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, it’s Downtown Sasquatch vs Hell Hath No Fury at the Degrassi Battle of the Bands. Ashley writes a killer song but Craig writes an even more killer song. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Spinner rap.

Episode 3.18 “Rock and Roll High School”

(Dir by Stefan Scaini, originally aired on March 8th, 2004)

It’s time for the school’s Battle of the Bands! The winner will win free studio recording time. At first, it seems like Downtown Sasquatch will be the clear frontrunner. With Craig singing, Jimmy playing guitar, Marco on bass, and Spinner pounding away on the drums, they’re the ultimate Degrassi band. However, Ashley has formed a band of her own. Hell Hath No Fury features Ashley on vocals, Ellie on drums, Hazel on keyboard, and Paige on guitar. After Craig hears Ashley’s song “Mr. Nice Guy” and realizes that she’s attacking him for cheating on her with Manny, he gets hit with a serious case of writer’s block.

Can he conquer the block and come up with lyrics before the competition?

Of course, he does! Actually, he comes up with them right before the band plays. Amazingly, Jimmy, Marco, and Spinner are able to perform perfectly despite having never heard the lyrics before. I mean, they are incredibly good for a high school band. It’s almost as if the actors are lip-synching to a pre-recorded track.

This episode somehow manages to be Degrassi at both its best and its silliest. On the one hand, Ashley’s band actually wears t-shirts that feature an image of Craig burning in Hell. On the other hand, Craig’s song is really good. On the one hand, Ashley is amazingly quick to forgive Craig for cheating on her just because he wrote an apology song. On the other hand, I’d probably forgive Craig too because the song was really good.

This episode features two standout scenes. First, there’s this scene in which the future Drake raps. This may actually be the first time Drake was ever featured performing on a show.

And then there’s Craig’s performance of “Dust.”

This is an important episode. Not only is this the episode that leads to Ashley and Craig getting back together, but it also sets up one of the storylines that will dominate the show’s fourth season. This episode also establishes that Spinner and Jimmy are Sasquatch-obsessed. Remember Squatch Wear? We’ll get to that …. well, probably sometime in 2028. We’ve got quite a ways to go before we reach that episode.  Good lord, am I still going to be writing about Degrassi in 2028? Actually, I probably will. It’ll provide a diversion from the 2028 Presidential election.

For now, the main thing is that Craig got in touch with his emotions and won the Battle of the Bands.