Is it a movie, or is it a T.V. Show?
While it's technically a movie, the "Silver Spring Show" borrows from the television genre by structuring itself into three acts. What makes this so special is that these three acts have their beginning, middle, and end; and have the vibe of a self-contained episode. Altogether, we get a three-episode complete first season.
The movie (or show) starts by parodying the '90s T.V. Series Cops. Here we meet Malkie, riding along with the local police to write up her school assignment.
After this introduction, we start the story by meeting Mason Rosenbloom, Malkie's cousin. Mason, a 15-year-old Jewish Canadian teenager who just landed in D.C.
We jump into the first act as a Sitcom.
Mason never grew up religious, and as he has been desperate for a change, he decides to board with his uncle Yossi and attend the Yeshiva of Silver Spring.
Mason is a good, well-rounded individual that wants to do the right thing. However, he never had friends before and wants a new beginning here. So while Mason gets acquainted with his uncle, who owns the Kosher Pizzeria, Malkie returns from her ride-along.
At the same time, our focus shifts to Motti, the brother of Malkie. He's also Mason's cousin. Motti is currently hanging out in a basement with his friends, watching SNL. Although Motti comes from the same religious home as his sister, Motti is what we like to call "off the derech," or, in secular terms, a wayward son.
Motti with his friends discuss their plans for an upcoming party in the basement. Motti has an endless supply of delta 9 gummies but, ironically, can't get his hands on any alcohol. So here, these lame and dorky "cool kids" brainstorm how they can find alcohol underage. Finally, they develop a few ideas and designate Motti as the buyer.
Later that evening, Motti and Mason meet up, and we see Mason is rooming with Motti.
— ok, ok, ok, so at this point, I'm just going on scene by scene. Did you want to read the script?
Anyway, to make a somewhat medium movie shorter, what happens next is that we begin our story. Mason starts Yeshiva, Malkie continues her police ride along, and Motti goes on a hunt for alcohol. Sure, it sounds boring, right?
On his hunt for Alcohol, Motti finds himself buying from an undercover cop, and he's arrested, naturally.
Mason begins school and finds himself with some very incriminating information. The guys created a secret WI-FI in the yeshiva.
For the first time, Mason finds himself in a place that accepts him for his social awkwardness. But like in any other school, there still are bullies. Later that night, Mason is eating in his uncle's kosher pizzeria. Everyone is talking about how Tziporah might get a new job with the government if the government shutdown doesn't occur as planned. After an excellent talk, Mason receives a call from an unknown number. It turns out that it's Motti needing bail.
Bail is somehow set, and we jump into the next day.
Mason arrives at school in Motti's small blue car while everyone is waiting on assignments for the school Labor Day field trip. Unfortunately, Mason's new group he is finding himself belong to "uses" him to ditch the trip and play hooky with the car.
Motti, on the other hand, finds himself needing to start a rehab program for parole. So, without a car, he uses the pizza truck to quickly drive Malkie to the police station for her ride along and to a shady-looking hospital with the rehab program.
Meanwhile, Mason, out on the road with Noam and Yoni, finds a movie theater to waste two hours watching.
In the meantime, Motti meets a girl he likes at the rehab group, but he needs to duck out early to deliver pizza. However, he really does not want to. He thinks he is sly leaving, but they notice and mark him down incomplete.
Back at the theater, the guys see the county fair is ending soon and make their way there.
While all this is happening, are you wondering what's happening with Yossi, Mason's uncle? Well, he's delivering pizzas to people and running his store. He's a bit annoyed because he needs to deliver a massive order to the Air Force memorial. Traffic is just awful at that time of day.
Mason and the guys get to the county fair and bump into the bullies. Josh, who tends to pick on people, but comes from a background where he's been a victim of abuse, leaves the group and joins the Baltimorons.
At this point, the fun and games start for a bit. We see the guys at the fair, and everything is fun! The guys do get bored, though, and look for other stuff.
Around this time, Motti delivers pizza to an angry customer and then swings home. He doesn't know that Malkie and the policewoman are on the hunt for parole violators. They get the address to the Rosenbloom's house, and everyone there ends up being arrested. There's a good reason, but you'll need to watch the movie…
Strangely enough, around the same time, Yossi gets arrested. I know what you are thinking — that could never happen. But it's a sitcom cartoon; there have been stranger things. Anyway, Yossie (AKA Joe) starts showing off his Tablet to the group leader of the order he was delivering to. A cop told him he couldn't take photos (he was at the Pentagon). Then, unfortunately, an A.R. app that made it look like he was targeting the Pentagon with missiles opened up. Yeah, that happened!
Back at the county fair (remember we were having a good time there), the guys see their Rabbi. While running away, they bump into one thing, then another, and as soon as you know it, the Ferris wheel gets knocked off its axis.
Soon, as you would expect, they are being chased by a rent-a-cop. Trying to escape, the guys board a bus going to New Jersey.
Back in jail, Motti, Malkie, and Tzipporah are reunited with Joe. They are still locked away, but at least they're together in the cell.
Back on the bus, the guys pull the cord and get dropped off in the middle of nowhere, woodland USA.
Once off the bus, they have no choice but to follow the train tracks. The whole thing is very "Stand by Me." After telling not-so-scary stories by a campfire, they trail off, wondering what's going on at home.
The clock strikes midnight at the jail cell, and the government shutdown begins. They're now free. It's a Labor Day miracle!
Back in the woods, the guys are seen in old VHS-like footage and are unresponsive, standing inside an abandoned cabin. This scene gives off a Blair Witch vibe. (Did you know The Blair Witch Project was created around Silver Spring?)
End of episode one.
Episode two starts off like a single-camera show, more specifically resembling the T.V. show "Lost." The same kind of music and color grading is shown.
We fade into a full-screen eye, yes, eye as in eyeball. It's shut and pops right open. Next, we hear screaming and notice that we're on a beach with a plane wreck on shore. We quickly learn only Josh, Yoni, and Noam are there. What's Josh doing here? Not sure, but they're looking for Mason and believe he may be dead.
Because we're kind of making fun of Lost, guess what? That's right, we get a flashback!
We flashback to a plane in the sky. Mason is here this time, and the guys fight back, shove the Hungarian terrorists into the cockpit, and fly out with parachutes. Fun times!
Back to the beach. (By the way, it's one of those northern ones, no palm trees here.) The guys walk along, and we see a montage and all. Then after spending a night, they see a lighthouse. It's one of those lighthouse/house combos where the light is on the house. While walking towards it, they hear Mason. They meet up with Mason. Then they break down the door and have shelter.
Next, we see that they're in an airport hangar and are being tortured. Then, we learn they're going to fly Martyr themselves into Rockefeller plaza and use the guys as human shields. They're mad at Stephen Colbert for the bridge naming contest he had in their home country of Hungary. Finally, they say they must get ahead of the storm (Sandy).
Back at the lighthouse, the guys hunt for food. Josh and Mason fight a little bit (Josh really hates Canadians), and then they get ready for the Sabbath. They find food, fish, and other things (Kosher/non-Kosher), and it starts to rain.
Apparently, the lighthouse was a type of Tavern for sailors, so they made kiddish (the ceremonial welcome of Shabbat) on whisky. They get pissed drunk and bond a bit. Then, it starts snowing really heavily. If you remember, back in 2012, there was hurricane Sandy. Well, it went up north and dumped a lot of snow here.
Back to another flashback: They guys are in a closet, and we find Josh; it looks like he was looking for his Tablet and followed the GPS.
Annnnnd back to Shabbat morning: snow is everywhere. It's so white that even Ted Cruz was getting worried. Well, the snow's finally stopping, so that's good.
Josh and Mason wake up together and seem alright as friends….maybe? The other guys are in the library, investigating the area more. Mason finds out that there's a generator in the basement and realizes they're able to create electricity to send out an SOS signal.
In another flashback, we see Josh, Mark, the bully, and a few other Baltimorons talking. Josh wants to get his Tablet back. We learn he's really techy and plans to search for it.
Mason takes a bath at the lighthouse, and Josh and Mason get into a big fight. Noam gets nasty food poisoning and runs out to the crapper. As Mason and Josh fight, a candle gets knocked over, and the entire lighthouse goes up into flames.
The last flashback for the episode goes back to Mason in the Rosh Yeshiva's (the headmaster) office. It's the same scene we had before, but we are seeing what happens before this. Here, we find out that Mason is both bipolar and autistic. But it made sense if you've been watching and knew what to look for. Regardless, we get a "you don't look autistic" reply, something familiar in the autistic community, and a "but your Asperger's, too?"
After the informative flashback, we're back outside the lighthouse. But, unfortunately, it's just soldering away. So yep, all is lost. But then we see two stars coming closer into the area. They are helicopters. We soon discover that the Canadians (whom Josh hates!) have found the boys from the SOS they used.
END OF EPISODE TWO
Well, that went just peachy.
It must have because we start the third episode back in the Rosenbloom's home. It's really just Mason alone. He comes home to find no one is there. (Motti is hiding in his room with his new G.F.). Turns out, everyone's at the airport welcoming Mason back. Still, he doesn't know and walks in to find that Grandpa (he never really had a name) has fallen down the stairs into the laundry room.
The next scene cuts to Grandpa's funeral service, and we jump into the show intro. The show's intro is a parody of The Office (the U.S. version). The Office is appropriate as episode three uses the mockumentary style for storytelling.
Back from the funeral, the family sits in the pizzeria, reminiscing about current events.
Next, we have the shiva house. Here, we find out that Josh and Mark are brothers. Ouch!
While the adults are praying, Mason, Yoni, Noam, Josh, Mark, and even Motti, hang out in Mason's new bedroom. Was it Grandpa's room? We will never know. Anyway, it's a big room with a couch, so that's cool.
A lot happens here, so pay attention. First off, Mark is making fun of everyone. Next, the guys are playing with a gun they found in the lighthouse (before I forget, they found an old pistol in the lighthouse), and everyone has had their prints on it at some time, except Josh. If you pay attention, you'll notice he never really touched it. Finally, Mason, on his laptop, sees that his mom posted on his F.B. account and forgets his password. He resets it, looking at the license plates on the wall, and we see that both Mark and Josh notice this.
To make a long story treatment short, Josh uses this information to frame Mason for framing Mark. Confusing, right? Well, it plays out well in real life. We also see Malkie find a new story to write as she's teamed up with Jackie, an annoying redhead from the Deep South. (But we love her!) They are investigating a new news story, and things turn south.
In the meantime, Yossie finally dares to ask Tziporrah to marry him, and she says no (sorry, spoiler alert here, but that's why you're reading, right?).
Remember the girl that was with Motti? Well, her name is Kittipong, and things are getting serious. They're both in Drug Anonymous (not affiliated with N.A.) and getting clean together. Except, it's a bit harder for Motti, and that causes a little friction.
But the big story is the fact that Mason is being framed. Remember? How can you forget? That's big news!
They're caught in the middle of a color war, and the guys thought it would be cool to do a senior prank on the seniors. So they trash the senior lounge, and that's when Josh has Mason plant evidence without him knowing — a book bag with a gun. On top of that, Mark threatens the school using Mason's computer login.
The next day, Mark is arrested, and later, Mason.
It isn't until a little later that we find out it was Josh. Mason is hit hard by this, gets drunk, and tries to kill himself, side point.
All is lost again, I suppose. Also, Josh is arrested, and some other stuff wraps the story up.
Sooo, I'm leaving a bit out for the ending. Here is where I tell you to read the script/watch the movie if you want an in-depth look into The Silver Spring Show! Yes, go ahead. Read the script and watch the film when it comes out:)