Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 3.13 “This Charming Man”

Posted on October 4, 2026 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.

If you’re a fan of the Emma Nelson death stare, this episode is for you. Emma spends the entire episode giving Sean the death stare.

Episode 3.13 “This Charming Man”

(Dir by Stefan Scaini, originally aired on December 10th, 2003)

Emma says she’s ready to move on from Sean, and for her, that means dating Chris (Daniel Keith Morrison). Chris is happy to finally be with Emma, but it soon becomes obvious that she’s not done being obsessed with Sean. Convinced that Sean and Jay are responsible for stealing both Snake’s laptop and the school’s DVD player, Emma tells Mr. Raditch that she and Chris saw Sean and Jay putting the DVD player into Jay’s car. When Sean learns he’s been fingered by an anonymous tipster, he figures out it was Emma. “You know I’m on probation!” he shouts at her. Raditch tells Sean to calm down. Sean tells Raditch to go to hell. Sean gets two months of morning detention, while Emma smiles.

This is a good example of how Emma is never really held responsible for any of her actions. The truth of the matter is that Jay and Sean are the ones stealing stuff from the school. However, Emma still lied about seeing Jay and Sean with the DVD player. Chris calls Emma out for lying and breaks up with her. After Emma apologizes to him (but not to Jay, Sean, or Mr. Raditch), Chris takes her back. Chris doesn’t seem too worried that Emma literally tried to send her last boyfriend to jail.

From the start of this season to her final appearance on the show, the perpetually self-righteous Emma really did become insufferable. Fortunately, this episode has an amusing B-plot in which Spinner, Paige, Hazel, and Jimmy all take driver’s education together. The problem is that their instructor, Mr. Falcone (Jim Thorburn), is a total hunk, and Paige gets so distracted by his presence in the car that she runs over several orange cones. Spinner, meanwhile, gets so jealous that when it’s his turn to drive, he runs over a cardboard cutout of a family trying to cross the road.

“Really, Spin!?” Paige says from the back seat. “A family!?”

Spinner then accidentally crashes into a parked car. No license for him!

Oh, this plot made me smile. I had such a hard time with driver’s ed, and it was mostly because the instructor wouldn’t stop talking. “Both hands on the steering wheel.” “Watch the road.” “You’re on the wrong side of the street.” “YIELD!” Bleh!

I actually came home from driving school in tears once. My mom immediately went down to the school and yelled at the instructor. Then the owner of the school rode with me to see if I was really as bad a driver as the instructor claimed. Her verdict was that I had a lazy eye, which I definitely don’t. Anyway, the important thing was that I eventually got my license and now I speed everywhere.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Degrassi. Emma’s the worst, but at least this episode featured some quality time with Paige and Spinner.

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

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Can you believe it? The first day of Horrorthon is nearly over! I’ve got tears in my mismatched eyes.

You may remember, from previous horrorthons, that I like to end each day in October by sharing a classic example of televised horror. Much as with the the horror movies that I share at the start of each day, it should be remembered that I’m a bit at the mercy of YouTube here. If YouTube decides to yank down a video after I share it on this site, there’s nothing that I can do about it. That’s why I encourage everyone to watch these now! Don’t wait until 2035. Who knows if YouTube will even still be a thing in 2035?

Let’s start things off with The Curse of Degrassi!

This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi: The Next Generation! Originally airing on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s then-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.

Enjoy The Curse of Degrassi!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 3.12 “Holiday: Part Two”

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we finish up Christmas in Canada!

Episode 3.12 “Holiday Part Two”

(Dir by Philip Earnshaw, originally aired on December 17th, 2003)

Craig has no idea how to cheat.

It’s Christmas and he currently has two girlfriends. He’s scheduled to perform in Degrassi’s holiday pageant with Ashley. At the same time, he’s told Manny that he and Ashley have broken up. For Christmas, he buys gifts for both Ashley and Manny. Ashley gets a badass Ramones t-shirt. (Ashley reminds me a lot of myself). Manny gets a pink sweater and a skating bracelet. Foolishly, Craig leaves Ashley alone in his room and Ashley discovers the gift bags. She sees all of the gifts.

Later, at the Christmas pageant, she notices that Manny is wearing the bracelet. And she has a gift bag with the sweater in it! When Ashley asks Manny who gave her the gifts, Manny refuses to say. However, she does tell Ashley that she hopes Ashley can move on after losing Craig. Agck!

The holiday pageant does not go well for Craig. Ashley walks out on stage and slaps him. So much for their deut of All I Want For Christmas Is You. Joey later finds Craig sulking in the hallway. Joey tells him about the time that he cheated on Caitlin with Tessa Campanelli. Craig responds be telling Joey that he’s obviously still in love with Caitlin.

*sigh*

(By the way, that’s a sigh of frustration, not romance.)

Yes, this is the episode where Joey realizes that he’s still in love with Caitlin and dumps Sydney on Christmas Eve. The first time I saw this episode, I thought that the way that Joey rushed down to the airport and caught Caitlin before she left for Montreal was romantic. Rewatching it, I realized just how self-absorbed both Caitlin and Joey are. Joey treats Sydney like dirt, despite the fact that Sydney has spent months looking after his daughter, taking care of the house, and devoting almost all of her time to him. The show tries to turn Sydney into a villain but all she did was ask Joey’s ex-girlfriend to start trying to break into his house. To me, that seems pretty reasonable.

As for Caitlin, it’s hard to know where to even begin. When this show started, Caitlin was portrayed as being a largely down-to-Earth, mature human being. With this episode, Caitlin is suddenly transformed into a neurotic klutz. Suddenly, she’s slipping a love note through Joey’s mail slot and then getting stuck in the kitchen window when she tries to break in to retrieve it. That’s not the Caitlin who was previously on the show. I assume the show’s writers were trying to make her into an adorkable romantic comedy lead but, as it is, she just seems like someone who has an unhealthy hang-up on a guy who cheated on her in high school.

Oh well. I do appreciate that this was a Christmas episode. All of the snow looked lovely. That said, I will always feel bad for Ashley and Sydney. They both deserved a better holiday.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 3.11 “Holiday: Part One”

Posted on September 20, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, it’s the holidays!

Episode 3.11 “Holiday: Part One”

(Dir by Philip Earnshaw, originally aired on December 17th, 2003)

It’s Christmas in Canada!

While snow blankets the ground, Sydney and Joey have a tree-trimming party that is attended by Caitlin and Spike. Caitlin reveals that she’s going to be spending Christmas alone but it doesn’t matter because it’s just one meaningless day out of the year. Joey is horrified at the thought of Caitlin being by herself for the holidays. Sydney, on the other hand, is wondering why her boyfriend is so worried about what his high school ex is going to be doing over the holidays. Still, when Joey and Sydney need someone to babysit Angie for a night, Sydney reaches out to Caitlin. Caitlin allows Angie to stay up too late and to wear the red dress that Sydney made for her to wear on Christmas day. Sydney is not amused. Caitlin says, “Don’t blame her….” “I’m not,” Sydney replies.

Caitlin, shaken over rightly being called out for her own irresponsible behavior, stumbles out of the house. Joey follows her and says that Sydney didn’t mean to be harsh. Sydney just likes things a certain way. Then, he and Caitlin kiss.

Meanwhile, Joey’s stepson, Craig, is torn between his girlfriend Ashley and his secret girlfriend Manny. Manny gives Craig an ultimatum. She tells him to pick either her or Ashley. Craig picks Manny and then goes over to Ashley’s house to tell her. Before Craig can say anything, Ashley gives him a guitar that once belonged to her grandfather who, she says, played it with Django Reinhardt. Craig forgets about dumping Ashley.

The next day, Manny sees Craig at school. He’s sitting next to Ashley and playing his guitar. Manny is not amused. Craig lies and tells Manny that he and Ashley have broken up but “I haven’t told her about us yet.” The school Christmas show is coming up and Craig and Ashley are scheduled to perform a song together. Craig explains that it would make the performance awkward if he told Ashley that he liked Manny. Manny accepts Craig’s lie. For now.

And that’s it! If this episode seemed a little anti-climatic, that’s because “Holiday” was actually an hour-long Christmas special that was split into two episodes for syndication. The action, as it were, doesn’t really pick up until the second half. We’ll take a look at that next week.

For this week, let me just admit that I’ve always had mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand, I love the holidays and, of the many relationship dramas that played out over the course of this series, the whole Ashley/Craig/Manny triangle was a favorite of mine. But it’s always bothered me that, in this episode, Sydney was suddenly transformed into a bitch just so the show could justify Caitlin and Joey getting back to together. I mean, really, what did Sydney do wrong? She wanted the house to be neat. She wanted the tree to look nice. And she didn’t want Angie to ruin her pretty dress. Somehow, all of this is supposed to make Sydney look bad. Meanwhile, Caitlin is a grown woman who is still obsessing over the boyfriend who treated her terribly in high school.

We’ll conclude this holiday next week!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 3.10 “Never Gonna Give You Up”

Posted on September 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Terri has a boyfriend!

Episode 3.10 “Never Gonna Give You Up”

(Dir by John Bell, originally aired on November 19th, 2003)

Hey, it’s Rick Murray!

When last we saw Rick (played by Ephraim Ellis), he was the shy, nerdy-but-cute guy leaving flowers at Terri’s locker. When this episode starts, Terri and Rick have been dating for a while. From the outside, Rick seems sweet, romantic, and utterly devoted to Terri. Jimmy and Spinner both think he’s a little weird, but Hazel and Paige insist he’s perfect for her.

The truth is that Rick is controlling, arrogant, and easily offended. In private, he loses his temper fast. In Ms. Kwan’s scene-study class, he’s in a group with Jimmy, Hazel, and Terri, assigned to bring to life a one-act written by budding playwright and actor Marco. Rick wants to direct. When Jimmy takes that job, Rick agrees to be stage manager. That’s right, folks! Rick is one of those people who likes to work crew. Anyone who ever did theater in high school knows how annoying those people were. (Seriously, you’d come offstage glowing because you’d just given the best performance of your life and some lighting-crew dork would go, “You nearly missed your mark.” Like, seriously, just shut up and stay out of my way, you weirdo.)

Marco takes the lead male role. Jimmy gives the nurse to Hazel and then announces that Terri will be the female lead. Terri is stunned and excited. Rick is immediately defensive, telling her it’s obvious Jimmy “has a thing for you. Why else would he give you the female lead?” (I think it may have had something to do with Terri being the last person left.)

This episode follows a pattern that will be painfully familiar to anyone who has ever been in an abusive relationship. Rick gives Terri a pile of overly technical acting notes that make her look stupid onstage. When she gets upset, he grabs her wrist and leaves a bruise. Then he buys her flowers and apologizes. When Terri says she’s having a girls’ night with Paige and Hazel and Rick can’t come because “it’s just for girls,” he backhands her and leaves her with a swollen lip. (Hazel sees the lip and immediately knows Terri is lying about a cold sore.) When Terri says she needs time to herself and that Rick is suffocating her, he shoves her against a wall. Terri announces that she’s done with him.

Unfortunately, every Degrassi watcher knows that isn’t true. This episode may end with Terri throwing away the flower Rick left at her locker, but we know he’ll be back in a few episodes. We also know Season 4 is basically the season of Rick Murray’s revenge.

It’s an episode with a commendable message and a good performance from Ephraim Ellis. That said, as I rewatched it, I found myself obsessing over just how bad Marco’s little scene was. Marco played Ray, a dying man, and spoke in an exaggerated Italian accent. Hazel was the nurse who told Terri (playing Ray’s mother) that Ray was not going to live. In the episode, Terri takes the blame for everyone laughing at the play’s big dramatic beat, but I think the real culprit was Marco’s writing. “We do not always get what we want .… or want what we get.” I’ve always assumed the play was meant as a parody of bad teenage dramatics. At least, I hope it was.

The B-plot is an amusing little prank war between Spinner and J.T. Spinner is sick of J.T. hanging around Paige, so among other things he plasters the inside of J.T.’s locker with glamour photos of Mr. Raditch and slips a romantic poem under Raditch’s office door. J.T. responds by showing up at The Dot and being such an obnoxious customer that Spinner, waiting tables, loses his temper. Spinner gets in trouble with his boss and is demoted to — get this– “dish pig.” Is that an actual job? I mean, I guess he’s washing dishes, but “dish pig” is a really vivid way to put it. It’s certainly better than anything Marco ever wrote. J.T. and Spinner call a truce, but not before Ms. Kwan gets a love poem from “Spinner.”

This week’s episode was classic Degrassi. I liked that the ultra-dark Rick Murray storyline was balanced with JT and Spinner acting like idiots. That’s high school for you.

Next week, it’s Christmas in Canada!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 3.1 “Father Figure: Part One”

Posted on July 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.22 “Tears Are Not Enough: Part Two”

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the second season comes to an end.

Episode 2.22 “Tears Are Not Enough: Part Two”

(Dir by Philip Earnshaw, originally aired on February 23rd, 2003)

As would become a tradition on Degrassi, the season ends with a dance and a character having a breakdown.

In this case, the dance is Hawaiian-themed. And Craig is the one who has the breakdown, shortly after he and Ashley are named the King and Queen of Degrassi. When he thinks he spots his dead father in the back of the gym, Craig tries to talk to him. Unfortunately, the man turns out to just be a teacher and not the ghost of Craig’s abusive dad. Soon, Craig is ripping down streamers. Finally, Terri talks to Craig. She lost her mother so she understands what he’s going through. So, if nothing else, at least Terri finally got to do something this season.

Meanwhile, Spinner and Jimmy finally get over being mad at each other. They bond over getting defeated by Craig. Paige and Hazel are also dissappointed about not winning Queen of the Dance. The lesson here is that the sympathy vote rules and everyone felt sorry for Craig. Ashley was just along for the ride.

For a Degrassi season finale, this was something of a low-key affair. I get that the season began with Craig so it also had to end with him but it’s still hard not to feel a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing. Craig spends this episode going from one extreme to another. First, he acts like he doesn’t care that his father is dead. Then, he starts to laugh like a maniac at his father’s funeral. And then he ends up begging a stranger for his approval. Jake Epstein got a chance to show off what a good actor he is but still, it didn’t reveal much that we didn’t already know about Craig. Fortunately, us Degrassi fans know what’s waiting for everyone during seasons 3 and 4. We’re about to start peak Degrassi!

I’m taking next week off for the 4th of July so we will start on season 3 of Degrassi on July 12th.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.20 “How Soon Is Now?”

Posted on June 14, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Degrassi goes there.

Episode 2.20 “How Soon Is Now?”

(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on February 9th, 2003)

After intensive therapy with the school’s counselor, Ms. Sauve (Jennifer Podemski), Paige convinces herself that she’s emotionally recovered from being raped by Dean. Paige says she doesn’t need any more therapy and she just wants to get on her with her life. However, when she discovers that Dean’s school will be coming to Degrassi for a basketball game, she starts to spiral.

Paige’s rape was one of Degrassi’s first “mature” storylines, in that it dealt with a controversial issue and it did so in a realistic way. Instead of simply wrapping things up after an episode or two, Degrassi stretched this storyline over several seasons and let it play out with an honesty that is rarely seen on television.. Instead of having Paige magically go back to being who she was before she was raped, Degrassi portrayed how Paige changed as a result of both the rape and her struggle to get justice. That the show did so realistically is a credit to both Degrassi and Lauren Collins’s portrayal of Paige.

One of the things that makes this episode difficult to watch is that Paige largely suffers alone. Only a few people know about the rape. A bitter Spinner still thinks that the encounter between Paige and Dean was consensual. When Dean does show up at Degrassi, it’s obvious that he feels no guilt about what happened and, soon, he’s even hitting on Manny. When Paige tries to warn Manny, Manny replies that Dean told her all about how crazy Paige is. It’s only when Paige tells JT about what happened that someone finally stands up for her. JT may just be the mascot but he doesn’t hold back when he attacks Dean on the court. Of course, JT is still JT so it’s not like he really does that much physical damage to Dean but it’s still gratifying to see. In fact, this is the first episode in which JT actually reveals himself to be something other than just the annoying class clown.

At the end of the episode, Paige tells Ms. Suave that she wants to press charges against Dean. Ms. Suave warns her that, with the amount of time that has passed, it’s going to be Paige’s word against his. Paige says she understands. I always want to applaud at the end of this episode, even though I know how things are going to develop.

As for the B-plot, Marco’s being a jerk. He and Ellie are working on a class project. They have to create an ad campaign for a fake cologne. Marco wants to do a “Bollywood thing.” Ellie wants to turn Marco into a sex symbol. Marco gets annoyed because Ellie hasn’t fully accepted that he’s gay and not romantically attracted to her. Hey, Marco — you’re the one who asked her to pretend to be your girlfriend so that you could stay in the closet so instead of getting mad at her, maybe think about what you’re putting her through!

Seriously, I get that Marco was a ground-breaking character at the time and I respect that, just as with Paige’s storyline, the show attempted to be realistic in its portrayal of Marco slowly finding the confidence to be his true self. That said, Marco could be really self-righteous.

But no matter. Even with Marco acting like Marco, this was an important episode. Degrassi went there.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.19 “Fight For Your Right”

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh no, Emma’s got a cause!

Episode 2.19 “Fight For Your Right”

(Dir by Chris Deacon, originally aired on February 2nd, 2003)

This episode is a good example of Emma being the worst.

Emma and Ashley approach Principal Raditch and tell him that they don’t want genetically modified foods in the cafeteria. Raditch tells them to buzz off, which is the right response when you consider that Raditch is probably just following the orders of the school board. Emma responds by standing outside the school and handing out flyers that announce that Sheila the lunch lady is “poisoning” the students with the food she’s serving.

Now, to me, this is the moment that Emma goes from being a young idealist to being arrogant brat. Sheila works for the school. She’s a lunch lady. I doubt she lives in a nice big house like Emma. Sheila probably needs the job. Emma is accusing Sheila of poisoning people. When Ellie sensibly points out that saving money with GM food — as opposed to the expensive organic crap that Emma wants the school to serve — allows Degrassi to give free meals to poor students, Emma accuses Ellie of not caring about the fact that the students might get cancer in 20 years. Principal Raditch finally comes out and tells Emma that she’s not allowed distribute “propaganda” on school property.

And again, it seems to me that Radtich is within his rights. Number one, why isn’t Emma in class? Number two, Emma is accusing a school employee of being a potential murderer. Number three, Emma is causing a disruption on school property.

The show disagrees with me. The show wants me to say, “Yay, Emma!” Even when Emma goes into the cafeteria and accidentally starts a food fight by knocking Toby and JT’s lunch on Jimmy, we are meant to be on Emma’s side. When Emma gets offended at Raditch’s insistence that she apologize to Sheila, we’re meant to be on her side. One thing that we don’t see is who gets stuck cleaning up the cafeteria after the food fight. I’m going to assume that it was probably the same Sheila that Emma accused of poisoning the students.

Emma is suspended for the day so she stands across the street and holds a sign, claiming that her right to free speech has been violated. Raditch tells Emma that if she doesn’t apologize on the next day’s video announcement, she’ll be suspended for a week.

At home, Emma asks Snake what she should do. Snake encourages her to …. NOT APOLOGIZE! Well, he doesn’t directly say that but he doesn’t say that she should apologize either. Snake, in case you had forgotten, is not only Emma’s teacher but also her stepfather. Spike is on a trip so he’s the only parent at home. Snake, at this point, should be saying, “This is a dumb protest and you should at least apologize to Sheila. No matter what else happens, you’re not getting your organic food in the cafeteria so there’s nothing to be accomplished with any of this.”

Instead, the next morning, Snake just sits there with a big dumbass grin on his face when Emma goes on the video announcements and refuses to apologize. Okay, Snake, do you think it’s cool that a school employee has been accused of poisoning the students? Oh, and Snake — are you the one who is going to call Spike to tell her that you got her daughter suspended from school for a week? Spike, who had to fight so hard for the right to go to school when she was pregnant with Emma, will certainly appreciate hearing that!

Seriously, Emma is the worst! But the only she’s the worst is because this show was convinced that she was the best. One gets the feeling that Emma’s character was a case wish-fulfillment for the show’s writers. Imagine a world where you can be obnoxious and self-righteous and everyone loves you for it!

There is a B-plot and, to be honest, it probably should have been the A-plot. Spinner, jealous that Jimmy’s parents buy him everything, steals Jimmy’s CD player and attempts to sell it. When Jimmy finds out, he overturns a trash can. Spinner takes a job at the cafeteria to earn money and gives Jimmy back the CD player.

“You are my best friend!” Spinner says.

“Was,” Jimmy replies.

Oh my God! Spinner and Jimmy, no! Actually, Spinner and Jimmy were always ending their friendship and then eventually restoring it. They’ll be fine. Still, their storyline was a lot more interesting than Emma’s latest crusade.

When in doubt, always focus on Spinner. That’s a lesson the writers should have taken to heart.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.16 “Message In A Bottle”

Posted on May 10, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we have a very special episode of everyone’s favorite Canadian show. Degrassi goes there!

Episode 2.16 “Message In A Bottle”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on August 1st, 2003)

The school’s basketball team is finally doing well and Jimmy decides to throw a party at his apartment to celebrate. (As usual, Jimmy’s parents are out of town.) Paige is having a spa weekend so she doesn’t come. Ellie is too busy pretending to be Marco’s girlfriend to come. J.T. and Toby? Forget it. This is so not their scene that they’re not even in this episode!

Ashley come to the party with Terri. If nothing else, this reminds us that Terri is still a character on the show and she hasn’t suffered any school-ending brain damage at the hands of Rick Murray …. not yet, at least. Jimmy is excited to Ashley. However, romance will have to wait because Sean shows up drunk and accidentally breaks a liquor bottle. Jimmy throws a fit. That’s not a surprise. Jimmy’s always upset about something.

For that matter, so is Sean. Sean, however, has more reasons to be upset than Jimmy. His parents are drunks. His older brother, Tracker, cannot hold down a job, despite having a supercool name like Tracker. In this episode, Emma tells Spike and Snake that Sean will be joining them for dinner without bothering to ask Sean beforehand. Sean actually handles the first part of the dinner fairly well. But then, during the second half of the dinner, he sneaks some alcohol and becomes convinced that Spike is talking down to him. Myself, I’m more concerned about the fact that they ate a sushi dinner despite the fact that Spike is pregnant.

Emma comes to Jimmy’s party, looking for Sean after Sean storms out of dinner. Emma assumes that it’s all her mom’s fault but Sean admits that he’s been drinking and he overreacted. Sean is stunned when Emma calls her mom for a ride home. Sean can’t imagine living with a parent who isn’t abusive. That’s actually really, really sad. Daniel Clark always did a great job as Sean and that’s certainly the case here. Clark elevates this episode above being a typical anti-drinking episode. I appreciated that the episode didn’t judge Sean and that it didn’t lecture him. It’s as if the show understood that Sean felt bad enough without having every other character go off on him. At least during the early seasons, that’s one thing that set Degrassi apart from other high school shows.

The episode ends with forgiveness, which was sweet. Sean thinks Emma is going to dump him. Emma tells him that everyone makes mistakes. And that’s true! This was a good episode.