6teen/Waiting to Ex-Sale

Waiting to Ex-Sale
Season 2, Episode 14
Airdate	January 8, 2006
Written by
Directed by
← 2x13 Midnight Madness	2x15 → The Hunted
6teen — Season Two

Waiting to Ex-Sale is the fourteenth episode of the second season of 6teen, and the fortieth episode overall.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

Caitlin and Jen arrive at The Galleria at 6:30 a.m., hoping to be the first ones in line for a sale at Albatross & Finch, advertised by the store (according to Caitlin) as its first-ever "once in a lifetime" sale. The girls are disappointed, however, when they arrive at A&F and discover that there is already a lineup outside, waiting for the store to open at 10—doubly so for Caitlin when she sees her rival, Tricia, in the lineup. The disappointment vanishes when Caitlin and Jen spot two boys also waiting at the back of the line and they introduce themselves to the boys, Tad and Owen. Caitlin and Tad click almost immediately and they form a relationship, which does not escape Tricia's notice.

A blood donation drive sets up shop in a clinic tent at the mall, and most of the gang each donate—except for Jonesy, who is afraid to do so because of a fear of needles. When he gets teased about it by Nikki, Jonesy sucks up his fear and heads to the blood donor tent, only to turn pale, chicken out again and run off the moment he sees the clinic nurse prepare a needle. Jude, on the other hand, has no problem with donating—broke and feeling hungry, he comes up with an idea to scam some of the free donuts the clinic gives out for each pint of blood donated by continually returning to the tent to donate in different disguises to fool the nurse. To try to save face with Nikki and avoid having to donate blood himself, Jonesy begs Jude to give him one of the stickers that the clinic also gives to donors, but Jude refuses.

To the delight of The Clones, a shipment of Puntacana rubber flip-flop sandals arrives at the Khaki Barn for a sale, and Nikki is under orders to wear a pair of the sandals for the duration of the sale as Kirsten claims that Chrissy has given her permission to fire Nikki if she refuses. To avoid the mob of customers arriving for the flip-flops, Nikki sneaks away to a stall in the change room, where she makes a phone call to Caitlin asking if she still wants to get the pair of flip-flops she put on layaway. When asked by Nikki why she wants the flip-flops, Caitlin tells her that the sandals are "guaranteed" never to give the wearer blisters—a guarantee Nikki later discovers to be false advertising as walking around the mall wearing the flip-flops starts taking a toll on her feet.

Back at the Albatross & Finch sale lineup, Caitlin and Tad are rapidly progressing through all the stages of a romantic relationship, and Caitlin takes exception when she notices Tad watching a cute girl walk past the store, while Tricia draws the ire of everyone in the lineup behind her when she calls her friends Mandy and Gwen to come join her in the lineup, once again demonstrating her lack of concern for anyone who isn't her after Jen accuses Tricia of allowing her friends to butt into the line. After they argue, Tad tells Caitlin that they should break up, and Jen shoots him a dirty look as she comforts an upset Caitlin.

Jonesy still has not donated blood and is still unable to convince Jude to give him a sticker from the collection he has massed, while Jude, just arriving at the food court, is feeling the effects of repeatedly donating blood during the day as everyone he sees looks fuzzy to him, drawing the concern of his friends. Meanwhile, Nikki is in pain and nursing her right foot as the flip-flops she has worn all day have caused her feet to blister and eventually bleed. When Jonesy gets grossed out as he sees a drop of blood fall from Nikki's foot onto the table, Nikki clues in and realizes that it's not needles Jonesy is afraid of, it's blood. Nikki teases Jonesy by waving her battered right foot in his face until he finally caves in and admits that he is afraid of blood, and he tells of a traumatic experience he had with a nosebleed when he was younger.

Nikki and Wyatt take Jude back to the blood donor clinic, and Jonesy finally faces his fear and, going to the tent with his friends to support Jude, he finally donates a pint—but not before passing out. Jonesy later comes to, and Jude is up and about again after Nikki tells the nurse about Jude being allowed to donate blood 17 times that day. When the nurse discovers the scam, she decides to save face by allowing Jude to have a box of donuts if he doesn't say anything about his repeated donations while in disguise. Moments later, a girl comes up to Nikki and, spotting the flip-flops she is still wearing, offers to buy them from her, not caring that Nikki's blood is still on the sandals. Nikki gives the girl the flip-flops for free, saying that nothing is worth wearing them and she doesn't care if she gets fired from the Khaki Barn for it.

Caitlin and Jen have finally made it into Albatross & Finch and have the items they want, and they head for the change rooms when they run into Tad and Owen inside. Caitlin and Tad have an awkward-but-pleasant conversation and they part on good terms, and Caitlin thanks Jen for being supportive of her as they hug.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• The nurse at the blood donation tent later returns in the two-part Season Four premiere, "Labour Day", as a maternity ward doctor who takes away Caitlin's cell phone when Caitlin continually breaks a rule prohibiting cell phone use inside the hospital where Jen's mother is about to have her baby

Referbacks

• Several of the disguises Jude is seen in while at the blood donor clinic have been worn by him in previous episodes:

• Señor Rodriguez ("The Sushi Connection")
• Judy ("Mr. Nice Guy")
• Officer Lizowski ("Boo, Dude")
• Swami Jude ("The Swami")

Trivia

Allusions and References

• The episode's title is a reference to the 1995 Whitney Houston film Waiting to Exhale
• Jude mentions that he has donated blood 17 times during the episode, but that is not possible to do in real life because the adult human body, on average, contains only ten pints of blood

Memorable Moments

• Jonesy hitting on a girl at the blood donor tent—only to discover that the girl is Jude in disguise
• Jude showing up at the food court in his swami costume, weakened from repeated blood donations
• Nikki waving her bloody right foot in Jonesy's face to tease him and make him admit to his fear

Quotes

• Jonesy (hitting on who he thinks is a girl): Hey, hottie! (Jude turns around)
  Jonesy (freaking out): AAHHH! Jude, what are you doing?
  Jude: Ha-ha, you called me a hottie!

• Caitlin (to Tad): What was that?
  Tad: What was what?
  Caitlin (indignant): I saw you! You were staring at that girl!
  Tad (defensively): No, I wasn't.
  Caitlin: Yes, you were! She was walking by, and you were staring at her!
  Girl in lineup: I saw the whole thing. You were staring at her.
  Caitlin: See? The girl with the big head saw the whole thing!

• Nikki (teasing): Hey Jonesy, still stickerless, I see?
  Jonesy (returning the favor): Hey Nikki, still crusty, I see? (pertaining to her blistered foot)
  Nikki: (blows a raspberry at Jonesy)

• Nikki (to Jonesy, after she hears he tried to get a blood donor sticker from Jude without donating): You're scared of needles, aren't you?
  Jonesy (in denial): No I'm not!
  Nikki: That's it! You're a chicken.
  Jonesy (as Wyatt laughs): I don't have to prove anything to you!
  Nikki: Chicken! (starts imitating a chicken to tease Jonesy, then cringes when her right foot hits the floor) Ow! Ah! Ow, my stupid feet! Oh! (sits down and raises her foot, and a drop of blood spurts from it and falls to the table)
  Jonesy (freaking out): YOU'RE BLEEDING! Your feet are bleeding! (starts to retch)
  Nikki (grimacing): No, I hate these flip-flops! (watching Jonesy gagging, the truth dawns on Nikki): Ohh, so that's it! You're not afraid of needles...you're scared of blood.
  Jonesy (nearly hyperventilating): No, I'm not!
  Nikki (teasing): Oh, well then, look at my foot, Jonesy! (holds up her leg and waves her foot in Jonesy's face) C'mon! If you're not scared of blood, it shouldn't be a problem! (Jonesy tries not to look, but Nikki still taunts him) Look at my bleeding, bloody foot!