Well, Halloween and this year’s horrorthon are both nearly over.
Since I started things off with The Curse of Degrassi, it only seems appropriate for me to end my part of it with Degrassi of the Dead! This 10 minute film takes a non-canonical look at what would happen to everyone’s favorite Canadian high school if there was a zombie apocalypse!
(By the way, I know what you’re thinking but this was actually made in 2007, long before the premiere of The Walking Dead.)
Well, actually I didn’t watch it last night. Instead, I spent last night bring in the new year with my boyfriend, my BFF, my sister, and about two dozen people who I kinda knew or, at the very least, they seemed to know me. Seriously, it reminded me of that old commercial where every where this girl goes, everyone’s all like, “So, what color panties are you wearing tonight?” In my case, I was wearing black panties and this morning, I’m wearing red, white, and blue panties because dangit, this is 2012 and I’m proud to be an American, yes, I am! But anyway, what was I talking about?
Oh yeah, so I didn’t actually watch this last night but I did DVR it last night. And then I watched it this morning. Anyway, what I watched was the 15th episode of the 8th season of my favorite Canadian tv show, Degrassi: The Next Generation. The title of this episode: A Touch of Grey.
Why Was I Watching It?
Well, first off, it was Degrassi. Secondly, it was one of the Degrassi drug episodes. So, of course, I was totally going to make sure I got a chance to see it.
What’s It About?
This is the episode where Emma (played by Miriam McDonald) worries that her classmates view her as being boring. So, she tells everyone to call her “Blaze” and then passes out a bunch of pot brownies. At first, everyone has a great time eating the brownies and giggling and stumbling about. But, uh-oh, one girl gets so stoned that she forgets to take her insulin and slips into a diabetic coma. Will Blaze confess to the Canadian police or will she allow her cute boyfriend to take the fall?
What Worked
Any Degrassi episode dealing with drug abuse is automatically fascinating because Degrassi, on the one hand, took a lot of pride on treating the issues realistically but, at the same time, there’s no way that a teen show could get away with allowing any character to abuse drugs for more than one episode. As such, drug episodes of Degrassi have this wonderfully schizophrenic feel to them where everything starts out normal until about 18 minutes in, at which point THE WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT WILL EVER HAPPEN happens. In A Touch of Grey, we find out that handing out pot brownies will not only help induce a coma but will also lead to you breaking up with your cute boyfriend as well.
What Didn’t Work
It was Degrassi. It all worked.
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments:
When I first went to college, my roommate used to call me “Blaze” too. In my case, though, it was either because of my hair or my temper.
Lessons Learned:
Uhmmm…hello? Don’t just go randomly handing out pot brownies like you’re freaking Martha Stewart or someone. That was the main lesson but as an extra, bonus lesson, I learned that you can apparently pin any crime on a devoted boyfriend. And thank God for that!
Last night, I watched the classic Degrassi 2008 Halloween special, The Curse of Degrassi.
Why Was I Watching It?
Last night, I was suffering from conflicting emotions. I was depressed and angry over the fact that I’m probably going to have to go spend a few thousand dollars on a new laptop. However, I was also all happy and hyper because, after spending a week far away in Houston, Jeff’s back! So, I was like “Yay!” and “Boo hoo hoo” all at the same time and Jeff finally suggested that maybe it would help me get my mind off the boo hoo part if I watched something silly and stupid. And, as usual, he was right! Though, in its defense, Degrassi may often times be kinda silly but it’s rarely stupid. Except when it is. Anyway, The Curse of Degrassi is available for free viewing off of Uverse OnDemand, which is how I watched it last night.
What’s It About?
Okay, so like many years ago, there was this very special, two-part episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation in which bullied, picked-on Rick Murray (played by an excellent actor named Ephraim Ellis, and by the way, that’s Jeff’s last name too but they’re not related and believe me, I asked) was competing in some sort of high school quiz-like game show and he ended up getting a bunch of yellow paint and chicken feathers poured on him by school bully Spinner (Shane Kippel). So, naturally, Rick went home, got a gun, and came back up to school and started shooting people until he himself eventually ended up getting shot and killed.
Now, four years to the day after Rick’s death, a group of Degrassi students are all up at the school at night, getting things ready for the upcoming Harvest dance. Group ringleader Holly J. Sinclair ends up getting possessed by Rick’s vengeful spirit and proceeds to kill off the entire cast. And no, this is not a dream or one of those non-canon fantasy episodes. Which is cool because, quite frankly, Holly J. annoys me…
What Worked?
To be honest, the entire 22 minute episode worked. For a Canadian teen show, this was actually pretty scary and had some fairly effective (in their own fun way) special effects. Plus, as much as I complain about the character she plays., actress Charlotte Arnold does a pretty good job playing psychotic, possessed Holly J. Plus, even among all the mayhem and death, the episode gets across a well-meant and sincere anti-bullying message and if you don’t get a little bit emotional when Rick says, “I’m dead, aren’t I?,” then you have no soul. That’s right — you’re a freaking zombie.
(Though, at the same time, Rick Murray was kind of a disturbed guy who, let’s not forget, first appeared on the show as an obsessive, abusive stalker who put Terri in a coma when he pushed her down and she hit her head on a rock. It was his abusive behavior that led to Rick becoming a pariah though Spinner, ultimately, took things too far. By the way, I always loved how Degrassi students all had names like Spinner.)
Plus, you get to see all the Degrassi kids die.
What Didn’t Work?
Seriously, it all worked. In fact, I’m just going to say that this is the greatest thing ever to come out of Canada. Okay, maybe not. But still, I enjoyed it.
“OMG! Just like me!” moments
I always have a lot of “Oh my God! Just like me!” moments whenever I watch any TV show or movie that features silly people falling victim to some unseen supernatural force. Usually, they’re along the lines of, “WHAT!? There’s a killer stalking the school and you’re going to stop to make out with your boyfriend in some dark, isolated room that only has one exit!? OH MY GOD! JUST LIKE ME!” Anyway, I had quite a few of those while watching The Curse of Degrassi. Though my biggest “Oh my God! Just like me!” moment came when Holly J. screamed, “I’M HOLLY J. FREAKIN SINCLAIR!” as that’s the way I usually chose to introduce myself as well.
Lessons Learned:
The world can do without the Harvest Dance. That, and be nice because otherwise, you might get possessed by Rick Murray.
Until next time, this is Lisa Marie Freakin Bowman saying, “Stay supple!”
So last night, as I fought insomnia and planned my upcoming road trip, I happened to watch an infamous episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation, Rock This Town. This was the 11th episode of the 6th season and it’s probably inspired more YouTube music videos than any other episode of the show.
Why Was I Watching It?
Okay, so I’ll just be honest here. Degrassi: The Next Generation has been one of my guilty pleasures ever since it first started airing here in the states. And when I say guilty, that’s not necessarily a slam on the show. As far as shows about teenagers dealing with every social issue under the sun are concerned, none can come close to Degrassi. When I was younger, the pleasure of this show came from the fact that the characters were actually doing the same stupid stuff that I was doing in school. Then, in college, Degrassi was the show that you’d get high and then watch. And now that I’m technically an adult, this show just makes me nostalgic. Either way, it serves a good purpose. Or at least it did. I hear that the more recent episodes kinda sorta suck but I only catch the reruns anyway.
What Was It About?
In this episode, Emma’s parents went out of town so every high school student in Canada showed up at her house to party. She had been planning on having sex with her boyfriend Sean that night but unfortunately, she ended up getting so drunk that she instead ended up spending the whole night vomiting in a trash can. (Been there, done that — no, you can’t quite recover from it but you can just get a new boyfriend.)
Meanwhile, reformed class clown J.T. realized — while at the party — that he was still in love with his boring ex-girlfriend Liberty, despite the fact that Liberty’s kind of a pill and was always my least favorite character on the show. J.T. went looking for Liberty to tell her that he loved her but before he found her, he ended up getting stabbed in the back by a kid from the rival high school. Liberty comes across J.T. who dies without ever letting her know that he loves her.
Seriously, that’s what happens.
What Worked
The thing I loved about this show is the way it always managed to embrace the principle of the worst possible thing that can happen will happen. For all the controversy over the fact that the show regularly dealt with issues like teen sex and teen violence, few commentators seemed to notice just how reactionary this show usually is. In the world of Degrassi, if you have unprotected sex, you will get pregnant. If you try drugs, you will end up getting addicted and having a psychotic breakdown in front of someone who could have been very important to your future. If you drink and drive, you’re going to total the car. If you bully another student, you better believe that student is going to attempt suicide by the end of the episode. And here, we learn that if you throw a party while your parents are away, the funniest, most likable student at school will end up getting murdered by a complete stranger.
Seriously, whenever I start to get annoyed with all of my Catholic guilt, I watch this show and realize that I’m right. I am doomed.
What Didn’t Work?
Liberty was such an annoying character and the fact that J.T. died because he was looking for her didn’t serve to make her any less annoying.
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments
As I already mentioned, I couldn’t help but relate to Emma as her night of passion was ruined by the fact that she was busy throwing up in a trash can. Luckily, she had someone there to hold back her hair. Seriously guys, there’s an art to doing that. I speak as someone who has had her hair manhandled by far-too-many clumsy good Samaritans. I mean, don’t get me wrong — I love you guys but ouch! Holding my hair back does not mean ripping it out by the roots.
Through the Shattered Lens 