'Reunion' reunites classmates after 20 years; 'Confidential' puts current female students under the microscope.

By Jon Caramanica, Special to The Times
March 16, 2008

OF course the scars persist -- how could they not? High school is four years of molding, reflection and, occasionally, brutality. Even those left mostly untraumatized by the experience are still shaped by it. Years on, it remains fertile turf for emotional excavation.

On two shows, those pains are brought to the fore: "High School Confidential" on WE (10 p.m. Mondays) tracked a group of young women, Michael Apted style, as they made their way through high school between 2002 and 2006; "High School Reunion" on TV Land (10 p.m. Wednesdays) takes the long view, reuniting select members of one school's class of 1987. In each case, high school stings; time does little to staunch the wound.

That much is clear on this season of "High School Reunion," which brings together 14 former students from J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas, outside Dallas. (The show previously aired for two fitful seasons on the WB, with different schools participating.)

This is a close-knit crew, and for the most part, high school bonds have helped shape their social lives. A few of the reunioners are close friends -- only a couple describe themselves as former outcasts of any sort. Their preexisting bonds facilitate a host of profound interactions. The group rallies around Matt, the former jock who lost his wife to liver failure six months prior. His friends stay ready with good cheer, and Yvette, a divorcée, bonds with him about being a single parent.

Deanna, the former popular girl, has become the marrying kind and is coming off her fourth husband. In Justin, the former pipsqueak who's now hulking, she might have her eyes set on a fifth. On Day 5 (!) of the reunion, while Justin's still getting used to the idea that Deanna is even talking to him, she makes a sly reference to marriage.

"Justin is the new hunk in our whole world," says Rob, the former hunk. Of this development, Justin notes, "The guys don't seem all that excited."

After all, time is a great sandpaper. Many of the "Reunion" attendees are looking to remake themselves -- Kat, a lesbian, says she's considering going back to men; Lana, who was married to Mike and later slept with his best friend, Steve, hopes to repair her relationship with her ex. This week, inevitably, Steve shows up too, hamfistedly seeking forgiveness.

Last week's face-off -- a "detention" is what the show calls it -- was less sinister. Jason, the former bully, was confronted by Glenn, the former geek, over a convenience store beat-down. As gruesome a bully as Jason was -- he does not remember the incident, he says -- he seems genuinely repentant. And it's hard not to wonder if Glenn, his victim, has maybe spent too long blaming someone else's actions for 20-plus years of his own choices.
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