S14: E23 and E24: Finally

[MegaJ]

Drew plans an elaborate last minute prom-posal, and Dallas makes a mistake that could ruin everything for Alli’s prom. Drew agrees to help him salvage Prom, and is punished. Miles tries to help Hunter in the matters of the heart. Imogen has managed to win Jack back, but her happiness is fleeting. Clare is still unsure of her future plans, including where she stands with Eli.

 

Every time I see that episode title I start humming Cece Pinston...

[Judi Sunshine]

If they're going to reconcile Imogen with an ex, can't it be Fiona? 

Can't believe it's ending tonight. The TeenNickstalgia Top 10s and cast interviews have been KILLING me. I know it's coming back, but not for awhile. The "New Class" cast is awesome, and after last night I hope they add Damon. 

Goodbye, years-long seniors. Thanks for the memories, and Imogen I will miss you most of all <3

Edited July 31, 2015 by Judi Sunshine

[greekmom]

So all of them the significant graduates are going to USA or International schools. None of them in Canada? Seriously? U of T? Western? Laurier? Waterloo? For goodness sake we have some really good schools just a stone throws away from Toronto. 

EClare you broke my heart.

Nice touch with the tribute to Adam but he was a year younger than Drew.  Would he have graduated next year?

Nice seeing Simpson and Mama Torres. 
 

[Slade347]

Imogen was going to OCAD Faculty of Art, which Google tells me in Toronto. But, yeah, they could have put some of the others like Becky and Jenna in a Canadian University. 

 

Drew should have graduated with the last class, but because he dropped out for a while he was held back a year. 

 

I loved the little scene with Snake and Clare, but he shouldn't have had to explain why he was there- he's Connor's godfather and Connor's been living with him since arriving at Degrassi. That's more than enough reason for him to go to the graduation. I was hoping we'd see Papa and Mama Bhandari one last time.

[Daisy]

So all of them the significant graduates are going to USA or International schools. None of them in Canada? Seriously? U of T? Western? Laurier? Waterloo? For goodness sake we have some really good schools just a stone throws away from Toronto. 

EClare you broke my heart.

Nice touch with the tribute to Adam but he was a year younger than Drew.  Would he have graduated next year?

Nice seeing Simpson and Mama Torres. 

 

 

 

OMG - that's what I came on here to rant about. It drives me insane how all of these people are going to American Schools. Like, Becky, I get  because she's American and she only really came up here because of her brother and hockey career. but honestly:

Becky wants to study Marine Biology: University of Guelph. (Guelph, Ontario)

Connor wants to study AstroPhysics: York University (Toronto, Ontario) Western University (Kingston Ontario)

Jenna wants to study Sound Engineering: Ryerson University (Toronto Ontario)

Imogen was going to OCAD (yay) but there's also ACAD in Alberta so there was other options

Dallas's Japan option... i would have believed it more had it been the Swedish Elite League or Germany (Just because Hockey is huge there not so much Japan). 

 

I don't blame Alli, I would totally go to Cambridge though. 

 

I feel I rant this every graduation. When I was in school the number of students that actually took their SATS were so low - mostly because for Canadians (or rather any international student) the fees that they would pay are astronomical. Like going to U of T is about 5,000 a year. (give or take). for International students it's doubled.  So for Canadians to contemplate going to US schools not only do they ALL have to take their SATS, they then have to pay roughly 20% more than what the US residents have to pay.  (So again Becky going to the US for school makes sense because it could actually be cheaper for her, vs. going to Guelph, where she qualify as a international)

Same with Declan and Fiona before going to Art School in the states and Harvard? (Stanford?) makes sense. Holly J's, Jane and Katie's dream of always going to the "Big Posh American school" more than likely not. it would have been (or should have been Queens) which is one of the most prestigious schools in Ontario (if not the Country -high up there) McGill is also a huge deal here, of course so is U of T. Simon Fraser/UBC in Vancouver, not to mention all the hundreds of colleges with amazing programmes we have. Seriously, Show, pick up a damn copy of  MacLean Complete Guide to Universities and Colleges.  It's all right there . this was my bible from 11th grade to my grade 13 year (no  longer a thing in Ontario). I devoured it. I always checked the rankings for my programme, how they ranked across country and internationally, what the grades were necessary to get in, the likihood based on my applications... It shouldn't be that difficult. 

it makes me so angry (especially when I tweeted and contacted the writing staff + Stefan Bergman about this LAST YEAR) and I got a nice response back, that finally, it would be addressed. I have to truly wonder if the USification of school choices has a lot to do with the fact that TeenNick is based in the states. which, I apologise: so what, who cares, this is a Canadian show, based in Canada, and at least 80% of the students should be going to Canadian schools. (just like when I watch a USA based show, and they graduate I would expect at least 80% of the students (if not all) to go to US based schools)

 

grr. argg.

 

 

with that rant out of the way. I loved the episode. I'm glad that EClare are sort of still kinda endgame, but Clare is going to grow up a little.I loved Becky and Imogene (and really glad that they stayed BFFs, and not crossed that line but that out of all the people in Imogene's life - Eli, Fiona, Jack - Becky is truly the one who loves and gets her the best). Kinda meh about Clare/Ali/Jenna (mostly because I feel they kinda grew apart, if that makes sense) and Drew... cutest dumb boy this show had I think. he "grew up" but still had that Drewness to him (which they really worked on rehabbing after being such a jerface). 

 

when Degrassi flips to Netflix, I know I am going to be Teen Frankie (because Frankie is Love) but they really need to fix/address the rest of her class  because don't care about any of them as I had with everyone else. 

Edited August 1, 2015 by Daisy

[MegaJ]

Dead at TeenNick marketing this as the series finale when they have a special they gotta air on Sunday. I don't know what the channel will do now, but apparently they're happy being a dumping ground for Nick's live-action repeats. The fact that I and many others had to wait for some kind soul to upload the episode online pretty much proves the show outgrew the platform and Netflix is the right direction.

 

Onto the episode...not much to say. I mean I liked it, I really did. It had the right flashbacks and "look how much we grown" moments. The Clare/Jenna/Alli friendship. Clare's pretentiousness being brought up again. The pictures of the minor niners (awwwww). Adam. It's just that there wasn't any surprises, but I suppose that's okay.

 

Wow. So EClare is endgame. After all the fan-hate, and fan-love and the Degrassi record for couples breaking up before graduate....not just Jonnor, not just Dalli, but freakin EClare is endgame. I suppose TPTB though if we didn't get Crash, if we didn't get Crellie, if we didn't Semma, or Jiberty...they might as well let everyone stay together, lol. And I'm happy. I'm one of the few left but I ride hard for EClare. I do think Clare needs a break though and it's cool to see her figure out where she needs to be. And that she realized she doesn't necessarily need to dump Eli do that. I think the both of them grew up a lot and I think their relationship is strong enough for it.

 

I could've lived without the Drew focus but I guess he was a big part of the show so it's warranted. Loved his mom and the slap upside his head when he was being pig-headed about the prom. Speaking of Mrs. Torres, I loved seeing her again. I guess Papa Torres was busy? Off camera? Hm.

 

Happy that the writers resisted putting Drecky back together. Also happy they solidified Becky and Imogen's friendship and how Becky grew from a repressed, naive Christian girl to having a pansexual best friend. And the writers didn't have to have her be raped to change her opinions ala Darcy, yay. And I'm glad Imogen kinda realized Jack is a haughty-taughty pill. Other than their interest in art, I'm kinda glad she realized that and I'm sure she broke up with her off-screen.

 

I actually forgot Hunter and Miles were brothers, lol. This was good stuff, and a nice callback to when Hunter covered for his dad even after he hit Miles. Despite all he did, Hunter loved his dad and having Papa Hollingsworth constantly come down on Miles probably saved him from his bullying sometimes.

 

So all and all, it was hard watching my niner babies go. To go from being called the worst part of season 8 (which WAS a good season but the fans hate it go fig) to being the bedrock of the show for a good six seasons, six years of my miserable life...I was a little misty but everyone got a happy ending. And the show is in capable hands with this crew, but their true test will be the special Sunday. I think they're up to the challenge and I'll love them for four seasons until they graduate and I'll be misty-eyed again.

See you guys on Sunday and in 2016 on Netflix!

[luckyroll3]

I don't believe for a second that Audra wouldn't have challenged Ms. Pill in not allowing Drew to walk. Seemed really out of character for her, especially after the awesome smack to the head a couple of scenes earlier.

Glad Imogen finally saw the know it all, above it all, annoying Jack.

[Ljohnson1987]

They could've ended it so differently. It was a little disappointing.

[Bubbles]

This was mostly a good farewell to this crop of graduates. I think it was time for them to go, as they ran out of storyline ideas for most of them a while ago.

I'm surprised so many of the couples were still together at graduation. This show is usually pretty brutal about that, although when I was that age it was way more common for couples to try to stay together after going away to university but then end up doing the turkey dump (break-up over Thanksgiving weekend). With everything they've been through, I can see Clare and Eli making a go of it, but I don't really believe that Ali and Dallas or Jenna and Conor will survive long distance relationships for very long.

While I never particularly liked Jack and was glad that Imogen finally realized she was kind of awful and pretentious, it does bug me that the LGBT couples are never endgame. I choose to believe Riley and Zane got back together in university.

And speaking of university, add me to the camp that finds it ridiculous how many of the kids on this show go to American schools. I miss the days when all the kids went to made-up Canadian schools like Banting, Toronto U., Smithdale, and Eastern.

[jsm1125]

Aren't both Jenna and Connor going to schools in California, though? Maybe it's not so long-distance in that case.

[viajero]

I enjoyed both this episode and the season as a whole.  All in all, Season 14 was an improvement over Season 13 and I thought this was a suitable way to say goodbye to the graduating seniors.  In particular, I was okay with the way they left things with Claire and Eli, got a kick out of Snake heading off to open a school in Haiti, and was also fine with Imogen breaking up with Jack.  She deserves better.  Besides those final scenes with Imogen and Becky were the best thing about the episode.

 

I also think the younger generation shows a lot of promise and am looking forward to next season.  You can add me to the Frankie fans, but I’m most intrigued by Hunter and Grace.

 

And speaking of university, add me to the camp that finds it ridiculous how many of the kids on this show go to American schools. I miss the days when all the kids went to made-up Canadian schools like Banting, Toronto U., Smithdale, and Eastern.

 

 

What I find ironic about this is that I’m American and two of my younger relatives are in or are heading to Canadian universities. The main reason is that you can get the same quality education for a lot less money. One of them even chose UBC over an Ivy League school after he figured out that once you added in the partial scholarship offered by UBC, it came down to a choice between getting his undergraduate degree with no debt or getting it with a 6 figure debt.  Of course it helped that UBC has an exemplary international reputation in his particular area of study. 

 

The other relative was telling me that when he visited U. Victoria, over half the kids touring the campus with him that day were American.  He ended up choosing a Canadian school once he figured out that he no longer qualified for in-state tuition at the University of Washington because his family had been living overseas too long ($30,000 a year vs. $55,000 a year at U of W for out of state students).  The fact that his cousin is happy at UBC probably also helped, even though he wasn't admitted there.

 

So all this leaves me wondering how all these Degrassi students can even afford to go to American schools.

[aradia22]

It wasn't horrible but it wasn't the big finale I'd expect. I guess they downplayed it since the show isn't ending. Also, I wonder if there were budget constraints. Like, the Dallas/Alli prom thing felt unnecessary, low-stakes, and easily resolved. As did Drew almost not graduating with the rest of the class. The only thing they seemed to have reverence for was EClare and maybe Simpson. 

[jsm1125]

I think Clare's mother is the adult who has been on the show the longest, spanning back to the Darcy era, yet she wasn't shown to be at her daughter's graduation. A sign of how annoying she is?