Dancing to the Max (2021)

See also Dancing to the Max from the original series.

Dancing to the Max is the ninth episode of Season 2 of Saved by the Bell (2020) and the nineteenth episode of the series overall. It was first released on November 24, 2021 on Peacock TV. This episode shares the same title as Dancing to the Max from the original series Saved by the Bell.

Synopsis
Bayside holds a dance-a-thon. Jessie and Slater pull a prank. Aisha is nervous to dance.

Full Summary
One Year Ago

''At The Min, a group of Valley students discuss the upcoming dance. Gil, really named Jake, comes in and says they need to figure out how to beat Bayside in the Spirit Competition that's over a year away. They suggest some things, but he wants to guarantee victory. He decides to go undercover as a mole. They say he can't, but he won't be swayed.''

Lexi asks how Gil could be a mole because she went undercover to research him. He says all of Valley was behind him covering his tracks. Mac was right. He was evil. Gil wonders what gave him away. He cites all the times he sabotaged things without anyone realizing. Mac says he's too self-absorbed to have noticed any of that. He just hated him for no reason. DeVante asks why Gil's bragging about a plan that didn't work. Mac did a good job as Spirit Czar. Gil says that's why he had to move to Plan B: destroying all evidence of Bayside's volunteer hours. Mac watched him upload all the hours, but Gil really made them disappear. Daisy realizes she was the biggest idiot of all. Gil says the only thing that didn't go to plan was falling for her. He wants to talk, but she doesn't even know his real name. He says it's Jake Takamura. His feelings were real. The others tell him to back off and he walks away.

Daisy feels stupid for falling for this. Her phone rings and it's Jake. She wants to know how much of it was a lie, but Aisha tells her not to answer. Jamie suggests blocking his number, but she can't block people on her phone. Mac offers to stay with Daisy and make sure she doesn't answer. Daisy asks if he has more important things to worry about. Bayside's out of the competition. Mac says they'll be competing. He had one last trick up his sleeve: tattling to adults. Jamie says he told Jamie's mom and she's the best at holding people accountable.

Slater and Jessie talk about the situation with Gil and Daisy. Daisy declined to talk to Jessie about it. They reminisce about finding revenge when they were kids. As adults, Slater's realized the best revenge is an open and honest conversation, which throws Jessie. She wonders what's going on with him. He says he started therapy like she suggested. Jessie's proud of him. The lights above them flicker and Toddman introduces them to Pat Krampus, the principal of Valley.

Jessie wants Pat to call the spirit board and get their hours restored so they can compete. Pat says she can't do that. Gil was a registered student, so whatever he did was within the rules. She has to leave. Toddman thought she would be nice since she gave him a beautiful necklace. Slater suggests that he take it off, but he says the necklace doesn't want him to.

Toddman tells the students that the spirit board is refusing their hours, but there's still hope. They just need 15,000 new volunteer hours by midnight tonight. Jamie says if they can't win, he wants to prank them back. Mac doesn't want to waste time. He wants them to think about how to get the hours. Nate asks where Gil is because he always had good ideas. He was out of school yesterday. Daisy's phone rings. Mac takes it from her and gives it to DeVante. A statement from Slater inspires Toddman to suggest a dance contest. 12 hours per student will give them the hours they need. Everyone must start at noon and no stopping is allowed. Toddman makes it mandatory. As the students file out, Jessie and Slater agree to go prank Krampus.

Aisha finds Chloe and apologizes for not texting her back. She was consoling Daisy. Chloe asks if she's going to the dance later. Aisha's not sure, but Toddman says she doesn't have a choice. Chloe asks Aisha to save her a dance. Lexi interrupts and says Aisha has a call.

In Lexi's office, Aisha thanks her. When she gets nervous, her flirting gets really weird. Aisha says she might have a little crush on Chloe. She's had crushes on women before, but not one she knew in real life. Lexi's the first person she's told about this. Aisha's not sure she's ready to make that announcement yet. Lexi says if she does decide to dance with Chloe, no one will be watching anyway because Lexi's dress will distract them.

Slater and Jessie break into Krampus's office. Jessie gets into her computer and moves things in her calendar so she'll be late to everything. They hear Krampus coming and have to hide quickly.

Slater and Jessie climb through the vents.

Daisy and Mac set up for the dance. They have energy drinks from a sponsor. Daisy's phone rings again and Mac grabs it before she can answer it. He questions why she even wants to talk to Gil. She just has a lot of questions. Mac gives possible answers to her questions. He agrees to help her with more and stops her answering her phone again.

Toddman says they must always be dancing. Barry from the spirit association is there to observe. Toddman warns them not to try bribing Barry. He tells them to start dancing. quickly fixes it.

11 Hours Left

Chloe does the Cha Cha Slide incorrectly. She tells Aisha she doesn't follow rules. Aisha says she hasn't passed her driver's ed test because she refuses to let a sign tell her what to do.

Daisy asks Mac more questions and he answers them all. They dance out together.

Jessie and Slater are still hiding in the vent. It'll be worth it when Krampus's life is ruined. They hear Krampus tell her assistant that all her meetings are a half hour late for some reason. She quickly fixes it. Then Krampus gets ink on her shirt from the broken pen Slater left. She gets up to change is as the superintendent walks in. She tries to explain, but then the superintendent's wife comes up behind him. She accuses him of having an affair and runs away. The superintendent is mad that Krampus forced his hand. She tries to tell him it was an accident, but he says it's over. She tries to tell him she loves him, but he leaves. Slater and Jessie celebrate. They can leave the vent now.

7 Hours Left

The dancing continues. Nadia's starting to get tired, so Jamie offers her his water. DeVante says it's actually an energy drink.

Lexi tells Aisha she saw her dancing with Chloe. They were having fun. They haven't shared any slow dances yet. Aisha wants to, but she keeps getting nervous and chickening out.

Daisy finds a notebook where Gil doodled her name. Mac says he was practicing her signature. Mac spots Barry down the hall, forcing them to start dancing again. Once he's gone, she starts digging again and finds tickets to a comedy show. The date is weeks after the spirit contest. Mac says it's just a tactic to keep her from getting suspicious. He has plans for the 2028 Olympics. She digs more and finds a phone. Mac uses a lifted print from the locker to unlock it and realizes it's his real phone. He has some email drafts indicating that he was trying to apologize to Daisy. Mac says there's no excuse for that. He really did care about her. That doesn't make Daisy feel better.

1 Hour Left

Aisha and Chloe are dancing when a slow song comes on. Chloe asks Aisha to dance and Aisha awkwardly agrees. They step in closer and start swaying.

Jessie and Slater dance as well. They think maybe they weren't so wrong back in high school. Everything comes back around again. Jessie gets uncomfortable and steps away.

Spencer takes a picture of Aisha and Chloe and Aisha knocks him to the ground. Toddman rushes over to check on Spencer. Toddman's upset because they need every student to dance. He starts to make a plan to keep Spencer there, but then agrees to take him to the hospital. Chloe walks away from Aisha, saying it looks like she needs space. Mac is upset because without Spencer, they won't qualify.

Daisy's phone rings again and she asks Gil if she can see him.

30 Minutes Left

Lexi, Aisha, Jamie, and Mac suggest options to make it work.

Gil meets Daisy outside the school. She's upset because he's been lying since they met. Gil says she's the best person he's ever met. She makes people around her better. She says she didn't make him better. She thought he was her first real boyfriend. Gil offers for them to have their first real dance together. They start slow dancing together.

They're still trying to figure out an option while Barry goes around to do his final check.

Gil wants them to be together still. It wasn't all lies. What he feels is real. Daisy admits she feels it, too, but she can't be with him because the school won't forgive him. He says she's not like them. She's not a Bayside kid. She leans in and tells him she's as Bayside as they come. Barry blows his whistle and she reveals that she was holding a number to his back so he was included in the count. He's horrified that he helped Bayside. He says they'll never win. Daisy says he's going down.

Toddman announces that they've officially qualified to compete. As everyone celebrates, Jamie, who has been drinking energy drinks to stay hyped, vomits on DeVante.

Lexi tells Aisha she was looking through Spencer's camera and thought she should probably delete some pictures before giving it back to him. She shows them to Aisha and Aisha scrolls through pictures of her and Chloe. Lexi agrees that they're cute. Aisha tells her not to delete them. Aisha sees Chloe nearby and calls her over. She tells Chloe she's bi and she's never said that aloud before. If she's okay going at Aisha's speed, Aisha would like to keep hanging out. Chloe says she'd like that a lot.

Jessie finds Daisy sitting alone and asks if she's okay. Daisy fooled Gil like he fooled her, but she still feels stupid. She wishes she could fast forward through high school and be a responsible adult. Jessie says being an adult doesn't protect you from feeling stupid. Jessie says love is kind of stupid. You have to put yourself out there knowing there's a chance it will end in disaster. It's still worth it though.

Jessie finds Slater inhaling helium from balloons. She tells him he's so stupid and then kisses him.

Main Cast

 * Haskiri Velazquez as Daisy Jiménez
 * Mitchell Hoog as Mac Morris
 * Josie Totah as Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio
 * Alycia Pascual-Peña as Aisha Garcia
 * Belmont Cameli as Jamie Spano
 * Dexter Darden as DeVante Young
 * John Michael Higgins as Ronald Toddman
 * Elizabeth Berkley Lauren as Jessie Spano
 * Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater

Guest Starring

 * Tracey Wigfield as Pat Krampus
 * Matthew Sato as Gil Vatooley
 * Ariela Barer as Chloe
 * Mariah Iman Wilson as Nadia Coleman
 * Abraham Rodriguez as Spencer Buckley

Co-Starring

 * Christian Weissmann as Nate
 * Robert Buscemi as Superintendent
 * Tamra Meskimen as Superintendent's Wife
 * William Lee Houston as Barry
 * Sabrina Schloss as Type-A Nerd
 * Ashley London as Popular Girl
 * Elaine Whae as Jock Girl
 * Armani Barrett as Handsome Dunny
 * Max Banta as Strong Silent Type
 * Tracey Wigfield as Valley's Principal

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode title is a reference to an episode with the same name Dancing to the Max from the original series Saved by the Bell.
 * Jamie's "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" is a reference to Jessie's Song, in which Jessie becomes hooked on caffeine pills.