could they reach the downtown bus stop that the bus Yogi took reaches, hiding behind some other people, which proves difficult with John’s height. The pair sees the passengers of the ride go down but are unlucky, as Yogi is nowhere to be seen.  Jan tries to talk John into just returning home, but the latter won’t give it up, telling his friend to follow him into the main alley, which is where most people tend to get together. John suggests Yogi could be seeing someone outside or even sporting a double life, which Jan laughs it off, slightly worried that John could be making some sense.

Rita passes by Perry’s cubicle, seeing him throwing darts onto the roof, pinning them there, she asks if she can do anything for him, Perry simply replies asking for a better social understanding, to which Rita enters the small office and gives him a pat in the back, telling him that everything works because everyone works as a unity, and if one of those pieces decides to move along the separate way it’ll miss on the rest, which is exactly what Perry is doing, using a major good for his own good; Rita reminds Perry of the time she first started working there a year ago, reminding him of the blind trust game they used to break the ice among everyone, Perry sighs, his mind typing out a new device, with bigger motives this time.

Later that day, Euijin asks Archi to take a listen to his audition piece, Euijin starts performing the song holding his voice down, Archi tells him to do it with his eyes closed, picturing the stage he will perform with; Euijin’s voice continues to lower and lower, and Archi then steps in, asking his student to try to follow his direction into the song; Archi starts acapella of **Not the Boy Next Door** from The Boy from Oz, letting Euijin mouth the vocals as they go along; Archie then starts to hear Euijin singing it out loud and slowly fades his voice and lets the kid wrap the song, who is then excited about listening to his own voice. Archi asks when his final call is and Euijin replies that its next Saturday, Archi tells him he knows he can do it, and just gives him a small warning not to hide behind a fear.

John carries Jan, who is tired of walking, by the hand, taking him into a clear spot of people, right in front of a small restaurant, where a small crowd is gathered outside, seemingly paying attention to someone; Jan asks John to try to catch a glimpse at what’s happening and after he sneaks a peek, he returns with a slight shock showing in his face, letting Jan know what he saw, to which he expresses disbelief to.

Rita greets Dan as he’s walking out of the arts building him, asking for a favor, Dan couldn’t be more disassociated with his own issues but tries to pay attention to his employee, who tells him she’s been cast on an upcoming community theater and will need to miss on a full week to work on the early stages of costuming and design; Dan allows her to do so and thanks her for letting him know, mentioning how he’s seen others missing days without even asking, Rita smiles as she lets Dan go, the woman slightly jumping from exciting, checking her phone again with the mail accepting her into the play’s team.

They return to campus, discussing what they discovered, which takes onto a flashback of John watching Yogi perform in the alley, as people enjoyed his singing while giving him some dollars. Jan is confused about it and as to why wouldn’t Yogi tell them that but to the fact that he’s been on the verge of getting fired for missing more and more stuff at campus. John suggests they could investigate more about Yogi’s extracurricular activity with his long-time friend Silvia, to which John got her number after the last time they went to her local gigs. Jan says he’s slightly afraid of Silvia but to go with the plan. John contacts Silvia and they accord to reunite later that evening.

Bruno finds Rita after hearing the news of her getting a spot in an upcoming play and announces he’s been hired to take part of the teaching rooster in the casting workshop for it, Rita is excited to see the student will be working alongside her for the project and tells him they should share some tips for what she wants from casting and what he should take attention when looking for prospects.

After listening to John and Jan about Yogi’s situation Silvia laughs, pointing them out as nosy colleagues; she affirms they don’t really need to mind Yogi’s business but agree on the matter that he’s getting fired if he keeps on missing important events at the school. John asks Silvia about whether they should let Yogi know they know or if they shouldn’t; Silvia advices them to follow their hearts but that she should be there if they will tell him, but then suggests something different, as she pulls out her phone and types on Yogi’s contact, searching his location right there on the spot, finding him downtown; Silvia then tells them they should pay a visit as soon as possible.

Yogi performs to J Balvin’s verse to I Like It by Cardi B to a small gathering who seem to be enjoying his performance; his eye catches a glimpse of John, Silvia, and Jan, who observe from a distance, Yogi interrupts his song to get closer to them, as the crowd dissipates, the young man asks them what they’re doing there; Jan replies they were just talking a walk while Silvia quickly shuts him down, telling Yogi the truth.

With a clear annoyance in his face, Yogi explains he’s been doing all that because he misses performing, as being an educational intern doesn’t fulfill him; Jan asks him if he’s ever investigated finding a more controlled gig, but Yogi replies he’s scared of musical routine, as he’s already in an endless routine with the college. John tells him he shouldn’t be afraid of keep going with music but that he’s getting fired if he keeps on missing meetings, Yogi is aware and doesn’t want to lose his income but doesn’t want to let go of the adrenaline the street gig gives him. Silvia advices him to try to mash both together, as he’s already in the music program of the college he should try to help into more performing stages instead of just tutoring. Yogi is doubtful, still unsure but still calls John and Jan nosey and Silvia a push over for still using that location app. Silvia has no regrets though, telling him that if he’s singing in the streets, he should let her join, as she’s an expertee on it; Yogi smiles, with his head indicating Jan and John to join them, as the boombox plays **I Like It** by Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin. Silvia takes on the lead, and as John pushes Jan into performing Bad Bunny’s verse, Yogi takes on J Balvin’s, just like before his friends arrived. The song wraps, with Yogi bopping John’s head for not joining in, John simply states the song had to have latin flavor, and he’s simply not on the right track.

A new day rises in the town, with Dan remembering to lock his car as he walks away from it, passing by a small gathering of people who are seemingly chanting against the college; Dan couldn’t’ be more bothered to ask what the deal is about so he just steps away as the crowd’s noise is left behind. Moments after, Jan walks pass and decides to ask what the gathering is about, one of the protesters says some teachers are planning a strike against the new system the school is trying to incorporate, then they ask Jan if he’d like to join, Jan rejects the idea, simply walking away as the chanting grows bigger.

John visits Yogi’s cubicle and offers him a bagel, which then both share; Yogi thanks John for being a nosy friend, as he kind of wanted to share his whereabouts but was fearful they would reject his way of coping with the way his life was going at the moment, John says he shouldn’t worry about them but he should worry about skipping work hours to belt out the soundtrack of Hamilton; Yogi laughs, as the bell rings, indicating another meeting that the Mexican-american won’t miss this time.

Perry walks outside of campus, reuniting with his colleagues, John asks him the reason he asked them to gather after work hours, Perry says they haven’t had time to really bond in a while and invited them to have lunch at his house, they all accept, except for Kabs, who explains he must take care of his brother, as he’s in town for the whole week. The rest all follow onto Perry’s vehicle, where they find that a couple of them will have to either take the bus or an uber. Jan suggests John, Yogi and he will take the bus, as he’s sure they’ll enjoy the ride a bit longer, John and Yogi try to rebuff but Perry agrees before anything else, taking Rita and Archi with him. After they have left Yogi lets Jan know they’ll be taking an uber, Jan rolls his eyes, as John laughs.

In Perry’s home, the whole gang is having fun while drinking some rosé and beer in Yogi’s case when Rita suggests they can play something they haven’t in a while, Perry smiles as he understands what Rita means, completing her sentence about a blind trust game, the rest all remember the game they used to play every time a new member joined the faculty and quickly search up for things to cover their eyes with. They start to play as **Help!** By the Beatles echoes through the room, the group all singing and trying to find each other through the room. After a while they are all seen chitchatting in the floor of the living room, as Archi suggests some more drinking.