S2E25: “Out of the Past”

Hello and welcome to the JEMcast on Hologram Radio. This is Alex Knight and I am joined by Aleen Simms, founder of the Less than or Equal podcast, and science fiction writer, K. Tempest Bradford.

Synopsis: In Season 2, episode 25: ‘Out of the Past,’ “The Holograms find Emmett Benton’s old diary. Reading it, they are reminded about how they first met, the origin of Starlight Music and how Synergy came into existence. They also discover that Jacqui Benton, Jerrica’s and Kimber’s mother, recorded a master tape of her concert in the ’70s before dying in a plane crash. But when Eric Raymond turns out to have the only copy of the tape, he asks for a million dollars in return or to have controlling interests over Starlight Music.”

Stay tuned for an action packed episode.

Episode 51 (S2E25) is written by Michael Charles Hill.

We open with the Holograms cleaning out the attic at Starlight Mansion. Jerrica finds an old chest with hundreds of sheets of music, written by their mother, Jacqui. Jerrica and Kimber also discover their father’s diary. Jerrica finds a chapter where Emmett Benton describes a young 10 year old Jerrica, who takes an interest in Rio, a boy who recently moved in next door. Emmett describes Rio as having a “keen mind” and being a “natural technician.” In a flash back, we see Kimber pulling Jerrica’s arm, demanding they play dolls. Their mother, Jacqui, calls Jerrica in to set the table for 5, because Rio is joining them for dinner. Jerrica reads another chapter about Aja’s arrival to Starlight Mansion. At first, Kimber seems jealous that another foster girl is going to live with them. Jacqui explains to Kimber and Jerrica that she too was once a foster girl and was shuttled from place to place, without having a place to call her own. Never able to share the love of a family. Now she has a family of her own and has a chance to make other foster girls feel loved.

In another chapter, Emmett writes about how Jacqui decided to star her own music career, so he also decides to start a record company–Starlight Music, and also Starlight Foundation, which will receive some of the profits from the record company to support it.

Emmett goes on to write about Shana’s arrival and how she seems to be isolated and alone. Jerrica tries to get Rio’s attention, but she’s not the tom boy that Aja is and wished that she would spend time making Shana feel welcome. Young Jerrica asks her mother how she can make Rio pay attention to her. Her mother tells her to stop chasing Rio and pay more attention to Shana. Jerrica explains that Shana never says anything, but her wise mother tells her that perhaps she never stopped to listen.

Jacqui plays a successful solo performance and Emmett goes on about how he tested his new equipment at the concert. At an early age, Rio had a proclivity towards audio engineering and mentions something about master tapes of Jacqui’s performance. Shana comes up with an idea to release a commemorative album of Jacqui’s work from the original master tapes. Jerrica decides this is a wonderful idea and thinks Lin-Z would love to have an exclusive preview of the music on her show.

On the Lin-Z show, Jem and the Holograms perform a Jacqui Benton song.

Jem and the Holograms music video (written by Jacqui Benton): “First Love.”

At Starlight Music, Jem and the Holograms are searching for the master tapes, but have come up with nothing. They decide to search Emmett’s diary for a clue of what happened to the tapes. We hear several diary entries, one about how Jacqui officiated over a friendship pact in a treehouse between Jerrica, Kimber, Shana, and Aja. In another entry, Emmett describes how Jerrica continues to have a difficult time adjusting to her mother’s growing absences as she travels the world to perform. Before boardin…