Mom, guess what turned 15?
Um, don’t tell me, I’m usually very good at this. Uh… Cream of Wheat? Circus of the Stars? Al Capone!
Mom, stop! You’re way off!
Again?
“Drake And Josh” turned 15! The show–on Nickelodeon!
Oh. Well, that’s different. Never mind!
Mom, I think your readers might like to discern the constitutional remedies of Josh (3rd from the left in picture below) and Drake (standing next to Josh, wearing a suit and tie).
The Parker-Nichols family on “Drake and Josh”. From left to right: Audrey Parker Nichols played by Nancy Sullivan, Megan Parker played by Miranda Cosgrove, Josh Nichols played by Josh Peck, Drake Parker played by Drake Bell and Walter Nichols played by Jonathan Goldstein.
Good idea, Shana, and I’ll tell you why. Maria actually wanted me to show other examples of a certain remedy–which I can’t mention until we get to the bottom because we got an email from an irate reader recently that said, “Stop telling the name of the remedy at the top of the article!!!!!” Okaaay…. So, hopefully we won’t be making that mistake again!
I can’t wait to find out what the remedies are! Drake and Josh are stepbrothers. Drake’s mother married Josh’s dad. This is one of my favorite shows, it really is funny. Anyway, if you would please try and explain the characters and other relevant information? (First though, I guess I should point out the episode we are going to watch is entitled “Josh Is Done”–originally aired February 11, 2007).
More trivia that no one cares about! OK, I’ll try to explain the characters, and the other thing you mentioned! Generally, the show goes like this: Josh is an A-student, plus he has a job at the movie theater; he’s a good boy, but nobody notices him due to his flamboyant stepbrother, Drake–who’s in a rock ‘n’ roll band and plays the guitar. He is constantly being pursued by girls. Music, girls and playing games, like ping pong, is pretty much all Drake is interested in. He’s a terrible student, has no sense of responsibility, and Josh usually winds up covering for him or picking up after him due to some major screw-up he’s caused! However, in this episode, Drake’s lack of consideration for his brother has finally hit a new low! Here is how the episode opens (they’re in separate rooms, talking to the audience. Josh is studying and Drake wants to play ping pong):
Josh: Oh man, Drake and I have this huge Chemistry test tomorrow morning!
Drake: Me and Josh have this insanely important Chemistry test tomorrow.
Josh: So I’ve been studying all night every night for a week!
Drake: So I’ve been playing lots of ping pong.
Josh: Our teacher, Mr. Roland, is really tough. I mean if you’re even one minute late to his class, he’s not gonna let– (phone rings) Hello? (It’s Drake)
Drake: Come upstairs and play ping pong with me.
Josh: No. Alright? I’m studying and you should be too.
Drake: So, ping pong?
Josh: No! (hangs up phone). Anyway, I’ve got a great way to remember the atomic weight of the elements. See, what I do… (phone rings again) Yeah, what? (it’s Drake)
Drake: Where are you?
Josh: Downstairs!
Drake: You said you were gonna come up and play ping pong.
Josh: I said no such thing!
Drake: So, what…? You coming up?
Josh: No, I’m studying!
Drake: Ok, I get first serve.
Josh: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I mean, I do pretty well in Chemistry, you know, but it’s not like my strongest subject. And this test tomorrow counts for a huge percentage of our grade and — WILL YOU QUIT CALLING ME?!
Drake: Ping pong time!
Josh: No!
Drake: Come On.
Josh: I get the good paddle?
Drake: You get the bad one.
Josh: Be right up.
So, here’s what happens. Drake and Josh are playing ping pong in their room before school (before the big chemistry test) and Josh accidentally throws the ping pong paddle at the window and breaks it. Drake leaves to find another paddle when the phone rings. Drake picks it up; it’s “Kat”, a girl in his chemistry class who wants to “make-out” before school. Drake hops in the car and leaves without a word! Josh is still waiting upstairs for Drake to return with a ping pong paddle.
Finally, Josh goes downstairs to find out what’s keeping Drake. His sister, Megan, informs him that Drake has already left for school. Josh is incredulous. “No way! How could he leave me stranded here? I’ll just take my bike.” “No you won’t,” says Megan. “Drake ran over it last night with the car.”
Well, Josh in now in a panic! He’s forced to run all the way to school! He’s out of breath as he bursts into the classroom one minute late, and as we’ve established already, Mr. Roland won’t let you take the test if you’re late to class! Now Josh will have to take a make-up exam and will be docked a grade, meaning if he gets an A, it will be lowered to a B — and Josh is an A-student!
Josh is out of control! He lunges at Drake, furious and crying, but the teacher pulls them apart and tells Josh to leave. Josh is distraught, yelling, “If you’ll just let me explain!” and “I studied so hard!” Still, Mr. Roland does not let Josh take the test.
Next scene: Josh has gone quiet–the complete opposite of what he was when he was ejected from Chemistry class. He’s decided this is the last straw. Drake knows he’s in big trouble this time and has to apologize, so he steals a “sit-and-bounce” toy from the kid next door and presents it to Josh as a consolation present, knowing that Josh is furious at him.
Josh is sitting in the living room, quietly reading. Drake comes in, says he’s sorry, but Josh treats him like a stranger. “Come on,” Drake says. “I said I was sorry!”
“I’m done with you,” Josh says, “I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore.”
Drake says, “Are you gonna move out?”
“No,” Josh says, very matter-of-factly, “this is the house where I live. We’ll be room mates until I leave for college, but that’s all we’ll be–room mates.”
So now that Josh has stopped speaking to Drake, Drake’s life is falling apart. Josh always covered for him, made sure everything was running smoothly like an overly-protective parent: filled the car with gas, let Drake into the movies for free, woke him up every morning for school… now Drake is having to manage on his own, and he doesn’t know how!
Fast-forward to last scene: Drake arrives in Chemistry Lab with 3 seconds to spare. He goes to take his place next to Josh but Josh has asked for a new lab partner. Drake is reassigned to the class nerd! Mr. Roland says, “OK, class, start your experiments.” Needless to say, Drake doesn’t know what the experiment is! Josh always told him what to do in Chemistry Lab; like a mother hen, Josh did everything for him.
He asks his new lab partner what to do, but the class nerd speaks so unintelligibly, and besides, Mr. Roland says, “No talking!” So Drake mindlessly pours one beaker into another beaker, ultimately causing some sort of unintended volcanic over-flow, and Drake starts screaming because presumably he’s getting a chemical burn. Someone set the alarm off and Mr. Roland throws Drake into the “power shower” in the back of the classroom. Drake is screaming and crying.
When he comes out he’s soaking wet, starts to leave for the door but instead turns around and says tearfully and plaintively:
“Josh, I’m sorry! Let me finish, OK? I was wrong, OK? I was wrong! I need you more than you need me! I need you way more than you need me! Alright? I’m sorry! I’m sorry I made you late for your exam and I’m sorry I ran over your bike and I’m sorry I’m probably the worst brother in the world and you’re way better off without me; I just need you to understand that…I’m sorry, Josh, I’m sorry.”
Drake goes home and lies down on his ping pong table in a fetal position. Josh sits stunned in Chemistry Lab. Little sister, Megan, takes Drake’s precious guitar to kill a spider with and Drake doesn’t even notice. Finally, Drake gets up and starts hitting ping pong balls across an empty table when Josh walks in. Josh picks up a paddle and gleefully returns Drake’s serve.
A tearful, yet happy, ending!
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Now, people, let’s get to work! Josh needed 3 remedies! Why? He goes into 3 remedy states! First there is his constitutional state–the way he is by nature. Then there’s his hysterical reaction to being locked out of the classroom and not being able to take his chemistry test that he studied so hard for, then there’s the over-compensation state that follows where he’s “Done!” with Drake. I’m going to give you a chance to figure this out. Starting now: (theme from “Jeopardy” is playing)
OK, so what are your answers?
For Josh’s constitutional remedy, did you come up with the elements of the case? Here’s what I came up with:
- Yielding. He gives in to Drake. Drake always gets his way; even when Josh says no, it doesn’t seem to mean anything. So the rubric is, Mind: yielding.
- Over-responsible. He gets Drake up for school in the morning, he does his chemistry experiments for him, he takes responsibility for filling the car with gas. So, Mind: responsibility, over-responsible.
- Perfectionism. The idea that he might get a B on a test instead of an A was almost unbearable for Josh. So, Mind: perfectionist.
- Naive. He thought that Drake would actually come back to the bedroom with another ping pong paddle as promised. He thought that Drake would actually not leave for school without him…. Mind: naive.
- Dutiful. Mind: duty, sense of duty, too much of a
- Ambitious. Josh wants to go to a good college. Mind: ambitious
- Workaholic. Josh has way over-studied for that exam! Mind: workaholic, industrious, over-works
So, if we repertorize these rubrics, what remedy do we come up with? That’s right, Carcinosin!
For a longer look at Carcinosin, see “Revisiting: What Remedy Is Marge Simpson”.
Now, what remedy state does Josh go into when he’s told he can’t take his chemistry test? Let’s list the elements of the case:
- Hysteria. Out-of-control emotions. Mind: hysterical behavior
- Yelling. Mind: screaming, shrieking, shouting.
- Betrayal. His own brother hung him out to dry. Mind: ailments from friendship deceived
- Crying. Mind: crying, anger, during
What remedy state is this? That’s right, Ignatia! What’s the big Ignatia sign to look for? Loss of emotional control!
Now, what remedy famously follows Ignatia? What state do people go into after Ignatia? What remedy builds walls, shuts down their emotions, and, most importantly for this case, is UNMOVED BY APOLOGIES? That’s right, Nat-mur! If you look up “Mind: hatred feelings, of persons who had offended him, unmoved by apologies” there are only 2 remedies–Nat-mur and Nitric acid. Of the 2, which one is the complement of Ignatia? Nat-mur!
But you might say, “But Elaine, why did Josh accept Drake’s apology in the end?” Well, if you watched the video, you saw that initially he didn’t! Mr. Roland said, “Josh, do you want to talk to Drake?” and Josh said, “No”. It took a long time! So, “Unmoved by apologies”!
***
And now for Drake!
Maria, this one is for you (because Maria wanted another example of this remedy)! Let’s make a list of the elements of the case:
- Aversion to responsibility. Mind: responsibility, aversion to
- All Drake wants to do is play–whether it’s his guitar or ping pong or whatever, it’s all he wants to do. Mind: playing, desire for
- He’s selfish, he only thinks of himself and what he wants and needs. Mind: selfishness
- He lies. He stole a toy from the kid next door and tried to pass it off as a consolation gift he bought for Josh. Mind: lies, inclination to tell
- He has an aversion to studying. Mind: study, aversion to
- He loves music, he’s in a band. Mind: music, desire for
- He’s girl-crazy. He ditched Josh so he could get to school 15 minutes early to make-out with some girl in his class. Mind: sexuality, lasciviousness, lustful
- Cruelty. He stole a kid’s toy, he ran over Josh’s bike and didn’t tell him, he made Josh late for school and he didn’t care… Mind: cruelty
- He has no regard for convention, for following the rules and doing what’s expected of him; in other words, no boundaries, no guard-rails, just do whatever you want whenever you want to do it; there’s a great rubric for that in the Repertory–Mind: Libertinism
So let’s repertorize these rubrics and see what we get:
Oh look, it’s Medorrhinum! Maria wanted another example of Medorrhinum after the Bart Simpson quiz! So there it is, Maria! Be sure to look up “Revisiting: What Remedy Is Bart Simpson” so you can compare the two and also read “What Remedy Is Jess Mariano”. I have to go now. Shana is complaining that I’m late for something I’m supposed to do!
Bye! See you again next time!
___________________________
Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine takes online cases and animal cases too!
Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
