MegaJ

They did, I guess I'm just wishing they dropped the anvil when he explained it to the crowd and had him be clear and concise. It wouldn't have been good storytelling I suppose, I just think they should've hammered it home. Oh well. I forgot to add that the ending montage at the end of the season was great, I liked how it went a bit more in-depth on what the grads will be up to after Degrassis.s

I didn't mind that Zoe didn't get her happy ending but was able to make the best out of a terrible situation so I'm good with that. With Saad, while I agree that it's realistic that somebody so withdrawn would have issues communicating his point, with this show having it's roots as an educational show...I just wish they had him explain it better because I just think it's important for the targeted audience to realize that these events that happen on "western" countries happen to the middle east and pre-dom Muslim countries almost everyday and no one cares. I hope they came away with that, at least.

I don't have much to say other than I enjoyed the season overall. It's when I hate it that I go into big rants. * So Zaya was endgame, sorta. I'm glad they left it up to the audience to decide, depending on how much you hate or like them. Maya's arc was pretty interesting, especially juxtaposed with Esme spiraling out of control. I did sort of feel like Olivia was sort of phoning it in compared to her previous performances, I hope it was just the director encouraging her to be sort of despondent because on everything that has happened and me just being crazy. And I missed her glasses. Zig finally redeemed himself to me after his cheating, it felt like he gotten just a tiny bit more mature in helping out both girls at the same time without feeling the need to cheat AGAIN and being insecure. * Glad that it seems like they're not done with Esme, her arc of her completely fall apart was thrilling to watch and the actress is really good. It seems like the TPTB were trying to bring a character like this on the show for awhile (hinted with Leia and Imogen) but with no TeenNick restrictions, they could really go for it. I'm not sure how she'll fit in with next year's seniors but she already has a link being Shay's rival so there's that. * I'm going to miss Goldi, I really wish they would've made the character a sophomore so she can be on longer. She does have a link with Baaz and Rasha so maybe she'll be recurring. * Triles broke up! Sorry for those who liked them, not a fan. At all. * Yael's non-binary storyline was good, but like some had mentioned, I was surprised that they were being confused for a boy because to me, they didn't look all that different, just took off the wig and is wearing a tie. Like, if I saw them and Hunter walking down the street, I would just think he's dating a girl that doesn't like wearing girly stuff. I'm glad they broke up, if Hunter isn't comfortable with it then they should be together, I wish he was nicer about it. * You know Shay, creatine is like, $20 at Wal-Mart and Amazon... * Yikes, Frankie freaking lost it this season. I am sort of glad she did, she didn't really have any glaring negative traits in the previous seasons and now her immaturity is in full display. Like, I really wanted someone to tell her to get a grip. I was wondering why her friends weren't more helpful but I then I realized they're also a bit more mature than Frankie, what with Shay training hard and Lola basically helping her dad run the restaurant. I wonder if that is going to be a point of contention later on. * Saad's story was sad, but I wish the show did make a stronger point with his initial argument and conveying it to the student body. It's awful when these things happen in Paris and Belgium and in America, but brown-skinned Muslims who die the most during these attacks are paid absolute dust and get banned from countries they're trying to flee to. It's totally not fair at all. So yeah, good season, see y'all in January!

We are getting Next Class seasons 5 and 6 (or season 17 since I'm a stickler for the original numbering). The remaining kids will be the senior class and they're bringing freshmen. If the trend continues, then seasons 5 and 6 will be the final season for Frankie's class but I have the feeling they'll extend that. I'll post my thoughts later once I see the episodes in better Youtube quality but I will add it was nice and sad to see Craig Manning again. Nice because I missed Craig and sad because I'm upset Jake Epstein didn't break out of the Canadian entertainment industry like I thought he would.

Previous seasons we grouped them in one topic since the US would release them all first.

Man, these breaks are hard to get used to. Apparently all episodes will be on the Family Channel app starting 6/30 so I decided to get the thread out the way. Here are our episode descriptions for season 4 aka season 16 part 2: 401 #BackToReality: Grace and Jonah keep their relationship on the DL and Tristan starts back slowly at school. Esme is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her man. 402 #GetMoney: Frankie is uploading some questionable posts on her socials so Esme encourages her to re-curate her online persona. Shay is determined to up her game to get scouted. 403 #ILookLikeA: Goldi has been flirting with Winston and doesn’t even know it. Miles questions a post-grad opportunity that seems too good to be true. 404 #RollUpToTheClubLike: After a terrorist attack in Brussels, the Muslim students at Degrassi find themselves in some very heated situations. Grace creates a bucket list. 405 #Preach: Saad is torn between his own beliefs and the students’ collective show of solidarity for Brussels. Frankie wonders if hanging with Esme and Zig is really good for her. 406 #FactsOnly: Yael feels like an identity overhaul is needed and turns to Lola for help. Maya auditions for Zoe, Goldi and a special celebrity judge for the charity talent show. 407 #Fire: What starts out as a small grad camping getaway with Zig, Tiny, Jonah, Grace and Maya turns into a bigger ordeal when Frankie, Esme, Shay and Lola latch on. 408 #GetYouAManThatCanDoBoth: Tristan and others wonder if his turbo-mode recovery is a good idea. After seeing others get ‘promposals,’ Shay is hoping that Tiny will do the same. 409 #Obsessed: The senior prom is delayed due to a code red emergency. Esme is furious when prom doesn’t go exactly as she’d hoped. 410 #KThxBye: The gowns are on and the caps are about to be thrown, it’s another Degrassi graduation! Zoe wonders how much support she’ll get as she prepares to make her valedictory speech.

Okay, so binged the entire season. Overall, I liked it. It wasn't as strong as the previous season (not using that Next Class season count, fight me), but there was a lot to like here. - Nice theme overall of safe spaces/triggers and how they're valid things. - I gotta check but yeah Olivia Scriven and Lyle Lettau weren't in this much and when they were it was minimal and Lyle didn't even have any speaking lines until the final episode so I suppose they prioritized their career making dreadful music. I didn't miss Tristan at all but I felt the show as missing something with Maya not being the emotional center of it all. It would make total sense that the bus crash triggered a depression, she fought her feelings for the longest time in regards to Cam (and nice job tying in Adam with that). That said, I'm not sure if I bought her having this interest in death at least to the point where she's taking these creepy photos. It just seemed kind of over the top, even for this show. It was also nice seeing Katie again, too! I wish Owen would've come for Tristan's storyline. Speaking of which. - I am so completely and utterly over the constant Miles/Tristan drama and Miles and his feelings and how no matter what that he feels the need to constantly be involved in some drama. I don't care what the fans think, I think the both of them need to apart and Tristan needs to stay asleep, that when I really liked the character. - Poor Zoe. I like that Grace lulled her into thinking that homophobia is over and done with and then at the end of the show she (and the audience) got a big fat reminder that being LGBT is still very, very hard and can come with hardship and not everyone is accepting. Zoe's mom is a piece a work, truly. It's a sin for Zoe to be a lesbian but not a sin for you to be sponging off her acting career? Mess. - I did like both Goldi and Rasha's storylines and what it meant to be Muslim. And I did like that Goldi wasn't even convinced on the Qu'ran's view on homosexuality, she's not really the judgemental type in any case. It's too sad her character is graduating this year, I really wish they would include her more. And Goldi is a delight, I love her. Saad was just kinda there. - So Esme and Shay have a little rivalry. Hee hee, that was cute. - Frankie needs to chill, supremely. I know by next season they'll pair her off but she really needs some alone time. - I'm glad they did another abortion plot now that they don't have teennick stomping on their necks. I think showing the procedure and everything that goes into it was good and I liked that Lola had no regrets. So all and all, a decent season. If it's like anything like last year, we won't get part two until summer so see you then~

I just finished the whole season and I'll post my thoughts later but as a possible explanation for the final scene in the finale, it could be that the actress was absent and they had to write around. A big reason why the bus crash was written in was because it was speculated that Olivia Schriven and Lyle Latteu have a project together (music group called Cute Whore where they make awful music) that's been increasingly taking ups their time, last year they barely did any promo for the show. And with the bus crash, it was in because it could be used as a reason to keep them off the shelf for a bit. Which is what happened, Maya wasn't really used a lot this first half and Tristan was in a coma and it looks like for season 4 they'll switch with Maya being incapacitated and Tristan attending classes.

I like Yo-Yo and Mack together dammit I'm still pressed Fitz/Mack wasn't a thing.

So we kick off Degrassi: Next Class season 3 (first half of season 16 for those keeping track) next year. We're following up on the bus crash last season, following up on character plots from last year and later this year, we're saying goodbye to Maya's class as this is a graduation year. So I guess no more "whole season equals first semester" thing anymore. Plot descrips:

Okay, back with my season wrap-up. Overall, Next Class was a good effort. I'm surprised how the writers work better when there aren't that many episodes to work with. I think the seniors graduating last season was the breath of fresh air that the show needed especially since the writers only seemed interested in Clare, Drew, and Eli in the end. Next Class had a better mix of characters (though I do think things are still a little "incestuous" in terms of the hook-up/friends flow chart) and the issues presented this season were timely and all handled well. Maya and Zig - Maya's plot was what I wanted Clare's plot to be, namely her working on her career and doing this without her boyfriend's interference at every turn. I mean Zig was still there, but it seemed like Maya was really focused on this to the point where Zig couldn't handle it. I also liked her feminist plot, I think that's a good message to send to the girls watching the show. Zig Zig Zig. I was first initially turned off when the first episode descriptions came out and it appeared that Zig was trying to rape Maya and then would later cheat on her but looking back at season 14 and his behavior this season, it's pretty much expected. He puts WAY too much stock into his relationship to the point where he doesn't have much of a life outside it and when Maya DOES have one, his self-esteem takes a hit. I'm upset that it appears he didn't learn much from his cheating but suppose the bus crash will make him think about it more. I am happy that they gave them the date rape scenario and the cheating storylines, too often the Degrassi Supercouple don't really deal with things of that nature so I like TPTB throwing big challenges their way. Zoe - Well, her plot was basically Paige's plot in season 5, except Zoe goes all the way lesbian rather than bi. It doesn't feel forced; unless with Paige and Holly J, Zoe hasn't really gained that self-esteem to feel secure about herself. She still feels kind of closed off emotionally to everyone which is probably why what happened with Grace set her off to do that extremely petty move with Zig. I do want them to explore her home life more come season 16, it seemly extremely messy, just like her mother. Grace - For the past two seasons, she was a peripheral character so I was happy that she was brought to the foreground and then given some depth. It's the standard "I act all gruff and disinterested to keep people away" act with CF thrown in but the writers and Nikki made it work. The only ? I have is her sleeping with Zoe; I don't think the writers should've taken it there, it just seems strange unless Grace said something about being curious about hooking up with a girl. Otherwise, nice to meet you Grace! Tristan and Miles - Miles is so much of a better character when he's away from Tristan it's not even funny. Well maybe next season, we don't do have to worry about Tristan anymore! Yay! Frankie - She didn't really become a huge focus until 15B/S2 until the racism plot...I think she's a perfect character to use for it. Her coming late to Jonah's little benefit for kids earlier that season showcased that while she knows she's rich, that she's completely unaware of her privilege. I was shaking my head all throughout the racism row because she made it worse by making it about her feelings and not just apologizing for her actions. I can only hope the girls watching this season will see themselves and think "like omg am I like toally like that" or however kids these days speak. Her relationship with Jonah is so blah, I expect a new pairing by next season; he didn't really bring out anything new in her...not sure why they could not have kept her with Winston (who was just kinda there this season hanging about.) Hunter - Wow, a character that the writers give a mental illness but that totally doesn't absolve them of their actions? Four for you writers. Hunter kinda creeped me out since season 13 and I like how the writers just built upon that and then let the actor get loose on the material. Hunter is going to be a heavy-hitter next season...though I wonder if he'll totally escape the consequences for the swatting. Shiny - I'm guessing Andrea Lewis's criticism struck a cord with the writers; I can't remember a black female character getting this kind of attention since Liberty (Shanice Banton put in that overtime to make Marisol memorable to the point where the writers had to pay attention). And what's better is that while they did throw in storylines where it was about Shay's race, they didn't forget to flesh her out as character and also give her a Love Interest in Tiny. Tiny was good here as well, I hope the actor gets some "meat" next season as well, Richard Walters is too good to waste on just being a side character. Lola - I love her! She has low self-esteem about her intelligence, but so far it's shown that she's very knowledgeable about social media (and can manipulate it into getting free pizza) and amping up the protest. I really want to see her believe in herself more. The newbies - Esme left the biggest impression. Chelsea Clark is great, and I'm sure that's the reason why she got the most focus allowing her to make biggest change in the cast dynamics. The other four have actors that aren't the best yet but I think they'll grow into their roles; with Soma and Yael's actors being better than the rest. Poor Baaz though. Overall, good season. See you guys in 2017!

So I guess the fact this about guy/guy sex is the reason the A-Plot wasn't advertised. Tristan was tolerable this episode, I'll give it that. And Vijay was singing a song by Jude Harrison...so I guess this is confirmation that Instant Star and Degrassi are in the same universe? But then Aubrey and Stacey starred on the show as themsevles? IDK.

This was a really good and fun episode. I wish they had gotten some of the DJH/DH cast but it was nice seeing the original TNG cast again and the little updates we had on them. Didn't expect to see Spinner/Emma still be married though. And Craig still has that magnetic attraction to him; Tristan's reaction to him playing guitar was hilarious. I did think Tiny's suspension was unfair; it was for fighting but the other guy didn't even attend the school, this was a total stranger coming up to him and punching him in the face and him fighting back, how would you punish that? When I read about the protest at the gala; I was concerned that they would treat the matter lightly but Marco tying it into the complete nonsense that is zero-tolerance rules was a smart idea. Zero-tolerance is trash and implemented unfairly, and I liked seeing Lola realize this was more than just her defending her man. I think Lola's speech at the end was a little meta about how the show has handled race; racial topics were pretty much non-existent on the show until the last few years and then Andrea Lewis calling TPTB out on Hazel's treatment probably motivated the writers that they had to address it especially with this generation crying out for more diversity in the media. And Frankie. God girl, just take your L and move on. Like I understand where she's coming from but most of this is stemming from her refusal to actually listen to the other team and more about how SHE feels as opposed to the rest of the team. I'm glad the writers picked her to be the "face" of the storyline; hopefully some of the white teens are looking at her and themselves and thinking "is this how I am?"

Finally caught up. - Good god Frankie, just take the L and move on. At this point, it's more about her saving face than apologizing. She's too upset with being thought of as racist to admit she screwed up royally even if she didn't mean to. This storyline has been pretty good considering Degrassi usually avoids racial topics like the plague but this generation of teens is a lot better about knowing about privilege and more willing to call it out. There's still some hiccups, namely Shay being clueless about the racial aspect at first and Goldi participating in the racist drawing despite her being a feminist and being knowledgeable about privilege and racism (to the point of educating Frankie about it). - Man, Hunter's actor is intense...no wonder they give him those moments for him to let loose. I do want him to get better though. - Oh. Hi Peter. Nice to see you. - So Zoe is gay and not bi. Interesting. I wonder if this was the plan all along, or maybe this is the writers and the TPTB re-doing Paige's storyline except going in the other direction. I wonder if she'll get a girlfriend about season 16, but I would like it if it were Esme...that actress is really good in portraying someone who pushes people's buttons. - Gosh, I really really dislike Miles/Tristan. - Gosh, I really really dislike Baaz.

So. Degrassi Next Class season two (or 15B if you prefer) is going to premiere in Austraila FIRST like...today. This is the first time this has happened, there's no release date for Canada yet and Netflix has all episodes in July. So just in case you want discuss them when they eventually hit the internet...here's the thread.