Wake Up

Wake Up is the first episode of season one of the Netflix series Julie and the Phantoms. It was written by David Hoge and Dan Cross and directed by Kenny Ortega.

Premise
A year after her mother passed away, Julie plays one of her old CDs. Suddenly, three ghosts appear - the guys from the '90s band Sunset Curve!

Plot
It's 1995, a band called Sunset Curve is performing "Now or Never" at a soundcheck to perform later tonight at the Orpheum in Los Angeles. Afterward, they begin talking to a bartender, Rose, who is complimenting their performance. They give her a tee shirt and a Demo CD. While one of the bandmates, Bobby, stays back to talk to Rose, the other three, Luke, Alex, and Reggie get "street dogs." These are hot dogs from a street vendor, which is clearly unsanitary. The hot dogs turn out to be rancid causing the three bandmates to die of food poisoning before they could play their big show, all while Bobby does not join them for street dogs and is not to be heard from again.

Now 25 years later, a teenage girl named Julie Molina has a hard time playing music again because her mom passed away a year prior. Music was a big part of their relationship, they wrote songs together among other things. Unable to play for the past year, she gets dismissed from her school's music program.

While going through her mother's stuff in their studio/garage that night, she comes upon a Sunset Curve CD, presumably her mother's, and listens to it. Playing the CD summons the three deceased Sunset Curve members Luke, Reggie, and Alex, who are now ghosts. Julie freaks out as anyone would, but none of her family believes her. Everyone is worried that it's because of the struggle with losing her mother.

After doing a Google search on her phone, she finds a news article about their passing, Julie shows them that they died 25 years ago, not recently as they believe. She also explains to them that the studio was her late mother's studio, and not the garage where they used to practice. Luke apologizes by telling her that her mother was really great, because of the song he found on the piano. Julie lies to them saying she doesn't play. Later that day, Julie sits down at her mother's piano in the studio and plays the song her mother wrote for her. Unbeknownst to her, the boys watch her play, incredulous that the person who can see them is a talented singer and musician as well.

Cast

 * Madison Reyes as Julie Molina
 * Charlie Gillespie as Luke Patterson
 * Owen Patrick Joyner as Alex
 * Jeremy Shada as Reggie
 * Jadah Marie as Flynn
 * Sacha Carlson as Nick
 * Savannah Lee May as Carrie Wilson
 * Cheyenne Jackson as Caleb Covington
 * Carlos Ponce as Ray Molina
 * Sonny Bustamante as Carlos Molina
 * Danube Hermosillo as Rose Molina
 * Taylor Kare as Bobby/Trevor Wilson
 * Alison Araya as Aunt Victoria
 * Javier LaCroix as Hot dog vendor
 * Marci T. House as Mrs. Harrison

Trivia

 * The guitar Luke is playing at the Orpheum is the same guitar seen in "I Got the Music" in a display case at Trever Wilson's house.
 * In the background of them eating the hot dogs on the couch, there is a missing person flier to find Luke.
 * The Demo CD Julie finds and plays is presumed to be the same one given to Rose, which may be her mother's name, but never revealed.

Songs

 * Now or Never — Performed by Sunset Curve at the Orpheum
 * Wake up — Performed by Julie on her mother's Piano. The song is written by her mother for Julie.