"The Kiss" finally identifies Sally Hightower as Laura Stevens, a student in Kotter's class first introduced (unbilled) in "Goodbye Mr. Kripps," one line of dialogue. The Sweathogs take turns ranking on her for applying makeup during class while extolling the virtues of eating wild roots to survive natural disasters. Barbarino reveals that they're off to Coney Island to see a half man-half woman: "he can't keep his hand off herself!" Kotter keeps her after class to request that she leave the Avon lady at home, only to have the girl pass out right in front of him. Helpless and unconscious on the floor, Gabe kneels down and tries to revive her with mouth to mouth resuscitation, only to have Mr. Woodman walk in and misinterpret the intentions of the good Samaritan: "I've learned to live with my loneliness, why can't you?" Julie suggests that Laura fainted because her makeup was too heavy! Laura's little brother Baby (Demetre Phillips) is a monster, who dares to confront Kotter without even checking with his sister on what really happened. Investigating further, the Sweathogs learn that Laura has been dieting on bean sprouts for two weeks, which explains her fainting spells and why Kotter should not be railroaded. Helaine Lembeck made the last of her 13 appearances as Judy Borden, while Ernest Harada made his third and final appearance as Mr. Jan of the school board.
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