Blackout

***Blackout*** is the series premiere of Recovery Road, it aired January 25, 2016.

## Summary

When her high school guidance counselor confronts Maddie about the severity of the situation, Maddie can’t see the problem with her hard-partying ways. Forced to face facts, Maddie makes the difficult decision to live with other recovering addicts at a sober living facility at night. She’s determined to keep it all a secret from her peers as she continues her regular high school routine by day.

## Synopsis

Maddie is shown lying passed out in the grass after a long night of partying. She stumbles home as flashbacks recount her wild night. When she arrives home, she hardly has any time to sleep before her alarm wakes her up again.

In the car on the way to school, Maddie lies to her mother about the whereabouts of her car (which she has no idea about). At school, Maddie talks to her friend, Nyla about what happened the night before, and Nyla is stunned that Maddie doesn't know where her car is. The two of them joke and Maddie puts her water bottle inside of her locker.

Later on, Maddie is shown sitting with Charlotte in the guidance counselor, Cynthia Molina's office. Cynthia confronts Maddie about the bottle of "water" in her locker which turns out to be vodka. Charlotte is furious at Maddie who denies everything until she has to take a blood alcohol test which shows that she has been drinking. Cynthia gives Maddie an ultimatium of 24 hours in detox and 90 days at a sober living facility or explusion. Charlotte makes the decision for her daughter, saying that Maddie will go to the sobriety house.

Maddie is not happy about having to go to detox and looks very upset as she says goodbye to her mom. In detox, Maddie struggles, acting very restless and upset about the whole ordeal. After her 24 hour detox ends, she is seen in the car with Charlotte experiencing what’s dubbed as ‘The Five Stages of Grief: Teenage Edition’ which features Denial, Anger, Depression, Bargaining and Acceptance (the latter of which she seems to be struggling with).

As they arrive at Springtime Meadows, Maddie is greated by lots of smiling faces. Then in the office, she meets head counsellor Craig who informs her of the rules, like earning the right to use her phone, chores and the fact that she can’t go home on weekends. Maddie remains defiant throughout the entire ordeal, even trying to insult Craig at points. Then they are interrupted by Trish another resident at the house. Trish is happy to show Maddie around.

Whilst doing so, Maddie meets Vern who she deems as weird. Then, Trish shows her upstairs, telling her about her life, meth addiction and her young daughter as she does. Trish is excited to inform Maddie that they are roommates, which Maddie doesn’t seem overly thrilled about.

Then Maddie is greeted by a familiar face as Rebecca Granger enters asking for Trish. Rebecca and Maddie share a few words and some angry looks, informing Trish that they are ‘old friends’ before Rebecca storms out.

During a group meeting, Maddie feels out of place while the other residents talk about their struggles. She takes notice of Wes as he talks about a dream that he had, but he is more reluctant to share it. Then Craig introduces Maddie, who still remains adamant that she doesn’t belong here.

After welcoming her the group, the group says goodbye to Doug who has completed his time and is leaving. They exchange gifts and have group hug as Doug tells Maddie to let them take care of her. Wes steps aside and welcomes Maddie to the "fun house’"

As Maddie unpacks her things, Trish questions her about her deceased father who was killed in by a drunk driver. Later that night, Maddie has nightmare that she sees him downstairs, covered in blood. She wakes with a start, looking at the figurine he got her.

The next day, Maddie has to drive to school with Cynthia, which she’s not happy about. Once she arrives at school, her boyfriend, Zach Henson greets her, curious as to why. She lies to him. Then during a conversation with Nyla she talks about lying and Nyla suggests they use "Find My Device" to locate her laptop which is in her car.

At Springtime Meadows, Maddie sits in the basement reading when Wes comes down. She manages to convince him to sneak out with her to the drug store. Once there, they get to know each other and seem to be enjoying themselves, but this stops when Maddie sees a fridge full of alcohol and purchases some which irritates Wes. Maddie gets rid of it and apologises, but then they are interrupted by Craig who sits in his car watching them.

Craig isn’t happy with Maddie or Wes and Maddie begs him not to throw Wes out.
Craig acts like Maddie’s being kicked out, but gives into Wes and just lets her off with a warning. After Maddie leaves Craig reminds Wes about the no dating during the first year rule and reminds him about the favor that he’s owed, Wes seems adamant that Maddie deserves a second chance. Outside, Maddie and Vern talk and she confides in him that she can’t ride a bike, to which he seems shocked at. Then he comforts her.

The next day Maddie sits outside as Charlotte approaches, letting her know that they found her car and that there was a used condom wrapper. Maddie is shocked, by says nothing. Later on Trish finds Maddie crying in the bathroom because she thought she’d never had sex before, but now she can’t remember. Trish comforts her as she cries and confirms that if she did, it wasn’t with her boyfriend.

Then at the AA meeting Vern decides to introduce Maddie to his friend who’s been sober for twelve years, Maddie is shocked to find that his friend is Cynthia. Whilst confronting her a few moments later she accidentally admits that she’s an addict.

Charlotte calls Cynthia to show her the drink and drugs she found in Maddie’s room. She blames herself and feels guilty, then she asks Cynthia to never tell Maddie that she asked her to search her locker.

At Springtime Meadows Trish and Maddie sit talking as Rebecca watches. Then Doug enters, and he’s high. He grabs Rebecca and makes a scene of trying to persuade her to go party with him. Craig tries to get him to let her go but Doug only reacts angrily, smashing the vase he made them for his leaving gift. It takes Vern and Wes to jump Doug to get him to stop. Trish calls the police as the rest of the girls, including Maddie comfort Rebecca.
As Doug is put into the police car the other residents feel awful. Cynthia and Charlotte approach Maddie, worried about her and suggest moving her to a teen treatment center. She quickly refuses and claims that this is where she needs to be.

Trish suprises Maddie with a bike as her and the majority of the Springtime Meadows residents try to teach her how to ride a bike. Rebecca is shown glaring from inside.
Charlotte throws away all the drink and drugs Maddie had been hiding and Cynthia resists the temptation of the bottle of alcohol in her desk drawer.

Maddie rides the bike down the front path as the others watch and cheer. Then she is sat on the balcony of the house writing in her journal as she thinks about everything that’s happened.

## Notes

* In the original pilot pitched to the network Maddie Graham was played by Samantha Logan.
* Similarly, the role of Craig Weiner was also recast to David Witts
* Rebecca Granger did not feature in the original script, and was only mentioned, she was later added to the revised version.
* Originally Shake It Up's Caroline Sunshine was set to play the role of Emily (a character from the book), this role was written out of the final version for unknown reasons.
* Apparently the phrase 'Rebecca Glares' was used in the script 6 times.
* This was originally set to air in August 2015, but was pushed back to air with Abc Family's rebranded name Freeform.

## Title

* The title 'Blackout' refers to Maddie not remembering the night before and what happened. She 'blacked out'.

## Main Cast

* Jessica Sula as Maddie Graham
* Sebastian de Souza as Wes Stewart
* Daniel Franzese as Vern Testaverde
* Kyla Pratt as Trish Tomlinson
* Sharon Leal as Charlotte Graham
* Alexis Carra as Cynthia Molina
* David Witts as Craig Weiner

### Recurring Cast

* Lindsay Pearce as Rebecca Granger
* Meg DeLacy as Nyla
* Keith Powers as Zach Henson
* Paula Jai Parker as Margarita Jean-Baptise
* Emma Fassler as Laurel

### Guest Cast

* Jerod Meagher as Doug McKewn
* Tatum Shank as Jamie Graham
* Clay Black as Jasper (uncredited)
* Missy Doty as Counselor

## Featured Music

* "Savvy Kids" by **Sweet Bump It** (Maddie in detox)

* "Hold the Line" by **Jack and Eliza** (Maddie reads in the basement and talks to Wes)

* "Control" by **Olympic Ayres** (Maddie tells Wes about wanting to be a mortician)

* "Everything's Changing" by **The Kin** (Final montage as they teach Maddie how to ride a bike)

* "My Time" by **Scure** (Opening Theme)

## Gallery

### Promotional & BTS

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