You Are Note Alone – Episode Review, Part 1

 

DEGRASSI IS BACK!!  I can’t believe I didn’t realize this was out immediately – I’ve been waiting for so long!

I like how Tiny finally got a name. Maybe he had a name before, but if so it wasn’t mentioned much. Now all the sudden he’s worthy of having his name repeated multiple times in one episode, which tells me he might become a larger character. Speaking of Tiny though, it’s really funny that Degrassi now has an entire wing of the school reserved for rebels, in which “unique outcasts” are banished to a life of rubber rooms, trashed hallways, and graffiti-covered lockers. I think Jay, Ellie, and Johnny would have gone here. Do they even go to regular classes, or are they stuck in this rubber room all day? It seems like Maya will be in there until she graduates, and like Tiny and Grace and have been in there since birth. I’m a little suspicious that it’s actually a life-sentence situation.

Also, speaking of the rubbers: Why is Maya allowed to wear that crop top to school? Are you surprised Zig had weed? Do you think it was ok for Maya to flush it? Personally, I’m not surprised, and I do think it was okay. Admittedly, it would have been better if Maya gave Zig a choice to flush the weed himself or get out of her parent’s house. He might have just chosen to live elsewhere. Maya really should let Zig make his own decisions rather than babying and manipulating him into being someone he’s not. It’s never a good idea to be in a relationship that’s dependent upon the guy changing a great deal just so that the relationship cans stay afloat. At the same time, it’s completely insensitive for Zig to bring drug’s into Maya’s house, and understandable that she would want to get rid of them as quickly as possible. More importantly, it’s cute how much Maya cares about Zig. I actually think she loves him and is trying to protect him, and in a way, it might be effective, in the short term anyway. That kiss did seem to keep him away from whatever “collection” he has to attend to. This relationship only spells trouble down the road, though.

Side-note: I don’t understand how entirely one side of the community around Degrassi, at least, is gangland, and Maya acts like she’s never heard of a gang before. Grace is like, “It’s called G-A-N-G-S. They have T-U-R-F W-A-R-S and do D-R-U-G D-E-A-LS. Let me draw you a map, idiot.”

So, Jack and Clare. Jack now instructs a cycling class. I want to know where!? It looks too fancy to be in the school as an after-school student-lead activity, but what kind of gym would hire a high school student as a cycling instructor? Actually, I guess any business in a non-sucky economy might hire a teen, I guess I’ve just been jaded by this real-life economy. Also, Degrassi has whatever resources it wants, like a pool and apparently now a rock-climbing wall and cycling room and prop room and extra wing built exclusively for “unique outcasts,” so yeah. Ballin’

But is there something brewing between Jack and Clare? I hope not. I agree with Clare, is it crazy to think a gay girl might want to hang out with her just because she’s fun to be around? Not all lesbians are looking for someone to date 24/7, and Clare got out of two relationships too recently to be dating again right now. So I was glad when Jack was like, “Duh, no, we’re just friends.” It’s cool that Jack is an axe-thrower and lumberjack on top of everything else, too.

And finally, Frankiechu! PLEASE, PLEASE start calling them Frankiechu! It’s exceedingly cute. Plus, Matlingsworth (as opposed to Winstonsworth) already has the monopoly on aristocratic portmanteaus. This episode really made me like Chuey. He’s always been a little funny (like when he was covering his exposed chest when Maya walked into his dorm in Paris), but this episode took his love-ability to a whole new level. “I’m not looking for Bimbos who are attracted to shiny objects… I’ll meet my girl in Comic Book Society, and no, she won’t just be a comic book character.” I like the combination of Frankie and Chuey. It’s cute how they’ve known each other since they were kids, and I don’t care if this might come between Miles and Chuey. Chuey needs to do his own thing regardless of what restrictions Miles tries to place on him, because he is more than a sidekick. He’s like Kato in The Green Hornet, who Britt Reid expects will be the perfect sidekick, but who ends up outshining the so-called-hero.  

That was so mean of Zoe to call Chuey “the shack of the guys” and “the dud.” Uh, Frankie actually likes him, so, suck it Zoe. Maybe Zoe and Miles are just both possessive of Frankie and have some weird big-brother and best-friend jealousy complex over the whole thing. They don’t want to admit it could actually work out. Well, they’ll have to get over it. I actually like Frankie better than Zoe, as she is less of a mean girl, and I like Chuey better than Miles, because he’s nerdier and less shallow-seeming. Hopefully this relationship will make them both bigger characters. When they kissed I was like, yay!

PS – Teennick.com, please update your Degrassi characters section. And add a link to it on your Degrassi homepage. You feature Blue Chessex but not Grace, Zig, Frankie, or Jack? Really? Time to update that. If you don’t have the time or resources, I’m sure plenty of fans would write character descriptions for your for free. We’d be thrilled for our character profiles to be featured on teennick.com. So really, there is no excuse. Grace, Zig, and all the rest deserve a spotlight, as this episode has proven!