Telephone line.

Titles song: Telephone line by ELO

Family life becomes unbearable, with Mary depressed and seemingly suicidal. Kevin spends time at home in his bedroom on the landline, getting close to Debbie. They start hanging out after school.

Kevin slowly warms up to performing and singing and gets pushed onstage into a solo singing role by April, a young music teacher, who has taken him under her wing and become a confidant. He comes out to her, despite the risks. He warns her not to tell anyone, pointing out that he’s living in a fishbowl, between the church and this tiny town. “Everybody knows everything. I’d get massacred.” he answers.

April calls parents asking permission to take Kevin on a weekend trip. She and her boyfriend take him to the beach and he’s exposed to a slice of bohemian adult life, including smoking pot, sing-alongs and foreign movies.  

Rev. Jones, guilt-ridden, surprises Kevin with a very used wreck of a car, giving him more freedom to be on his own. Kevin starts driving to school, and to nearby towns and Portland to cruise and escape.

The singing group travels to a competition and Clint signs up to bunk with Kevin in a trailer, which makes him extremely nervous. On the trip, he begins to join in with the fun with the group, realizing he might be safe. Despite Kevin trying to keep his guard up, Clint begins to warm up to him, causing confusion…Is he really likeable?

After school one day, Kevin encounters a visiting gymnastics coach in the hallway, who cruises him hard. Conflicted about bringing his secret life closer to home, Kevin nonetheless begins an after-school fling with this man, who lives in a larger town nearby, coordinating clandestine meet-ups over pay phones.

Closing song: Telephone line by Ingrid Michaelson

EPISODE 02 SOUNDTRACK