Watch out, world, he’s grown now.
Junior Johnson (new series regular Marcus Scribner) made his official debut as a Cal U freshman on Wednesday’s grown-ish season premiere, which doubled as a soft reboot of the Freeform drama.
Most of Zoey’s fellow graduates have scattered to the winds, with only Aaron and Doug remaining in the vicinity; the former is a frustrated assistant professor at Cal U (he can’t even pick his own markers!), while the latter has evolved into a lychee martini-drinking, Gucci loafer-sporting employee at one of California’s top marketing firms.
Even Zoey has relocated to New York City to run Anti-Muse with Luca, but she couldn’t pass up the chance to visit her brother and boyfriend across the country to help celebrate their respective new chapters.
Junior spent most of the episode wondering if enrolling at Cal U was the right decision, even opting to ditch his new friends to join Zoey & Co. at an off-campus white party. And in typical Johnson fashion, Junior had a memorable first night — one that ended with Zoey walking in on her little brother absolutely railing Kiela in the bathroom.
Sorry if that came off as crass, but did you see those two going at it? That was textbook railing, my friends! And after getting a few more drinks in her system, Zoey was surprisingly chill about Junior hooking up with her ex-boyfriend/current co-worker’s younger sister.
But there’s still hope for Junior at Cal U. The episode ended with him meeting up with his potential crew of fellow freshmen: his roommate Zaara, a med student who already regrets “rolling the dice on gender-inclusive” housing; Slick, who’s just happy to be there, wherever “there” is; Annika, a Brooklynite who’s (hopefully) deeper than she presents herself; and Zeke, a football player and self-proclaimed ladies’ man.
Did you enjoy your first taste of grown-ish 2.0? Which new character(s) piqued your interest? Grade the premiere below, then drop a comment with your full review.
