Hypnotize – Episode Review

This episode was so gross! Mostly because of the Tristan and Mr. Yates thing. The show was obviously building up to this for a  little while. I sort of had been hoping that Maya would just give Tristan some good advice, Tristan would tape record Mr. Yates saying something creepy, and Mr. Yates would be fired. But I knew it wouldn’t happen that way because Degrassi always has to have more drama. But ick.

Obviously Mr. Yates is a pedophile/criminal, while Tristan is impressionable and made some really poor decisions, but what really made me mad were Tristan’s friends. Like in the beginning of the episode, when Imogen says, “Looks like someone is teacher’s pet. Don’t fight it, we all just saw that tush.” Then later Maya was smiling immensely while saying, “Aww, my little TrisTris, always going for the unavailable guys.” And finally, when Tristan defended his infatuation with Mr. Yates by talking about Gatsby’s affair with Mr. Lorenzo, Maya smiled even bigger. Okay, so her exact words are mildly scolding (“Don’t you dare pull West Drive into this. We had this conversation”) but it’s like she was flirting. She looked all fake-shocked and was only scolding Tristan in that way a teenage girl will scold a boy she likes, play-pushing him away while saying “don’t tickle me” and all the while wanting him to tickle her. Zoe’s response was a little more appropriate and genuinely scolding. Then again, Zoe sounds condescending/scolding no matter what.

I know that if Maya were home when Tristan went to her house, she would have given him some much better advice than Zig. If Tristan told her all about what happened, she might have even told an adult and had the police notified right away. I mean, that’s sort of what happened with Zig. And maybe Imogen and Maya and Zoe were just taking it somewhat lightly because they didn’t realize Mr. Yates was actually going to make a move. Maybe they thought they were all just playing around and gossiping like they would if any other kid in the school liked a teacher. But the thing is, this is obviously NOT a typical situation, with Mr. Yates inviting Tristan into a secret society that meets in the woods and giving him special attention and with Tristan staying after class to talk about something that is obviously not about the symbolism of the mockingbird. It just drives me crazy, because I think Maya in particular needs to learn to talk to her friends seriously before it’s too late. Even if she had been home when Tristan visited, it would have already gone too far, and you never know if you’ll get that next opportunity to talk to someone. I’m not saying friends should be the bearers of bad news 24/7, but at least don’t joke about things that aren’t a joke. All the giggling and banter may have been part of what made Tristan think it was okay.

 And Imogen, don’t smoke pot! I feel like this drug thing is probably going to go a little further for Imogen, but I know in the end she’s going to make the right decision (probably with a lot of help from Becky). Who I’m actually more concerned about is Jack, because apparently she’s been smoking for a while and thinks it’s totally okay, whereas Imogen is probably still at that point where it’s easier to talk her out of it. I was surprised that Jack smokes and also dances, actually, because we already know she’s an axe-thrower and artist/music connoisseur. She’s just full of surprises. But anyway, Jack has been in a lot of episodes and is obviously becoming a more important character, and since she uses drugs more than Imogen, the next episode should be on her. Oh yeah, and it is totally creepy how that girl at the dance studio who apparently likes Jack is like in her late twenties or early thirties, apparently. Another pedophile storyline in the works? Lol, I don’t think she’s supposed to look that old though. Anyway, what I’m afraid of is that Jack will be more of a side character in the next episode, and in every episode in which she appears after that, always just being someone’s love interest. That’s what happened with Zig (always Maya’s love interest or non-love interest, with very little storylines that focused upon him apart from her), and that’s why I don’t care so much about his reconciliation with his mom now that he has more of a spotlight. I think Degrassi likes to introduce new characters slowly, but I’m not sure it works for me that way.

I think it was somewhat gutsy of Degrassi to choose pot as their “illegal drug,” since everyone wants it to be legal (in the US anyway… not sure what’s going on in Canada). But I think it’s good they chose it, because even if it were legal, that doesn’t mean it’s good for you. They could have just as easily used regular cigarettes, or prescription drugs even. The drugs, and well also the time that Imogen spent with Jack in general, obviously had a negative effect on Imogen’s schoolwork and other friendships. So it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Frankie’s storyline was actually really cute, but I can see it becoming more serious. It’s sad how Frankie got all self-conscious when Winston said he didn’t think modeling was her thing, In my opinion, Winston was just trying to say he thinks modeling is shallow and that Frankie is above all that. Or maybe he was even just saying he didn’t know she was into modeling, and is even more impressed with her well-roundedness now. Who knows. It just didn’t seem to be a negative comment. When Frankie was like, “Am I ugly?” I was all, “Noooo, snap out of it!” I was frustrated by the whole thing but not really angry at her, because that’s probably how most teenage girls would react in that situation. The whole thing shows how easy it is to damage someone’s ego, because all it took was Winston’s comment and an initial rejection from the fashion show for Frankie to start considering plastic surgery. Well, maybe it’s more accurate to say the whole thing shows how you shouldn’t put too much stock in what other people think about you, or change yourself for other people. Your perception of what they think is probably wrong anyway, and if it’s right, who cares, what they think is probably wrong.

I was a little surprised Frankie’s mom told her she wasn’t allowed to get plastic surgery, lol. Not because I think Frankie should get plastic surgery. She’s obviously too young for that and it would be a really bad idea… and unnecessary. I was surprised because Frankie’s parents are just such BAD parents and let their kids do anything, so I thought her mom would be like, “Hmm, I’ll think about it. Okay fine, but you have to pay for 10% with your allowance.” I’m predicting that next week Frankie will somehow change herself to win Winston’s approval and be voted best something-or-other at the fashion show. I don’t think she’ll actually get a nose job or whatever, but maybe she’ll wear skanky clothes or stuff her bra or something. And then Winston is going to reveal that he liked her better before the changes, and it’ll be a lesson learned. Maybe I’m totally wrong. We’ll find out soon!

PS – Why is it that I can only get to new episodes of Degrassi through twitter now? Teennick is either hiding the episodes or not even posting them normally at all, so you have to do this whole secret twitter link thing, and MTV seems to post half the episode. Am I missing something?