Stand Tall

Stand Tall is the ninth and last 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
Julie and the Phantoms get their dream gig at The Orpheum! But when Caleb interferes, Julie searches for the courage to perform on her own.

Plot
With Willie’s help, the boys create an opportunity for Julie and the Phantoms to perform as the opening band for Panic! At the Disco that night at The Orpheum, believing that fulfilling their dream of playing The Orpheum would be their ticket to “cross over”. They succeed, although the jolts from Caleb’s curse continue to pain them with increased frequency.

Meanwhile, Carlos discovers, from the CD from his mother’s studio, that the members of the “hologram band” his sister is in are actually from the 1995 Sunset Curve and are the ghosts he had been searching for in his house. In the Wilson mansion, Carrie watches a clip of Julie and the Phantoms performing “Edge of Great” from the previous episode, peeved that her rival is set to perform at The Orpheum that night. At that point, Trevor Wilson comes in and, hearing Julie perform, watches the clip from his daughter’s laptop out of interest. Upon seeing his long-dead former bandmates perform with Julie, he immediately arranges for two seats to their Orpheum performance, one for himself and the other for Carrie, much to her annoyance.

Julie, while excited at the prospect of performing at one of LA’s top venues, is sentimental at the thought of this performance being their last. The boys are also ambivalent about crossing over, with Reggie lamenting that they do not know what awaits them on “the other side”, and whether they would still be together. Julie touchingly asks Luke, should the boys see her mother after crossing over, to tell her that she loves her and to thank her for bringing them into her life. But Caleb, somehow cognisant of the boys’ plan to escape him, appears in the Molina garage after Julie leaves and forces the boys back to the Hollywood Ghost Club. He enchants them to perform as part of his house band, with no way out for Luke, Alex and Reggie.

At The Orpheum, Julie realises that something must have went wrong when the boys fail to appear. She runs out into the back alley, crying at her failure to help the boys cross over and pleading to her mother to console her. At that moment, a stranger walks by and, seeing Julie in tears, kindly hands her a stalk of dahlia from the bunch she is carrying. Julie interprets that as a sign from her mother, and regains her strength. Bringing the dahlia with her onstage, she dedicates the song to her mom and to Luke, Alex and Reggie, who she thought are gone. She begins performing alone, but then the boys begin appearing onstage one by one. Luke initially glitches, but when the band is fully formed on stage Julie performs “Stand Tall” with them with confidence.

Their performance is a hit with the crowd. The boys, as expected, disappear right after they take their bow, leaving Julie to soak up the applause alone. In the audience, Carrie is shown applauding and smiling, implying that she may have finally accepted Julie’s talent and the band’s deserved popularity. Trevor, formerly Bobby, is stunned with disbelief at having just witnessed with his own eyes his dead friends tangibly perform onstage with Julie. Carlos decides not to reveal his knowledge of his sister’s bandmates being ghosts to his dad. Nick is seen in the audience cheering on Julie and the Phantoms, but is not noticed by Julie, her family or Carrie and her dad.

Back home, Carlos hints to Julie that he knows her secret. Julie, believing that Luke, Alex and Reggie have crossed over, talks to her dark garage, thanking the three for being her friend. Reggie, being Reggie, feebly answers her in the dark, much to the minor exasperation of his friends, who wanted her to believe they were successful in crossing over so as not to worry her. Julie flips the switch and sees the trio lying on the floor weakly, on the verge of their second and permanent deaths. Confused as to why their plan did not work, she begs them to join Caleb’s band to prolong their lives but they unanimously refuse, with Luke stating that no music is “worth making” if not with her. Julie hugs him, professing her love for her friends, and this triggers a spiritual renewal in the three, who begin glowing and regaining their strength. The four of them hug, rendering the three ghosts tangible and disintegrating the stamp on each of their arms. Free from Caleb’s curse, Luke, Alex and Reggie go in for a group hug with Julie again, and again, with the four of them rejoicing the fact that they played The Orpheum.

The following morning, Nick is seen approaching the Molina house with a bouquet of pink carnations in his hand to be given to Julie. He is intercepted by Caleb, who possesses him as part of his revenge on the trio. Julie answers the door to “Nick”, who she thanks for the flowers, unaware that she is now talking to Caleb.

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
 * Booboo Stewart as Willie
 * Sonny Bustamante as Carlos Molina
 * Steve Bacic as Trevor Wilson
 * Alison Araya as Aunt Victoria
 * Guilherme Babilonia as Ghost Maître D’
 * Michael P. Northey as Frank Wolfe
 * Orin T. McRey as Tasha
 * Graeme McComb as Rob the Stage Manager
 * Cynthia Oroz Guzman as Lady with Flowers
 * Hannah Cam as Julie Dance Double
 * Mackenzie Green as Luke Dance Double
 * Amna Elmahdi as Flynn Dance Double
 * Treyvin Kinisky as Nick Dance Double
 * Landon Jackie as Alex Stunt Double
 * Adam George as Willie Skateboard Double

Trivia

 * It is unknown how Caleb comes to know of the trio’s plan to cross over to escape him. The boys’ escape from his house band, and why Luke was glitching when appearing onstage, is also not revealed as of season 1.
 * With the boys now tangible, it is not known how this will affect the band’s dynamic, or whether they remain tangible after the group hug that night.
 * Julie’s affiliation with the Wilson family is revealed in this episode, with Trevor showing interest in listening to her performance once he realises it is her who is singing on Carrie’s laptop.
 * Dahlias as a reference to Julie’s late mother not only makes an appearance in this episode but also plays a large role. A dahlia was given to a grieving Julie by a kind stranger, and Julie views this as a sign from her mother to perform even without her friends.
 * Carrie displays character development when she stands up and applauds Julie and the Phantoms after their performance at The Orpheum.
 * Trevor, while stunned at the sight of his long-decreased friend and bandmates appearing onstage and performing with Julie, does not react as aggressively as he did when the boys “haunted” him in “I Got the Music”, nor does he question his own sanity. What he plans to do with the revelation that Julie’s “hologram band” are actually the ghosts of his old Sunset Curve bandmates is unknown. If he out them as ghosts, he might reveal his affiliation to the band and how his successful hits were all written by and stolen from his dead bandmate, Luke, which will ruin his reputation.
 * Carlos knows of the band’s secret, and has probably shared his knowledge with Julie. This makes him the third lifer, after Julie and Flynn, to know that the Luke, Alex and Reggie are ghosts.
 * Nick’s fate after Caleb’s possession, as well as Julie’s, is unknown as of season 1.