Rating:
10/10 by 1 users
The Pencil Assassin
Pod 4 is nominated for "Pod of the Month" by their teacher. Amelia is extremely jealous because her pod is normally "Pod of the Month", and she tries to jeopardize their chances by turning them against each other. Doing so, she finds Birch's drawings about the other members of her pod (titled "Pod Life"). The drawings consisted of Sandra, Liam and Raffi looking like terrible people. Amelia asks to get the pictures published on the school newspaper, causing pod 4 to turn against Birch.
Writing:
- Cindy Filipenko
- Svetlana Chmakova
- JC Little
Release Date:
Mon, Sep 05, 2011
Country: CA | FR
Language: En
Runtime: 11
Country: CA | FR
Language: En
Runtime: 11
Sara Camacho
Birch Small (Voice)
Mark Hauser
Liam Coll (Voice)
Stéfanie Buxton
Sandra le Blanc (Voice)
Justin Bradley
Raffi Rodriguez (Voice)
Season 1:
Sandra is feeling low, so when pod 4 discovers that their teacher is going to give them a test, and take the average score of each pod, Birch and Liam take action. To raise Sandra's spirits, so she is able to study, they pretend to be her secret admirer, sending her love poems over text. Meanwhile, Raffi gets suspicious, and believes that someone is messing with her. So not only does Liam and Birch have to hide their secret from Sandra, but Raffi as well.
Sandra decides to enter pod 4 for a game show to become famous, and get sponsors for her skateboarding career. No one except for Birch is taking it seriously. Will they pull together in the end, or fall defeatedly?
Raffi wins an art award, and Birch gets extremely jealous. She believes that Raffi used her for her artistic skill in order to win it. Meanwhile, Liam and Sandra are looking through the different steps Birch is facing (denial, anger, etc.). Sandra, however, is waiting for Birch explode with rage for her own entertainment.
Pod 4 is nominated for "Pod of the Month" by their teacher. Amelia is extremely jealous because her pod is normally "Pod of the Month", and she tries to jeopardize their chances by turning them against each other. Doing so, she finds Birch's drawings about the other members of her pod (titled "Pod Life"). The drawings consisted of Sandra, Liam and Raffi looking like terrible people. Amelia asks to get the pictures published on the school newspaper, causing pod 4 to turn against Birch.
Liam has a crush on a girl, but seems to get nauseous whenever he talks to her. The rest of the pod works together to change Liam into someone she'd be interested in.
Sandra joins the cheerleaders to destroy them from the inside. She pretends to be one of them, but as far as Birch and Liam knows, she wants to. Feeling both betrayed by, and worried for Sandra, they work together to get her "lost" sanity back.
When sent to photocopy papers, Raffi finds test answers in the photocopy machine. He tries to tell the other pod members, but they don't listen. With all except Raffi nervous about the test, they decide to cheat. Birch looks at Liam's answers, who looks at Sandra's, who looks at Raffi's.
Birch finds a book about her daily horoscope, and believes in it's powers. She soon becomes obsessed with it, and does crazy things (including standing up her friends when they need her most). The rest of the pod tries to get her to stop and come back to reality.
Liam is hiding a box with something inside. Due to birch's curiosity, she can't help but to find out. Birch starts to sneak around, and so the newspaper editor who wants the latest scoop. She manages to get Raffi and Sandra curious about what is in the box, so they help her.
Birch stays in Paris for a couple of days, and asks Liam to look after her cat Neko for her. Liam leaves the door open, and ends up losing him. He now needs to find the cat before Birch comes home with the help of Sandra and Raffi (due to blackmailing).
The pod has a project to raise money for a charity. The first idea was to raffle off tickets to spend a "comic day" with Liam. Since all the girls at the school like Raffi a lot better, Sandra and Birch decide to make a rafting date with Raffi the first place prize, and the comic day with Liam, second. Their school has a strict "no gambling" rule, so they all have to sneak around to sell the tickets. Furious, Liam decides to help the Principal with busting his pod for breaking the rules.
Birch finds a secret admirer note in her backpack. Desperate, she tries to hunt down who it could be. Raffi drops many hints, through Birch's eyes, and may be her secret admirer.
Pod 4 is sent to detention and get stuck in the school and there is a rumor that a crazy janitor roams the school on Friday the 13th for revenge.
All of Pod 4 are sent on a scavenger hunt by Mr Turner. Liam, of all people, is chosen as the leader of Pod 4. With his over-preparations, he unnecessarily holds up his team, thus ensuring that the other Pods are miles ahead. So it looks like Liam and his squad are going to lose. But then Pod 4 catches up in leaps and bounds. Will it still be enough to win?
Birch pretends to be a vegetarian after finding out that Raffi is one. Sandra however, will do everything in her power to get Birch to eat meat, and reveal herself as a fake.
Liam and Ricki are at odds. Both Birch and the Pod's current project work suffer as a result. Sandra wants to attempt a jump over three classmates with her skateboard, but no one wants to join in. As there is no sign of improvement in the quarrel between Liam and Ricki, Birch and Sandra stage their own quarrel to bring the boys back to their senses. Is their plan working?
Wanting to be as cool as Raffi, Liam begs Birch to make a super-hero manga about him. In return, he has to get her a pass to the manga convention so she can meet her favorite manga artist. In order to get the ticket, Liam has to purchase from Sandra.
Ricki joins Amelia's band and neglects his Pod. Birch wants to reprimand him, but instead joins the band herself. The friends from Pod 4 fall out and do everything they can to get back at each other. When Birch writes a disparaging song about Liam and Sandra, it becomes too much for Ricki. He leaves the band. Birch now has to decide what is more important to her. Her Pod or the band.
Liam finds a magazine with an article about how girls give off signs when they like somebody. Sandra and Birch don't like the idea of reducing girls to a bunch of symbols, and manage to get the other girls on board. Liam teaches guys how to understand these symbols, and becomes the "love guru". At the end of the episode, Raffi may have realized that Birch likes him.
Birch runs for class president and wants to make an art museum in the school. But she finds out that Liam is also running for class president. And the two begin to compete against each other.
Ricki is behaving strangely and neglecting the rest of Pod 4. Birch is very worried and fears that Ricki is hanging out with the wrong people and going off the rails. However, when Birch, Liam and Sandra go to his aid in what they think is a fight, something completely unexpected happens.
Pod 4 becomes extremely annoyed at Liam's hyperactivity and tried to get him to calm down. However this conflicts with the announcement of a manga drawing contest, with the prize as a trip to Tokyo. Birch tries to Get Liam to come out of his self- (and pod) imposed meditation retreat so that he can be her partner. The school reporter comes to some misconclusions about the event
Birch watches a documentary on alien abductions, and starts to believe that everyone at her school is an alien. She's also convinced that they are planning to abduct her, and replace her with an alien clone. Actually, they are concerned that she is homesick for her last school, and are planning a surprise for her.
After Raffi breaks his arm, Liam decides to be his replacement for soccer. But since he can't play very well, the team assign him as the school mascot.
The holidays are coming up. On the last day of school, Liam suggests that he, Birch, Ricki and Sandra exchange presents with each other. Who gives whom presents is decided by lot. All four pod members put a lot of thought and effort into their gifts. However, a mishap by Liam mixes up all the presents so that no one gets the right present for them. Or do they?
When Sandra falls from the rope and sprains her ankle in Gym class, Birch is assigned to take care of her.
Liam, Birch and Ricki are making a film for a film competition. When Sandra hears about the big prize money, she also wants to get on board. She tells the others that her uncle is a well-known director and jury member. Without further ado, the cast is changed and Sandra takes Birch's place as the female lead. Unfortunately, Sandra has no acting talent whatsoever. Now it is up to Birch alone to save the film.
Birch is too young to go to the museum, too young to see the scary movie and too small to get to the books on the top shelf. To prove to her friends that she is already as big and grown-up as they are, she takes responsibility for the joint project. Shortly before the deadline, she loses the original. When a fire breaks out, Birch has to show how big she is.
Sandra accidentally spills grape juice on Birch's comic and blames Liam. Birch punishes him harshly and makes him clean her room. But in the process, Liam finds out who the real culprit was and decides to take revenge on Birch and Sandra. With Ricki's help, he tells them a tall tale that is quite a tall tale.
Birch's mother's birthday is coming up, but Birch has already spent her savings on an expensive manga statue. To earn money, she takes a job as a kitchen assistant in the school canteen. At first, she does a good job and skillfully manages the kitchen. But when she is asked to take over the management of the canteen alone, things get out of hand.
The school is staging a musical called Teen Land. Pod 4 and the rest of the school tries out. Amelia is chosen as the lead, with Birch as her understudy. Zeke, a member of Amelia's pod, doesn't like the way she treats him and plots with Liam so that Birch can play the part. They lock her in the bathroom, but she pretends that there is a rat in the bathroom and when they come in to get it, she locks them in. But because Birch is doing so well, Mr. Towes blocks her from coming back. When the whole thing is over, Amelia is very angry with Zeke for helping Pod 4 and chases him through the night.
Birch and Amelia get into an argument over each other's pods, so Mr. Towes has them temporarily switch them. Amelia is with Sandra, Liam and Raffi, and so Birch is with Anna, Alexia and Zeke.
Raffi’s family’s apartment renovations forces him to make some hectic compromises when it comes to getting sleepovers Because of Raffi’s family’s apartment renovations he attempts to find a bearable sleepover companion amongst his friends.
Liam takes an unflattering photo of the caretaker with his mobile phone. The picture quickly spreads around the school. Headmaster Lemon then bans all electronic devices in the school and makes Liam the assistant caretaker as punishment. Liam turns to Birch for help. She promptly has an idea of how to beat Principal Lemon at her own game.
Birch, Liam, Sandra and Ricki want to go to a party dressed as Roman gods. But Birch is grounded. Rebelliously, she sneaks out of the house. On the way to the party, Birch loses her monthly pass and ends up in the middle of town without a cent. Now she has to find money with the help of her friends to get to the party after all.
Birch and Liam's manga comic is to be published in a magazine. When the publisher demands a few more changes to their manga, Birch refuses the offer. Egged on by Sandra, Liam nevertheless accepts the offer behind Birch's back. Birch is furious at first, but then enjoys the fame that the imminent publication brings. But then the comic strip appears.
Liam has called in sick for a few days. The school speculates about what he might have. The more they talk, the wilder the students' thoughts become. Finally, the whole school thinks that Liam has to undergo serious brain surgery. Instead of clearing up the misunderstanding, Liam enjoys the attention and pity. But only until Birch gets wise to him.
Liam wants a date. To go down better with the girls, he tries his hand at comedy. After all, women like men with a good sense of humor. His first performance is unfortunately a flop, but Ricki gives him a second chance. In his second performance, Liam concentrates on his strengths as a slapstick comedian. Will he be able to win over a girl with this?
Birch has lost her diary and is completely distraught. If anyone finds it, everyone will know about her crush on Ricki and many other unpleasant secrets. With the help of her pod, she tries to find the diary again. But then she is horrified to discover that it has ended up with Jason, the editor of the school newspaper, of all people.
Ricki collects bottle labels to win a prize at a collection event. Liam helps him. But he is not allowed to tell anyone. So he only hints at it to Birch. Birch is sure that Ricki is collecting because of her, because one of the prizes is a diamond necklace. She even helps Ricki collect it, but whether she is really the love of his life remains to be seen.
Luke is organising a skateboard race. Sandra wants to take part. But girls are not wanted. Sandra does not accept this. She succeeds and is admitted to the race. But suddenly Sandra no longer seems interested in taking part. Her friends find out that the race takes place on the hill where Sandra had a serious accident before. They encourage Sandra. Sandra remains undecided.
For his grandmother's sake, Ricki wants to take part in a table tennis tournament. To do this, he joins the school's table tennis team. Unfortunately, he is a failure at table tennis, which doesn't change even with hard training. To give the Cosmos High team a chance to win, Birch, Sandra and Liam try everything to keep Ricki away from the upcoming table tennis tournament.
It's the beginning of Spring and it seems like everyone at Cosmos High is coupling-up has come down with love sickness. Birch and Liam hope that Sandra and Raffi will make romantic advances towards them, but to their dismay, they start dating each other instead.
Sandra likes Tony. Since he likes to draw, Sandra claims she can do it too. In order not to blow the whistle, Sandra asks Birch to draw for Tony. He sees Birch drawing and thinks she is interested in him. Sandra is jealous, of course, until it turns out that Tony is not only flattering her and Birch, but several girls. Sandra and Birch plot revenge.
Liam is to babysit the notorious pain in the ass Bubba. Sandra has already been through this and bets that Liam will never get through babysitting without problems. To make sure she doesn't lose and have to go out with Liam, she sabotages his ventures as best she can. But little Bubba causes plenty of problems even without Sandra's influence.
Birch and her friends make a bet. For two days they have to give up all their bad habits. Liam must not be silly, Ricki must not be arrogant, Birch must not be know-it-all and Sandra must not be sarcastic or mean. Sandra, in particular, has a hard time, especially since the others try their hardest to freak her out. But Sandra stands up to all the provocations.
In order for Birch to get over her crushes and finally concentrate on her manga, Liam organises her a date with Ricki under false pretences. Unfortunately, suspicions arise shortly afterwards that Ricki and Birch might be related. To make sure before the date whether the two are really related, Liam asks Sandra for help. She is applying for a job in the city archives.
A series of talent competitions is coming up at Cosmos School. The class with the most winning participants wins a class trip. Unfortunately, Mr Turner's class is currently suffering from a severe cold. Now Ricki wants to represent all the sick students in their competitions in order to win the class trip. However, as more and more classmates fall ill, Super Ricki has to prove how good he really is.
The four friends of Pod 4 finish early and look forward to their free time. But Birch notices that they still have to finish an important project by the next day. So they arrange to meet at the library. But instead of arriving on time, everyone has something more important to do. So they only meet when the library has already closed. But what will become of their joint project?
Mr. Turner has disappeared and the class has Miss Tip, a new substitute teacher. Birch suspects a plot against Mr. Turner and starts a resistance movement against Miss Tip. Birch learns that Miss Tip is a good friend of Mr. Turner and is actually very nice. But the resistance movement is already so big that Birch can no longer stop it.
Birch and Sandra have started a petition to save the tench in the fish pond. They fight bitterly to collect the necessary 50 signatures first. When both have 49 signatures, only Ricki is left. He lets himself be waited on hand and foot by both girls for the promise of a signature. Meanwhile, Liam makes all his life decisions with the flip of a coin.
Someone frames Birch for drawing a picture of Lulu on school property in permanent marker. She along with Liam, Sandra and Raffi have to clear her name.
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