First Day

First Day is the first story of Moriah Blake, consisting of the first two episodes.

Cold open
The Cold Open consists of a "talking head" (character interview) of director Ralph Woodsmith. He introduces the camera crew and what he hopes to accomplish at Moriah Blake. He also mentions his son Tom, and how, even though he is still in eighth grade, he resents his father for interfering in his social life by sending his camera crew in.

Act One
Act One introduces the school to the audience. The camera crew focuses on "The Gang"--the large group of friends centred mainly around Charlie, Dave, Scott, and others. A few of the characters (Charlie, Jessica) express their dislike of the cameramen's presence. Some others (Scott, Rickey) are excited to have their lives recorded. Others (Devin, Hudson) are indifferent.

The bell rings and the freshmen go off to their respective homerooms. We meet new principal Toby Johns. He expresses his excitement at working in a high school for the first time. We are also introduced to Mrs English, who is looking forward to working with Principal Johns.

Act Two
In Act Two, Ashley and Patrick Donovan show up late. They find their homeroom (with Mr Jenkins) and immerse themselves. Ashley strikes up a conversation with Audrey Dereks and Steven, friends of hers. We learn that Ashley attended Moriah Blake Middle School since sixth grade, and that this is Patrick's first day in public school. Audrey and Steven welcome Patrick, and they all strike up a casual (if awkward) conversation until Mr Jenkins begins addressing the class on the subject of the camera crew. He hands out permission slips to be filled out by parents, allowing the cameramen to record and distribute video of the children. One student--Zack--tells Mr Jenkins that his mother already told him she would not allow him to be a part of the documentary. Zack is totally pixelated out of the video, showing the consequences of a failure to sign the forms.