Tag Archives: Degrassi

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi High 1.1 and 1.2 “A New Start”

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

This week, Degrassi Junior High becomes Degrassi High!

Episode 1.1 and 1.2 “A New Start”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 6th, 1989)

It’s a new school year and, due to the Junior High burning down, all of the Degrassi kids are enrolling at Degrassi High!  Along with finally getting to go to a new school, they also finally get a new theme song and title sequence.

Just going to a new school isn’t going to stop the drama, of course.  Joey is still trying to make the Zit Remedy into something more than a mediocre garage band.  Snake and Wheels are still politely listening to Joey’s plans.  Caitlin and Joey are now dating but there’s a smarmy junior named Claude Tanner (David Armin-Parcells) who really seems to appreciate the blonde streaks in Caitlin’s hair.  (Caitlin, it should be noted, does have the best hair in the school.)  Arthur and Yick Yu, who both appear to have had major growth spurts over the summer, are growing apart.  Alexa is not happy when Simon’s recent success as a male model makes him popular with all of the other girls at the Degrassi High.  For neither the first nor the last time, Alexa dramatically gives Simon back his ring while Simon responds with genuine confusion.  We even meet the new homeroom teacher, who assigns the students to read Lord of the Flies.  (If you’ve seen the entire series, including the sequels to the original Degrassi High, it’s hard not to smile at the first of many references to Lord of the Flies.)

Dwayne Meyers (Darrin Brown), the bully who beat Joey up during the second season of Degrassi Junior High, is now attending high school and, as soon as he sees the new students, he decides that it’s time to bring back initiations.  Soon, students are getting covered in white paste, tied to flag poles, and being otherwise ritually humiliated.  Dwayne especially has it out for Joey.  Unfortunately, for Joey, Mr. Raditch has found a new job as DHS’s vice principal and he doesn’t have much sympathy for Joey’s predicament.

That said, the main storyline here involves the Farrell Twins.  I have to admit that I groaned a bit when I discovered this was going to be a Farrell Twin episode because the twins were always the weakest characters on Degrassi Junior High.  However, I have to say that Angela and Maureen Deiseach actually did a pretty good job in this episode.  Erica Farrell (Angela Deiseach), having lost her virginity at camp over the summer, discovers that she’s pregnant and considers getting an abortion.  Her twin sister, Heather (Maureen Deiseach), is opposed to abortion and, at first, refuses to go with Erica to the clinic.  After talking to Spike, who also opposes abortion but who, as a single mother, also understands Erica’s fear, Heather finally shows up at the clinic to support her sister as she walks through a throng of protestors.

Eventually, unwanted pregnancies would occur so frequently on Degrassi that they would become something of a cliche, as would the inevitable decision to get an abortion.  A New Start is one of the better pregnancy episodes, handling the storyline with sensitivity but also bringing nuance to its portrayal of the abortion debate.  Especially when compared to how heavy-handed the show would get in its final seasons, it’s really interesting to see how intelligently and respectfully both the pro-life and the pro-choice positions are presented in this episode.  The episode makes clear that there are no easy answers and there’s also no easy villains, which is something that Degrassi itself would forget during it’s four seasons on Netflix.  As Erica and Heather enter the clinic, a protestor holds up a plastic fetus, an image that was considered to be so controversial that PBS actually censored it when this episode aired in America.

(At least this episode actually made it to America, albeit in edited form.  The next Degrassi pregnancy episode would sit unaired for three years.)

It’s not a great way for the Farrell twins to start the school year but it’s proof that, even as Degrassi Junior High becomes Degrassi High, it will continue to “go there.”

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.16 “Bye-Bye Junior High”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Degrassi Junior High comes to an end!

Episode 3.16 “Bye-Bye, Junior High”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 27th, 1989)

The school year is ending and things are looking fairly positive for the majority of the students at Degrassi Junior High.

The ninth graders are looking forward to finally getting to enroll at the local high school next year.  The eighth graders are looking forward to finally being at the top of DJHS’s social hierarchy.  The teachers are happy because they’ve given their final exams and almost every student has done well.

Even Wheels!  Even though he skipped most of the year and spent a lot of time in detention due to his behavioral issues, Wheels manages to get passing grades.  Of course, his grades still aren’t that impressive.  Wheels just scrapes by.  However, his homeroom teacher says that everyone knows that Wheels has had a difficult year and the important thing is that Wheels showed improvement when he finally did come back to school.  In other words, Wheels will be moving on to the 10th Grade.

Spike, who has not been allowed to attend school in person, struggles on her final exams.  But Ms. Avery (Michelle Goodeve) talks Spike into taking some correspondence courses over the summer so that Spike can move on to the 10th Grade and take part in Canada’s version of the gifted program.

As for Joey, he gets two A’s and several B’s.  Unfortunately, he gets one C, in French.  (Seriously, how do you live in Canada and not know French?)  Joey’s parents told him that, if he got a single C, he would not be allowed to go to the last dance of the year, the all-important Graduation Dance.  Fortunately, Joey’s parents reconsider this rather harsh deal and they allow Joey to go to the dance with Caitlin.  Caitlin gets to wear a really pretty dress and Joey finally attends a dance without bringing his keyboard.

Even Shane shows up for the Graduation Dance!  Of course, he’s using a walker and has obviously suffered severe brain damage from falling off that bridge but hey, at least he’s not dead.

It’s the most positive episode of Degrassi ever …. until the school burns down.

Yep, you read that correctly.  This episode ends with Degrassi Junior High burning down.  Throughout the episode, the fire alarm keeps accidentally going off and we hear the principal making announcements about how there’s some sort of electrical short in the boiler room.  Well, during the school dance, a fire breaks out in the boiler room and this time, the fire alarm has a good reason for going off!

Degrassi Junior High ends with the students and teachers standing outside and watching as their beloved school goes up in flames.  Never has the cheerful Degrassi Junior High theme music felt more awkward than when it plays over images of flames exploding out of a school.

Why did Degrassi Junior High end like this?  As longtime fans of this franchise know, schools are always burning down in Toronto.  In this episode, we watch as Degrassi Junior High burns down in 1989.  We watch this with the knowledge that, 20 years later, Lakehurst High School is going to burn down and send all of its students to Degrassi Community School.  Though Degrassi Community School never actually burned down, it did see its share of fires.  Whenever this show needed an excuse to bring in a bunch of new transfer students, a school would burn down.

(In this case, DJHS burned down so that all of the incoming ninth graders, like Joey and Caitlin, would be able to attend the high school with Wheels, Lucy, Snake, and the rest of DJHS’s final graduating class, therefore keeping the cast together for Degrassi High.)

This was a good finale for Degrassi Junior High.  It was nice to see everyone happy and this episode certainly did capture the way that I always felt at the end of any school year.  Even the school burning down brought a nice bit of finality to everything.

Next week, we start Degrassi High!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.15 “Pa-Arty”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

It’s time to party!  Oh, sorry.  Actually, it’s time to pa-arty!

Episode 3.15 “Pa-Arty”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on March 13th, 1989)

The end of the school year is approaching and everyone is stressed out over exams.  Everyone in Grade 9 is also looking forward to Alexa’s end-of-the-year party.  However, when Alexa has to cancel the party because her parents will be home, the party gets moved to Lucy’s place.  Lucy is super-excited, even though almost every party that’s ever been held at her house has ended in disaster.

Joey, the proud owner of new fake ID, offers to buy beer for the party.  However, Snake and Wheels point out that Joey is rather “petite” (as Snake puts it), it is decided that Snake would have a better chance of passing for an adult.  Snake puts on a suit and Joey’s fedora and attempts to buy beer.  As the clerk looks at the fake ID, Snake casually mentions that a lot of people don’t believe that he’s actually 19 because of how young he looks.  The clerk refuses to sell Snake the beer.

As a crestfallen Joey, Snake, and Wheels stand outside the convenience store, they spot Clutch (Steve Bedernjak), who is Lucy’s latest bad boyfriend.  Clutch is in high school and he agrees to buy the beer for them.  (Of course, Clutch is also an alcoholic so he takes 6 of the beers for himself.)  Joey accidentally mentions that the beer is for a party at Lucy’s house.  Lucy specifically lied to Clutch about the party because she hates being around him when he’s drinking.

While walking to Lucy’s house, Snake and Joey stop and decide to drink some of the beer themselves.  Wheels turns down their offer of a beer, reminding them that his parents were killed by a drunk driver.  While Snake and Joey talk about the taste of beer, two Canadian cops approach them from behind.  Uh-oh!

Meanwhile, Lucy’s party is a hit but it comes to an early end when her parents call to say that they’re coming home.  A drunk Clutch shows up and behaves so obnoxiously that Lucy dumps him.  The next day, at school, Clutch apologizes and Lucy replies that it’s too late.  Freeze frame on Clutch as the end credits roll!

This is a pretty standard episode but, as is so often the case with this show, it’s heart-breaking if you know what lies in store for these characters.  In this episode, Wheels says that he’s never going to drink, specifically because his parents were killed by a drunk driver.  Of course, those of us who have seen School’s Out know that Wheels eventually will start drinking and, while driving drunk, he’ll not only accidentally kill a kid but he’ll also so severely injure Lucy that she’ll temporarily lose her ability to see and she’ll have to learn how to walk all over again.  And while Lucy will eventually recover, Wheels is destined to end up spending several years in prison and will become a pariah amongst his former friends.  Knowing that makes this a very sad episode, even if it wasn’t originally meant to be.  That’s the way life is, though.  You never know what the future might hold.

As for the future of this show, next week, we will finish up Degrassi Junior High.  How will the school year end?  Check here next Sunday and find out!

 

Bonus Horror on TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi!  Originally airing on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis).  Chaos follows!  Fortunately, Spinner (Shane Kippel) is around to save the day.  As any true Degrassi fan can tell you, only Spinner has a chance against the forces of the undead.

What I like about this episode is that, in the best tradition of Degrassi, it goes there.  Holly J does get possessed.  Just about the entire cast end up dying horribly.  Spinner has to battle the undead spirit of Rick Murray and he has to do it without the help of Drake.  And, as far as we know, this episode is canon.  So, yes, Rick Murray’s ghost actually does haunt Degrassi Community School and yes, only Spinner can save us all.

Go Spinner!

Enjoy!

Bonus Horror On TV: Degrassi of the Dead

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hey, remember that time in 2007 when all the students at Toronto’s Degrassi Community School were turned into zombies?  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.)

Enjoy watching Drake turn into a zombie!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.13 “Making Whopee”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, it’s an Arthur episode! …. really?

Episode 3.13 “Making Whopee”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on February 27th, 1989)

With all of the season three drama surrounding Wheels, Shane, Spike, Joey, and Caitlin, it can be easy to forget that Degrassi Junior High started out as a show about a nerdy but well-meaning kid named Arthur trying to navigate his way through a brand new world.  Indeed, almost the entire first season revolved around Arthur and his friend, Yick.  By the time the third season rolled around, neither character was particularly prominent in the show’s ensemble.  I think one reason why Arthur and Yick went from being the main characters just being in the background is because their storylines never presented as much potential for excitement as the stuff going on with everyone else.  While Spike dealt with being a mother at 14 and Caitlin dealt with epilepsy and Wheels struggled with depression, Arthur and Yick were just average kids with average kid problems.

That’s why its a little bit jarring — after all of last week’s drama — to suddenly be presented with an Arthur episode.  In this episode, Arthur struggles to accept the fact that his dad has a girlfriend and that he would rather hang out with her than watch Space Cadets with his son.  When Arthur wakes up one morning to discover that his father’s new girlfriend has slept over, Arthur is stunned.  Later, when Arthur’s Dad comes to the Degrassi open house with his girlfriend, Arthur loses it and says that he’s sick of her coming between him and his father.  The end result is that Arthur’s father ends up single and depressed.  Arthur begs his Dad to watch television with him.  Arthur’s Dad sobs on the couch.

Damn, what a sad ending!  Of course, sad endings are a bit of a Degrassi trademark.  I’ve lost track of how many episodes of this show ended with someone in tears.

As for the B-plots, Luke continues to feel guilty over giving Shane that hit of LSD and the fact that everyone in school blames him for Shane’s accident certainly doesn’t help matters.  (Shane, for his part, is still in a coma.)  Meanwhile, Melanie finds herself competing for Snake’s attention with a snooty ninth-grader named Allison (Sara Holmes).  Melanie has nothing to worry about.  Allison may be older but Melanie is still the one who Snake asks to the graduation dance.  In fact, not only does Melanie get a date but she also gets her best friend back.  Kathleen forgives Melanie for reading her diary and also announces that she is now in therapy for her eating disorder!

Yay!  A happy ending for some….

And a totally tragic ending for others!

That’s Degrassi for you.

As for this episode, I’m a child of divorce so I could relate to a certain extent to what Arthur was going through.  I always hated it whenever my Mom dated anyone new and I will admit that I could be a bit of a brat about it.  That said, I never reduced her to crying on the couch.  I mean …. seriously, Arthur, what the Hell?  I preferred Melanie’s story because it had a happy ending and it was another storyline to which I could relate.  Talking to your crush and not realizing you have lipstick on your teeth?  Hey, we’ve all been there!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.12 “Taking Off: Part Two”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Degrassi goes there again!

Episode 3.12 “Taking Off: Part Two”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 20th, 1989)

When last we checked in with the students at Degrassi Junior High, Shane was missing and Wheels, having been sexually assaulted by a man who picked him up while he was hitchhiking, was walking towards Port Hope in search of his biological father.

Shane is discovered underneath a bridge.  As the police tell his friend Luke, it appears that Shane either jumped or he fell.  Shane is alive, but he’s in a coma and there’s no guarantee that he’s going to survive.  When asked whether or not Shane had done any drugs at the Gourmet Scum concert, Luke finally admits that Shane did drop acid right before the show began.

As for Wheels, he manages to make it to Port Hope and he even finds the cheap hotel where his father, Mike (Dave James), is playing with his band.  Wheels imagines knocking on the hotel room door and his father happily greeting him and inviting him to join the band.  Instead, when Wheels knocks on the door, Mike is shocked and not particularly happy to see him.  Though Mike forces Wheels to call his grandmother and let her know that he’s okay, Mike does agree to let Wheels spend the day at the hotel.  Mike then promptly abandons Wheels.

When Mike eventually returns, a few things become obvious.

First off, Mike didn’t even know that Wheels’s adoptive parents had died.

Secondly, Mike doesn’t want anything to do with his biological son.

Third, Mike’s new girlfriend is pregnant and, as she explains it, they can’t afford to have Wheels around.

I mean, goddamn!  Poor Wheels!  First, he gets sexually assaulted while hitchhiking.  Then, his father rejects him.  Wheels, after yelling at his father for abandoning him, is prepared to run away again but suddenly, his grandmother shows up.  She was finally able to convince Joey to tell her where Wheels had run of to and she shows up to take him home.  Wheels is adamant that he’s going to run away again but when his grandmother starts to cry and calls him out for being a “selfish, selfish boy,” Wheels reconsiders.

At the end of the episode, Shane is still in his coma and it’s still up in the air whether he accidentally fell or if he was trying to commit suicide when he plunged from that bridge.  Wheels, however, returns to school and is greeted by Joey and Snake.  Joey apologizes for telling Wheels’s grandmother about Port Hope but Wheels says it’s okay.  He’s ready to give school another try.  Everyone smiles as the end credits roll on a well-acted and classic episode of Degrassi Junior High.

YAY!  It’s a happy ending, as long as you haven’t seen Degrassi: The Next Generation.  If you have seen The Next Generation, you know that Wheels has alcoholism and prison in his future.  And, for that matter, Shane is going to end up spending the rest of his life in an institution.  So, it’s not really that happy of an ending.

But it’s very much a Degrassi ending.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.11 “Taking Off: Part One”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, Degrassi goes there!

Episode 3.11 “Taking Off: Part One”

(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on February 13th, 1989)

Gourmet Scum has come to Toronto and everyone is excited to hear the Scum sound.  At the concert, Shane and Luke (Andy Chambers) purchase LSD from the local Scum dug dealer.  Shane drops acid before the concert begins.  Surely, this won’t lead to any trouble, right?

Meanwhile, Wheels is still skipping school.  While his teachers send notes to his grandmother to let her know that Wheels is falling behind, Wheels is spending all of his time playing a boxing video game at the local arcade.  When Joey asks Wheels how can afford to spend all day playing one game over and over again, Wheels says that he sold his bass.

“What about the Zit Remedy?!” Joey says.

Sorry, Joey, Wheels doesn’t care about school or your stupid band anymore.  In fact, Wheels is planning on running away from home.  When he gets a birthday postcard from his biological father, Wheels discovers his father’s band has a two-week gig at Port Hope.  Wheels decides to join his father, despite not being sure where New Hope is.  In fact, it’s not even Wheels’s birthday.  His birth father missed the date by about a month but Wheels doesn’t care.  Wheels just wants to get away from everything.

How is Wheels going to get to New Hope?  He decides to hitchhike!  Uhmm …. not a good idea, Wheels.  Actually, everyone who picks up Wheels seems to be pretty nice.  That is until this guy pulls up….

“Don’t do it!” I shouted as Wheels got in the car.  Unfortunately, as this all happened 35 years ago and I was just watching it play out on YouTube, Wheels couldn’t hear me.

As they drive towards what Wheels assumes is Port Hope, the driver (chillingly played by James Knapp) asks Wheels if he has a lot of girlfriends.  He asks Wheels if he works out.  He asks a lot of questions that immediately raise red flags.  Not that Wheels notices….

Suddenly, the driver pulls off the road, turns to Wheels, and grabs Wheels’s thigh.  AGCK!  Wheels manages to get the door open and scrambles out of the car.  The driver throws Wheels’s backpack out of the car and then drives off, leaving Wheels in the middle of nowhere.

Meanwhile, back in Toronto, Joey’s mother tells Joey that Shane’s mother has been calling because Shane didn’t come home after the concert.  Soon, the police are talking to all of Shane’s friends and trying to figure out where he could be.  Luke is asked whether Shane did any drugs.  Luke lies and says, “No.”

This was a classic Degrassi episode and probably one of the most effective anti-hitchhiking PSAs ever filmed.  When the driver attacked Wheels, it was a truly frightening moment and it was impossible not to remember all of the times, over the course of this season, that Wheels has bragged about his ability to take care of himself.  Now, Wheels is stuck in the middle of nowhere and Shane, who didn’t pay child support specifically so he could go to the concert, is missing.

Never has “To be continued….” felt more ominous.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.10 “Twenty Bucks”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, everyone needs some money.  Gourmet Scum is coming.

Episode 3.10 “Twenty Bucks”

(Dir by John Bertram, originally aired on February 6th, 1989)

To quote the Zit Remedy, everybody wants something they’ll never give up.  In this week’s episode, everyone wants twenty bucks.

That’s how much it costs to buy a ticket to see Gourmet Scum, Canada’s hottest band.  Melanie, who has gotten her braces taken off and who is finally feeling confident about herself (Hey, I’ve been there!), has been invited to the concert by Snake.  There’s just one catch.  Melanie has to pay for her own ticket.  When Melanie asks her mom for the money, Melanie’s mom says that she can’t spare twenty dollars.  Not with the cost of groceries!  (Hell, try living in 2024.)

Melanie decides to steal twenty dollars from her mom’s purse.  Melanie justifies it by assuming that she’ll get paid twenty dollars for her next babysitting job and she’ll be able to pay her mom back as a result.  Melanie steals the money and buys the ticket.  However, her weekend babysitting job is canceled.  Without the twenty dollars, Melanie’s mom will only be able to make chili until her next payday.  A guilt-ridden Melanie finally confesses to stealing from her mom.  Her mom promptly grounds Melanie, meaning no concert and probably no chili either.

Snake, when he hears Melanie can’t go to the concert with him, decides that he doesn’t want to go to the concert either.  Awwww!  Snake and Melanie are cute together but, those of us who have seen Degrassi: The Next Generation, know that Snake is ultimately going to marry ….. well, I won’t spoil it.

Meanwhile, Spike is upset because Shane has told her that he’s broke and won’t be able to pay her any child support.  Why is Shane broke?  Because he used his last twenty dollars to buy a ticket to Gourmet Scum!

Finally, Joey makes a twenty-dollar bet with BLT (Dayo Ade).  (Yes, the character’s nickname is BLT.)  BLT bets that Joey can’t get a date for Friday night.  Joey asks and is turned down by almost every girl at school.  Even the Farrell twins turn him down!  (Seriously, how much of a loser do you have to be to actually get turned down by a Farrell?)  Finally, he asks the girl that he really likes (but who he fears no longer likes him), Caitlin.  Caitlin says yes.  Awwwww!  Unfortunately, BLT pays Joey right in front of Caitlin.  In order to prove that he didn’t ask Caitlin out just for the money, Joey proceeds to rip up the twenty dollar bill.  (Keep in mind, it’s a Canadian twenty so he probably just ripped up the equivalent of an American dollar.)

I enjoyed this episode.  It deftly balanced several storylines but it also set up a few big developments that we’ll talk about next week.  Joey and Caitlin are a cute couple and so are Melanie and Snake.  As for Shane and Spike …. well, like I said, we’ll talk about it next week.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.9 “Food For Thought”

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 Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

This week, everyone’s thinking about food.

Episode 3.9 “Food For Thought”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo and Kit Hood, originally aired on January 30th, 1989)

The science fair is coming up and the Farrell twins are doing their project on eating disorders.  One of them, I think it’s Heather, is convinced that everyone at Degrassi has an eating disorder.  She even speculates that Lucy has an eating disorder, even though Lucy explains that it’s a combination of exercise and her metabolism that allow her to remain thin.  “Some people are just thin,” the other twin says and that’s an important thing to remember.  Not every skinny girl has an eating disorder and assuming that they do can be very harmful to their self-image.

Alexa worries that she’s fat.  After she asks Simon if she’s fat, Simon stupidly says, “I don’t know.”  (Simon isn’t very smart.)  Alexa asks the Farrell twins if it’s possible to just be anorexic for a week.  To Alexa, that sounds like a much better way to lose weight than to exercise.

Meanwhile, the person who actually does have an eating disorder — Kathleen — is left to struggle alone.  Kathleen is the girl who always has to be the first to raise her hand with the answer in class.  She has to be the first to get involved with every school project  She always has to be the first to tell everyone else why they’re wrong.  Kathleen is a bossy perfectionist who insists that she doesn’t need anyone’s help.  As a result, Kathleen is not particularly popular.  Melanie is Kathleen’s only friend, largely because Melanie is one of the few people to understand that Kathleen’s home life sucks.  Her father is always working and her mother is an alcoholic.  Kathleen wants to win the science fair so her parents will be proud of her and maybe they’ll stop fighting for a few minutes.

Along with everything else, Kathleen is bulimic.  Despite already being thin, Kathleen is skipping meals and throwing up whatever she eats during the day.  She’s also taking laxatives.  (Ew!)  Melanie, sensing that something is wrong with Kathleen, takes a look at Kathleen’s diary while Kathleen is busy throwing up.  Melanie discovers that Kathleen is obsessed with losing ten pounds by the end of the week.

Needless to say, it all catches up with Kathleen.  After only receiving honorable mention in the science fair, Kathleen faints in the school hallway.  (It’s really not a show about an eating disorder until someone faints.)  What sets this episode apart from the typical episode about an eating disorder is that, even after she faints, Kathleen refuses to admit that she has a problem.  The episode ends with Kathleen refusing to listen as Melania tries to convince her that she needs to get help.  It’s a dark ending but it’s also a realistic one.  Problems are never as easily solved as television would have you believe.

This episode was an example of what Degrassi does so well.  Kathleen, a character who most shows would simply portray as being a one-dimensional bitch, is revealed to be suffering more than perhaps any of the other regular characters.  Instead of treating her like a joke or a stereotype, this episode invites us to consider why Kathleen acts the way that she does.  For all the well-intentioned students at Degrassi, the classmate who needs them the most is left to suffer in isolation.