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!

Finally, it’s time to return to Degrassi!

Episode 3.6 “He Ain’t Heavy”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 9th, 1989)

Snake’s older brother Glenn (Montgomery Randal) is a Degrassi legend, a star football and basketball player who graduated at the top of his class and who is now attending medical school on a full scholarship.  When Glenn unexpectedly returns to Toronto, Snake is confused.

Glenn explains that he’s come home to tell his parent that he’s moving out of the dorms and getting an apartment with someone with whom he has become very close.

Snake laughs about Glenn moving in with a girlfriend.

No, Glenn says, my new roommate is gay.

Yuck, Snake (who, we should remember, is only 14) replies, why do you want to move in with one of them?

I am gay, Glenn replies.

This episode is a huge moment in Degrassi history, because it’s the first episode to deal with someone coming out.  (Coming out episodes would eventually become a regular occurrence on Degrassi: The Next Generation, to the extent that they would actually become a bit of a cliche.)  Though not a regular character, Glenn is the first person on Degrassi to come out and the episode focuses on Snake’s reaction to his brother being gay.  It’s to the show’s credit that Snake does not have the ideal reaction that one would hope to have.  While the show clearly supports Glenn and portrays him sympathetically, it doesn’t lose sight of the fact that Snake is a 14 year-old boy growing up during a very homophobic time and it portrays his reaction realistically, showing how even a “nice guy” like Snake has his own prejudices, though in his case his prejudices are largely due to peer pressure and growing up in a society and an era that portrays people like his brother to be somehow a threat.  (Early on in the show, Snake and his classmates snicker as their teacher attempts to educate them about AIDS.)  Of course, those of us who are longtime Degrassi fans know that Snake is going to grow up to be a level-headed and open-minded and tolerant adult and this episode offers up hints of the man who Snake is destined to be.  Snake may be 14 years old and he has a lot of growing to do but even he realizes that it took a lot of courage for Glenn to come out and that their mother’s reaction is even worse than Snake’s.  The episode ends with Glenn telling Snake that he won’t be returning home until he feels his family has accepted him.  Snake may not be where he needs to be but, by the end of the episode, one can see that he’s changing and maturing.

This episode was dominated by Snake and Glenn’s storyline and Stefan Brogren’s sensitive performance as Snake.  That said, there were three minor subplots that played out over the course of this episode.  Joey desperately tried to get the program manager of CRA-Z Radio to listen to the Zit Remedy’s demo tape and discovered that it takes a lot more than desire to be a rock star.  While that was going on, L.D. refused to be Lucy’s friend until Lucy shamed her ex-boyfriend into admitting that they didn’t have sex at Lucy’s last party.  (Like it’s any of L.D.’s business, quite frankly.)  And Arthur freaked out because a bunch of younger students asked him if he was rich.  “Who could be telling everyone we won the lottery?” Arthur asks Yick.  Uhmm, Arthur …. remember your cousin, who goes to Degrassi and is a year under you?  Seriously, Arthur gets the worst storylines.