S14.E04: Can't Stop This Thing We Started

[omgsowicked]

Clare has to muster up the courage to tell Eli about her situation. Winston is making some headway with Frankie but is insecure about his friendship with Miles. A normally confident Zig feels emasculated when he loses an arm wrestle to Grace.

 

[omgsowicked]

Clare/Drew/Eli - On the one hand, I like seeing a different take on teen pregnancy; someone who's pretty positive about it and who's not having the baby to keep a guy, or to have a purpose in life, but because it may be her only chance. But the repeated statement that "nothing will change"... it's like she was willing it to be true. At least everyone looked at her like she was nuts, lol.

 

I didn't think Clare's mom would be so cool but after the divorce and the cancer, I can see how she may have evolved as much as Clare has. I get that Clare wants to keep going with her original plan but she's got a pretty good support system in Canada; even with Mrs. Torres being pissed, she's prepared to be involved (after a paternity test, of course). And I'm glad they brought paternity up because they've been talking like it's Drew's but it's not official (and even Eli assumed it was his). It better be Drew's, for all this drama.

 

I loved how Drew was paying attention to Clare's health, researching cribs, and the fact that he didn't seem at all upset about getting getting a station wagon with her, lol. Now, Eli on the other hand... I can't stand him. I completely understand why he was upset but he's so self-righteous, and it makes it difficult to sympathize with him. And his suspicion when he saw Drew at The Dot... at least she had the decency to dump his ass before she got with him, can he say the same for himself? I just feel like he's more concerned about their fairytale story going according to plan, and he's pissed that she's messing up the narrative. Drew aside, I just don't see how she could still want to be with him.

 

Miles/Tristan/Winston - I was fully prepared to (continue to) hate Winston but I totally saw his point of view. Tristan and Miles are in the honeymoon phase of their relationship and want to spend tons of time together. Tristan pushed him out in science class (and now has him as a lab partner all semester), infiltrated their "bro date", and Miles didn't seem to see or care that Winston was upset. So I get why he snapped. (And shout out to Zoe for stopping Winston from trying to mess with their relationship... though I think it would have played as a laugh, had he gone through with it.)

 

I really enjoyed Miles and Winston's conversation because it covered a lot of issues: it gave some depth to their friendship, which was sorely needed, it addressed the weirdness of your (seemingly) straight friend of 10+ years dating a guy, and it also reiterated Miles' feelings for Tristan. The awkward hug was funny and I liked watching them play Just Dance (especially Eric Osborne's amused expressions in the background).

 

Zig - So this was total fluff but it was nice to see Zig being a bit silly... I feel like that's what Ricardo's best at, not this tough guy stuff. When I saw the episode description, I thought it sounded pretty stupid but luckily they didn't go overboard with Zig overcompensating or whatever. He seemed more upset that Tiny uploaded a gif of his failure than the fact that he lost an arm wrestle match to a girl. And I like how they keep making fun of the fact that Zig doesn't wear sleeves.

[luckyroll3]

I just feel like he's more concerned about their fairytale story going according to plan, and he's pissed that she's messing up the narrative.

That's always been his thing, so at least they are keeping him true to character. 

 

Leave it to Audra to come in and take everything over, and also to request a paternity test because of course Drew didn't think about it.  I found it weird that she didn't know who Eli was though; weren't he and Adam best friends? 

 

And again, where the hell is Jenna? (At least I know now that Connor was off filming the horrible Aaliyah movie.)  There was no need to bring in random lady with a baby hanging out at The Dot, when she has a best friend who has been through this!  Especially thinking that nothing would change (I can still be a cheerleader; I can still compete on a TV show; I can still do all the teenage-y things I did before ....).  It's just really annoying the way they always have characters disappear; at least give us a throw-away line or something.  And it's doubly weird because Jenna was in all the pictures from the cast photo shoot for this season.

 

Loved and Zig, Tiny, Grace, and Maya were eating poutine.  So Canadian (and so delicious)!

[bantering]

I continue to be perplexed by Claire's wardrobe. She's wearing a lot of mom blouses you can find at Sears, I believe -- do young women really wear doily collars nowadays?

[MaiSoCalled]

I am so invested in Clare's pregnancy story. I'm shocked at how much I want to watch it, and how little I wanted to watch the other characters. Everything a febout this story feels so raw, so real. The kind of stuff that shows Degrassi at its best. (See also Zoe's assault, Cam's suicide, etc). 

 

I think what I like is how this doesn't just feel like a pregnancy story because there are so many levels and players. Clare and Drew, who are friends rather than lovers. Each one is pursuing a different person, yet Drew is still willing to be with Clare for the baby's sake. Clare is convinced she can still do it all, while literally everyone else around her is trying to explain that's not possible. (A great contrast from Liberty or later seasons Mia). Clare's potential inability to have a future child makes this all the more fascinating. I sincerely don't know how this story will end, and I feel like that rarely happens on Degrassi. 

[Falafel]

I have to say, I thought that was a rather good episode. I don't give a shit about the baby drama but I thought it took a pretty interesting term. Clare really needed  reality check on what this situation means. She's so obnoxious -- "I'm Clare Edwards. Clare Edwards always has a plan." Ew, shut up, kid. What I don't understand is... did Clare and Eli actually talk about getting back together? Were they an item again? That was not how I remember things being left in New York.

 

I continue to be perplexed by Claire's wardrobe. She's wearing a lot of mom blouses you can find at Sears, I believe -- do young women really wear doily collars nowadays?

Yes. The grandma look is in style these days. Everything old becomes cool again eventually and here we are -- floral prints, doily collars and that sort of stuff is very hipster. The problem is, Claire is not a hipster and she's not cool, so it doesn't really work super well. I know nothing about fashion, but I do see young women who are stylish doing this and my first reaction was that it was like grandma-wear. You may want to google up on the term hipster and it'll make more sense.

 

Zig can be written off the show already. Everything he does annoys me and everything he's involved in is stupid. Him and Tiny both come across as casually sexist and homophobic too. The most interesting part of his storyline was that poutine they were eating. Mmm, I wish they sold poutine here.

 

I liked the Winston/Mikes/Tristan storyline. It was the only storyline that felt realistic and it gave us a little more insight into Miles. I'm still not really sold on the idea that he's for real with Tristan. But I'm interested to see where this goes, and I do hope it's going somewhere.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Falafel

[MegaJ]

Finally got around to seeing this.

 

A-Plot. Kinda is kinda delusional. Kinda really delusional. The way she was talking about the baby and her Columbia plans made it seem like she was taking a pet to New York as opposed to another human being. Jenna's presence is sorely needed but I guess since they need to save money, Alli does fine.

 

The scene with Mama Torres and Mama Edwards was good. Both butting heads but then coming together on a game plan. Mama Edwards was non-judgmental towards Clare which makes sense considering her divorce and she probably went through a crisis of faith too. Glad to see Jake mentioned, I guess Darcy is completely forgotten about (I will fall out if they got Shenae Grimes for the finale. It's not like she's doing anything).

 

Drew was kinda funny here, I forgotten that bit about him being afraid of his mother but looking back it extended to pretty much any dominating female figure. Heh.

 

Eli's reaction was painfully realistic. At the end of the day, Eli is pretty much like most guys and most guys would flip out getting news like that. Judging by the previews, he calms down though so I wouldn't hold that against him.

 

B-Plot. This was cute. Tristan grated again, but unlike most fans I do like that the writers are keeping him very effeminate and liking typical female interests. I think the whole Straight Gay thing has gone too far in the media that the femme gay character is breath of fresh air. Winston was understandably upset at Tristan encroaching on his best friend's time. I also liked that he admitted he wasn't as open-minded as he thought he was about Miles's about-face in sexuality. I also liked seeing him and Zoe together, I hope we get more small scenes like that.

 

C-Plot. This is a tried-and-true girl-beats-boy plot, but I thought it was nice fluff. Grace has gotten so much better than she was in season 13, she's obviously more mature than her peers but not so above them (see her willingly doing Zoe's Snapchat boobs fundraising thing). Also liked the comment on Zig never wearing sleeves.

[Lone Wolf]

Tristan grated again, but unlike most fans I do like that the writers are keeping him very effeminate and liking typical female interests. I think the whole Straight Gay thing has gone too far in the media that the femme gay character is breath of fresh air.

 

He's more female than male at this point.  Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

I continue to be perplexed by Claire's wardrobe. She's wearing a lot of mom blouses you can find at Sears, I believe -- do young women really wear doily collars nowadays?

 

I noticed that early on and thought it was a TPTB wardrobe decision due to her plot line - between the hair and her clothes she's seemed more of a mom than high school student this season.

[Bubbles]

The absence of Jenna, or even any mention of her, is becoming increasingly bizarre. Clare wasn't really friends with Jenna when she was pregnant but Alli was, so even if Jenna is for some reason completely unavailable to talk to Clare herself right now, you'd think Alli might have some points to raise based on what she saw Jenna go through. They're acting like Jenna and her pregnancy simply never existed.

Adam is apparently also joining the list of people that never existed, seeing as Drew's mother had somehow never heard of Eli despite him being Adam's best friend.

I don't particularly like Miles or Tristan, individually or as a couple, but I'm impressed with the way the show is handling Miles' fluid sexuality. There's no rush to put a label on him, and he's not agonizing about what it all means. It's a nice contrast to some of the previous LGBT stories, like Riley.

[bantering]

I'm slightly surprised Miles isn't struggling with his sexuality, if only because of the kind of family he comes from. He seems to come from the type of well-connected, posh family where  social appearances seem to be a big deal.  Then again, he seems to want to defy social appearances and his friends are pretty accepting so I suppose it makes sense that he wouldn't struggle with anything. 

 

I'm not necessarily surprised that Miles could be attracted to a man but I am surprised he'd be attracted to Tristan. I find Tristan kind of irritating so anyone having an attraction to him always strikes me as a little weird -- I didn't get the teacher's attraction to him either. Sure, Tristan was more gullible and naive -- hence, a very easy target for the teacher -- but I can never picture him as anybody's object of affection because of how annoying in general I find him to be.

Edited November 23, 2014 by bantering

[aradia22]

It is hilarious the way the actors playing Ali and Clare are playing the reveal about the baby the way they would play... say Clare not telling Eli about kissing Drew. You'd think they'd be better after so much practice, but they're not. Never change, Degrassi.

 

I couldn't care less about Winston's feelings. About really anything but this week about Miles specifically.

 

Thank goodness an adult finally stepped in to say 'you can't handle this on your own.' About time. I also appreciated Clare's mom calling Drew's mom out on the way she was speaking to Clare. Though why is Drew's mom suddenly awful?

 

Is this the first time they've mentioned Jake since the last time he was on screen? 

 

To be honest, Clare is being a little delusional. A baby is a pretty disruptive force and even if she has a plan I feel like she has yet to truly confront the reality of the situation.

 

Home tattoo? Where do the writers come up with this stuff? I know they exist but it's a weird direction to go in. Also, I know Grace is our classic magical hacker but I still wouldn't trust her to know what she's doing. ...and she didn't.

 

Hey... convenient stranger who just hands her baby off to teenagers she doesn't know...

 

Oh my God. Clare and Eli's confrontation was so wonderful I was tearing up... from the laughter.