Watercooler: Hellcats is One Hell of a Party

To those of you who dropped the freshman drama Hellcats for being nothing but an experiment in cheerleaders-gone-wild, it's time to re-enroll. Because this thing is some serious fun.

Last night, the Lancer pep goddesses turned it out for an '80s-themed Spirit Party to celebrate the team's 25^th anniversary, complete with costumes, kitsch and — siss-boom-yeah! — a killer cover of Squeeze's "Tempted" by series regular Sharon Leal.

But even more entertaining than the classic sounds and coeds dressed as a "Thriller"-era Jacko and Madonna before she became British was the soapy goodness that bubbled up among the squad as they partied like it was 1985. There was heartbreak (Savannah figured out that beau Dan and bestie Marti traded v-cards in high school), underhandedness (man, did Alice foul-up with her quarterback boyfriend) and, of course, one horrible mom (get on with your trashy self, Wanda). Yes, it's all stuff we've seen on the youth scene before, but it's also stuff that still works when done right... and sets up potential for future plots. Which is exactly what we started to see last night. The Savannah-Marti dynamic could totally turn into a Brenda-Kelly rivalry. Alice is so gonna need to draw on her inner-Blair Waldorf to keep Jake. And Dan? Well, come on. How much did we love OTH's Lucas and his back-and-forth between Peyton and Brooke? Surely Mr. Patch can work that angsty indecision to all of our advantages for a while, too.

So what do you think? Does Hellcats have you doing backflips or just flipping the channel?

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