Tag Archives: Cassie Steele

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Genreation 1.12 “Wannabe”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, we get a peek into Degrassi’s future.

Episode 1.12 “Wannabe”

(Dir by Laurie Lynd, originally aired on June 10th, 2002)

This week’s episode is a good example of Emma Nelson being the worst person possible.

Paige and Hazel (Andrea Lewis) are planning on relaunching the Degrassi Spirit Squad, with help of Oskar (Fielding Horan), a character who I’m pretty sure was never seen again after this season.  Manny, a trained gymnast, wants to join the Spirit Squad and does a cartwheel in the school hallway for her audition.  It looks like Manny is finally going find a life outside of being Emma’s supportive friend and….

Uh-oh, Emma looks mad.

Yes, Emma is angry again.  She writes an editorial for the school newspaper, calling the Spirit Squad a sexist relic and saying that the only people interested in it are bimbos.  For some reason, the newspaper runs the editorial, which leads me to suspect that they have no faculty sponsor.

Paige, Manny, and Hazel responds by grabbing every issue of the paper and ripping out Emma’s editorial.  That is some of the funniest and most realistic high school behavior ever.  However, the show expects for us to be as upset as Emma.  No, I’m sorry.  Emma’s editorial was out-of-line and was clearly written by someone who had a personal issue with Paige.  (Never mind that Paige was the one who came to Emma’s rescue when Emma got her first period while wearing a white skirt….)  A responsible editor wouldn’t have published it.  If I said to Arleigh, “Hey, you know that former film blogger in Canada with whom I had that extremely petty argument 15 years ago?  I’m going to write a surprise, 1,000-word post calling him a loser just because I’m in a bad mood,” Arleigh would rightfully suggest that I reconsider.  Add to that, every editorial that Emma has written has sounded like scoldy crap but, during the first season at least, Emma was such a creator’s pet that we weren’t supposed to notice.

Mr. Simpson confronts Paige and Manny about vandalizing the Degrassi Grapevine.  Paige says that she saw Hazel doing it.  Manny realizes that Paige cannot be trusted!  Paige tells Manny that she’ll be lucky to make the Spirit Squad unless she adjusts her attitude.

Of course, those of us who have seen Degrassi knew the future.  Despite Emma’s whining, The Spirit Squad is going to become one of the show’s mainstays.  Manny is going to make the squad and become friends with Paige.  Meanwhile, Hazel is eventually going to be retconned into a Somalian refugee who ends up dating Jimmy until he gets shot in the back.  Meanwhile, Emma will marry Spinner and….

Oh yeah, Spinner!  Poor Spinner!  In this episode, Spinner gets stuck in one of the lamest Degrassi storylines ever.  Toby, JT, and Liberty think that they have a Pringles can that will win them a million dollars in some weird Canadian Pringles sweepstakes.  Spinner decides that he wants some of the money as well and J.T. and Toby say sure because they’re like 4’11 and Spinner is like 5’10.  But it turns out that JT had the wrong can so no one wins anything.  Yes, it’s just that dumb.

Again, it’s good to know the future when watching the Pringles subplot.  J.T. will never become rich because he’s going to be brutally murdered during his senior year.  Before he dies, J.T. will manage to impregnant Liberty and Liberty will give the child up for adoption.  Meanwhile, Toby will end up hosting a Canadian robotics competition.  (Yeah, I don’t quite understand it myself….)  And Spinner will end up flunking three times before graduating at the age of 21.  And even then, he still hung out around the school until he was like 30.  Never underestimate how far this show would go to keep a popular character around.

This episode was pretty lame but historically, it was very important.  Not only was it the first episode to feature Spirit Squad drama but it was also one of the first episodes to suggest (albeit unintentionally) that Emma was essentially a sociopath who couldn’t stand to see her friends happy.  This episode was a harbinger of Degrassi’s future.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.11 “Friday Night”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, we get glimpse of the future.

Episode 1.11 “Friday Night”

(Dir by Paul Fox, originally aired on June 3rd, 2002)

It’s a wild Friday night in Toronto!

Emma and Sean go on their first date.  It goes like this: Sean asks out Emma.  Emma says yes but isn’t sure whether or not Sean is asking her on a date or just asking her to hang out.  Sean is inarticulate because he’s a guy.  Emma gets mad.  In gym class, a game of dodgeball turns into a game of Emma throwing the ball exclusively at Sean.  Sean thinks that Emma hates him.  Emma says she doesn’t hate him.  Finally, Sean shows up at Emma’s house.  Before they leave on their date, Spike takes a picture.

They step outside of the house and a bird immediately defecates on Emma’s outfit.  Emma changes.  They decide to get something to eat before going to a movie.  Emma says that she ordered Sean a vegetarian burger.  Sean is cool with that because he doesn’t eat meat ever since he spent time on a ranch and saw how the animals are treated.  Emma is like, “Awwww!”  But then Emma realizes she can’t find her wallet and she fears that it’s accidentally been thrown away.  Sean spends the night searching through the dumpster behind the restaurant, until Emma realizes that she had her wallet with her all the time.  Whoops!  Emma runs off in tears.

How sad!  Of course, those of us who have watched this show know that one bad date isn’t going to keep Emma and Sean from having one of the most epic (if ultimately pointless) relationships in Degrassi history, one that will survive Sean going to jail but which won’t survive him joining the Army.  Of course, we also know that Emma is somehow going to end up married to Spinner despite saying barely ten words to him over the course of 8 seasons.

Speaking of Spinner, he and Jimmy spend Friday night tormenting Ms. Kwan.  Spinner has a grudge against Ms. Kwan because Ms. Kwan broke his “discman” while trying take it away from him when she discovered him listening to it in her class.

“My discman!” Spinner exclaimed.

“No, your fault!” Kwan snapped.

Spinner got detention.  Later, Jimmy also got detention for making fun of Shakespeare.  (Kwan also got annoyed with Jimmy for making out with Ashley in the hallway.  “You two may think you’re cute….”  Uhmm, it’s the hallway.  Calm down, Ms. Kwan.)  When Spinner and Jimmy learned that Ms. Kwan would be at the school late, teaching an ESL class, they broke into the principal’s office, broadcast the sound of Spinner chewing gum into her classroom, and then ordered several pizzas for her class.  Spinner then threw an entire carton of eggs at Kwan’s car.  Kwan came outside, saw her car, and broke down into tears while Spinner and Jimmy watched from afar.  Spinner was amused.  Jimmy felt guilty.

The next day, Mr. Raditch announces that Ms. Kwan has taken a leave of absence because her husband’s been sick.  The upcoming class field trip is canceled.  And Mr. Raditch will now be teaching Kwan’s class.  Spinner, you idiot!

That said, I blame Jimmy more.  Everyone knows that Spinner’s impulsive and out-of-control.  Jimmy’s supposed to be the voice of reason.

This episode is one of the better season one episodes, if just because it featured Emma being repeatedly humiliated (that may seem cruel but if you know some of the things that Emma’s going to do in the future, it is kind of satisfying to see) and it also features an early appearance of a recurring Degrassi theme: Spinner accidentally destroying someone’s life.  This episode represents the future of Degrassi.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.10 “Rumors and Relationships”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Emma tries to destroy someone’s life.

Episode 1.10 “Rumors and Relationships”

(Dir by Paul Fox, originally aired on May 20th, 2002)

This episode features Spinner at his best and Emma at her worst.

Let’s get Emma out of the way first.  When Emma happens to see Liberty and Coach Armstrong alone in a classroom together, she assumes that Armstrong is hitting on Liberty.  She tells Manny about her suspicions.  Terri overhears and tells Sean.  Sean tells Spinner.  Spinner tells Jimmy.  Jimmy tells Paige.  Paige tells Hazel (Andrea Lewis).  Hazel tells Ashley.  Ashley tells Liberty.  Liberty gets upset.  When Emma sees Liberty crying, Emma ask Liberty about her and Armstrong.  Liberty swears on her life that Armstrong was not hitting on her.  Emma wonders how the rumor got started–

Uhmm, Emma …. YOU STARTED IT!

Emma promises Liberty that she will work her backwards to find the person who started the rumor–

IT WAS YOU, EMMA!  YOU STARTED THE RUMOR!

Because Emma is apparently incapable of remember what she said earlier in the day, she goes from Ashley to Hazel to Page to Spinner (she skips Jimmy) to Sean and eventually she confronts Terri.  Emma says that the rumor is all over the school and it’s all Terri’s fault.

Terri, quite sensibly, points out that Emma is the one who started the rumor.

Now, in her defense, Emma does feel bad about starting the rumor.  When Mr. Raditch calls Coach Armstrong out into the hall to tell him about the rumors, Emma walks up and confesses that it’s her fault.  But one thing Emma doesn’t do is really apologize.  In fact, when she later talks to Liberty, she instead acts as if it is somehow Liberty’s fault for not telling Emma why she was in a classroom alone with Armstrong in the first place.  Liberty finally admits that she had dyscalculia (which is dyslexia but with numbers) and that Armstrong — THE MATH TEACHER — has been tutoring her and helping her not to feel bad about it.  Emma again asks why Liberty just didn’t tell her that to begin with.

Hey, Emma — maybe Liberty didn’t tell you because IT’S NONE OF YOUR FREAKING BUSINESS!

The episode ends with Liberty telling Emma that, when it comes to helping people, Emma sucks.  And Liberty certainly has a point.

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Spinner discovers a bug in his food.  “Boycott the caf!” he yells, “it has earwigs!”  Unfortunately, no one believes Spinner.  So, the next day, Spinner collects a bunch of bugs and takes them into the cafeteria.  He thinks that if someone else sees a bug and reports it, they will be believed and someone will call an exterminator.  Of course, the only thing that anyone sees is Spiner carrying a tub of bugs.  The bugs get free and Spinner is sentenced to work in the cafeteria until he’s paid off the $300 that it’s going to cost the school to have the cafeteria exterminated.

“But it needed to be exterminated anyways!” Spinner says.

This was classic Spinner.  Even when he cares about Degrassi, no one listens.  It’s a little bit gross that he was carrying around a tub of living bugs but his heart was in the right place.

Spinner’s the best!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.8 “Secrets & Lies”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Ashley learns her father’s secret.

Episode 1.8 “Secrets & Lies”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on May 6th, 2002)

This is a landmark episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation for two reasons.

First off, it’s the first episode to establish that Liberty has a crush on J.T.  Liberty’s unrequited crush was one of the show’s early storyline and, to be honest, it was frequently one of the more annoying storylines.  Liberty was always a rather flat character and she and J.T. never really made much sense as a couple.  (Yes, they did eventually become a couple.)  Of course, watching this episode today, all I can think about is the fact that, in the far future, J.T. is going to die in Liberty’s arms after being stabbed in the back by a student from a rival high school.  Much as with Degrassi High, knowing what the future holds adds a layer of poignance to these early episodes that they otherwise wouldn’t have.

As for this episode, J.T. tries to get Liberty to leave him alone by pretending to be gay.  He gets this idea after Toby informs him that Ashley’s father, the dashing Robert Kerwin (Andrew Gillies), has come out of the closet.

The majority of this episode deals with Ashley struggling to accept that her father is gay.  Again, this is another storyline that becomes far more poignant if you already know that Robert is eventually going to marry his partner Christopher and Ashley’s boyfriend is going to have a mental breakdown at the wedding.

This episode actually did a very good job of realistically portraying Ashley’s initial reaction to learning that her father’s gay.  Ashley is confused and, as she was still hoping that her parents would eventually get back together, she feels betrayed.  It’s an honest reaction and probably not the sort of thing you would ever see on television today, where our idealized protagonists almost always have the right response from the start.  The fact that the show deals honestly with Ashley’s emotions makes her eventual acceptance of her father’s sexuality all the more poignant.

This episode deals very sensitively deals with Robert’s coming out and Andrew Gillies and Melissa McIntyre both deserve a lot of credit for their performances.  (Remember, this episode aired in 2002, at a time when gay characters were almost always portrayed as either being comedy relief or helpless victims.)  I do have to admit that there is one rather clunky line in this episode.  It comes when Ashley asks Robert if he has a boyfriend and Robert tells her about his partner, Christopher.  Ashley’s next line (and Melissa McIntyre’s overdramatic delivery of it) always makes me laugh despite myself:

Aside from that line and all of the cringey stuff involving J.T. and Liberty (and, admittedly, that is a lot to overlook), this was a sensitive and well-handled episode.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.7 “Basketball Diaries”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Jimmy decides that Ritalin might be key to improving his jump shot.  Meanwhile, Liberty makes a fool out of herself

Episode 1.7 “Basketball Diaries”

(Dir by James Allodi, originally aired on April 29th, 2002)

This epiosde features two stories.  The weaker of the two, not surprisingly, focuses on Liberty and her desire to do the video announcements.  Ashley finally agrees to let Liberty do them before the big basketball game with Earl Grey Academy.  Liberty, of course, bombs.  Paige laughs because she thinks that Ashley set Liberty up.  Feeling guilty, Ashley gives Liberty some pointers and then allows Liberty to do the post-game announcements.  Liberty does much better and Ashley says that Liberty will be great when she starts regularly doing the announcements …. after Ashley graduates.

This storyline was a Liberty storyline so who cares.  During the first three seasons, Liberty was the most annoying character on the show and her storylines were always cringe.

Fortunately, the episode’s other storyline features Jimmy and Spinner.  Jimmy is worried about making the basketball team, especially with Ms. Kwan constantly on his back about reading Lord of the Flies.  Jimmy convinces Spinner to hand over his last Ritalin.  As a result, Jimmy goes crazy on the court and scores a lot of points but he also injures his teammate, Sean.  Meanwhile, Spinner loses focus and moons the gym.

So, the reason why I love this storyline is becuase it features every myth that people seem to believe about ADD.  For the record, the medication does not give you super powers and also most people don’t suddenly go wild just because they miss one pill.  I have ADD.  There have been days when I’ve forgotten to take my pills and, while there is definitely a difference in those days than the day when I do take my pills, I’ve still always managed to survive without breaking the law or crashing my car or doing any of the other things that always seem to happen on television.  Whenever I forget to take my pills, I usually end up doing something like deciding it would be a good idea to start doing daily late night retro television reviews on top of everything else that I have to do.

(The first time my mom ever took me to an appointment to get my perscription refilled, she said she could tell who was at the doctor’s office for ADD because we were the ones who couldn’t go 5 minutes without grabbing another magazine to look through.)

As for Jimmy, he wins the game but he still gets cut from the team because he’s not a good teammate.  That’ll teach him to take Ritalin without a perscription!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.6 “The Mating Game”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, everyone’s thinking about sex!

Episode 1.6 “The Mating Game”

(Dir by Anthony Browne, originally aired on April 22nd, 2002)

Sex therpaist Dr. Sally (Sue Johanson, recreating her role from Degrassi Junior High) is coming to Degrassi and it’s not a minute to soon because everyone is thinking about sex.  Ashley and Jimmy’s 8-month reunion is approaching and, when Paige is cast as Juliet opposite Jimmy’s Romeo in a class assignment, Ashley starts to worry that Jimmy might not be happy with their sex-free relationship.  Of course, Jimmy is more than happy with his relationship with Ashley.  If anything, Spinner seems to be the one who is obsessed with when Ashley and Jimmy are going to “do it.”

Meanwhile, Toby has a crush on Emma but Emma has a crush on Sean.  Toby invites Emma to join him in watching a DVD about an endangered turtle.  Emma agrees because Emma is all about endangered animal documentaries.  But then she stands him up so that she can help Sean out with his school project.  Sean tells Emma about how he had to give up his pet dog when he moved in with his brother, Emma says. “Awwww!,” and Toby ends up heart-broken.  Emma, for her part, is shocked when Manny later tells her that Toby has a “huge crush” on her.

(Though I’m a huge Degrassi fan, I have to admit that I always forget how much time the first season of Degrassi: The Next Generation spent on storylines that were, more or less, abandoned in future seasons.  Toby’s crush on Emma is a good example.)

As for Ashley and Jimmy, they both do the right thing and buy condoms.  (Jimmy goes to a drugstore.  Ashley orders online.)  However, they don’t have sex and instead just blow the condoms up and write cutesy little messages on them.

Finally, this episode features Terri once again getting offended when Ashley comments on her having never had a boyfriend.  For those of us who know our Degrassi history, it’s hard not to cringe at Ashley’s comment because we know what’s going to happen to Terri (and eventually Jimmy) once Terri finally does start dating someone.

This episode was okay.  These first season episodes are not always easy to watch because the show itself got a lot more interesting after the second season.  It’s hard not watch the episodes from the first two seasons and spend most of the time thinking about what the future holds for the characters.  In this episode, Jimmy is gawky and Ashley is confident that she and Jimmy will know when the time is right.  In the future, Ashley is going to lose all of her friends after taking ecstasy and Jimmy is going to end up paralyzed from the waist down.  In this episode, Toby and JT are bummed that only the eighth graders get to see Dr. Sally.  In the future, JT’s going to get stabbed to death and Toby’s going to end up dating Spinner’s adopted sister.  Meanwhile, Sean’s going to end joining the Army and Emma’s going to end up married to Spinner and Terri’s going to leave school after her boyfriend shoves her and she hits her head on a rock.  When you know all that is going to happen, it’s hard to get caught up in Terri’s hurt feelings or Ashley’s awkwardness when she has to pay for her condom delivery.  Seriously, they should be enjoying their lives while they can because the future is going to be dark!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.5 “Parents Day”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Emma goes on a crusade and Canada will never be the same.

Episode 1.5 “Parents Day”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired April 15th, 2002)

Its Parents Day at Degrassi!

Toby Isaacs is paranoid that his divorced parents are going to get into an argument as soon as they’re in a room together and that’s exactly what happens.  When Snake tells them that Toby could have the best grades in school if he only applied himself, his mom and his dad start blaming each other.  This scene always makes me cringe, largely because I was in the same boat in high school.  “Lisa is smart as a whip,” one of my teachers said during my junior year, “but she doesn’t focus in class and is easily distracted.”  “Lisa Marie,” my mother said, “did you hear that?”  “Hear what?,” I replied.

Anyway, Toby tells his parents that the reason he’s struggling is because they’re always fighting.  His parents apologize to him.  Awwwww!  That’s sweet.  It would never happen in real life but it’s still sweet.  (Having seen the entire series, it’s always a bit jarring to be reminded of how much the first season focused on Toby, someone who — in future seasons — would often just be a background character.)

Meanwhile, we meet Sean’s totally cool older brother and guardian, Tracker (Kris Holden-Reid).  How cool is Tracker?  His name’s Tracker!  Plus, he calls out Emma to her face.  Emma, in a sign of things to come, has written an editorial for the school paper in which she complains about a once-a-week broadcast called NAK (News About Kids).  She feels that NAK is just propaganda.  When Principal Raditch points out that NAK donated the school’s computer lab in return for the school showing their broadcast (and again, it’s like a 10-minute program that is shown ONCE a week), Emma writes that the school shouldn’t accept anything from NAK and students should just use their home computers.  When Emma overhears Tracker describing her editorial as being “garbage,” she gets mad at tells him that he’s an idiot.  Tracker points out that not all kids — like Sean, for instance — can afford a home computer.

Here’s the thing: Tracker’s correct.  Even when I first saw this episode as an idealistic teenager who agreed with Emma about NAK being propaganda, I thought Tracker was correct.  Not all kids can afford their own computer.  If showing a 10-minute, once-a-week broadcast that most students would probably end up talking through meant the school got a computer lab, it seemed like a reasonable compromise.

However, this episode introduced one of the themes that would become prominent on Degrassi in later seasons.  Emma is never wrong.  Even when it’s clear that Emma is totally wrong and is being unreasonable, the show will still end with someone telling Emma that she’s right.  This episode ends with Sean telling Emma that her editorial wasn’t garbage.  Emma smiles because she has a crush on Sean and that’s sweet and all but you know what?  That editorial was totally garbage!

My feelings were mixed on this episode.  I could relate to Toby’s embarrassment.  I could also relate to Paige’s over-the-top efforts to impress Toby’s mom, who we’re told is casting director.  But this episode also launched the whole “Emma-is-a-crusader” thing, which would eventually become one of the more annoying things about the show.  In the end, though, I guess the important thing is that everyone survived Parents Day.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.4 “Eye of the Beholder”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Emma meets Sean.

Episode 1.4 “Eye of the Beholder”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on April 8th, 2002)

It’s time for the first Degrassi school dance of the year!  Ashley is superexcited because she was able to talk Mr. Raditch into letting her throw a night dance.  Unfortunately, that means that Manny’s parents will not allow her to go to the dance.  With Toby and JT planning on staying at Toby’s to look at porn while Toby’s parents are out of the house, that means Emma will have to go to the dance all by herself!  Emma is mad.  Then again, Emma is always mad.

Meanwhile, a new student has shown up at school.  He briefly went to the school last term but his family moved up north.  Now, he’s back in Toronto and living with his brother and returning to Degrassi.  He’s also having to repeat Grade 7, something that Jimmy mocks him for.  He’s …. SEAN CAMERON!

Yes, this is the episode the introduces Daniel Clark as Sean Cameron.  Sean would go on to become one the most important characters during the classic seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation.  A sensitive juvenile delinquent who alternated between being a brooding rebel and a petty criminal,  Sean is best-remembered for eventually dating Emma Nelson but it’s often forgotten that he also dated the supercool Ellie Nash.  I’ve always preferred Ellie/Sean to Emma/Sean but I’m getting ahead of myself.  That’s all in the future.

What’s important for this episode is that Sean also goes to the dance by himself.  And when Jimmy continues to give him a hard time, Sean grabs him and prepares to beat up on him like Kendrick Lamar preparing to drop another diss track.  With Mr. Raditch approaching, Emma cools off the situation by asking Sean to dance.

In the episode’s other main storyline, Terri is shocked when Spinner asks her to the dance.  Paige is shocked as well.  With the overweight Terri feeling insecure (it’s her first date — ever!), Paige helps matters by telling Terri she should have some sherry to calm her nerves.  Soon, Terri is drunk and, by the time she and Paige make it to the dance, she’s a giggly mess.  Long story short: Terri gets sick after one dance with Spinner and, the next morning, it’s clear that Spinner is now dating Paige.  This is another case where it’s hard to watch this storyline unfold without considering the future.  Paige and Spinner are not only destined to become a classic Degrassi couple but, ultimately, Paige is going to become a better friend to Terri than Ashley ever was.  Eventually, Terri will get her first boyfriend.  Of course, he’s going to turn out to be a complete psycho who, after putting Terri in a coma, will end up shooting up the school in a totally separate episode and putting Jimmy in a wheelchair.  Agck!  Seriously, these students have no idea what’s waiting for them in the future.

Finally, Toby and JT get caught looking at porn.  Toby’s parents then force them to look at more porn and discuss how it objectifies both men and women.  When Toby tells Manny and Emma about it, Manny and Emma both chime in with “Losers.”  Yep, that about sums it up.

The main problem with this episode is that I never really bought Spinner asking Terri to the dance.  It’s not because Terri’s fat.  (Spinner wasn’t exactly skinny himself in these early episodes.)  Instead, it’s just that Spinner and Terri really didn’t have much chemistry.  Even in this very early episode, Spinner and Paige just seemed to belong together.  Still, the most important thing is that Sean Cameron has arrived and Degrassi will never be the same.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.3 “Family Politics”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

It’s the first day of school!

Episode 1.3 “Family Politics”

(Dir by Anthony Browne, originally aired on April 1st , 2002)

It’s the first day of school at Degrassi Community School and — hey!  There’s all the folks we know.

Spinner (Shane Kippel) and Jimmy (Drake, then known as Aubrey Graham) make their first Degrassi appearance, demanding that Emma and Manny show them their hall passes and then laughing about how “Grade Sevens are such geeks.”  Emma and Manny are soon referring to Spinner as being “the jerk,” little aware that — in the far future — Emma will end up marrying Spinner.  As for Jimmy, he’s walking.  That’ll change in another few seasons.

There’s Liberty Van Zandt (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer), already showing herself to be one of the most annoying characters in Degrassi history by zealously running for student council secretary.

There’s Ms. Kwan (LinLyn Lue), the first of many English teachers who are destined to torment Spinner.

There’s Mr. Raditch (Dan Woods), promoted to principal!

There’s Paige (Lauren Collins), bragging about her clothes and her plans to start a school spirit squad.  Eventually, Spirit Squad drama will become one of the most enduring parts of Degrassi: The Next Generation.  In this episode, Paige is presented as being fashionable and shallow and nothing like the complex character she would become in later seasons.

Finally, we meet Toby’s stepsister, Ashley Kerwin (Melissa McIntyre) and Ashley’s loyal friend, the insecure Terri (Christina Schmidt).  Ashley is running for class president and struggling to get along with her new stepbrother.  I don’t have any brothers to compare him to but I still imagine that I would struggle to get along with Toby too.  At the start of the episode, Toby spots Ashley’s bra hanging in the bathroom and proceeds to put it on and run around the house.  “MOM!” Ashley yells as the episode segues into “Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through…..”

Annoyed with the fact that no one is running against Ashley for school president, Toby convinces JT to run a joke campaign.  “I’ll do what real politicians do,” JT says, “nothing!”  The students love him!  A poll comes out that shows JT beating Ashley.  Who conducted the poll?  Seriously, who polls a student election?  Degrassi never tells us and that’s the kind of thing that’s going to keep me up at night.

Ashley finally bribes JT to drop out of the election.  When Toby hears about the bribe, he threatens to expose Ashley to the school but, in the end, he doesn’t.  Ashley wins the election and she and Toby agree to try to get along.

Watching this episode, I was struck by two things.  First off, it was a less trampy remake of the first episode of Degrassi Junior High, with Ashley and Toby stepping into the roles previously filled by Stephanie Kaye and Arthur.  Secondly, it’s easy to forget how much the first season revolved around Ashley and Toby.  Much as happened with Stephanie and Arthur on Degrassi Junior High, both Ashley and Toby would become significantly less important after the first season as Degrassi shifted its attention to characters like Paige and Spinner.  This episode, however, is all Toby and Ashley.

Seen today, this episode is a good example of an episode that does what it needed to.  It introduced us to the main characters.  It had a few moments of humor that indicated Degrassi was going to be slightly more clever than the average teen show.  It established the hierarchy of the school.  That’s really all the episode had to do.  The entire student election subplot was pretty silly, as most student council storylines tend to be, regardless of which show might feature them.  On television, student councils are always absurdly powerful.  In real life, they’re just busy work.

Next week: It’s time for the first school dance!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.2 “Mother and Child Reunion: Part 2”

Posted on 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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Snake shows that whatever it takes, he’s going to make it through.

Episode 1.2 “Mother and Child Reunion: Part 2”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on July 1st, 2002)

Snake threatens to kill a guy in this episode!

Now, to be clear, the guy in question definitely had it coming.  While Spike enjoyed her class reunion, Emma snuck out of the house, went down to a hotel, and waited for Jordan.  Sitting in the lobby, she was approached by Mr. Nystrom (Jeff Gruich), who claimed to be Jordan’s teacher.  Mr. Nystrom, who was carrying a pizza box, invited Emma upstairs to meet with Jordan.  Emma followed him but, once she stepped into his hotel room and discovered that there weren’t any environmentally-minded teens around, Emma realized that there was no Jordan and “Mr. Nystrom” was actually the person who had been e-mailing her.

Fortunately, Manny, Toby, and JT figured out that Emma had gone out to meet Jordan so they hacked her e-mail (Emma’s password was “Pogues,” after Spike’s favorite band) and found out what hotel “Jordan” was staying at.  They then ran to the Degrassi Community School and found Spike and Snake dancing at their reunion.  They told Spike and Snake where Emma was.  Spike and Snake then went to the hotel and Snake banged on the door until Mr. Nystrom answered.

(Oddly, neither one of them appeared to have called the cops on the way over to the hotel.)

While Spike ran into the room to get her daughter, Snake grabbed Mr. Nystrom, pinned him against the wall, and threatened to “snap (his) neck.”  And I have to say that, as dorky as Archie “Snake” Simpson may usually be, that was pretty freaking hot.

Meanwhile, at the reunion, Joey heard Keith talking to Allison Hunter about how he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to marry Caitlin.  That led to Joey getting into a brawl with Keith while Caitlin was giving her “most distinguished alumni” speech.  Caitlin broke up with Keith and she and Joey reconciled.  It wasn’t the first time that they reconciled and it won’t be the last.

At the house, Emma apologized for panicking Spike and then added, “Like you’ve never made a mistake?  Like having me!”  Wow, that’s …. kind of sad.  Spike assures Emma that becoming a mom at the age of 14 was not a mistake.  However, sneaking out to meet a guy you’ve never met is definitely a mistake!  What Spike doesn’t mention is that this could have all been avoided if Emma wasn’t so obsessed with protecting the environment.

Next week: the school year begins!  Hopefully, Emma will have learned her lesson about getting involved in the environmental movement.

(Spoiler: She won’t.)