In all honesty, I went into The Secret Score with no expectations and a sense of skepticism, thanks to Disney’s deteriorating quality. Imagine my surprise when the show turned out to be actually engaging and quite creative. What I mean is that there’s actually a sense of newness to The Secret Score, despite its resemblance to some iconic previous works of the Disney channel. I suppose that’s what makes it so fun; it’s got the style of today and the substance of yesterday. Additionally, the Spanish music is quite fantastic, and the kids all sing superbly, making you want to sway with the beat and not skip anything for the plot. The Secret Score tells the story of Maya and her friends, who study at the Staqui Conservatory. At the beginning of the show, Maya is a bit confused about her boyfriend Leo not showing up before their first day of school. This is her first time at the conservatory, and Leo is MIA, which is very unlike him. Out of the blue, she receives a parcel from Leo, who tells her to keep a pendant safe. Maya takes the pendant to the conservatory, and adventure ensues.
Spoiler Alert
What powers do the kids have?
Maya is quick to make friends on her first day, despite some differences. She’s already friends with Nati, the quiet and shy girl whose insecurities are magnified by her mother’s nagging. Then there’s Andy, who wants to be the casanova of the school; Max, who keeps to himself because it helps him be a genius musician; and Tenoch, an anxious fellow who can’t help but worry all the time. Maya is desperate to visit a museum in the conservatory, and it so happens that all of these kids want to tag along with her. She makes her way into a no-entry zone, being the rebel child that she is, and ends up finding a secret passageway to a hidden attic, which opens using the pendant Leo asked her to protect. They find a clavichord with an ancient-looking parchment with the score that Max ends up playing (it sounds like your usual fantasy-horror background score). Immediately after he’s done, the kids discover that they have special powers. Maya can see the past when she touches a person’s belongings. In all honesty, her power is the one I don’t completely understand, because sometimes she touches walls and she can see what happened in the room, but somehow it’s only what she needs to know; it doesn’t matter when or how the event took place.
Max’s power is quite fascinating; Andy calls it “cellula telepathy,” it allows him to communicate his thoughts as well as read minds through messages on his mobile phone. This means, if anyone is thinking about him, he’ll receive a message from them saying exactly what he’s thinking and vice versa. Nati can erase memory, Andy can transform into anyone he likes, and Tenoch can teleport. Apparently, the powers are meant to enhance a person and make them better, and soon enough, the powers chosen for each kid will make sense. But first, they must learn to control their powers to get things to work the way they need them to. However, there’s a bigger obstacle ahead of them. What they don’t know is that a couple of other kids were around when they played the score.
Rafa is the social butterfly of the school, but he’s working for an “evil” adult who wants him to get information regarding the score. His sister Connie and her friend Pau got powers when they followed the other kids into the museum, so Rafa plans on using them against Maya and her gang. Connie’s power is to be able to hear what someone is saying, wherever they are, by touching one of their items. For example, she picks up Maya’s pen from the museum and overhears their conversations. Pau discovers her power quite late, but many will think she’s got the best of the lot. It’s the power to command, i.e., whatever she asks anyone to do for her, they will do. There are limitations to their powers. A few days, and you have to listen to the music again, or the power’s lost. However, if you play the game a certain number of times, there will be consequences.
Who are Gael and Dod?
Initially, the kids think that Gael is the bad guy and follow him around, trying to figure out where he’s hiding Leo. However, they discover quite late that he’s actually a good guy on their side, and he’s trying to help Leo. He also tells them that the music only works on kids under the age of 20 because of the frequency at which it’s played. But the real bad guy is the principal’s boyfriend, Dod, who also teaches the kids. He’s got some big plans and has been using Rafa to get to the score. Apparently, Leo had a part of the score before his disappearance, and the kids have now found the second part, so the two parchments combined would make something extra special for Dod.
Who is Leo?
Maya’s boyfriend, Leo, is the grandson of the conservatory’s owner. His father was a great musician, too, and Leo became obsessed with the score, just like his father. Gael explains that Leo has the violin part of the score, and he played it too many times, leading to his permanent invisibility. Even the best gifts can trap you if you overuse them, no? Amidst all the fascinating magic stuff, there’s also a love triangle brewing between Maya, Leo, and Max. Working together on their music, as well as getting associated with the score, leads to Max and Maya falling for each other. Maya is such a rebel because her father is a famous musician who coached her too hard to be disciplined and never really parented her. Add to that the pressure of being a great musician’s daughter, and it’s bound to have an effect on a young and impressionable mind. Max helps Maya get out of her bounds and love music for what it is, the way she likes it.
There’s also a cute bond between Nati and Andy. Nati first likes Rafa, but when she realizes he’s actually bad, she acts on her feelings for Andy, who has become a close friend. However, she immediately regrets it and erases it from his memory. On the other hand, Pau also likes Rafa at first, but due to circumstances, she too falls for Andy, who kisses her after he transforms into Rafa. It’s a bit complicated, but basically, both the girls used to like Rafa, but then they liked Andy. Finally, Andy likes Nati, but it’s going to take a minute for them to get together.
Who else has powers?
Tenoch’s roommate, Pepe, is an oddball with whom nobody wants to be friends. He’s got anger issues, which he tries to control by tending to a bonsai plant. Pepe happens to be in the museum when the rest of the kids are trying to restore their powers one day, and Pepe also gets a power. His power is x-ray vision, because he doesn’t understand people’s feelings. When the pendant gets stolen by Rafa and Dod stashes it away in the principal’s office, it’s Pepe who helps the kids find it because he sees it through his special vision. Ultimately, Rafa makes it in time to listen to them play the magical melody and gets the power to mimic others’ powers! This makes things quite complicated and chaotic for the gang.
How Does Dod Get the Score?
During the yearly school recital, where the kids are all performing, things get extremely messy as the bad guys close in on them quickly. To bring Leo back, the gang has to play the score whole, which apparently works when you use a mirror to reflect it. This has to be done on a full moon to bring Leo back. Before the full moon, to hide the score from Rafa and his group, the kids give Gael the score and the pendant to take away into the city. In The Secret Score episode 8, Maya discovers that the gang members are guardians of the score because the red bird that is a guide led her to the museum and whatever followed. Each of the kids has a symbol that represents their energies; this appears on the back of their hands. She also learns that the guide will decide if the score should be hidden again or brought to the surface; however, there will be consequences either way.
While they’re preparing to bring Leo back, Max asks Tenoch to take him and Maya to Paris so he can confess to her alone. Maya also reciprocates his feelings, but they both know that the timing isn’t right because Leo will be returning soon. Tenoch comes back after his performance with Rafa and takes the whole gang to find Gael. Upon arriving there, they discover that there’s another Maya there (Rafa has borrowed Andy’s transformation power) and stop Gael from giving her the score; however, there’s a big mess, and the pendant and score get separated. Fortunately, Tenoch gets Maya and Max to the clavichord with the score so they can bring Leo back. Maya can’t play it because she’s hurt her wrist, and because there’s less time, Max decides to play it again. The gang arrives in time to see Leo appear; however, within seconds, Max disappears just as Leo had after playing the score too many times (that’s a whoops for Maya). To make matters worse, it wasn’t Nati in the room but Rafa, who transformed into her to steal the score and get it to Dod.
The Secret Score ends with Dod looking at the two sheets of the score together, which will summon the “silver score,” i.e., greater power. This, of course, implies that there’s going to be a second season of The Secret Score, where the kids will have to find the score again, bring Max back, and save everybody from the great evil that is Dod. Maybe the silver score is also heard by adults, making everybody who listens to the music magical. The only thing we know about it right now is that it “enhances virtues” (whatever that means). We’ll have to wait for season 2 to know more about the silver score.
