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, it’s a shop-lifting episode!

(Whenever I watch one of these episodes, I’m tempted to send Target a check for all of the makeup that ended up in my purse during my junior year of high school….)

Episode 1.9 “What A Night!”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on March 15th, 1987)

The very first episode of Degrassi Junior High featured the end of a long friendship.  Disgusted by both Stephanie’s provocative way of dressing and her flirtatious campaign for the class presidency, Voula declared that she no longer wanted to be Stephanie’s friend.  Since that episode, Stephanie has tried to apologize to Voula many times and Voula has not only refused to accept her apology but she’s also somehow gotten even more judgmental.  While I know that the usual reaction of many fans is to condemn Stephanie and defend Voula, I’m totally on Stephanie’s side.  Voula really needs to get over herself and realize that not everyone wants to dress like a Mennonite child bride.  It’s not Stephanie’s fault that Voula’s parents are absurdly overprotective and controlling.

This week’s episode features both a Stephanie plot and a Voula plot.  Even though Stephanie and Voula do not interact, it’s hard to watch What A Night without thinking about how different things would be if the two of them were still friends.  Voula served as a voice of reason for Stephanie and Stephanie was someone who encouraged Voula to have fun in her life without taking things too far.  Both Stephanie and Voula have a pretty bad night in this week’s episode and it probably wouldn’t have happened if they were still friends.

Stephanie, for instance, is happy because her favorite soap opera actor, Damon King (Barry Tull), is in town.  Damon is promoting his new book, Confessions of a Soap Star.  When Stephanie goes to the bookstore to get his autograph, the sleazy, mullet-headed Damon flirts with her.  When Stephanie tells him that she’s 16 (actually, she’s 14), Damon responds by giving her his phone number.

This is where Stephanie could have used Voula’s advice.  Voula would have said, “This actor is going to burn in Hell for putting himself as a false idol before God,” and that probably would have freaked out Stephanie enough to convince her to throw away the number.  Instead, Stephanie is forced to get advice from her two new best friends, the Farrell twins!  Heather Farrell says, “Be careful” but Erica Farrell says, “Go for it!”  And since Erica is the more talkative of the two, it is Erica’s advice that Stephanie takes.

Stephanie calls the number and Damon tells her to wait for him outside of a shabby looking convenience store.  Stephanie sneaks out of the house and finds herself waiting, for way too long, in the worst part of Toronto.  Finally, Damon shows up in his sports car.  Stephanie gets into the car and Damon immediately starts grabbing at her.  Shouting that she’s only 14, Stephanie jumps out of the car.  Damon drives off and Stephane calls her mom for a ride home.

Voula, meanwhile, has been hanging out with Lucy Fernandez and tutoring her on her spelling skills.  After Lucy gets a good grade her spelling test, she celebrates by taking Voula out to the mall so that Voula can get some clothes that make her look a little less Amish.  Voula says that she doesn’t have any money for clothes but Lucy explains that she won’t need any money because …. LUCY IS A COMPULSIVE SHOPLIFTER!

Voula freaks out when Lucy stuffs a sweater in her bag.  In fact, Voula freaks out so much that a clerk notices her and Lucy and calls security.  Despite attempting to run both up and down an escalator, they cannot escape the stern-faced, bilingual Canadian security guards.  Both Lucy and Voula are dragged down to the Toronto police station.  Voula’s parents eventually show up to get Voula but Lucy’s parents are out of town.  And, since this isn’t the first time that Lucy has been caught shoplifting, she’s going to be charged!  Don’t worry, though.  This is Canada so Lucy only has to do a few hours of community service.

What’s weird about this is that Voula is very forgiving of Lucy getting her arrested.  Sure, Voula is mad at first but, the very next day, she forgives Lucy and agrees to keep tutoring her.  Voula feels sorry for Lucy because Lucy’s parents are never home.  So, Voula will never forgive Stephanie for kissing Joey Jeremiah and wearing a short skirt but she’s totally fine with Lucy almost causing her to get a criminal record?

Seriously, Voula’s the worst!

This episode was pretty good.  I think what sets this episode of Degrassi apart from all the other teen shows that have deal with shoplifting and sketchy men is that both stories felt like they developed naturally from the personalities of the characters involved.  Stephanie sneaking out to meet up with Damon totally fit in with all of the other times that she’s tried to prove that she’s more “grown up” than she actually is and it’s another reminder that Stephanie actually is fairly naïve about the world outside of high school.  Voula and Lucy becoming friends makes total sense when you consider that 1) Voula hasn’t really had close a friend since she got mad at Stephanie and 2) Lucy and Stephanie have so much in common that it makes sense that a scorned stalker like Voula would select Lucy as her new obsession.  (Seriously, Voula’s bitterness towards Stephanie borders on Fatal Attraction territory.)  And Lucy’s shoplifting makes sense when you consider that her parent’s apparently have next to nothing to do with her.  It may sound like a cliché to say that Lucy is acting out to her parent’s attention but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Next week: Rick become an environmentalist in a bid to impress Caitlin!  If this sound familiar, that’s because, two decades later, Sean would do pretty much the same thing to impress Emma.