God rest your soul JT Yorke.

I also feel the need to apologize to Ryan Cooley for returning for this.

It’s time to get Scrooge on Degrassi’s ass:  saying the Ghost of Degrassi Past mini was bad is the nice way of putting it.  Everyone dropped the ball on this project, from TeenNick to the mini’s producers.

First of all, TeenNick is stupid.  There is no way this mini should’ve been broken into two parts, and played over two weeks.  But of course they’re all about overhyping things on their network to an unrealistic level.

Holly J’s in charge of the holiday pageant, and the other kids keep bothering her with their problems before showtime.  All of a sudden she wishes everyone would leave her alone, and then the ghost of JT arrives and basically says she needs to lighten up or…. ***to be continued***

Part One didn’t even have a natural ending point, so if you didn’t go “….That’s it?!?!?!?!” in anger at the end of it, you must’ve not been paying attention.  Part Two was no better, as JT basically tells her she needs to enjoy life.  Then he disappears, Holly J has a “renewed spirit” and everyone lives happily ever after.

The only redeeming factors of this mini was that JT made an appearance (it’s good to see his face again), and JT delivered a great line I liked:

“If you can find the fun in everything you do…then Holly J, the sky is the limit.”

Other than that, Ghost of Degrassi Past is useless.  If this is TeenNick’s idea of a holiday special, someone needs the word FAIL stamped on their forehead.  There’s no way you can cram the theme of A Christmas Carol into a 5-minute mini episode and it accomplish anything entertainment wise. 

The frustrating part is that WE KNOW how amazing Degrassi mini’s can be.  Heck, for a while there the minis were actually better than the real show episodes.  So it’s mind boggling as to why this mini is so bad.

“Ghost of Degrassi Past” Grade: F

[WARNING: THIS EPISODE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Start Me Up joins Holiday Road as being  the two episodes that could’ve ruined Degrassi’s season-long streak of pretty good episodes, but ultimately managed to be a decent episode.

Degrassi continues to impress me with its improved focus on continuity this season.  Peter needs to get a job to help pay for college, and decides to open up a club above The Dot (and collectively everyone watching the show asks “The Dot has an upstairs?!?!”)  Actually Peter opening a club wasn’t as random/contrived as I thought it’d be.  It was basically going to be a venue where bands could play, and most importantly a place where people too young for real clubs could hang out…alcohol and drug free.

Well…until Victoria returns.  Remember her, right? Fiona’s cousin and the girl who got Peter addicted to meth.  And the storyline becomes pretty predictable as soon as she arrives:  she’s sober now, but not really since Peter finds out she was snorting up in the club bathroom during a set by Frizzy Hair and the Creepers (lol).

Some people might be disappointed that Peter didn’t relapse, and fall back into a meth-induced path of self destruction…that’s probably because of rumors swirling around earlier in the season that Peter was going to die from an overdose.  But he didn’t.  And he kicked Victoria to the curb once he figured out she was still using.

This episode could’ve ended many ways, but for me I enjoyed the path they chose even if it wasn’t as dramatic.  I loved the irony of Peter’s resolve to stay clean being stronger than the girl who attended a drug support group.  The writers have always confused me with Peter because I’m never sure how they want us to perceive him.  He’s gone from bad guy, to guy we feel sorry for, to good guy, etc.  But it’s clear in Start Me Up that Peter is good guy looking to keep his life straight.

“START ME UP” MAIN PLOT GRADE: B-

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SUBPLOT

Clare’s life is boring, and she is a boring girl.  So what does she do? She steals a story about one of Declan’s trips to Italy in order to sound more interesting for a class report.  This was a good plot because it’s so easily relatable.  I mean how many of us wish we were as interesting as s0-and-so?

Anyway, I personally enjoyed the Clare/KC undertones in this plot.  KC *sorta* got a pass for his behavior because of what he was going through in Heart Like Mine, but he annoyed me in this episode.  Seeing him and Jenna together in class made me feel as bad as Clare felt, and I wanted to punch him in the face when he talked to Clare in the library.  NOW you all of a sudden want to care about her feelings post breakup?  In the ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL words of Alex Nuñez while talking to Paige in Dont You Want Me: “You don’t get to break my heart and then comfort me too.”

My heart actually melted at the end when Alli was reading Clare’s notebook.  Put it on pause, and take a moment to read what it says; it’s great knowing it comes straight from Clare’s heart.  And I’m not so sure that I like the idea of a Clare/KC reunion (because I’m mad at KC now), but I’m loving the fact Clare is going to stand up and go after what she wants, which is him.  Now if only she’d give Jenna a massive piece of her mind, life would be complete.

“START ME UP” SUBPLOT GRADE: B

[WARNING: THIS EPISODE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Oh no, it’s the end of Emma and Kelly!!

Yawn.

I had my doubts about Holiday Road (and Start Me Up) and was convinced they’d be horrid, but they were both fairly decent.  Not great, but watchable.

Emma returns (along with Kelly) as they’re preparing for a cross-country bike tour to promote going green.  One of the great things about this episode is that Emma actually showed LIFE.  Emma’s character was basically butchered after the shooting in Season 4, leaving her to be nothing but a bore (excluding a handful of moments) in the seasons afterward.  In Holiday Road, she throws out some snarky one-liners and even gets *gasp* angry!  Not to mention this storyline about her wanting to help people/save the environment is a tribute to the classic Emma.

Now the drama between Emma and Kelly? Didn’t like that so much.  Kelly was bascially going along with Emma on this trip, ignoring the fact that his dad wants him to get a paying job for the summer (their trip is a volunteer project).  Their arguing leading up to the breakup seemed random (mainly because we hadn’t seen either character in so long), and the breakup itself seemed forced.

But despite that the revelation of Emma’s return hits a high not when she reveals that she’s failing her classes at Smithdale, in front of a group of kids at Degrassi nonetheless.  And in that moment when Emma paints over Alli’s fantasy of what college life is like with her own reality….I just knew I wanted to learn how to fix a bike.  Thanks Snake!

“HOLIDAY ROAD” MAIN PLOT GRADE: C+

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SUBPLOT

I was waiting to rip this plot to shreds because it’s about Danny and Chantay, who I envision being as boring of a couple as Danny and Leia were.  But as a guy I am obligated to give this plot a good grade, if only for them bringing up their issue in the first place.

Danny and Chantay go out on a date and instead of splitting the bill, Danny thinks they should each pay their own share (Chantay’s was more than his).  Then Chantay goes to her blog and basially says Danny is cheap.

Dude. Really? Danny, you’re in the wrong on this one.  Now before I tell my opinion on who should pay, I need to say that this plot sort of wrapped up very awkwardly.  It’s like after the debate between Danny, Chantay and the entire class, the conflict came to a screeching halt…then things went back to normal.

But in the end, what matters is that this topic was brought up in the first place, because there’s too many douchebags in real life making the rest of us guys look bad.  *MY* personal belief on the issue (as a guy) is this: if you’re a guy and you’re on a date with a girl early in the relationship, you must either 1) pay for the date, or 2) split the bill 50/50, but only if SHE offers.  Unless she brings up any alternative like splitting it or going dutch, etc., the assumption is that the guy pays, end of story.

“HOLIDAY ROAD” SUBPLOT GRADE: A