Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Kathleen gets her moment in the spotlight!

Episode 2.7 “Bottled Up”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 15th, 1988)

At the start of this week’s episode of Degrassi Junior High, Kathleen (Rebecca Haines) comes home from school all excited.  She has been named to Degrassi’s academic team and will be appearing on Canada’s number one academic game show, Quest For The Best!

Unfortunately, her mother (played by Sheila Brogren, the real-life mother of Stefan Brogren, who played Snake) is too drunk and incoherent to congratulate her.  And Kathleen’s father is away on business.  When Kathleen talks to him on the phone, it becomes obvious that he spends a lot of time away from home, leaving Kathleen alone with her alcoholic mother.

The next day, at school, Kathleen meets with the other members of the academic team so that they can practice for their upcoming appearance.  (Of course, Caitlin’s a member of the team because Caitlin was a member of every non-criminal group at Degrassi.)  Ms. Avery hands them a VHS tape (because it’s the 80s) of Quest For The Best‘s previous episode so that they can check out their competition.  The only problem is that Degrassi Junior High only has one VCR (seriously, Canada?) and it’s broken.  Caitlin has a VCR at her home but she explains that her family also has company over.  (I’m not sure why that would matter but whatever.  Caitlin’s perfect family was always hosting a political dissident or two.)  Who else has a VCR?  Hey, how about Kathleen!?  Apparently, her family just got a new VCR and everyone at school knows this because Kathleen made the mistake of bragging about it.

Kathleen says that her mother is sick.  Caitlin insists that Kathleen let them use her VCR.  In other words, Caitlin won’t let the team use her VCR because her family has company but she has no problem with going over to Kathleen’s house and bothering her mother, despite the fact that Kathleen has basically made it sound as if the woman is on the verge of death.

Reluctantly, Kathleen allows everyone to come over to her house but she asks that everyone try to be quiet while watching the tape.  But, as quiet as everyone tries to be, Kathleen’s mom still comes downstairs with a glass of booze.  Kathleen is mortified while everyone else quickly leaves.

The next day, at school, Caitlin asks Rick what she should do about Kathleen’s alcoholic mom.  Rick, quite sensibly, points out that it’s not Caitlin’s place to do anything.  When Caitlin ignores Rick’s advice and tries to talk to Kathleen about it, Kathleen tells her to leave her alone and I am totally on Kathleen’s side here.  Caitlin may mean well but she has no idea what Kathleen is going through.

On the day of filming, Kathleen is stunned to discover that she forgot to bring her Degrassi Junior High sweater to the taping.  She desperately calls her mom and asks her to bring the sweater from home.  Her mother agrees and then passes out drunk.  Kathleen goes to the taping and stares at the empty chair that was reserved for her mom.  Luckily, Rick is at the taping and he hands Kathleen his sweater.  Awwwww!

Largely thanks to Kathleen, Degrassi Junior High defeats Liberman High.  Yay!  But — oh no!  Kathleen’s mother has still not shown up and night has fallen.  Kathleen starts to walk home, just for Rick to join her.  (Rick was going to spend time with his Caitlin, his sometimes girlfriend, but again, she has company at home.)  Rick is the one who ends up talking to Kathleen about her mother, explaining that he has similar issues with his father.

At home, Kathleen confronts her drunk mom about missing the taping and gets smacked as a result.

The next day, at school, Caitlin again tries to talk to Kathleen about her mother but when Kathleen says she doesn’t want to talk about it, Caitlin gets an attitude and says she doesn’t care anymore.  Rick then walks into the classroom and Kathleen makes it a point to thank him for his advice.  She says she’s going to call social services for help with her mom.  In the episode’s best moment, Kathleen thanks Rick for walking her home.  Caitlin suddenly turns around in her seat.  “You walked her home?”

Way to go, Kathleen!  Seriously, in the past, Kathleen has usually been the least likable character on Degrassi but, after seeing how judgmental and self-righteous Caitlin can be, there’s something deeply satisfying about Kathleen finally one-upping her.  Add to that, Kathleen and Rick make for a surprisingly well-matched couple.  I totally hope Rick dumps Caitlin for Kathleen.

On a serious note, this episode was an example of what Degrassi did so well.  It took a character like Kathleen, who has been such an antagonist in all of her other appearances, and it showed that she was human just like everyone else.  Kathleen’s constant bragging and her own judgmental style was shown to be her way of dealing with having a truly terrible situation at home.  With this episode, Degrassi Junior High not only dealt with the pain of having an alcoholic parent but also reminded its audience that we’re all human.  Judge not, lest ye be judged.

I guess I should mention the B-plot.  Scooter and his friend Max (Joshua Whitehead) want to be cool so they follow Rick around.  When they discover Rick smokes, Max gets a pack of cigarettes and they give smoking a try.  They end up coughing a lot.  It was kind of silly, to be honest.  But I did find it interesting that Rick could both inspire Kathleen to get help for her mother and Scooter to start smoking.  Rick’s a powerful guy.