#degrassi:tng

It’s 2022, it was midnight, I was marathoning all of Degrassi:TNG

Here we are at the end of one show and on to the next. If I’m completely honest I wasn’t a huge fan of these episodes. Don’t look back or summer girls was a 4 part mini saga between the end of Next gen and the start of Next class. It’s easier to break down the episodes as one extra long movie time type episode. It’s told through the eyes of Tristan as he’s vlogging about the summer. Zig, maya and Tiny are training to be lifeguards. Zig and Tiny pass there test but Maya doesn’t becasuse she didn’t check for a spinal injury on the simulation Victim. The victim who happens to be named Gloria and Tristan’s biggest competition for his vlogging. Maya said some mean things to girl and she ends up going after the job Maya wanted and getting it. While this is going on Frankie is starting an internship at City hall. On her way to her internship, a creepy guy tries to offer Frankie a ride. At her internship Frankie meets a boy named Logan. Winston and miles are spending the summer in the pool and at the beach. Hunter, Tristan, Grace and Zoë are in a summer science course. The creppy man who tried offer Frankie a ride is the science teacher. Gloria ends up going missing. Logan turns out to be her boyfriend. Frankie and Logan grow closer and the kidnapped demands a ransom of 10,000. Frankie give the money to Logan to get his girlfriend back. Eventually Maya gets the the job because Gloria is missing. Maya ends up seeing Gloria and wants to apologize because she feels bad for what she said and follows her. Maya gets kidnapped as well. Eventually worried that Maya hasn’t shown up for a party Zig begins looking for her. Using the science that they learned they find out where Maya is and send the police to rescue her. Frankie is worried about Logan and she calls him and he ask for $5000 more, that when we find out that Gloria and Logan planned the kidnapping and scammed Frankie. The police arrest both Gloria and Logan. Frankie had fallen for Logan over the summer and admits it to winston who ends things with her. Throughout the summer Zoë and grace get close and become really good firends. After Miles sees Zoë and Grace together, he convinces her that Grace has a crush on her. It turns out Zoë has a crush on grace. In order to not have crush she tries to hang out with Miles. While hanging out with Miles, he explains his relationship with Tristan as loving the person and not the gender and I think that gets to Zoë. Unfortunately Zoë messed up and called grace names but apologies and kisses her and they kidna leave it on a cliffhanger, about what goes on with their relationship. The episode ends with if you think this is dramatic way till we get back to school. I honestly mostly only liked the last episode. I don’t have any spoilers going into next class and I hope to keep it that way. In terms of being a stand alone mini movie I would give it a D+. All together if you include in my rating for season 14 as a whole it would bring season 14 down to a C- or D+. However it’s a stand alone mini movie for me so it’s a D+.

TV Song of the Day: "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" by Stars  Heard on: Degrassi 

"There’s one thing I want to say, so I’ll be brave. You were what I wanted; I gave what I gave. I’m not sorry I met you, I’m not sorry it’s over, I’m not sorry there’s nothing to say. I'm not sorry there's nothing to say."

So now that I've finally watched Degrassi's mid-season finale, I really want to briefly show how teen shows today often exploit "contemporary" topics (e.g. homosexuality, racism, sexism) to inconspicuously push old-fashioned ideas. For example, one of the most transparent storylines this season was Zoe & The Power Squad.  It's obvious Zoe was originally coded as the "bitch" character. She's smart, confident, manipulative, talented, selfish, and socially attractive. But unlike her white bitch-counterparts, Zoe's character's growth hasn't stopped the writers from coding her as a person viewers should hate. Doesn't matter if Zoe said her sex work plan had to be unanimously voted into action. Doesn't matter if she showed fiscal responsibility by buying equipment with the money from said sex work aka the fucking point of Degrassi Nudes. Doesn't matter if she told everyone to not incriminate themselves by staying silent vs. a certain asshole who came up with a selfish (and petty) plan that blames her for the team's collective effort. Doesn't matter if she vocally states plans to change while actively backing her words with actions. Doesn't matter if she was the supportive leader her team needed. Doesn't matter if she stopped herself from resorting to the "old Zoe" ways. Nope, none of that matters when you can write one half-ass insult, a self-righteous character who can shed white woman's tears, and a ton of loaded peer disapproval. Because being manipulative to call out two people being assholes and supporting her team is totez bullying!