[WARNING: THIS EPISODE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]
To me, it has become very apparent that Degrassi doesn’t know how to produce solid season premieres. When Doves Cry (Season 2) and Standing In The Dark (Season 7) were great. Heck, I’ll even throw in Ghost In The Machine (Season 4) as being pretty good. However, the rest range from mediocre to forgettable; Just Can’t Get Enough is no different.
Declan? He's a jackass. Fiona? She seems nice, from what little we saw of her.
Degrassi’s power couple (Peter/Mia) ends up meeting the new kids, brother/sister duo Declan and Fiona. I instantly took a liking to Declan because everything he said (when directed at Peter) reeked of sarcasm in that “I’m better than you” tone. He was a jerk in this episode for no reason at all, and I enjoyed that.
What I didn’t enjoy was Peter spiraling out control. After learning that Mia is moving to Paris for a modeling gig, she and a saddened Peter attend a party at Declan’s house. Declan slyly humiliates Peter by getting him to play one of his Studz songs solo in front of a pretentious crowd, who snubs him. Another party guest gets Peter to take meth to liven up things.
Thanks to meth, Peter loses his freakin' mind.
Throughout the rest of the episode it’s just Peter acting randomly, with the writers trying to force the obvious symptoms of meth addiction down our throats. While the constant scratching and erratic behavior were there, his addiction never hit home because we never ACTUALLY saw him do meth. Heck, they barely showed him fiddling with the package it came in…think of it as a weak version of Craig’s coke addiction back in Season 6.
Jamie Johnston’s acting was fine until the moments when Peter completely spazzed out, or just started yelling at the people around him (Mia, and Studz to be exact). Those moments were horrendous to watch because of his overracting. The best moment of this episode was when Peter started freaking out on a median between two busy streets, and Riley and the Studz came to help him. They surrounded him, took him home and let him know they were there for him.
Degrassi says goodbye to Mia...Peter loses another girlfriend to the CW.
Peter acting a hot mess overshadowed the fact this was Mia’s final episode. Her sendoff was so casual that if you hadn’t heard Nina Dobrev left the show, you wouldn’t have realized Mia was never coming back.
Unfortunately, Just Can’t Get Enough wasn’t the spark I was hoping for to kick off this new season of Degrassi. Something was “off” from beginning to end. Normally Degrassi is great at resetting and making it feel like it’s truly a brand new semester/year, but it didn’t feel like it at all…this episode felt like it could’ve taken place during the middle of a season. I know better episodes are to come, but Season 9 of Degrassi has gotten off to a disappointing start.
“JUST CANT GET ENOUGH” MAIN PLOT GRADE: C-
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SUBPLOT A
Jenna: talented musician and professional boyfriend stealer.
Welcome Jenna, the overly nice, over-the-top bubbly new girl in the niner’s world. I absolutely adore Alli, but she annoyed me in this episode with her jealousy toward Jenna, who took an immediate interest in being friends with Clare.
Jenna’s overbearingly nice attitude creeps me out…it’s just so fake, and it’s throwing me off because they made it BLATANTLY clear to us viewers that Jenna is a maneater, and that she will be going after KC. Jenna is going to create so much drama in the future…I liked this subplot because I like the fact Degrassi used it simply as a setup for future episodes, and nothing more. I can’t wait to see how this plot unfolds.
“SUBPLOT A” GRADE: B
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SUBPLOT B
I don't think I was ever truly sold on Holly J/Blue as a couple.
Holly J and Blue were dating? Could’ve fooled me. As student body president, a tame Holly J gives into random demands from people because Blue keeps stepping in and saying “She’ll take care of it.” Basically he’s trying to force her into being this sweet girl who cares about other people, and that’s not who she is.
With Blue making all of her decisions for her and Holly J just taking it, this was a boring, useless subplot. A storyline with Holly J isn’t interesting if she isn’t acting in her own self interest, or acting like a bitch in general. At least she gets back to her old, normal self at the end. Sadly, this means Blue will probably go back to being his old self: a boring, useless character.
“SUBPLOT B” GRADE: D
Kary's Degrassi Blog 
I agree with everything you wrote :)
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blah. blah,blah. blah.
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I agree with everything u said too! The opener sucked, and I totally forgot MIA was leaving forever!!! Jenna is obvi gonna go after kc!!! I didn’t even realize blue and holly were 2gether! That plot was so stupid!!! She didn’t show affection towards him!!! It was REALLY boring!!! Season 7 and 2 were GREAT openers!!!! U wrote a great review!! And blue is VERY useless!!! But nowhere as USELESS AS LEIA!!! AND DID THEY REALLY need DECLAN AND FIONA??!!!? jeez there were other people to make jane cheat!!!! Like BLUE! And truthfully jenna aka jessica Tyler can’t sing and isn’t a good actress either!!!!in short terms: WORST OPENER EVER. if u wanna respond to me, u can at twitter.com/thebestlex !remember I complimented u on your site? I still think it rocks!!!
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I think that the main issue with Sub B plot is that last season Blue was so forgettable. If he was the slightest bit more there then we might gloss over the fact that Holly J picked him because he had an IQ above room temp, a pulse, and good looks.
The good thing is that Holly J will be back to her old Holly J self for I hope most of the season. And hopefully Blue will go back to background scenery.
The problem with this opener (the same with Season 8) is that they were less about plot and more about introducing us to characters we should mostly know. And it’s so poorly handled you forget who to root for (last season I was rooting for Holly J over Mia, this season I was rooting for Declan over Peter, and Meth over Peter, and the truck over Peter…)
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Blue is not pointless. Hello, eye candy for the girls? That’s what Degrassi is all about! Ha-Ha!
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Oh yeah and fiona and declan are creepy… but her character bio said she was secretly a virgin.., I’m confused about that, does anyone know? if u know please tell me at twitter.com/thebestlex
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Halfway into the first half hour, I have a few observations.
1. I was looking forward to Declan. In he previews, he looked so incredibly awesome (Example: When he looks Mia up and down with complete confidence, sure of his attractiveness)yet his first such moment kind of fell flat for me. In that scene with Peter and Mia, he didn’t exude as much arrogance and seems slightly effeminate.(note: Since I began writing I reached the party scene. I may have to take back everything I just said. He really is a jerk)
2. I didn’t like the way Alli and Clare greeted eachother (a little prissy for Clare)
3. Even though it was annoying in this episode, the Jenna factor makes me happy. Can somebody say catfight? (I loved the look on Clare’s face when Jenna spoke about K.C.’s cuteness)
4. I think Declan and Fiona have an incestuous relationship. It is creepy. (Meth girl: Fiona and Declan are VERY close)(I don’t actually think this, but I’m just observing that their relationship is a little weird)
5. I like that Peter’s going to have emotional problems. He has a terrible family life and a mean streak, and three of his relationships have ended badly. This was a disaster a long time in the making. Nevertheless, I thought he took the meth a bit nonchalantly.
6. When Mia first entered the show, I absolutely loved her character. It is kind of sad to see what she has become.
7. I’m now done with the first half hour. Nothing has happened yet?
8. Riley’s first appearance gives me some confidence that his character won’t be a total waste this season. The actor seemed much more confident.
Just felt like sharing my perspective.
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i would have to give this season opener a grade C.i think it was okay.
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The part I don’t get is, weren’t the grade nines niners last year too? Shouldn’t they be in 10 this year?
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Season 8 and Season 9 take place during the same school year, that’s why they’re still in the same grade
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I really like the peter plot.
i think it will make things more interesting and it will be worth watching because peter is so messed up hahaha
he has had a lot of tough times and if the writers just had him be normal with all these issues that would be so dumb and boring. i am waiting for an episode where he relapses (as much as it sounds terrible it would be great for the show’s drama factor). i declam reeeaaaaallly creepy but in a little bit of a good way.
i think peter’s plot should be stretched out to make it seem more realistic rather than him being and addict one day. next day he’s sober. 3 days later he is back an addict…the plot line would just be on speed (just like peter)
otherwise, great summary!! :)
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Jenna and KC are great tho. And Clare looks pheonemonal (IDK how to spell)with her new haircut. Fiona really is stuck to dirtbags. Looks like my hubby didn’t do his job to protect her! In the preview for Boiling Point, she is yanked and slapped and has a nasty black eye! I LOVE degrassi tho!
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