Sign up for classes!
Degrassi is ready for school again, and things are heating up. Maya (Olivia Scriven) finds her singing taking off, but feminist support could make her a target. Zig (Ricardo Hoyos) risks his relationship with Maya as he feels threatened by Jonah (Ehren Kassam). Zoe (Ana Golja) has a crush on Grace (Nikki Gould), but Grace has a secret of her own. Tristan (Lyle Lettau) deals with his breakup with Miles (Eric Osborne) as Miles struggles with addiction. Shay (Reiya Downs) Lola (Amanda Arcuri) compete for the affection of Tiny (Richard Walters). Hunter (Spencer Macpherson) finds his hopes of a gaming club dashed and might take drastic measures.
Goats = Funny
Degrassi: Next Class—Season 1 premiered in Canada on January 4, 2016 and then was released on Netflix as a complete series on January 15, 2016. The ten episode series was a follow-up to the long running Degrassi (formally Degrassi: The Next Generation) which ended with season 14.
I was a Degrassi fan growing up. We watched Degrassi Jr. High a few times in school and the episodes of Degrassi Jr. High and Degrassi High aired on the local PBS station through most of the ’90s. When Degrassi: The Next Generation launched in 2001, it was a dirty pleasure due to the fact that the series continued to bring back characters from the original series as adult characters. I faded off the series after a season or two, and Degrassi: Next Class continues the storylines of Degrassi (which sometimes can be tough if you didn’t watch all of Degrassi: The Next Generation).
Yep, nothing psycho about this computer geek…
I will be first to admit that the reason why Degrassi is great and bad are one and the same. Degrassi is a cheesy, teen Canadian drama. This is its genius status. You know what you are going to get with Degrassi. It is like watching an Afterschool Special loaded with cliché storylines (like the gamers being the socially awkward potentially dangerous students), but there is something halfway genuine about the stories. The events are overly dramatic, and all the stuff that goes down in what seems to be a pretty small school really makes you question the Canadian school system (and the fact that students outwardly admitting to threatening students with rape and murder via social media just gets a minor punishment). It is totally unrealistic, but something about it almost feels more real than other teen dramas.
Great…I get to be the “terminally ill one”…
Part of the reason is the actors. These actors aren’t good, but they are real kids. Generally, Degrassi actors are pulled from real students. Some have gone on to bigger careers (like Drake), but they are just kids trying really hard to act (generally too hard). It almost feels like a teen show actually made by teen…there still however an overly preachy adult feel to some of the lessons learned.
The show also looks like a cheap sitcom. The school is divided up strange, and I can’t imagine it as a functioning school since the students seem to wander around the campus independent of classes. The show tries to be smart but sometimes fall to the level of sight-gags and goofy humor.
Degrassi: Next Class is an imperfect show, but it still has some fun aspects to it. The show is a glorious mess of melodrama, cheese, and Canadian kids making bad mistakes over and over again. Netflix might be the perfect home for Degrassi (hey, the kids on the show reference Netflix multiple times and provide a cameo opportunity for Netflix’s future Gilmore Girls relaunch). Degrassi could potentially lead an even longer life if it reaches its audience.
Degrassi: Next Class—Season 1 Complete Episode Guide:
“#BootyCall”
1.1 #BootyCall Airdate: 01/04/16
Maya Matlin (Olivia Scriven) finds that she has an opportunity for her band…but she has to build it first putting Jonah Haak (Ehren Kassam) and Zigmund “Zig” Powers (Ricardo Hoyos) in a competition for her guitar player. Shaylynn “Shay” Powers (Reiya Downs) worries about her butt and if Deon “Tiny” Bell (Richard Walters) likes her only because of a photoshopped picture. Tristan Milligan (Lyle Lettau) runs for president but finds his ex-boyfriend Miles Hollingsworth III (Eric Osborne) is running against him.
“#NoFilter”
1.2 #NoFilter Airdate: 01/05/16
Miles deals with being booted from the election by Tristan and catches his mother having sex…which leads to an awkward moments at school. Zoe Rivas (Ana Golja) worries about her crush on Grace Cardinal (Nikki Gould) but learns Grace is sick. Shay and Lola Pacini (Amanda Arcuri) worry about Frankie Hollingsworth (Sara Waisglass) who seems to be going through a crisis since her break-up but take drastic measures to find out if she’s alright.
“#YesMeansYes”
1.3 #YesMeansYes Airdate: 01/06/16
Hunter Hollingsworth (Spencer Macpherson) struggles with intramural basketball and tries to get Tristan to honor his election promises. Miles works with Esme Song (Chelsea Clark) to find dirt on his father. Zig questions why Maya doesn’t want to sleep with him again, and it means they are breaking up.
“#NotOkay”
1.4 #NotOkay Airdate: 01/07/16
Maya gets her big break at the Trapdoor but finds being a female singer is harder than she thought. Tristan decides to try to date again. Shay learns that Tiny wants to date her, but her parents have other ideas.
“#ButThatsNoneOfMyBusiness”
1.5 #ButThatsNoneOfMyBusiness Airdate: 01/08/16
Lola and Tiny date with Shay’s permission but Lola questions her lack of interest in sex and masturbation. Maya learns that the Feminist Club wants her to perform for their group. Winston “Chewy” Chu (Andre Kim) question if Miles’ new pill popping is getting out of control.
“#NotAllMen”
1.6 #NotAllMen Airdate: 01/11/16
Hunter tries to earn money for the gamers’ club to go to sections but runs into a roadblock when the Feminist Club targets the game as sexist. Zoe questions who her father is and questions if it could be Gilmore Girls’ star David Sutcliffe. Frankie tries to change her image by becoming more philanthropic.
“#ThisCouldBeUsButYouPlayin”
1.7 #ThisCouldBeUsButYouPlayin Airdate: 01/12/16
Grace and Zoe move forward in their relationship, but Grace has a surprise for Zoe. Maya and Jonah head to New York City to audition for a major producer and Zig is worried that Maya is hooking up with Jonah. Miles goes to the hospital with his drug problem and tries to break his habit.
“#TeamFollowback”
1.8 #TeamFollowBack Airdate: 01/13/16
Maya finds that she’s getting threats over social media for her song “Not Okay” and that the threats are getting more dangerous. Frankie questions a relationship with Winston but finds she might have another romantic interest. Tristan discovers he might have chlamydia but doesn’t know how he got it.
“#SinceWeBeinHonest”
1.9 #SinceWeBeinHonest Airdate: 01/14/16
Frankie thinks about hooking up with Jonah but questions when she can’t find anything on him. Miles tries to fight his addiction but learns that Esme needs help as well. Zig discovers Hunter is behind the cyber harassing but learns Hunter has leverage on him.
“#SorryNotSorry”
1.10 #SorryNotSorry Airdate: 01/15/16
Degrassi’s Snow-Ball is on the school is getting ready. Maya confronts the people trolling her but Hunter refuses to back down. Miles realizes that he needs a fresh start and decides to go to boarding school. Frankie debates ditching Winston for Jonah. When the school goes on lockdown during the dance, events will come to a head.
Related Links:
Degrassi Junior High—Season 1 Review and Complete Episode Guide
