"Debt It Be" is the nineteenth episode of the first season.
Plot[]
Robby gives Miley and Jackson their own credit cards to only use in emergencies. Miley later goes to the One-Day Flea Market at the beach but finds that she does not have enough money with her to buy things that she wants. Although initially reluctant to use her credit card, after her pants split, Miley decides that the situation qualifies as an emergency and she needs to buy a skirt; this leads to her caving in completely and buying a large amount of expensive goods due to being duped by the stall owners. When she returns home and shows her purchases to Jackson, Miley realizes how much trouble she is going to be in with her father and decides to return the items and get her money back, only to find the flea market is already gone.
With no other options (as she dismissed Oliver's idea of coming clean), Miley asks Jackson, who is Marlon Brando in The Godfather and who she refers to as "Godbrother," to help her pay off the debt. Jackson hatches a plan to auction off Hannah's old clothes and accessories in exchange for a portion of the profits. The siblings manage to raise the money to cover Miley's debt and she thinks that they are home free. That is, until Robbie tells them that a jeweler wants a pair of sapphire earrings given to Hannah for a music video shoot back because they mistakenly gave her the real pair instead of the fake ones. Miley attempts to retrieve the earrings and finds out that the woman who bought them, Katherine McCord, is living at a senior citizen retirement center.
Miley (dressed as Hannah) and Jackson try to persuade Katherine to sell back the earrings, but she is very attached to them. When Miley lies that the earrings had belonged to her grandmother, Katherine agrees to return them but only if Miley's grandmother appears in person to claim them. For this purpose, Jackson dresses up as an old lady, Nana Montana, to trick her into giving back the earrings. Unfortunately, he messes this up by forgetting to put on any clothes beneath his waist. He and Katherine have a very extended conversation in which she keeps pressing him for more stories from his past; Jackson makes up absurd tales involving President Lincoln, Samuel Morse, and King Kong, while Miley periodically tries, without success, to end the conversation and take the earrings. In the process, she is forced to cater to Katherine and Jackson's various activities.
In the end, it's revealed Robby is at the retirement in disguise as an old man. He found out about the the Hannah Montana auction (as Jackson previously did the same with Hannah's tissues) and decided to teach his children a lesson with the sapphire earrings ploy. Katherine was in on his plan. Miley apologizes to her father and she is punished with cleaning the house, among other places, to pay off the credit card debt.
Trivia[]
- When Robby Ray punishes Miley by ordering her to clean the garage, Miley protests, "But, Daddy, there are spiders in the garage!" In real life, Miley Cyrus' worst fear is spiders. She revealed this in the Hannah Montana 2-Disc Special Edition Soundtrack.
- Nana Montana is mentioned in the Sonny with a Chance episode "Random Acts of Disrespect".
- The imitation Jackson did is a reference to the film The Godfather.
- The title is a reference to The Beatles song "Let It Be".