Broken Glass
Episode 4 of Alrawabi School for Girls begins with Ruqayya’s pictures causing a big old scandal. Ruqayya’s Mother arrives to pick her up, takin the girl home while Mariam turns her attention to Rania and Layan. There’s a school trip coming up, and with Ruqayya not coming back to school, Dina is concerned about the group’s motives. After all, they’ve just destroyed a girl’s entire life and now it makes them seem like they’re no better than the bullies. In the school hallways, Rania confronts Noaf after her boyfriend follows the girl on social media. It’s a big old drama, and one that Dina even admits afterwards is like a soap opera. Well, Layan fails to make the football team which only compounds more misery on them, as Mariam takes Layan’s spot alongside Rania. In the locker room, Layan notices Mariam popping pills and seizes her opportunity to take the bottle and snap pictures of it. Even worse, she finds Mariam’s journal and starts spreading it around school. On the back of this, Mariam is abused again by the various different kids. They constantly hound her and bully the girl into submission. She cowers and cries in the toilet stall; the abuse too much to handle. Mariam decides it’s time to talk to her Mum and think about changing schools. She even gives up on the revenge mission too. Although she’s out, Dina and Noaf decide to team up and continue the mission on her behalf. Meanwhile, Rania and Layan try to visit Ruqayya’s place but her Mum refuses to let them see her. In fact, Ruqayya happens to be punished by her Mum, who blames her for besmirching the family name. It seems like there’s no way back for the girl. That night, Mariam heads over to Dina’s place. The two girls convince her not to give up and after some hugging, work together to concoct a new plan. Thankfully Noaf managed to snatch the journal back from Layan, and now the girls have a solid foundation to build on going forward.
The Episode Review
Alrawabi School for Girls sees the pendulum swing back in favour of Rania and Layan this time, as Mariam’s journal is spread across the school. It’s a nice dynamic shift, especially on the back of Ruqayya’s scandal which completely destroyed her life. Seeing these moments are certainly a welcome inclusion, with Dina acting as the moral compass and asking big questions about the tactics these girls are taking for revenge. Either way, the episode bows out with a promising sign of things to come, leaving the door open for the final few episodes.
