Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.11 “Showtime, Part 2”

Posted on July 20, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi

In yourself, you must believe….

Episode 2.11 “Showtime Part 2”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 28th, 1991)

The students of Degrassi High struggle to move on from the suicide of Claude Tanner. The talent show goes on, with all of the money raised being given to Claude’s parents. Snake, for his part, goes to therapy and stays home from school. When Joey visits him, Snake mentions that, when he found Claude, half of his face was missing. Meanwhile, Caitlin is haunted by visions of Claude, smiling and trying to hand her a flower.

This episode was not quite what I was expecting. Instead of embracing the melodrama (as Degrassi: The Next Generation would have), this episode is low-key and realistic about showing the ways that people deal with grief and trauma. Snake is understandably shaken but what makes his scene so poignant is that he’s obviously struggling to pretend like he isn’t or that life can go back to normal after what he’s seen. I spent this entire episode waiting for Caitlin to breakdown. She didn’t and really, I have to commend the show for that because I sometimes think we put too much pressure on people to release all of their emotions before they’re ready to do so. Caitlin is still emotionally number and it’s going to be a while before she’s ready to really talk about what happened. And that’s okay! Sometimes, it takes a while. It’s only now, nearly a year after he died, that I’m really starting to realize how depressed I’ve been over the past year. All those times that I thought I was moving on, I was really just distracting myself from the pain. And now, with that one year anniversary approaching, I find myself crying at the most random of times. It’s not pleasant. My heart hurts on most days. But I know that eventually, I’ll make it through. Everyone grieves in their own way and apparently, this is the way that I grieve.

This was a good Joey episode. Not only did Caitlin agree to tutor him in his science class but Wheels finally paid back the money that he stole from Joey’s mother. During their study session, Joey and Caitlin talked about the suicide, with Joey asking if Caitlin knew Claude. I guess the show’s writers forgot that, last season, Joey was intensely jealous over Caitlin and Claude’s relationship. Still, regardless of that continuity error, the scenes between Joey and Caitlin were well-written, well-acted, and emotionally honest.

In other words, this was a good episode. I’ve seen a lot of shows that have dealt with suicide. I’ve rarely seen any that dealt with it as well and as honestly as Degrassi High.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.10 “Showtime Part One”

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, tragedy comes to Degrassi.

Episode 2.10 “Showtime, Part One”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on January 21st, 1991)

When last we saw Claude Tanner, Caitlin was dumping him because he left her behind when the police showed up at the nuclear facility that they were vandalizing. Claude then refused to go to court to support her, saying that his parents wouldn’t understand. That was during the first season.

Other than appearing in the opening credits, Claude was not in the first nine episodes of the second season of Degrassi High. When he did return in tonight’s episode, he made Degrassi history.

When we first see Claude, he’s wearing what appears to be a pirate shirt and he’s looking over a piece of paper. His beard is a bit thicker. His earing is a lot bigger. When he sees Caitlin, he tries to talk to her. Caitlin tells him to get lost and then asks Maya why Claude just can’t leave her alone.

Claude is auditioning for the school talent show. He reads a monologue that he’s written, one about an ice queen who makes the entire world dark. Lucy and Bronco tell him that his monologue is too depressing for the show. Claude accuses all of the students of being sheep and storms out of the auditorium.

The next day, Claude gives Caitlin a flower, goes to his locker and retrieves a gun, and then shoots himself in the washroom. His body is later discovered by Snake.

Over the course of Degrassi’s long history, many students would die. Tragically, Claude would not be the only one to commit suicide. One was shot while trying to shoot up the school. The class clown was stabbed to death by a student from a rival high school. Another died in a car accident. However, Claude was the first.

And I have to say that I was really impressed with how Degrassi High handled Claude’s suicide. Snake was traumatized. Caitlin was left feeling numb. Some students talked about how much Claude was hurting and also about their own struggles with depression. Lucy and Spike both said that Claude’s actions were selfish and that he killed himself at school because he wanted to hurt all of the other students. When it comes to Claude, I have to admit that I find myself agreeing with Lucy and Spike. When Caitlin returns home from school, she finds a bouquet of flowers and a note from Claude waiting for her. In the note, Claude says that he loved her and the words are obviously meant to make her feel responsible for his death. The episodes ends with Caitlin throwing the flowers away. Claude would probably say that proves that Caitlin doesn’t care about him. I think it proves that Claude was a jerk who killed himself specifically to get back at Caitlin.

That doesn’t make Claude’s suicide any less tragic. Any suicide is a tragedy, especially when the person in question hasn’t even reached adulthood. As one of Claude’s friends says in this episode, Claude was sad and he didn’t feel he had anyone he could talk to. That is a tragedy and sadly, even though this episode aired over 30 years ago, there’s a lot of people who still feel that way. We live in a world where more and more people view life as being not a gift but instead a burden. It’s sad. Myself, I’m a strong believer in life and finding things to love. I love my boyfriend. I love my sisters. I love writing. I love movies. I love cats. I love knowing that, even when I’m at my lowest, happiness is in the future. Most importantly, I love myself. Never give up.

This episode was sensitive and thought-provoking and Degrassi as its best. Next week, the fallout from Claude’s suicide continues.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.9 “Extracurricular Activities”

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, everyone’s either self-centered or foolish.

Episode 2.9 “Extracurricular Activities”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on January 14th, 1991)

Caitlin or Lucy, it’s hard to say who is worse in this episode.

Caitlin is excited when her mother invites her to come home for a meeting with her father. Caitlin, who has been imposing on friends ever since she discovered her father was cheating on her mother, is all excited because she thinks her parents are going to get divorced. Instead, her parents announce that they’re staying together. Caitlin gets angry, telling her friend Maya that she’ll just get an apartment and a job and she’ll never see her parents again. Maya, who is in a wheelchair and actually knows a little more about hardship than Caitlin, reminds Caitlin that “they’re your parents,” which I think is Canadian for, “Good Lord, stop whining!” Seriously, Maya — who actually has a lot that she could justifiably be upset about — never complains about anything while Caitlin — who is from a middle-class family and has a nice house and somehow only got a slap on the wrist after being arrested for trespassing and vandalizing — never shuts up about her difficult her life is. We get it, Caitlin. It sucks that everyone in the world isn’t as perfect and principled as you are.

(Does Caitlin ever ask anyone how they’re doing or does she just enter a room and automatically start talking about her life? Based on the second season, the latter would appear to be true.)

Meanwhile, Lucy is dating Bronco, the student body president. When Bronco tells Lucy that everyone’s favorite Degrassi band, the Savages, are going to be shooting a video at Degrassi, he swears Lucy to secrecy. (Actually, Gourmet Scum was everyone’s favorite band on Degrassi High but I guess the Savages were cool too.) So, of course, Lucy tells the creepy Farrell twins and then they make plans to break into the school on the weekend to watch the video shoot. Joey and Snake also decide to break into the school for the video shoot. Of course, they all get caught by Mr. Raditch and Bronco gets in a ton of trouble because Raditch assumes that Bronco let all of his friends into the school.

“Sorry,” Lucy says.

Gee, Lucy, that’ll really help!

You may have noticed this episode annoyed me. Some of that is purely personal on my part. With my mind slipping into summer and holiday mode, I’m missing both my mom and my dad so I wasn’t necessarily sympathetic to Caitlin’s demand that her parents split up or else never speak to her again. As for Lucy and Bronco, Bronco should have known better than to tell Lucy. And Lucy sure as Hell should have known better than to tell the Farrell twins. Everyone was just too dumb this episode.

Next week, though, we have the first part of one of Degrassi High’s best-remembered episodes. Fear not, we can put this episode behind us.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.7 “The All Nighter”

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, it’s drugs and poker!

Episode 2.7 “The All Nighter”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on December 16th, 1990)

This week’s episodes tells the story of several all-nighters.

Alex, who is now apparently a major character, pulls an all-nighter to write a last-minute essay, one that he was assigned over a month ago. Hey, we’ve all been there! Luckily, he gets it written. Because this episode aired at the end of the 80s, he has write on an old timey typewriter. I like old typewriters. I can’t imagine writing with one — seriously, how did people correct typos back then? — but I do like the look and the sound of them.

Luke, Yick, Joey, and Arthur play poker at Luke’s house. (Apparently, everyone’s forgiven Luke for giving Shane the LSD that caused Shane to plunge to his near death last year.) At first, Luke doesn’t want to invite Arthur but Yick talks him into it. Arthur turns out to be a poker hustler and soon, he’s made over $15 in dimes. Myself, I don’t think I’ve ever won a hand at poker. I’m good at blackjack, though!

Finally, the most important all-nighter is the one that Maya, Melanie, Caitlin, and Kathleen hold for Diana’s birthday! Woo hoo! Birthday all-nighter’s are the best! However, in this case, Kathleen decides to bring two joints to the party. Kathleen explains that she and Scott used to smoke weed all the time. (Uhmm….okay. I remember Scott and he really didn’t seem like a stoner.) Luke made the mistake of trying to hide his stash in the tampon machine in the girl’s bathroom, which is how Kathleen got her hands on it.

Everyone, except for Caitlin, plays truth or dare while passing around the joint. Uh-oh, can you see where this is going? While Diana complains that she’s not feeling anything, Melanie decides that she’s stoned enough to reveal that she read Kathleen’s diary and that Kathleen has anorexia, an alcoholic mother, an abusive boyfriend, and a therapist. Kathleen gets upset and runs outside. Caitlin comforts her while Melanie giggles inside.

And again, I think just about everyone has been there. From my own high school experiences, weed drama usually didn’t involve people who were actually stoned as much as it involved inexperienced smokers who were trying to convince themselves that they were stoned and who inevitably ended up doing something stupid as a result. Melanie, for instance, I don’t think was anywhere near as stoned as she was trying to act. For someone who has never smoked weed before, it apparently only took Melanie a few minutes to start talking about “the munchies.” Her giggly betrayal of Kathleen was more about her thinking she was “so high” other than actually being high. Still, the damage was done. This episode ends with Melanie apologizing to Kathleen and Kathleen walking away without saying a word.

(While we’re on the subject of weed, I have to admit that I kind of lost interest in it once it started getting legalized and became socially acceptable.)

Anyway, this was a good episode. I appreciated that it didn’t go for any of the usual melodrama that teen shows usually resort to when it comes to people experimenting with drugs. Degrassi High’s strength is its nonjudgmental attitude and that was on display in this episode.

Next week, Wheels wears out his welcome at Joey’s house …. again!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.4 “A Tangled Web”

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, everyone’s lying.

Episode 2.4 “A Tangled Web”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 26th, 1990)

We’ve got three plots going on in this episode. Let’s start with the one that no one cares about.

Alex, who may appear in the opening credits (he’s wearing glasses and smiling) but who hasn’t really made much of an impression as a character in the 5 years that he’s been a Degrassi regular, has a crush on Tessa. Tessa has a crush on Joey. Arthur — hey! Arthur’s still on the show! — decides to help out by leaving notes in both Tessa and Alex’s lockers. Tessa and Alex meet up after school, each expecting to find someone else. Tessa seems kind of annoyed but Alex swears to Arthur that they actually had a good time talking.

Let’s move on to the plot that only director Kevin Smith, famous for his teen crush on Caitlin, would care about. Caitlin finally confronts her father about his cheating. She also tells her mother. Caitlin’s mom is like, “We’re trying to work through it, mind your own business for once!” As usual, Caitlin is stunned to discover that life is complex and I’m sure her friends will have to listen to her complain about it for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Wheels is being a little brat again, refusing to study and lying to his grandmother about his grades. She finally grounds Wheels but Wheels sneaks out anyway so that he can go to the Gourmet Scum concert with Joey and Snake. Uh-oh …. the car that the three of them bought breaks down! Wheels says that this is all Joey’s fault. They’ve missed the concert and now, Wheels is going to be in a huge amount of trouble when he returns home. And Wheels is right about that! In fact, his grandmother kicks him out of the house!

There was a lot of drama in this episode but it all felt a little bit familiar. We went through a whole storyline about Wheels acting like a jerk during Degrassi Junior High. It’s hard not to feel like the show is repeating itself here. And seriously, when did Wheels become such a jerk? In this episode, he does apologize to Joey but then, he asks if he can stay with Joey and his family. Uhmm …. gee, Wheels, didn’t you get caught stealing a bunch off money the last time you stayed at Joey’s house? Interestingly enough, the episode doesn’t make clear where Wheels stayed after his grandmother kicked him out. I mean, where is Wheels going to live? Since Wheels is actually an orphan, shouldn’t grandma have called the Canadian version of Child Protective Services to come pick him up? The whole thing just seems odd!

Now, of course, if you know your Degrassi history, you know what’s going to happen to the characters in this episode. Tessa is going end up sleeping with Joey, having an abortion, and leaving town. Wheels is going to end up in prison after driving drunk and killing a kid. Joey and Caitlin will eventually fall in love again but it won’t work out and grown-up, middle-aged Caitlin will end up sleeping with a college student. And Snake will become the principal of Degrassi. As for Arthur, he’s going to start a computer software company with Yick Yu. And Alex …. well, no one really cares.

Next week, life goes on.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.2 “Bad Blood: Part Two”

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Dwayne gets some life-changing news.

Episode 2.2 “Bad Blood: Part Two”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 12th, 1990)

After his summer girlfriend informs him that she’s tested positive for HIV, Dwayne goes to the local clinic to get tested. He’s understandably nervous as the doctor draws his blood. The doctor mentions that Dwayne is in a high-risk group because he had sex without a condom. Dwayne gives about twenty different excuses for why he didn’t use a condom. The doctor looks on, disappointed. Two weeks later, Dwayne returns to the clinic and is informed that he has tested positive for HIV. The doctor informs Dwayne that he’s going to have to start living life differently. He’s going to have to take care of himself. He’s going to have to give up any plans he ever had of being a father. He’s going to have to be careful when it comes to his blood.

At school, Dwayne takes out his anger on one of the condom machines in the bathroom. Wheels witnesses this and quickly runs off to tell Joey. Joey still needs a little over $300 to get his car. He also needs some money to pay everyone who took a bet on the previous episode’s attempt to walk through the cafeteria naked. Joey decides to blackmail Dwayne to get the money. (Joey has figured out that Dwayne is the one who snitched to Raditch about the walk through the cafeteria so Joey feels that Dwayne owes him the money regardless.) When Joey confronts Dwayne in the boys bathroom, it leads to another fight. Joey cuts his head. Dwayne ends up with a bloody nose. As soon as Dwayne sees that he’s bleeding, he backs off and tries to end the fight. Joey taunts Dwayne for being scared of a little blood.

“What if I have AIDS!?” Dwayne yells back.

Joey laughs off Dwayne’s comment, which leads to Dwayne throwing a fit and shouting that he didn’t do anything wrong. Joey figures out that Dwayne actually is HIV+. Later, Dwayne gives Joey the three hundred dollars in return for Joey not telling anyone. “We’re getting a car!” Snake and Wheels celebrate but the look on Joey’s face indicates that Joey is not happy about the way he got the money. In other words, Joey has a conscience! Yay, Joey!

And so does Dwayne. One of the things that Degrassi did very well was that it took characters who conformed to certain stereotypes and then dug underneath the surface and revealed that everyone — even the school bully — had their own individual fears and dreams. This episode finds Dwayne’s bravado crumbling as he’s forced to face his future as someone who is HIV positive. Darrin Brown, who is now a director, did a great job as Dwayne as did Pat Mastroianni as Joey. Both of them really grew as actors over the course of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High.

While that was going, BLT finally broke up with Michelle. Michelle was not happy. Eh, who cares? This was a good episode but BLT and Michelle were a boring couple and it’s hard to get overly worked up about them splitting up. Dwayne had a real isssue to deal with. Michelle will eventually find someone else willing to deal with her nonstop drama. Such is the way of the world.

One final note: in this episode, Lucy is shooting a video for L.D. Spike appears with her baby, Emma. Emma says, “Hi, L.D.” These were the first of many words to be spoken by Emma Nelson on Degrassi. (Emma, of course, will grow up to be one of the leads on Degrassi: The Next Generation. We’ve got a while to go before we reach that point, though.)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 2.1 “Bad Blood: Part 1”

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s time for another school year!

Episode 2.1 “Bad Blood: Part 1”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 5th, 1990)

It’s time to start another year at Degrassi High! There’s a lot going on:

Michelle spent the summer on a trip, which gave BLT time to find a new girlfriend. He hasn’t told Michelle yet. BLT says, “Michelle is so sensitive,” as if that’s a bad thing. Remember when BLT was like the perfect boyfriend last season? I guess that’s all gone out the window.
L.D.’s cancer is in remission! However, she’s not back at school. Her father sold his garage, bought a sailboat, and now he and L.D. are circling the globe. So, I guess L.D. is just going to be a high school dropout? Lucy films a video for L.D. Good luck delivering it to the middle of the ocean.
Condom machines have been installed in the bathrooms! The Farrell twin who keeps getting pregnant is super excited.
School bully Dwayne also loves the condom machines because he can fill the condoms with water and drop them on his longtime nemesis, Joey Jeremiah.
Joey is upset that Dwayne and his gang are in Joey’s special ed class. However, Joey does have one good thing happening in his life. He finally got his license! Now, he just needs a car.
Hey, here’s a car that’s for sale! But it costs …. $3,000! And Joey only has $75. Ha. Loser.
How can Joey raise money? What if he asks everyone to pay him to walk naked through the cafeteria? All of the teachers are going to be in a staff meeting so there’s no way Joey’s going to get caught!
Joey goes through with it, walking into cafe naked while holding his fedora over his …. well, you know. Joey’s embarrassed but he’s going to get a car!
Except …. OH NO! IT’S RADITCH!
Who snitched on Joey? That’s right, it was Dwayne! Joey gets dragged to the office and he doesn’t get any of the money that he needed for his car.
Dwayne is still laughing about it when he arrives home. His father tells him that “some chick” called for you.
Dwayne calls Penny, his summer girlfriend. Penny tells him that her ex-boyfriend has tested positive for HIV and that’s she tested positive for HIV and maybe Dwayne should get tested….
To be continued….

Agck! That’s quite an ending for what was, otherwise, a fairly light-hearted episode. But that’s one thing that made Degrassi such a good show. It understood how being in high school was often a bizarre mix of comedy and drama. This episode spends a good deal of time portraying Dwayne as being the biggest jerk ever and then it ends with him looking absolutely terrified. It’s a powerful moment.

Next week, the story continues as Dwayne’s life is changed forever.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.15 “Stressed Out”

Posted on April 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the first season of Degrassi High comes to a close!

Episode 1.15 “Stressed Out”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on February 13th, 1990)

The first season of Degrassi High comes to an end with an episode that once again establishes Caitlin as being the worst.

The school year is coming to a close and everyone is stressed about final exams. Michelle is taking speed to stay up and study. Normally, this would be a big deal but this episode only devotes a few scenes to it and we don’t even get a big dramatic meltdown on Michelle’s part. I mean, I guess it’s good that Michelle finally got a plotline that doesn’t revolve everyone being shocked about her dating BLT but why would you do a drug storyline without a meltdown?

The majority of this episode is taken up with Caitlin getting upset because Ms. Avery will not be working at Degrassi anymore. Under the impression that Ms. Avery has been fired, Caitlin passes around a petition. When Ms. Avery says she appreciates the support but that she’s actually the one who decided to quit, Caitlin freaks out (in much the same way that Michelle should have freaked out) and gets all upset and says that she’s not even going to go to the end-of-the-year school party.

Hey, Caitlin — IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

Seriously, Caitlin — Ms. Avery is an adult. She has every right to quit her job. Now, it does turn out that Avery quit because the school board wanted her to become a substitute teacher. Avery wants her own classroom. Caitlin is still upset. How can Ms. Avery be so selfish to abandon the one student who actually cares about whether or not she has a job or not? Avery really should have just told Caitlin to get a life but finally, Ms. Avery takes a job teaching at another school. So, Ms. Avery will get her own classroom and, even more importantly, she won’t have to deal with Caitlin anymore.

Whatever happened to Caitlin’s court case? Shouldn’t she be doing community service or something?

This finale was a bit of a letdown but it happens. Not every school year ends with something exciting happening. Next week, we start the second and final season of Degrassi High!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.14 “It Creeps!”

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Wake up in the morning, it’s time to make a feminist slasher film….

Episode 1.14 “It Creeps!”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 6th, 1990)

Shane’s back!

We haven’t seen Shane since he showed up at the last junior high dance. Shane, of course, is the ex-boyfriend of Spike and the wayward father of Emma. Shane took LSD while at a concert and either jumped or fell off a bridge. When we see him in this episode, he’s suffering from brain damage. One minute, he’s greeting Spike like his best friend. Another minute, he’s yelling at her and suddenly acting aggressive. Spike still tries to be nice to him, despite Liz’s comment of “He’s creepy.” (Seriously, what is going with Liz this season?) What’s really disturbing, though, is that Shane’s only close friend still appears to be Luke, the idiot who gave him the acid in the first place.

(Seriously, how did Luke get away with that?)

That was the B-plot of this episode. The A-plot featured Lucy finally making her feminist horror film, It Creeps!!, for her creative writing class. Personally, I like the idea behind It Creeps!! It’s a slasher movie where, for once, it’s the guys getting knifed in the shower instead of the girls. It’s the type of thing that would get Lucy a deal with Blumhouse today. I’m a little bit surprised that she was able to get away with making it for a school project but I guess that 80s were a more innocent time. If a student shot a bloody slasher film in her school today, she’d probably be suspended.

Lucy shows her film to the class and is shocked when they laugh at certain parts. She runs out the room but her creative writing teacher assures her that class is enjoying her film. He tells her that she did a good job, considering that it was her first film. (It’s a hundred times better than Michael Scott’s Threat Level Midnight.) Lucy returns to the classroom, just in time to find everyone cheering as Wheels dies on screen.

Of course, those of us who know our Degrassi history, know how this is going to turn out. After graduation, Wheels is going to be driving drunk and he’s going to have the accident that will not only send him to prison but will also leave Lucy crippled and temporarily blinded. Seriously, this show is a lot darker if you already know what’s going to happen in School’s Out!

As for this episode, it was a good one. The plot with Lucy’s film worked because the end result actually looked like something that had been filmed by a moderately talented teenager who owned a somewhat beat-up video camera. And I was glad that the show remembered that Shane existed. Amanda Stepto did a wonderful job portraying Spike’s reaction to seeing Shane. This was Degrassi High at its best.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 4.13 “Testing, One, Two Three”

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, everyone faces a test.

Episode 4.13 “Testing, One, Two, Three”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on January 30th, 1990)

After being absent for the past few episodes, Joey and Caitlin are finally the center of this week’s story. Both of them are struggling. Joey, despite all of his efforts to study and pay attention in class, is still getting bad grades. The school counselor thinks that Joey has dysgraphia, a learning disability that makes it difficult for him to express his thoughts in an organized fashion. Caitlin, meanwhile, is going to have to appear in court as a result of getting arrested while vandalizing that nuclear plant.

A few thoughts:

Claude — or “Clode” as he wants to be called — once again shows himself to be the worst ever when he says he’s not sure if he can go to court with Caitlin. Claude is the one who convincing Caitlin to vandalize the plant in the first place and, when the cops showed up, he abandoned her. Big-time rebel Claude actually asks his parents for permission to skip school to go to Caitlin’s court date. They say no, just as Claude knew they would. What a putz!
“My parents aren’t liberal like yours!” Claude whines to Caitlin.
Maya actually puts off a doctor’s appointment so she can go to Caitlin’s medical appointment! Good for you, Maya …. except, doctor’s appointments can kind of be important, too.
Actually, now that I think about it, why should anyone be going to court with Caitlin? Caitlin made the decision to spray paint her stupid slogans on her own. Claude shouldn’t have abandoned her but Caitlin shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Caitlin acts as if Claude should take her punishment for her but actually, Claude being a coward doesn’t mean that Caitlin is somehow absolved. She knew she could get in trouble when she climbed over that fence.
This episode is a good example of why Caitlin drives a lot of people crazy. Caitlin has a problem and everyone else is expected to drop everything and spend all of their time worrying about it.
Joey, meanwhile, has a real problem to deal with. He feels stupid. He’s not dumb, not at all. But his grades remain stubbornly bad and he’s just been told that he has a scary-sounding “condition” and that he’s going to have to take a special class to learn how to function. And yes, there’s no shame in having a learning disability. I have ADHD so when Joey talked about struggling to organize his thoughts, I knew exactly what he was saying. But, when you’re the one hearing the words “learning disability,” it’s scary! My heart went out to Joey in this episode.
Evil bully Dwayne made an appearance, harassing Joey after he overhears Joey describing him as being a gorilla. Joey and Dwayne get into yet another fight. Joey gets detention. Dwayne gets suspended.
Caitlin is also in detention, as a result of slapping Claude. Caitlin and Joey are still not getting along but we know that’s going to change.
Finally, there was one other subplot. The students in a difficult biology class were excited to learn that Alex (John Ioannou) had an advanced copy of the big test. Alex’s older brother saved all of his old tests. Alex gives Tessa a copy of the test but makes her promise not to let anyone know. Tessa lets everyone know. Everyone in the class passes! They don’t get caught. But the teacher says its obvious that the test was too easy so he decides to toss out the results and give everyone a new test …. WHAT!? CAN HE DO THAT!? What the heck, Canada!?
Incidentally, I never would have passed Algebra II if my sister hadn’t saved all of her tests. Thank you, Erin Nicole!

And that’s it for the week. Remember — in yourself, you must believe!