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 start season 3!

Episode 3.1 “Father Figure: Part 1”

(Dir by Bruce MacDonald, originally aired on September 17th, 2003)

The third and fourth seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation were Degrassi at its best so, over the upcoming year, we’ve got a lot to look forward to.  Unfortunately, though, we have to start things off with some Emma drama.

The season premiere finds Emma in a bad mood.  Yeah, that’s a shock, right?  Emma was always in a bad mood.  This time, she does have a somewhat legitimate grievance, even if, as usual, she seems to be totally unaware that other people have lives that don’t necessarily revolve around whatever she’s upset about at the moment.  Her mother has always refused to tell Emma much about Shane McKay.  Emma’s only memory of her father is visiting him in a clinic and Spike telling him that he couldn’t be a part of Emma’s life.  Emma thinks that Shane was a doctor.  Of course, all of us veteran Degrassi watchers know the truth.  Shane McKay was a flakey high school student who suffered brain damage when he dropped acid and fell off a bridge.

Sean, quite sensibly, says that maybe Emma should just let it go for a bit, seeing as how she actually has a nice home and mother and stepfather who love her.  (Emma often seems to forget that Sean has essentially been abandoned by his entire family.)  Sean also points out that Spike is pregnant and doesn’t need the extra pressure of Emma constantly losing her temper.  Realizing that Sean is making too much sense, Emma instead partners up with Craig and tracks down Shane.  As the episode ends, she discovers that Shane (played by Jonathan Torrens) is living in an assisted living facility,

While all of that is going on, Paige is freaking out because of the location of her locker.  Spinner makes a series of deals which leads to him eventually convincing new student Chris Sharpe (Daniel Keith Morrison) to trade lockers.  Chris’s locker is located in Degrassi’s best hallway.  Paige is happy about that.  But the locker still looks old and dingy.  Paige would rather have Jimmy’s locker.  Good luck with that, Paige.  Despite agreeing to set aside their differences at the last school dance, Jimmy is back to hating Spinner.

This episode also features the return of Caitlin Ryan, who comes back Toronto for Spike’s baby shower.  (The creepy Farrell twins show up too.  AGCK!)  Caitlin meets Joey’s new girlfriend, realtor Sydney (Elisa Moolecherry).  Before realizing who Sydney is, Caitlin rambles on about how she and Joey have such a complicated romantic history.  This was the episode in which Caitlin was suddenly changed from being a level-headed professional woman to a neurotic klutz who continually got into awkward situations.

This is a two-part episode.  We’ll conclude the story of Shane McKay next week!