Degrassi - General Discussion

[Guest]

This topic replaces the old Degrassi forum which has been vaulted at the location below:  http://forums.previously.tv/forum/225-degrassi-v/

[Scarlett45]

 

aww Paige. This made me wonder what Charlotte Arnold was up to. 

[FirstLast1234]

Does anyone know when this episode of Degrassi aired? It was sometime in December of 2009. For all I know, it could have been a rerun, but I know that this certain episode aired sometime in December of 2009. I need to know the exact date it was.

Here's what I remember of the episode. It was nighttime. There was some sort of party going on. There was this girl. I think she might have had short blond hair. She was dating this boy, but I guess he screwed up the relationship somehow. I think he had curly blond hair, and he might have been wearing a jacket. He's really angry and disappointed in himself, and he storms out of the place.

Another girl follows after him. I think she had longer black hair and darker skin. She might have been either Hispanic or Asian. I think they wind up in another house. He says to her "I screwed up-again!" talking about his relationship with the other girl. The girl he's talking to now tells him that his now ex-girlfriend is the one who made a mistake, and if she didn't appreciate him, she says "Then she didn't deserve you." Shortly after her saying that, if not immediately, they kiss, and I think they might sleep together.

Like I said, it might have been a repeat, but they definitely aired it sometime in December of 2009. I don't believe that was the only episode they showed of it that day, either. I'm not sure if it was the last episode they showed of it that day, though. If anyone could tell me the exact date of when that episode aired that time, then I would really appreciate it! Thank you! :-)

[paulvdb]

Sounds like Should I Stay or Should I Go?, an episode that originally aired in Ocotber 2003.

[emcmac87]

9 hours ago, FirstLast1234 said:

Does anyone know when this episode of Degrassi aired? It was sometime in December of 2009. For all I know, it could have been a rerun, but I know that this certain episode aired sometime in December of 2009. I need to know the exact date it was.

Here's what I remember of the episode. It was nighttime. There was some sort of party going on. There was this girl. I think she might have had short blond hair. She was dating this boy, but I guess he screwed up the relationship somehow. I think he had curly blond hair, and he might have been wearing a jacket. He's really angry and disappointed in himself, and he storms out of the place.

Another girl follows after him. I think she had longer black hair and darker skin. She might have been either Hispanic or Asian. I think they wind up in another house. He says to her "I screwed up-again!" talking about his relationship with the other girl. The girl he's talking to now tells him that his now ex-girlfriend is the one who made a mistake, and if she didn't appreciate him, she says "Then she didn't deserve you." Shortly after her saying that, if not immediately, they kiss, and I think they might sleep together.

Like I said, it might have been a repeat, but they definitely aired it sometime in December of 2009. I don't believe that was the only episode they showed of it that day, either. I'm not sure if it was the last episode they showed of it that day, though. If anyone could tell me the exact date of when that episode aired that time, then I would really appreciate it! Thank you! 🙂

If it was a rerun(which it sounds like it was) I don’t think anyone can tell you what the date was. There were no new episodes of Degrassi that aired in December of 2009, the show was on hiatus. 

[luckyroll3]

18 hours ago, FirstLast1234 said:

Does anyone know when this episode of Degrassi aired? It was sometime in December of 2009. For all I know, it could have been a rerun, but I know that this certain episode aired sometime in December of 2009. I need to know the exact date it was.

Here's what I remember of the episode. It was nighttime. There was some sort of party going on. There was this girl. I think she might have had short blond hair. She was dating this boy, but I guess he screwed up the relationship somehow. I think he had curly blond hair, and he might have been wearing a jacket. He's really angry and disappointed in himself, and he storms out of the place.

Another girl follows after him. I think she had longer black hair and darker skin. She might have been either Hispanic or Asian. I think they wind up in another house. He says to her "I screwed up-again!" talking about his relationship with the other girl. The girl he's talking to now tells him that his now ex-girlfriend is the one who made a mistake, and if she didn't appreciate him, she says "Then she didn't deserve you." Shortly after her saying that, if not immediately, they kiss, and I think they might sleep together.

Like I said, it might have been a repeat, but they definitely aired it sometime in December of 2009. I don't believe that was the only episode they showed of it that day, either. I'm not sure if it was the last episode they showed of it that day, though. If anyone could tell me the exact date of when that episode aired that time, then I would really appreciate it! Thank you! 🙂

13 hours ago, paulvdb said:

Sounds like Should I Stay or Should I Go?, an episode that originally aired in Ocotber 2003.

This is what I thought it was too, but I didn't know the name of the episode.  I just call it the one when "sexy" Manny seduces Craig then gets pregnant.  

[Scarlett45]

I haven’t thought of Degrassi in ages (so sad to see it go!), but this YouTube commentator Amandabb it just watched seasons 1-7 of Degrassi: Next Generation and she is cracking me up! If you want to laugh during social distancing. 

[Scarlett45]

I’m committing to a rewatch. Seasons 1-14 are on Amazon Prime via IMDBtv and the rest are on Netflix. Let’s see if social distancing is over I’m done🥰. 

[luckyroll3]

15 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I’m committing to a rewatch. Seasons 1-14 are on Amazon Prime via IMDBtv and the rest are on Netflix. Let’s see if social distancing is over I’m done🥰. 

Let me know when you're starting so that we can discuss as we watch.  

[Scarlett45]

2 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Let me know when you're starting so that we can discuss as we watch.  

Oh yay!! Last night I made it up to Season 1 episode 7. Tonight I’m doing a movie night with a friend (virtually) and then picking back up Friday. 

[luckyroll3]

Perfect @Scarlett45!  That will give me some time to catch up.  

I was just saying last week that I missed this show and needed to do a rewatch.  Even better to have folks to discuss with!

[Scarlett45]

49 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Perfect @Scarlett45!  That will give me some time to catch up.  

I was just saying last week that I missed this show and needed to do a rewatch.  Even better to have folks to discuss with!

Yay I will post here after each session. 
 

First thoughts: OMG everyone was so young!! I’m only a year or two older than this first group of kids and it’s taking me back. I was 15-16 in 2001 (late birthday). When you cast actual teens to play teens it shows. Aubrey Graham was so little! But they look so eager. Christina Schmidt (Terry)- I just started following her on Instagram and she was always gorgeous, no wonder after she left acting she continues to work as a plus size model. 

[luckyroll3]

I always thought Christina was the most gorgeous one out of the earlier cast, followed by Cassie Steele after her glow up.

They are so young and such bad actors.  Most of them got better, some didnt' (Miriam McDonald I'm looking at you!)

I forgot that Ms. Kwan was here from the beginning.  Her and Perino were my favorite teachers.    

[luckyroll3]

Just finished season 1.  So many good moments:

• Emma's first "menstruation"
• Scheming, backstabbing Paige
• Ashley's gay dad
• Manny foreshadowing what a badass she will eventually become when she stands up to Paige
• Spinner protesting the cafeteria
• Emma and Sean's bad first data
• Ashley on E (Damn, Jimmy was so hypocritical during this considering he took Spinner's adderall as speed) 

Completely didn't realize before that Spinner was such a chunker during this first season.  

Let's go Season 2.  Bring on Craig, Ellie, and Marco.

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

Just finished season 1.  So many good moments:

• Emma's first "menstruation"
• Scheming, backstabbing Paige
• Ashley's gay dad
• Manny foreshadowing what a badass she will eventually become when she stands up to Paige
• Spinner protesting the cafeteria
• Emma and Sean's bad first data
• Ashley on E (Damn, Jimmy was so hypocritical during this considering he took Spinner's adderall as speed) 

Completely didn't realize before that Spinner was such a chunker during this first season.  

Let's go Season 2.  Bring on Craig, Ellie, and Marco.

Jimmy was so hypocritical! I’m watching the episode when Jimmy & Spinner are treating Ms Kwan like crap. Poor lady. Yeah Spinner was in the phase where he gained weight before a growth spurt. Andrea Lewis (Hazel) looks exactly the same!! Black dont crack y’all!!

Although I agree that Hazel and Liberty were robbed (Hazel more so), I didn’t see Liberty’s characterization as poor (at least in the early seasons), she was the very bright, know it all kid who could be annoying sometimes, but how did no one see her glow up?? Girlfriend was (and is) gorgeous, and even when she got with JT he always acted like he was too cool for her, or was it that she never lived down her elementary school reputation.  

[luckyroll3]

Word on Liberty.  She has amazing skin, hair, eyes, and lips, and she gets the height later on.  Definite glow-up in her later seasons!  I agree, she didn't outgrow her reputation, especially as she kept that know it all, brown-noser personality all through school.  So even though she changed a lot physically, people still saw the same old annoying Liberty.  I'm over here chuckling because I'm remembering her full tux and top hat outfit from the lunch-time cabaret ep is season 1 and her, I wanna say Sandy from Grease (although everyone else is in 80s costumes, so maybe she's someone else?) costume in one of the early eps of season 2.  I love that even at that age, she has so much confidence and doesn't really care what anyone else thinks.  It's very refreshing and makes for some very funny scenes/interactions.

Just finished the first couple episodes of season 2.  Their casting agent for that season really earned their paycheck.  Jake Epstein is such an amazing actor, even at such a young age.  I'm surprised he hasn't made it big-er.  Maybe he's super big in Canada; I've definitely seen him as a recurring or special guest star on many American shows filmed in Canada and I saw him starring in the traveling production of Spring Awakening many, many moons ago.  Stacey Farber was also a really great find.  

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, luckyroll3 said:

Jake Epstein is such an amazing actor, even at such a young age.  I'm surprised he hasn't made it big-er.  Maybe he's super big in Canada; I've definitely seen him as a recurring or special guest star on many American shows filmed in Canada and I saw him starring in the traveling production of Spring Awakening many, many moons ago.  Stacey Farber was also a really great find.  

Jake Epstein and later Charlotte Arnold were some of the best actors the show ever had. Jake has done more theatre these days I think....

[luckyroll3]

9 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Jake Epstein and later Charlotte Arnold were some of the best actors the show ever had.

Oh, for sure!  She's amazing.  Nina Dobrev too.  I don't think she was great on the show, but she definitely developed into a pretty savvy actor in her own right.  

I'm being reminded how much I HAAATTTTTEEEEE Emma.  

I'm wondering if there are episodes out of production order during season 2 because Ashley just re-fell out with Paige and the other girls, and in the next episode Ellie says Ash is her new best fried and the ep after that Ash has her new goth look complete with another bad haircut.  When did they become friends?

 

[Scarlett45]

2 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

I'm wondering if there are episodes out of production order during season 2 because Ashley just re-fell out with Paige and the other girls, and in the next episode Ellie says Ash is her new best fried and the ep after that Ash has her new goth look complete with another bad haircut.  When did they become friends?

I think they brought in Ellie to give Ash a friend after she fell out with Paige, but Terri always stayed her friend right?

[luckyroll3]

5 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

but Terri always stayed her friend right?

For an episode or 2, Teri wasn't her friend.  Paige gave her an ultimatum of losing the "cool girls" as friends and Ashley made it easy for Teri by insulting her for not never having a boyfriend.  #teenagers

[Scarlett45]

5 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

For an episode or 2, Teri wasn't her friend.  Paige gave her an ultimatum of losing the "cool girls" as friends and Ashley made it easy for Teri by insulting her for not never having a boyfriend.  #teenagers

Yup I just saw that episode while I was eating breakfast. Now I’m season 2 episode 6 where Craig is home alone and throws the party. 

[Guest]

18 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

Jake Epstein is such an amazing actor, even at such a young age.  I'm surprised he hasn't made it big-er.  Maybe he's super big in Canada; I've definitely seen him as a recurring or special guest star on many American shows filmed in Canada

He was incredible in his portrayal of all the abuse Craig went through and his devotion to his sister. He was my first celebrity crush, lol. It's funny that they gave him such heavy stuff at 14/15 and then morphed him into a generic fuckboy. But man, being Manny's age, I FELT her thirst for him when he was introduced. He was beautiful. I'm surprised he didn't become analogous to millennial Finn Wolfhard, but then again maybe that's a reflection of rising to fame in the social media age. The Ashley/Craig/Manny triangle was legendary, and he was adorable with Ellie in S5, but the writers lost me with the rock star/cocaine nonsense in S6.

I still laugh my ass off that Wheelchair Jimmy is the huge breakout star from this franchise - and he was so mortified that he refused to talk about Degrassi for years.

[Scarlett45]

39 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

It's funny that they gave him such heavy stuff at 14/15 and then morphed him into a generic fuckboy. But man, being Manny's age, I FELT her thirst for him when he was introduced. He was beautiful. I'm surprised he didn't become analogous to millennial Finn Wolfhard, but then again maybe that's a reflection of rising to fame in the social media age. The Ashley/Craig/Manny triangle was legendary, and he was adorable with Ellie in S5, but the writers lost me with the rock star/cocaine nonsense in S6.

I’m 34 and watching this I concur that Craig Manning was one cute boy. I get why Manny was hot for him. I can now see how Aubrey Graham was going to be an attractive man but boy he was weirdly portioned and skinny during this phase. 

[Scarlett45]

Starting season 2:

Paige’s rape and her PTSD (we know in season 3 this is addressed again) Lauren Collins did a great job with the material. I did love that immediately Hazel and Ashely wanted her to go to the doctor and comforted her. 
 

Spike & Archie’s wedding- all this angst over the pregnancy, I’m assuming Spike did want more kids and they are getting married that week. They both have jobs and a home, and Spike has Emma.....it seemed unnecessarily dramatic.If Spike didn’t want any more kids I absolutely understand her wanting an abortion or thinking about one, but she was acting as if Archie is calling off their wedding and he didn’t even know!!  Emma had no right to speak to her mother that way and she should’ve sat her little self down. That being said she was in no way old enough to be having that discussion with her Mom- Spike is the one that didn’t put the boundary up. It was realistic though- a lot of times single Moms of only kids, turn their kids into mini partners because there’s a “you and me against the world” type feeling. I forgot that they ended up getting married in their street clothes. 
(Couldn’t they have just washed Emma’s hair again to get it straight?? 24hrs you have to avoid water for white perms no??- Legally Blonde or just combed it and done and updo, no need to have her look like she rolled out of bed)
 

International Day- the one storyline Hazel actually got, I did appreciate how much dignity they gave Farreeza and the pride/dignity she maintained. Did Hazel expect her to feel sorry for her, after the bully she was??

Craig/Manny drama- I’m holding my breath for next season with Manny and the visible thong. 
 

@luckyroll3 you’re right- on Amazon Prime the episodes don’t always play in order, I was paying attention to the episode order and it skipped from Season 2 episode 15 to 19 (Emma’s protest on GM foods) and then to 20, I had to go back to episode 16 manually. But all of the episodes are there. 

[Scarlett45]

On 5/16/2020 at 3:30 PM, SnarkEnthusiast said:

He was beautiful. I'm surprised he didn't become analogous to millennial Finn Wolfhard, but then again maybe that's a reflection of rising to fame in the social media age.

I don’t watch Stranger Things so I had to look up Finn. Finn is just TOO pretty to be sexy in a “teen girls will have thirst” way. He’s very androgynous looking- of course there is nothing wrong with that. 
 

Jake Epstein at this time reminds me of a millennial Noah Centineo in that he’s got the “Ive been through tanner stage 4 of puberty already” attractive body and facial structure but is still young so he’s a peer and not some lecherous man preying on younger kids. 🤣 Noah Centineo is a grown man now, but he’s youthful looking, playing a teen doesn’t look odd, and when he was a teen he just looked more baby faced. 

[Scarlett45]

Starting season 3- outside of the obvious question of why Spike wouldn’t tell Emma that her bio Dad had become disabled due to an accident and lived in a facility for mentally disabled adults (that’s not something to be ashamed of, that’s a legit reason he isn’t parenting her, rather than him just not giving a fuck); NONE of his family wanted anything to do with Emma all these years and they live in the same town??

From what I remember from the Degrassi from the 80s, his parents wanted Emma placed for adoption and considered their son “too good” to be stuck with Spike and her child, but after the accident, with the son they knew lost to them forever and likely NOT ever going to have another child, they wanted nothing to do with their bio grandchild? Not a grandparent or an aunt/uncle or a cousin cared about inviting Emma to events?

Again- Emma should’ve sat her little self down. She has ever right to have questions about her bio Dad, and Spike should’ve told her what happened but Emma was SO RUDE to Spike. And how was Shane being in the facility have anything to do with Spike?? She wasn’t his damn wife they were TEENAGERS. 

[luckyroll3]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Starting season 3- outside of the obvious question of why Spike wouldn’t tell Emma that her bio Dad had become disabled due to an accident and lived in a facility for mentally disabled adults (that’s not something to be ashamed of, that’s a legit reason he isn’t parenting her, rather than him just not giving a fuck); NONE of his family wanted anything to do with Emma all these years and they live in the same town??

From what I remember from the Degrassi from the 80s, his parents wanted Emma placed for adoption and considered their son “too good” to be stuck with Spike and her child, but after the accident, with the son they knew lost to them forever and likely NOT ever going to have another child, they wanted nothing to do with their bio grandchild? Not a grandparent or an aunt/uncle or a cousin cared about inviting Emma to events?

I can totally believe that.  Folks with a certain status and/or privilege have a habit of treating those without really poorly.  People like that don't really care if a child from the "wrong side" is related to them. 

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Again- Emma should’ve sat her little self down. She has ever right to have questions about her bio Dad, and Spike should’ve told her what happened but Emma was SO RUDE to Spike. And how was Shane being in the facility have anything to do with Spike?? She wasn’t his damn wife they were TEENAGERS. 

For real!  I can't stand Emma, but I also can't stand how Spike lets her constantly speak to them with such disrespect, as if she is on the same level as her parents.  Discipline your fucking child!

 

[luckyroll3]

I think Jay is the devil.  Like literally the Satan, who was so bored in hell that he decided he would go to Degrassi to wreak havoc purely for the fun of it.  In every episode, he turns up at a critical decision point of a character and manipulates them to into agreeing to do something awful.  He never outright tells them to do it; he just gives them a little nudge so that it's always their decision. 

So far we have:

• Sean stealing
• the core senior group amping up their bullying of Rick after his return to the school and ultimately the shooting
• Emma at the Ravine (and her resulting "social disease" lol)
• JT's brief foray into drug dealing
• Darcy offering herself to Spinner  

All of these have started as mild suggestions from Jay.  

And Peter is clearly one of his minions....

 

[Scarlett45]

13 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

I think Jay is the devil.  Like literally the Satan, who was so bored in hell that he decided he would go to Degrassi to wreak havoc purely for the fun of it.  In every episode, he turns up at a critical decision point of a character and manipulates them to into agreeing to do something awful.  He never outright tells them to do it; he just gives them a little nudge so that it's always their decision. 

So far we have:

• Sean stealing
• the core senior group amping up their bullying of Rick after his return to the school and ultimately the shooting
• Emma at the Ravine (and her resulting "social disease" lol)
• JT's brief foray into drug dealing
• Darcy offering herself to Spinner  

All of these have started as mild suggestions from Jay.  

And Peter is clearly one of his minions....

 

I can’t stand Jay either. Why does Manny ever go out with him again??? I’m only midway through Season 3 and Sean is acting angry for being accused of stealing when he did steal and Manny is acting thirsty over Craig. The boy don’t want you Manny! Manny you’re too amazing to behaving this way. And for the record I don’t mean sleeping with Craig (he was the one cheating not her), I mean being his second choice and pining over him while he’s with his GIRLFRIEND. 
 

So to get over this “playing it out of order foolishness” I look at the original air date before I start a new episode.

 

I am happy to know Cassie Steel is the lead voice in the new Disney Animated Film, Raya and The Last Dragon. 

[Scarlett45]

I have to say the actress that played Liberty, Sarah Elizabeth Barrable* was very talented. She portrayed Liberty with such confidence despite people always picking on her for no good reason. I don’t think the writing was racist (if Liberty was white the writing would’ve worked just the same) but when you have your only black women characters as plot devices (Hazel) or constantly picked on it looks bad!! 
 

*she dated Ryan Cooley (JT) in real life and left acting, shes now in digital marketing. 
 

I loved Cassie Steel’s acting in the “Accidents Will Happen” two parter where Manny decides to get an abortion. Craig and his man child crying- “I live in some guys house.” I do realize that everyone comments on his Dad dying but not that his Mom also died a few years before, that’s HARD, however Joey does care about him and what about Angie??? Joey took him in before his Dad died, does that mean nothing???

At first I liked Ashley for blaming Craig 100% for his cheating and lying but then her bitchy move in the cafeteria- men (unless they are trans) cannot be pregnant, Manny being pregnant was none of her business and that was just LOW. Kicking people when they are down is makes you look bad.

 

[sara416]

The thing I miss about this show in it's earlier seasons was the casting of average looking people for the roles. Miriam McDonald, for example, was not cute in the first 2-3 seasons. And that's okay! Characters had acne, braces, and imperfect hair. You would be hard pressed to find a show like this on TV anywhere right now in our Kardashian fueled world. Even later seasons of this show cast people who were traditionally good looking and not at all resembling regular junior high and high school students. Not ony was the subject matter ahead of it's time, but the casting was relateable. 

[luckyroll3]

14 minutes ago, sara416 said:

The thing I miss about this show in it's earlier seasons was the casting of average looking people for the roles. Miriam McDonald, for example, was not cute in the first 2-3 seasons. And that's okay! Characters had acne, braces, and imperfect hair. You would be hard pressed to find a show like this on TV anywhere right now in our Kardashian fueled world. Even later seasons of this show cast people who were traditionally good looking and not at all resembling regular junior high and high school students. Not ony was the subject matter ahead of it's time, but the casting was relateable. 

Not just average looking people (lol), but actual teenagers who were the age of (or at least within a year of the age of) their characters.  This was definitely part of the show's charm.  During the later seasons, they started casting for looks and brought in much older actors.  It was so noticeable.  And not appreciated.   

[Scarlett45]

29 minutes ago, sara416 said:

The thing I miss about this show in it's earlier seasons was the casting of average looking people for the roles. Miriam McDonald, for example, was not cute in the first 2-3 seasons. And that's okay! Characters had acne, braces, and imperfect hair. You would be hard pressed to find a show like this on TV anywhere right now in our Kardashian fueled world. Even later seasons of this show cast people who were traditionally good looking and not at all resembling regular junior high and high school students. Not ony was the subject matter ahead of it's time, but the casting was relateable. 

 

12 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Not just average looking people (lol), but actual teenagers who were the age of (or at least within a year of the age of) their characters.  This was definitely part of the show's charm.  During the later seasons, they started casting for looks and brought in much older actors.  It was so noticeable.  And not appreciated.   

I see what you mean, but I don’t think the show cast “average looking people” (at least not any of the girls)- they just happened to cast kids who were actually kids (and thus going through puberty and changing looks) and who weren’t super polished style wise. For me the casting of kids to play KIDS was the charm. 
 

Miriam McDonald was going through her awkward phase but was still a cute thin blonde white girl (the epitome of conventional attractiveness). (I think she’s done herself a disservice fucking with her face, lips that aren’t natural etc but of course that’s her choice). 
 

Save for the actors that played JT (Ryan Cooley) and Toby, ALL of the boys grew up to be conventionally attractive men, and they did have a plus sized white girl who was gorgeous (and grew up to be a plus sized model IRL so duh she was a 10) and one black girl who didn’t pass the brown paper bag test (but super gorgeous)......

I don’t give them as much credit for casting “regular kids” as you guys do. The only main cast member who was “regular looking” to me was actually Lauren Collins (who is not a bad looking woman by any means but had that strong face in middle school and now looks the same at 34 years old, like a regular person not an actress), but she was also thin, blonde and white. 

[Scarlett45]

Random- Joey had NO BUSINESS asking Craig for a part of his bday gift to cover household expenses. Of course raising Craig costs money, if the estate wasn’t paying enough to support Craig, the appropriate thing to would be to talk to the estate/trust attorney to increase a payout. Not talk to the fucking 16 year old about his BIRTHDAY GIFT. Only thing Joey should've been discussing with Craig about the gift was saving x percentage and spending x percentage. I can sympathize with Joey being stressed about his business but that’s not Craig’s responsibility and if $10k would change Joey’s life I doubt this problems are that deep. Sell a few extra cars. 
 

I love the way Paige handled Dean in the Season 4 opener. 

[mj2000]

As a fan of the 80s Degrassi, I had to watch TNG. I really got addicted and I'm in my 40s! The stories got me hooked big time!

Emma: Where to begin? She definitely pushes the limit with her parents....and with everyone. She went from a do-gooder kid that couldn’t keep a secret to a teen who contracted an STD and developed a eating disorder who is judgemental. Her disrespectful attitude toward Snake bothered me to no end when he and Spike first got together and then married. She needed a reality check.

That leads me to Shane/Spike. I realize that Spike was only 14 when she had Emma, but she was over the top with how she handled that entire situation. Most 14 year old pregnant girls would be grateful that the father wanted to be involved at all. Spike did nothing but push Shane away. She complained constantly about him. If he tried to be involved he was wrong. If he backed off he was wrong. He gave her money for child support without a court order. She even knew that his parents were the ones that didn't want him involved. This all led up to him taking the drugs that caused his accident and resulting brain damage. Did Spike tell Emma any of this? Nope! Instead she told Emma that Shane didn't want anything to do with her. What happened? Emma found out about Shane and his condition on her own. 

 

In an effort to make posts as short as possible, I'll make a post about each character/storylines.

[mj2000]

Manny: This girl is the original hot mess. I liked her just fine before her big transformation. After, her problems were of her own making. She got tired of people calling her a slutt. Here are a few reasons why they did:
 

Prancing through the school halls with her thong showing 
Flirting with countless boys
Having sex with Craig knowing that he was still dating Ashley
Not using protection during sex with Craig
Continuously dressing in an inappropriate way

Otherwise the only other thing that bothered me was her always accusing someone of being jealous of her when they would call her out on something. All of that aside, I believe that she had a good heart and wanted to be different. She just made poor choices.

[mj2000]

Joey/Kaitlyn: I shipped this couple back in the day and did during this series as well. I was over the moon when they were reunited. I was horrified when they were separated, in part, by Kevin Smith of all people. This was atrocious writing to say the least.
 

Snake/Spike: I think they are absolutely adorable. It was a nice throwback when Spike mentioned that she loved him since she was 16. I couldn't have imagined a better husband for her or father for Emma. They have Jack together after being married. What happens? Snake is written as a cheater! That was totally unbelievable! 

[mj2000]

Craig: I adored him even when he was cheating on Ashley. He was just all over the place. His home life was a mess. His mother died. His father was an abusive psycho who kept him from his little half sister Angie. Even before his bipolar diagnosis, he was showing symptoms. The only stability he had in his life was Joey. This was one case where a stepfather was better than the birth father for sure. But with love and support from Joey and his friends, he was able to have a life, deal with his illness, and pursue a career in music. 

Sean: Another example of a troubled home life. He had alot of anger issues. His older brother tried to take care of him for a while. Sean tried making it on his own....until the shooting. When you have a disciple of Satan named Jay around, trouble is always close. And let's not forget Peter's jealousy and the tragedy that followed. Sean would have been better off never coming back to Degrassi. As much as I liked Sean and Emma together, she ended up being one of the worse things that could have happened to him.

Jay: The Devil, Poison, and Disgusting Womanizing Drug Dealer. Pick a name....any name. He had no respect for his friends. He gave Emma gonorrhea, he was the mastermind behind blaming Jimmy for the prank that caused the shooting, he let Spinner carry the blame for it, he enticed JT into stealing pills and selling them and the list goes on. He is my most hated male character right behind Rick.

[luckyroll3]

11 hours ago, mj2000 said:

Manny: This girl is the original hot mess. I liked her just fine before her big transformation. After, her problems were of her own making. She got tired of people calling her a slutt. Here are a few reasons why they did:
 

Prancing through the school halls with her thong showing 
Flirting with countless boys
Having sex with Craig knowing that he was still dating Ashley
Not using protection during sex with Craig
Continuously dressing in an inappropriate way

Otherwise the only other thing that bothered me was her always accusing someone of being jealous of her when they would call her out on something. All of that aside, I believe that she had a good heart and wanted to be different. She just made poor choices.

I absolutely loved Manny's transformation from adorable to sexy because it was her choice and she embraced it.  Did she make some bad decisions about boys.  Yep!  But who hasn't.  There are loads of adult women still making bad decisions about boys.  

Outside of her visible thong, Manny doesn't dress much different from many of the other girls in the school.  And she's also not the only one having sex.  Yet, she's one of the few females on the show who constantly gets labeled as a slut and it's not cool.  She has every right to get tired of it and I'm glad that in season 6 she puts her foot down and says that's the last time someone calls her that and expects her to take it before she promptly beats Darcy's ass.  Honestly, I feel that because she's an "exotic" person of color, they leaned into this whole temptress trope with her character and it's probably something that wouldn't have happened if they had people of color in the writers room.    

[luckyroll3]

19 hours ago, mj2000 said:

As a fan of the 80s Degrassi, I had to watch TNG. I really got addicted and I'm in my 40s! The stories got me hooked big time!

Shout out to the old folks still watching! I'm 38 and also watched the original show when I was a kid and watched the new version up until it was cancelled by Netflix.  I was always so scandalized and always thought, "Damn, those Canadian kids are wild!"  Lol!

Edited May 23, 2020 by luckyroll3

[mj2000]

21 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

I absolutely loved Manny's transformation from adorable to sexy because it was her choice and she embraced it.  Did she make some bad decisions about boys.  Yep!  But who hasn't.  There are loads of adult women still making bad decisions about boys.  

Outside of her visible thong, Manny doesn't dress much different from many of the other girls in the school.  And she's also not the only one having sex.  Yet, she's one of the few females on the show who constantly gets labeled as a slut and it's not cool.  She has every right to get tired of it and I'm glad that in season 6 she puts her foot down and says that's the last time someone calls her that and expects her to take it before she promptly beats Darcy's ass.  Honestly, I feel that because she's an "exotic" person of color, they leaned into this whole temptress trope with her character and it's probably something that wouldn't have happened if they had people of color in the writers room.    

I see your point for sure. I’m just old school I guess...lol. I felt the same way about how Stephanie dressed in Degrassi Jr High. I was convinced that there wasn’t dress codes in Canadian schools. It may be possible that Manny being a girl of color played a part but in Jr High Stephanie wasn’t. It just threw me for a loop that 14 year old girls were dressing the way that the Degrassi girls were and in school no less. As far as the sex goes, Manny wasn’t the only one for sure. She was just pitted against the majority that wasn’t having sex. When you throw in the fact that Craig was still with Ashley, it really made it worse. Manny went to school with girls like Ellie, Ashley, and Darcy etc who didn’t dress as racy. It was going to be a uphill battle for her. I too was glad when she gave Darcy the smack down. Darcy dressed questionably for a virginal Christian girl. She had no room to talk. 

[mj2000]

21 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

Shout out to the old folks still watching! I'm 38 and also watched the original show when I was a kid and watched the new version up until it was cancelled by Netflix.  I was always so scandalized and always thought, "Damn, those Canadian kids are wild!"  Lol!

Hello fellow "oldie"....lol. I thought they were wild too. The stories and characters just draw you in don't they? Just think. We were watching when Emma was created. That girl was starting drama from the womb....lol.

[mj2000]

On 5/21/2020 at 9:49 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I have to say the actress that played Liberty, Sarah Elizabeth Barrable* was very talented. She portrayed Liberty with such confidence despite people always picking on her for no good reason. I don’t think the writing was racist (if Liberty was white the writing would’ve worked just the same) but when you have your only black women characters as plot devices (Hazel) or constantly picked on it looks bad!! 
 

*she dated Ryan Cooley (JT) in real life and left acting, shes now in digital marketing. 
 

I loved Cassie Steel’s acting in the “Accidents Will Happen” two parter where Manny decides to get an abortion. Craig and his man child crying- “I live in some guys house.” I do realize that everyone comments on his Dad dying but not that his Mom also died a few years before, that’s HARD, however Joey does care about him and what about Angie??? Joey took him in before his Dad died, does that mean nothing???

At first I liked Ashley for blaming Craig 100% for his cheating and lying but then her bitchy move in the cafeteria- men (unless they are trans) cannot be pregnant, Manny being pregnant was none of her business and that was just LOW. Kicking people when they are down is makes you look bad.

 

I totally agree with all you said about Craig, Manny, and Ashley. It really bothered me when Craig referred to Joey as "some guy" in that comment. He was Craig's stepfather. He took him in and gave him a stable and safe home. He was more than just some guy.

Although I am pro-life, I respected Manny's choice. She intelligently thought about her options and made her decision. Craig was clearly showing signs of his illness even at this point. He was all over the place and not thinking rationally.

And then there is Ashley's cafeteria stunt. I don't think that I ever wanted to jack slap someone so hard as I did at that moment. It's not like Craig and Manny were sitting around and thought, "Hey. Let's totally crush Ashley and have unprotected sex resulting in pregnancy that will turn our lives upside down. That will be fun." She had absolutely no right to announce that to the whole school. That should have been Craig and Manny's decision. That was just one of the reasons that I hated the character of Ashley.

[luckyroll3]

19 minutes ago, mj2000 said:

I see your point for sure. I’m just old school I guess...lol. I felt the same way about how Stephanie dressed in Degrassi Jr High. I was convinced that there wasn’t dress codes in Canadian schools. It may be possible that Manny being a girl of color played a part but in Jr High Stephanie wasn’t. It just threw me for a loop that 14 year old girls were dressing the way that the Degrassi girls were and in school no less. 

Oh Stephanie Kaye!  What a glorious mess she was.  She definitely was the originator of the Junior High sexy look, but she wasn't constantly labeled a slut/whore like Manny was.  

Thinking back to Degrassi Jr. High reminded me of how much I couldn't stand Stephanie, but I absolutely loved the twins!

 

[mj2000]

On 5/18/2020 at 8:56 PM, Scarlett45 said:

Starting season 3- outside of the obvious question of why Spike wouldn’t tell Emma that her bio Dad had become disabled due to an accident and lived in a facility for mentally disabled adults (that’s not something to be ashamed of, that’s a legit reason he isn’t parenting her, rather than him just not giving a fuck); NONE of his family wanted anything to do with Emma all these years and they live in the same town??

From what I remember from the Degrassi from the 80s, his parents wanted Emma placed for adoption and considered their son “too good” to be stuck with Spike and her child, but after the accident, with the son they knew lost to them forever and likely NOT ever going to have another child, they wanted nothing to do with their bio grandchild? Not a grandparent or an aunt/uncle or a cousin cared about inviting Emma to events?

Again- Emma should’ve sat her little self down. She has ever right to have questions about her bio Dad, and Spike should’ve told her what happened but Emma was SO RUDE to Spike. And how was Shane being in the facility have anything to do with Spike?? She wasn’t his damn wife they were TEENAGERS. 

I 100% agree. Spike should have told her the truth. Finding out this way had to be bad. That said, Emma had absolutely no right to blame Spike for putting Shane in the facility. Emma's treatment of Snake was completely uncalled for as well. Emma was very disrespectful to the adults in her life. 

[mj2000]

36 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

Oh Stephanie Kaye!  What a glorious mess she was.  She definitely was the originator of the Junior High sexy look, but she wasn't constantly labeled a slut/whore like Manny was.  

Thinking back to Degrassi Jr. High reminded me of how much I couldn't stand Stephanie, but I absolutely loved the twins!

 

That's the thing that threw me with Stephanie. Nobody called her names. Particularly back then her look was frowned upon at that age. To see the kids treat her normally blew my mind. 
 

Erica and Heather. They were identical but so different in many ways. The mono. The abortion. The Wheels Crush. They had their own stories. 

[Scarlett45]

On 5/23/2020 at 9:03 AM, luckyroll3 said:

I absolutely loved Manny's transformation from adorable to sexy because it was her choice and she embraced it.  Did she make some bad decisions about boys.  Yep!  But who hasn't.  There are loads of adult women still making bad decisions about boys.  

Outside of her visible thong, Manny doesn't dress much different from many of the other girls in the school.  And she's also not the only one having sex.  Yet, she's one of the few females on the show who constantly gets labeled as a slut and it's not cool.  She has every right to get tired of it and I'm glad that in season 6 she puts her foot down and says that's the last time someone calls her that and expects her to take it before she promptly beats Darcy's ass.  Honestly, I feel that because she's an "exotic" person of color, they leaned into this whole temptress trope with her character and it's probably something that wouldn't have happened if they had people of color in the writers room.    

I totally agree with you. I loved Manny’s transformation because it was her choice. Yes she made bad choices but they were choices and she was never a hypocrite. She took responsibility for everything. The constant slut shaming was uncalled for and I’m glad she stood up for herself (and yes I agree with you regarding her being an “exotic” POC leading to her being written that way).
 

The only, only time anyone had any right to say anything to her would be right after Ashley found out she had sex with Craig and Ashley handled it correctly then (but was a bitch about announcing the pregnancy). it’s no one else’s business if Manny wants to hook up with people, and as Manny told JT- it was CRAIG who was cheating on his girlfriend but everyone kept forgetting that part. 
 

Ive never understood the comparison with how girls dress with how much sex they are having and with how many people. The two never really go together in my life experience at 34. 

[Scarlett45]

The school shooting- one thing Degrassi always did well is that they didn’t just “drop” storylines after one episode. You might have to wait a while for the characters to get back into the A plot but they did build up and resolve things. 
 

Jay is the motherfucking devil, and Spinner, oh my god. Sean was very very brave. Rick and his misogynistic violent tendencies are the reason the shooting happened, but for Spinner and Jay to set Jimmy up like that. Jay. Is. The. Devil. 
 

Aubrey Graham did a great job with performing that scene. (I don’t know why Drake wanted to distance himself from this role until he realized his fans loved watching him on this show when they were kids and it was a bonding experience). 

[luckyroll3]

49 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Aubrey Graham did a great job with performing that scene. (I don’t know why Drake wanted to distance himself from this role until he realized his fans loved watching him on this show when they were kids and it was a bonding experience). 

He has said that the producers/writers didn't treat them well and by the end of the his time on the show, it was not pleasant.  Some of the actors from the earlier seasons have said that as well.  

[Scarlett45]

4 minutes ago, luckyroll3 said:

He has said that the producers/writers didn't treat them well and by the end of the his time on the show, it was not pleasant.  Some of the actors from the earlier seasons have said that as well.  

I can believe that. I’ve heard that as well. It’s got to be hard to be so well known for something that left a sour taste in your mouth.