6teen/Welcome to the Darth Side

Welcome to the Darth Side
Season 2, Episode 10
Airdate	December 27, 2005
Written by
Directed by
← 2x09 Losing Your Lemon	2x11 → The New Guy
6teen — Season Two

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Welcome to the Darth Side is the tenth episode of the second season of 6teen, and the thirty-sixth episode overall.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

When Nikki sees Darth enter the Khaki Barn and call Chrissy over for a meeting in the store's storage room, she becomes curious and goes to the back room's door to listen in and find out what Darth and Chrissy are up to in there, when the door suddenly opens and Nikki falls to the floor—and discovers that Chrissy is secretly a member of Darth's Star Wars Jedi Knight club. Unable to help herself, Nikki bursts out laughing at the scene, prompting an embarassed Chrissy to warn her that if Nikki tries to tell anyone about what she now knows, she'll be fired from the Khaki Barn.

During her break, Nikki tells the gang at the Big Squeeze about Chrissy's clandestine geek-like activity and they all share a laugh, then she warns Jonesy not to say anything because, as much as she hates her Khaki Barn job, she still values it and would prefer not to get fired. Jonesy gets Nikki to buy his silence by talking her into buying some "environmentally-friendly" plastic wrap that he is selling to earn money for his school's hockey team, which puts him in competition with Jen, who is selling chocolate-covered jellybeans to also earn some cash for school sports. Ron the Rent-a-cop hears about the jellybean sale and, revealing that they were a favorite candy of his as a boy, he buys a box of jellybeans from Jen (while claiming that he is not doing it to support Jen's fundraising).

Back at the Khaki Barn, a girl named Ashley comes into the store looking for work, and The Clones take notice of her right away because she appears to be a fourth Clone, which delights Chrissy, Kirsten and Kristen immensely and bugs Nikki, who half-jokes that The Clones are "breeding". Jonesy comes in a moment later and makes some plastic wrap sales to The Clones by easily fooling them into thinking they're the newest fashion, but he lets Chrissy's secret slip during his sales pitch, which gets the KB assistant manager angry at Nikki and Nikki mad at Jonesy. Chrissy makes good on her earlier threat and hires Ashley to take Nikki's place at the Khaki Barn.

Now unemployed, Nikki visits several shops around The Galleria in search of work, but having no luck with the job hunt, she forces herself to get a new job at Stereo Shack, where Darth works. Darth, who has a major crush on Nikki, hires her on the spot the moment she walks in the door and he offers her the uniform he wants her to wear—a Princess Leia Star Wars costume combining a wig, a cape and a replica of the bikini Leia wore in Return of the Jedi. An unimpressed Nikki initially refuses to wear the costume and shoves Darth backward into a set of stereo speakers for even suggesting it, but she later reaches a compromise and puts on the cape. Later on, Julie, the awkward, braces-wearing Wonder Taco employee who likes Darth, walks into Stereo Shack to see her crush, but turns around and leaves, upset, when she sees Darth with Nikki, who gets fed up with her new boss's crush on her and enlists Caitlin's help in giving Darth a fashion makeover and pairing him up with Julie so he can leave Nikki alone. Nikki and Caitlin watch from the sidelines as Julie and the new-improved Darth go for coffee at Grind Me and cringe as they see the two geeks get their braces stuck together, for some weird reason, with rubber bands as they attempt a kiss.

While Jonesy and Jen try to outhustle each other with their competing fundraising drives, Ron becomes increasingly addicted to the jellybeans he's buying from Jen. When he runs out of funds and Jen refuses to take credit cards or an IOU, Ron tries to coerce her into handing over more of the candy by threatening to cite her for selling without a permit, so Jonesy gets into the picture and runs off with the jellybeans to the mall fountain, warning Ron that he'll dump the candy into the water unless he backs off of Jen. Asking Jonesy not to be hasty, Ron seeks out a compromise and Jonesy seizes the opportunity to make another sale, telling the mall security guard that unlike Jen, he takes IOUs.

When Nikki arrives for work at Stereo Shack, Darth comes out wearing his old Darth Vader helmet and cape again and thanks her for setting him up with Julie, who told him on their date that she liked him for who he was pre-makeover, the defining factor in his choice to return to his old look. Darth then fires Nikki, who points out that he cannot fire her just because he has a new girlfriend, and Darth then explains that he fired her for not doing her job at the store properly, a reason Nikki accepts. A moment later, Julie comes from the back wearing the full Princess Leia costume, which creeps Nikki out as she leaves the store, wishing that Darth had fired her sooner so she wouldn't be subjected to the sight of the skinny Julie in that costume. Nikki returns to the Khaki Barn and discovers that The Clones are upset with Ashley because the fourth Clone, according to Chrissy, has been making all the sales at the store since she was hired. Happy to see Nikki come back, Chrissy rehires her (with a 10% raise and more breaks per day) and fires Ashley. When Nikki wonders why she was rehired, The Clones explain about Ashley and add that they prefer Nikki because she let them have all the sales.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Several references to Star Wars are contained in this episode, including the episode title (a play on the term "The Dark Side"), the Darth Vader costume (complete with light saber replica) Darth wears constantly, Julie's Princess Leia costume (initially offered to Nikki by Darth), and Nikki's comment "The Clone Wars have begun" (a reference to Attack of the Clones) when she sees the problems The Clones are having with Ashley at the Khaki Barn

Quotes

• Darth (instantly smitten the moment he sees Nikki): To what do I owe this pleasure?
  Nikki: I need a job.
  Darth: You start now! (eagerly bringing out the Princess Leia costume) Here's your uniform!
  Nikki (shoving Darth to the floor): Drop dead!
  Darth (getting up, undeterred): Ah, the power of the Force is strong with this one!

• Nikki (groaning, after seeing an upset Julie leave Stereo Shack): Oh, this is the end! (bangs her head on the counter)
  Darth (imitating Yoda's voice): No! Only the beginning, it is.