Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Degrassi: Next Class - Season 2 (2016)

This post is going to contain spoilers for this season, and possibly later seasons if I make references to future events, and for previous reincarnations of the series.

#SquadGoals

The school gets pranked by the rival volleyball team, so Frankie organizes some revenge. She prank was tasteless and racist, and is called out. I can see how they all thought it was a harmless prank, but racism is very nuanced.

Hunter only got a week of suspension for all that crap he pulled, but Miles is teaching him to drive. Until Hunter crashes the car. On purpose. He clearly needs more help than just spending time with his brother. This should have been a Hunter-centered plot, because that boy is seriously troubled. But Miles steals the screen again, by deciding against boarding school to stay with his brother and get back together with Tristan. We need to see the consequences of Hunter's actions!

Maya has an interview with PETER! He got old, but it's nice to see that he got his life together and is doing well. Maya is not doing so well. She's obsessing over Zig rather than focusing on her upcoming gig.

#TurntUp

This episode sees the return of splitting episodes into multiple parts, but there's a lot of heavy topics here. It's good to give these heavier stories more time to be fully explored, but that also makes for less variety since there's only ten episodes.

It all starts with Hunter being admitted to the psychiatric hospital, which is necessary. Of course, he doesn't think he belongs there and tries to escape, only reaffirming that he needs to be there. I think it's great that the show really goes there with Hunter's treatment. They don't let him off easy.

The volleyball team has to apologize for their racist prank. Frankie has to go see Hunter, so Shay is on her own as co-captain. She's also feeling guilty because it was her idea and she drew one of the Black girls as a gorilla. Intention isn't always everything. You need to be accountable for your actions whether you meant to hurt someone or not. Shay also learns a lot about the struggles that Black people have gone through, which she luckily had not due to her her upper middle class upbringing.

Maya and Zig are back together! Maybe. He certainly thinks so, but Maya is still putting her music first, and actually misses their first date. Zig is not happy and blames her for everything. Lola is on his side, and just pumps him up. Woah. I love Maya and Zig, even when they're not together.

#CheckYourPrivilege

Frankie refuses to quit the volleyball team, despite no other team wanting to play them because of her prank. Instead, she plans a mixer to talk to the other girls. She refuses to admit to being racist. I don't believe she is, but her actions were.

Yael builds an awesome app to help students connect and feel less alone about their supposed differences. But Baz and Vijay bet her that their fart app is what the people really want. They're app does better initially, but then Yael starts posting gossip to entice other students to download it. Yael doesn't like how they compromised their morals, and took it down. Good for Yael!

It's robot baby time! But the couple isn't expecting. It's Miles and Tristan who are working on their relationship. Tristan doesn't want to push it though. Boring. I'm over them. I've been over them actually.

#BuyMePizza

Zoe and Esma are auditioning against each other, and Zoe loses. Esme gets into her head that she didn't get it because she wasn't believable flirting with Winston. She believes that being gay is ruining her life. My heart hurts for this girl!

Grace gets a makeover to see if it makes her more approachable. She looks great, but it's not her. At all. She looks so uncomfortable.

Lola hasn't deleted her dating profile, because she likes guys to buy her pizza. Tiny wants her to delete it, and she doesn't understand what the problem is. I agree with both of them on this one. She really shouldn't be flirting with other guys, even if it is just to con them out of food. But on the otherhand, she's really not doing anything wrong.

#ThrowbackThursday

ATTACK OF THE ALUMNI!!! I loved seeing everyone again! Although they're all acting like they're 40 instead of mid-twenties...

Tristan's first big event as president is not off to the best start when students start protesting Tiny's suspension. Then he gets rid of all of the entertainment that doesn't fit his happy go lucky standard for the day, leaving almost no one.

Lola is trying to fix the trouble she got Tiny into, but after talking to him, she decided to respect his wishes of not making him the face of a cause. However, it's evolved into much more than Tiny getting suspending for defending himself. It's about how student punishments vary based on race and turns into a huge deal.

Frankie volunteers to sing for Maya during the gala when she loses her voice. She wants to do something good so everyone will forget about her racist stunt. Not likely, Frankie. Although this is taking up a lot of screen time. We have limited episodes and other characters have issues to face other than Frankie.

#ToMyFutureSelf

Shay is working hard to be an elite athlete, but is asked to write a letter of apology for her involvement in the protests in order to get into a sports camp. She's torn about living her dream or supporting her friend and sticking to what she believes in. Morals win out for Shay, because she is the resident good girl.

Maya doesn't want to hang out with Grace while Zig is there. Instead she starts spending more time with Peter, because that's not weird.

Zoe is still trying to force a relationship with Winston, but she's clearly not feeling it. On top of that, their presentation is cut short for being racially insensitive. Zoe should have gone with Winston's powerpoint idea. He must have gotten a personality transplant in this reboot, because he's been oddly sweet and brings out the best in Zoe.

#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen

Frankie convinces Jonah to skip school with her and gets caught by her mother. She's forced back into class but can't handle it, so she runs away with Jonah. Racism is an important topic, but this is not the way to go. I am bored of Frankie's "woe is me" white girl problems. She's been the focus of the entire season so far.

Tiny is having some stomach pains. Shay tells him to go to the doctor, but Lola suggests her homeopath. He tries Lola's advice despite needing real medical attention, but Shay will not let him suffer! Grace points out that Tiny really likes Shay and Lola is not right for him.

Zoe is desperate for her and Winston to win cutest couple over Tristan and Miles. She cares more about the competition and they're growing social media presence than she does about her supposed boyfriend. Winston points this out, and Zoe knows it's true and starts harming herself. And posting it!

#RiseAndGrind

Tristan is a virgin and Miles has done the deed with five people, including Zoe. Tristan sees this as a problem to fix: just have sex! I mean, yeah? But also no. It's not a problem.

Tiny needs money to fly out to a summer science program, so he and Zig get jobs as dancers. Aka strippers! Zig's moves aren't as up to par as Tiny's, so Esme offers to help him before the gig. He feels like he can't do anything right.

Maya is excited that she earned $5 from her music videos, but sees that her views haven't changed much. She investigates and sees Vijay performing her song, which she earned royalties from. She's not so excited about him "stealing" her music. It stems from jealousy, because she's trying to make it as a "serious" artist. She channels that into writing Vijay a song, and maybe found another career path?

#TheseAreMyConfessions

Zig gets a fake ID to buy booze for Tiny's send-off party and Grace is quizzing him on it, when Tiny makes a joke about her being in love with him. So she comes clean during the party, but gets rejected. Then she passes out from the alcohol mixing with her medication and no one knows what's going on, except Zoe.

Are Hunter and Yael going to date?! She still has to get through her date with Baaz though, which turned out to be for Grace's benefit. Baaz is icky, but in a kind of adorable way. But icky.

Shay is sick of losing, but extra practice isn't working. She tries to get Frankie back on the team.

#OMFG

Tiny wants to date Shay, so she asks Lola's permission, just like Lola had done previously. Lola says no though, which is her right, but also rude!

Hunter wants to date Yael but is afraid of hurting them again. It's nice to see that he's made progress. We also get an update on his legal charges for the SWAT.

Zoe and Grace might be on good terms after Zoe saved Grace's life, but the same can't be said for her relationship with Winston. Zoe is still harming herself, until she eventually comes out to Winston when he notices that something is wrong.

And then the bus crashes and we won't know who all was on it, and who survived until next season. This is the first time Degrassi did a large scale tragedy like this.

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