- For a show that takes place in Canada, there's an alarming lack of snow, wouldn't you say? This bothers me.
- As far as I can remember, there's only been one episode EVER dealing with Christmas, and it came way back in season three. Doesn't this show seem just tailor made for cheesy holiday specials? Where are they? This also bothers me.
9 (3). Alli Bhandari
Alli falls all the way to ninth here because she's done absolutely nothing in this most recent set of five episodes. This, of course, is how Degrassi operates. After sexting and an STI scare, we were due for an Alli lull.* I don't think the show can afford to keep her on the sidelines for too long, however, because they need someone to carry the "niners" to relevance, and she's still their best bet.
*Not that it was a particularly difficult prediction to make, but here's what I wrote last time: "[T]hey've been hitting us fast and furious with Alli episodes lately, so I can't help but feel like we're about to get an Alli break soon."
8 (not ranked). Anya MacPherson
Anya earned her way onto the list by LARPing. Seriously, that's it. This is how the show needs to use its peripheral characters; if they're going to be involved in a storyline, it has to be ridiculous, not dramatic. Peripheral characters can't be the ones to get an STI, pregnant, gay-bashed, or shot. Characters like these have to LARP, which is why Anya is perfect for Sav.
7 (4). Peter Stone
As is the case with Alli, after delivering Peter-centric plots fast and furious in the first batch of episodes, we were due for something of a layoff. Still, Peter stuck around just enough to not fall any further. Here's what I wrote last time about Peter:
"He's basically carrying this show until the newbies like Riley, Fiona, and Dave Turner... are ready to take over, at which point Peter will probably stick around in some Spinner-esque elder statesman capacity."
I'm not saying we're done with episodes that center around Peter (we're not; he's still got one major relationship left in him), but these five episodes saw Peter take another step towards his role as the new "Spinner-esque elder statesman" I was referring to (let's call it a Spinner Statesman). When Riley delivered the biggest (and best) story of the season so far, Peter was along side him the entire way. There's no way that a Season Five Peter would be the first character someone would come out to, and there's absolutely no way he'd be supportive of him. If this were Season Five, Peter would have throw Riley into a dumpster; now, he's just a good friend offering encouragement. Peter is the Degrassi life cycle on full display.
6 (NR). Dave Turner
If I knew any Degrassi writers, here's what I'd be begging them: Please, never, EVER, give this kid a "serious" story arc; I know you may think that he'll need it eventually, but he won't. Please, trust me on this.
As long as Dave ("Formerly known as 'Nobody' and 'It's Sterile!'") keeps saying things like, "It's you, me, a dark theater, and five gallons of sweet buttered corn," he doesn't need to do anything else.
5 (7). Holly Jeanette Sinclair
I was going to have her higher on this list, but then I remembered the Paige theory. This brief period of Holly Jeanette's likability is just the calm before the storm. And yes, if you were wondering, I do intend on using her full middle name as often as possible now that we finally know it.
Impending Paige meltdown aside, Holly J does bring a lot to the table here in Season Nine. She's an alpha-dog, the show's leading lady, President of the Student Council, and probably the most feared character in school. Not to mention, the Declan roller coaster is far from over. There's just too much baggage here for this relationship to progress smoothly* and if it is smooth sailing from here on, quite frankly, that means Degrassi isn't doing its job right.
*One thing that surprised me a bit was the way this season has handled the whole Declan-Jane-Spinner-Holly J thing. It struck me as odd to see Holly J, Declan, and Jane function (albeit briefly) as a seamless unit of friends in the halls of Degrassi. Are we supposed to believe that Declan's attraction to Jane (or hers to him) is gone? And what about Holly J's unrequited affection for Spinner? People just don't move on that quickly. Plus, Jane is NOT getting off that easy for cheating on Spinner. Only Holly J knows about this, so... stay tuned. I understand that the show probably doesn't want to cash in on this inevitable blow-up too soon - it could, after all, be the last gasp for Spinner as a relevant character. Still, it's coming.
Like it or not, Holly J is THE female lead right now and she's only going to continue to blow up. When all is said and done, Season Nine may end up being the season of Holly Jeanette Sinclair.
4 (5). Fiona Coyne
Last time, I wrote that Fiona essentially earned her spot based solely on potential. Not much has changed, but she's continued to give us enough glimmers of that potential that I'm comfortable leaving her in the middle of the rankings. Here are my two favorite flashes of that potential since last time:
Fiona Flash #1: "We don't talk anymore, k?" As much as I liked Fiona during the "Beat It" episodes - she was sweet, caring, and perceptive - what I really loved was that her role in that arc ended with not with Fiona caving to Riley's every demand but rather with her standing up to him, thus affirming her strength.
Fiona Flash #2: When Declan started pining after Holly J, Fiona reminded him of his painful romantic past: "You were a wreck for six months; I can't listen to any more Coldplay." If that's not the best non-Sav line of the season, it's certainly up there.
3 (6). Riley Stavros
Riley finally had the gay-bashing, (semi) coming out star turn that we knew was in him all along. Riley's desperation was played perfectly, culminating in this little exchange:
Fiona: You can't cure homosexuality.
Riley: Yes you can! There's a website and office!
I'm not going to rehash the whole episode here, I just want to say that the "Beat It" two parter was the best of the season, in large part due to Riley.
Now, I have two reservations about Riley. First, what do they do with him now? We knew this episode was coming, now what? Honestly, I have know clue. Second, Riley's not a character who can float effortlessly into the background of other episodes. He's either the central character, or he's likely not in the episode at all. He's only really connected to one other character at Degrassi now (Peter), so his options are fairly limited. He's a great character, but I'm worried that the show won't find enough ways to use him.
2 (1). Declan Coyne
The good news is that Declan is continuing to fulfill that pot-stirring role the show has carved out for him right from the get-go. The bad news is that his sometimes despicable behavior is starting to weigh him down ever so slightly. I'm finally to the point in my Degrassi fandom where I'm comfortable rooting for bad people. If you only wanted to root for pure, morally upright characters, Degrassi would not be your show. That said, Declan is a little too much for me to handle at times. In the same breath he can be both funny but also a little bit insufferable: "Keep in mind, I have access to a helicopter."
Even though I don't always love Declan, I love what he's bringing to the show this year. The show feels fresh again, which isn't to be taken for granted, given how often stories get recycled. Stale characters have some life to them, and we have some vintage Degrassi melodrama on our hands. Thank you, Declan.
The RDTotP!
This week's Random Degrassi Tidbit of the Post: Degrassi goes green! Has anyone done the math to figure out what the carbon savings are for recycling story lines? As I just mentioned above, this year has felt fresh and new, despite rehashing old themes. I don't totally mind this. Some of it even feels like a hat tip to longtime viewers.
"Beat It," which featured gay-bashing, was set in part at the Degrassi carnival and prominently featured a dunking booth. The last time we saw the carnival (and the dunking booth)? During Spinner's ill-advised alliance with gay-bashing Linus. If the Riley-Fiona fake relationship felt familiar, it's because we've been there before, a la Marco and Ellie.
We knew the day was coming when Degrassi would have run out of things to do with the characters. When you've had shootings, pregnancies, abortion, STIs, rape, pedophiles, and Napoleon running a floor hockey team, you're pretty much out of avenues to go down. This is fine. In ten seasons, you're allowed to revisit some of these sites with a new cast. I like the nods to years past, even the oddly creepy ones.
Declan taping a rose to Holly J's locker was the strangest throwback of them all. Is this a hint not to trust Declan? Is Holly J going to end up in a coma? Did the show forget who shot Jimmy? Coincidence? I hope not.
1 (2). Sav Bhandari
The Bhandari Bonanza continues! If you didn't think that Sav listening to his own band's music while looking at pictures of his girlfriend LARPing was one of the funniest moments of this season, then we watch Degrassi for very different reasons.
Few characters have the versatility to drop in on almost every episode, drop the line of the week, and then get out of the way and let the sappy goodness take over. Sav has this role perfected. As is the case with Dave Turner,* my deepest Sav fear is that the writers will give him a turn as a "serious" character. Again: Don't do it, we don't need it.
*The fact that it seems Dave is being groomed for the role of designated punch line makes me worried for Sav's future. The funnier Dave is, the less need there is for Sav to be funny... which would free him up to get stabbed or to get testicular cancer. This would be awful.
Sav has quietly worked his way from a liability to the most consistently funny character in Degrassi's present rotation. It may not seem like much, but the light goof ball moments from characters like Sav are what have always made this show work. It would be too hard to stomach "real" moment after "real" moment without something to keep it, um, less real. The odd thing is, there haven't been a whole lot of characters who have consistently filled this role. Originally we had Spinner and JT. Occasionally Liberty gave us some humor. Now we have Sav. In between? No one, has done it, at least not this well. The fact that so few have been consistently funny in Degrassi history underscores just how important Sav is. Really.
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