Shows focusing on college years are pretty hard to find, which is part of what made Greek so unique and special. Not many shows can even successfully pull off a transition to the college years. In fact, many purposely skip over them (One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars). Greek was truly one-of-a-kind and so much fun to watch.
Like most great shows, Greek’s strength was the chemistry of it’s cast. Every character brought something different to the show and their relationships are what helped make Greek so special. Whether these relationships were family, friendships, or romantic they were all so well developed and evolved continuously throughout the series. Some of my favorite relationships, which were displayed during this episode, were Cappie and Casey (who are iconic to me), Rebecca and Casey (I love the evolution of their friendship from enemies to frenemies, and finally friends), similarly, Evan and Cappie’s friendship evolved a lot over the years. I also always had a soft spot for Rusty and Casey’s sibling relationship, which I thought was so well done and it was really beautiful to see them care so much for each other week after week. Every relationship on the show went through a million ups and downs but no matter what, it was always entertaining to watch!
This particular episode, The Wish Pretzel, revolves around Thanksgiving break. While most of the campus is headed home to be with family, most of the main cast is staying behind, either by choice or after being left to make their own plans. Rusty and Dale are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at their apartment but it quickly gets sidetracked when they both are competing for the same engineering grant. This causes a rift in their friendship and creates competition between them. Meanwhile, Casey and Rebecca are the only ones staying behind in the ZBZ house. One of the most fun parts of this episode was their banter and helping each other through their fear of being in the house alone. They even had a sleepover the first night. Meanwhile, Cappie and Evan are a part of their secret organization, and Evan is pressuring Cappie to let go of some of his Kappa Tau traditions and spend time with him. They end up making plans which fall through but thankfully there was no harm done to their tentatively rekindled friendship.
Due to Rusty and Dale’s competition working its way into the kitchen, dinner gets canceled and Casey, Rebecca, and Evan decide to host a dinner at the ZBZ house. Afterwards, they all get together at the Kappa Tau house where they gather around a table of snack food. Plus, it turns out the turkey they spent most of the episode searching for, is actually just alcohol so when the time comes for Rusty and Casey’s wishbone tradition they have to improvise with a pretzel instead. When Casey leaves, Cappie offers to walk her home and what follows is one of the most iconic scenes of their relationship. Cappie finally comes to his senses and says he wants to be with Casey, as they stand on the steps inside the ZBZ house. It’s very romantic and one of my favorite moments between them.
This episode in particular had a great message with Rusty’s regenerating wire project providing a great metaphor for a lot of the relationships and characters on the show. In fact, it’s part of what inspires Cappie to share his feelings for Casey. Rusty explains his project saying, “It involves this wire, that heals itself. This wire could get cut, but it just keeps growing back. It could get cut over, and over again and it just keeps growing right back. It does not give up.” This really gets Cappie thinking but it’s also just really inspirational in and of itself.
Overall, Greek was always a fun show to watch, with a lot of heart and great characters. Although it’s been off the air for years, it’s always fun to rewatch some classic episodes and experience it all over again. Thankfully all episodes are still available on Freeform’s website!
What did you love most about Greek? Who were your favorite characters? What are your favorite episodes? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
