As a whole, I’m somewhat split on Nowhere To Run. There were times where I was truly entertained, laughing at the episode’s ridiculousness…other times I was trying not to put my fist through the screen, also because of the episode’s ridiculousness. The most annoying part was the show trying to convince me that this was some sort of scary, horror-themed episode. For all of the flack TeenNick is receiving, they at least realize that this is not worthy of being called a Halloween special (now why they’re waiting three weeks to air it is a completely different story).
Nowhere To Run is a very weird hybrid of something like canon plots wrapped into a setting you’d expect to see in a Degrassi mini, with them adding just enough horror elements for them to cut promos that make it look somewhat Halloween related. But because this is considered a REAL episode with REAL consequences, I feel like I’m forced to take it seriously at some level. I rolled my eyes every time “scary” music played, or when they focused on Marisol being afraid because of the Pratt murder legend. It was beyond stupid. On the other hand, every single word that came out of Bianca’s mouth in this episode was pure gold.
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PLOT A SUMMARY: After a summer away, Jake returns to more awkwardness with Clare as their parents are getting married. Jake wants to reconcile with Clare, but she wants nothing to do with him after feeling heartbroken over the situation. To get over things, Jake decides to invite Drew, Katie, Marisol and Alli to his cabin for a party.
Once there, Jake and Alli bond over their love troubles (Alli is heartbroken because Dave told her that he had a fling with a girl over the summer and slept with her). They end up sharing a kiss and are caught by Clare, who crashed the cabin party with Bianca. Clare runs off into the woods and gets lost, and Jake and Drew decide to look for her. They find Clare’s headband covered in blood and fear the worst. Completely lost, Clare is found by someone…it turns out it’s Eli. Jake and Drew finally find them and realize Clare has hurt her hand. When they return to the cabin, Jake tells Clare that Alli kissed him and that he wants a second chance. Clare forgives Jake, but refuses to forgive Alli as the gang heads home.
I’m not sure if I should cringe or applaud Degrassi for what they’ve accomplished with Clare Edwards, transforming a wholesome, good-hearted person into one of the most annoying characters on this show. It takes a lot to destroy a strong character to the point where one would put them on the same level as Marisol Lewis, but Degrassi has managed to do it in just half of a season.
Cake is awful, and the fact that the show is still trying to shove this couple down our throats only makes it worse. Some say that it’s natural for a character to change and that‘s very true, especially when they feel like everything they’ve been taught is a lie. But with Clare, the beginning and end of this episode make it ever so clear that she’s so far gone, drowning in selfishness and self pity that she’s become virtually useless to anyone. We’ve been hearing her complain about the same things over and over for the entire season, which up to this point had taken place over the course of several months. Imagine if you were her friend and had to listen to Clare whining about this stuff every single day during that timeframe…I‘m sure you would want to punch yourself in the face as well. This episode subjects us to the same Clare drama we’ve been observing since July, and provides nothing new. It’s not surprising that Clare didn’t forgive Alli; Miss Edwards is suffering from tunnel vision at its most extreme, and for what? A couple that has never once given me a reason to like them.
Maybe if you’re easily swayed then you can buy Cake as a couple…instead of showing us, the writers have just *told* us that Cake was a serious couple in Now Or Never, and now they’re telling us that Cake loves each other despite there being no chemistry, no foundation for their relationship, and no depth to said relationship.
I feel awful for Jake, because as I’ve said before his character is being wasted as Clare’s current boy toy. It was refreshing to see him on screen without Clare, but his role will always be limited as long as they’re dating, because he will always play second fiddle to the “Clare Edwards Super Melodrama Extravaganza.”
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PLOT B SUMMARY: Katie feels very uncomfortable with the role Bianca has in Drew’s life…B has been spending a lot of time at the Torres house because part of her plea deal for her roll in the Vince drama is to work for Drew’s dad. Drew and Katie go to Jake’s cabin, and Katie uses this trip as a chance to show Drew that she’s not uptight all the time. They run off into the woods to make out, and also prank Marisol by scaring her. However, Katie’s mood turns sour when Bianca arrives at the cabin unannounced. Bianca takes great joy in egging on Marisol, who is paranoid that there might be a killer lurking in the woods near the cabin.
To calm down, Marisol decides to go to the shed to smoke weed she found in the cabin, and Katie goes with her. The two wind up trapped and high (Katie high because of second-hand smoke), and try to dig their way out with hand tools. Katie then decides to use a chainsaw to cut their way out of the shed. Katie returns to the cabin and confronts Bianca, saying that B is trying to steal Drew from her. Bianca tells Katie that she will eventually lose Drew because she’s too insecure and doesn’t trust Drew around other girls. Katie decides not to let her jealousy get the best of her, and does so in the end by allowing Drew to walk with Bianca to her car that’s stranded in the woods.
This plot contained very little substance, but provided a lot of the episode’s entertainment value. Marisol is still annoying. Bianca, however, was simply amazing. Just insert anything she said or did in this episode and it was great.
I actually liked how the episode focused not on a Drianca reunion (which is what I expected), but keyed in on Katie’s jealousy instead. Even though saying this doesn’t mean much, to me there wasn’t a single hint of Drianca chemistry so that enhanced Katie’s paranoia a bit for me. Though I couldn’t stand how heavily they leaned on the “scary” elements in this plot, I was left speechless by the scene where Katie just randomly used a chainsaw to get escape from the shed. I think it’s one of the most ridiculous things to ever happen on this show, and I actually enjoyed it because it was so over-the-top ridiculous. What wasn’t (and probably never will be) enjoyable is being forced to watch actors on this show pretend that they’re high. It’s so unbearable. But at least we had Bianca moments to look forward to.
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SIDE NOTES
*So Dave goes from going on a break with Alli to losing his virginity over the summer to a random girl. If you feel like it came out of nowhere, that’s because it did. What an awfully complex plot device to create in order to put Alli in a position to kiss Jake.
*Degrassi, don’t think we didn’t catch that subtle reference you made to Katie’s knee at the end of the episode…please don’t let us down by making it less significant than it should be.
*Adam has been and continues to be a fantastic example of how characters should be used in secondary roles. Adam could’ve easily been left out of any of those scenes at the Torres’ house, but having him there especially in the scene where he’s searching for the xbox controller, these are the little things that make individual scenes great.
*People are probably already tired of me saying this, but Bianca made this episode. She brought a completely different energy than everyone else involved in Nowhere To Run. I liked her before, but my love for her has now skyrocketed. With a sharp tongue and some depth beyond her days of being the bad girl or so-and-so’s sidekick, she’s transforming into Alex Nunez 2.0 (a clone of Alex during her glory days of course). I’m going to give Bianca an A+ by herself, because I’d rather have an entire episode of her making snaky remarks than have to bear watching any amount of Cake drama any day. For now B, you are my spiritual animal.
Kary's Degrassi Blog 
So I am assuming whereever you find to watch it you will pass that along to us? Much appreciated!
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http://www.watchseries-online.com/2011/10/degrassi-the-next-generation-110-nowhere-to-run.html
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Is this link legit?????
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You would think TeenNick and Much would have worked this out. So us fans in the states have to avoid the social media of Tumblr and Twitter until Nov 18th. I know that is impossible.
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I don’t think it’s their job to work it out though. I mean they’ve managed to agree to air the summer blocks at the same time, but they’re not obligated to air the episodes at the same time. They have different agendas (and there’s some overlap), but the thing is no one has a clue what TeenNick’s agenda is because they really have nothing going on to begin with.
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I completely forgot it aired tonight. Now I’m going to be obsessively searching the internet for the episode after 9.
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i usually don’t do this, but if there’s a live stream link or something could someone post it? I’m not in denial of lasting a month for teen nick, so i really want to see when it comes out first. :D
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Whenever someone finds a link to it later they should post it here (:
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I usually don’t like watching the episodes before they air but since TeenNick isn’t airing it for another month there is no way I can go that long without being spoiled. Trust me I can wait to see it, but I know if I do wait I will already know what happens.
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A Canadian fan named Crystal plans to livestream the episode tonight, she posted the details here:
If you watch her stream tonight, PLEASE thank her for providing it.
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The oh the joys of megavideo, zshare, and megaupload. :D
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Sorry for the extra the in my previous post
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Hey Kari, is there any way you could post the link for Americans who want to see the the episode tonight?
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Yeah, any download link probably won’t be available until after midnight
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everything seems so rushed XD
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I thought this episode was pretty bad.
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Can someone please tell me what happened in the episode? I’m in California and thought it was going to be on today, I only watch teen nick for degrassi.
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This episode was kind of disappointing.
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That episode was so amazing until the end in which Alli was made out to be the villian even though Clare was the wrong person in the situation. Everything at the end was rushed. The whole Katie and Bianca thing didn’t make sense since Bianca didn’t give any f*cks. UGH can this episode just get a huge “F”?
These new Degrassi writers need to learn how plots work..Do they need a story map or…? I can totally arrange to get one from the local elementary school and send it up to Epitome.
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It annoys me even more that a lot of the people just hated this episode because there wasn’t a “Eclare reunion” and Cake stayed together.
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Well, they are brother and sister so that is kind of gross.
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I’m a hardcore EClare fan and I didn’t expect there to be a reunion, not this soon. What disappointed me was how the writers thought it was necessary to give us hope for the couple, and then shove cake down our throats. It’s like they love seeing us get hopeful and then get our hopes crushed completely. XD That’s not drama that’s just mean, especially since the writers know that a huge portion of their fans are sensitive when it comes to EClare.
But What I’m ultimately disappointed about is how they handled Clare. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I watched Clare in this episode. She is SO far gone….And I wouldn’t be so bitter about Cake staying together if Cake wasn’t such an unbelievable couple ;/ lol
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How about giving us a link to watch!
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Agree
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Shanice Banton who plays Marisol isn’t a good actor…
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It’s like they replaced riley’s bad acting witch marisol
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found a link on degrassi wiki, its parts 1 and 2
http://www.videozer.com/video/lZjws
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http://www.videozer.com/video/lZjws
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found one http://www.putlocker.com/file/BFF418F5FFCEAE13
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All I will say is that Clare will irritate you this episode.
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She’s become worse than Emma. Clare currently has NO friends. I guess Jake, but that’s some screwed up incest shit.
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I must ask but how is it incest? they are not related in any blood way, their parents just decided to get married. I see no actual human wrong here, well besides the fact that they live under the same roof and it will be awkward again if they break up. however if they were half siblings, then that would be a totally diff story, but that is not the case here.
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Its only incest if they are blood related. It’s not like they grew up together since they where little thinking of themselves as siblings. And its not like this doesn’t happen in real life. Look at Catelynn and Tyler from teen mom. Catelynn’s mom is married to Tyler’s dad.
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While Clare is irritating, I think it’s just the way they’ve chosen to develop her character. It’s interesting how NO ONE in this episode really had good intentions except Eli, the crazy guy. Teenagers (myself include) are nuts!
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I enjoyed the episode, it wasn’t one of their best but I was entertained watching it. As annoying as Marisol is, I think the actress playing her does a good job. She isn’t suppose to be liked, it would be out of character for her to not be a pain.
Love Bianca, not only does the actress playing her do a good job, but the show has really gave her character some dept without taking away from her overall personality.
“He is outside, he wants to kill us or kidnap a virgin. Clare, katie sacrifice yourselves.” lol I think that was the best line in the whole thing.
Clare has been my favorite character since she became a center character in season 8. She had quite a little attitude and was a bit self centered. She was naive and judgmental. So when I see how Clare is acting right now, it doesn’t surprise or feel out of character for her. Yes her character has matured quite a bit, but she is still a teenager with angst and hormones, they aren’t going to be wise and understanding about every situation. Heck I am 23 years old and only in the last two years do I feel that I finally got a grip on life. The fact that Clare isn’t talking to Alli, makes sense. Maybe if Clare knew about Dave she would have been more understanding, but in life you don’t always get the full picture of a situation. In High School I stop talking to my friend for something that now seems so meaning less and was no where near as bad as kissing your friends boyfriend. I believe the situation was realistically portrayed.
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yes but Clare has the nerve to tell Ali her problems are pedestrian — that’s not a friend — But what really irritates me about DeGrassi is how LONG they take breaks and just recycle old plots (and believe me, I have been watching a long time) over & over – and just toss some characters out == e.g. Blue had potential, but then they decided to make a roller coaster ride out of Holly J –
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They are completely destroying Clare’s character. And that fucking kills me. I didn’t know what I was going to think of the Clare-Jake-Alli situation coming out of this episode, but I certainly didn’t think I was going to be on Alli’s side. No, Alli shouldn’t have kissed her best friend’s ex when her best friend still has feelings for him, but she’s vulnerable and didn’t do this maliciously; Alli’s obviously remorseful and regretted it immediately. Clare’s selfishness just astounds me. She wouldn’t even bother to find out what happened with Alli because she’s just been too wrapped up in herself to even care. I was definitely cheering Alli on when she called Clare out on that. I just hope in time that Clare realizes that herself. The only good thing about this feud was that it’s about time they had a serious friendship dilemma on this show again.
I’m just glad I kept my expectations low for this episode. I literally groaned throughout most of the episode. The only good things about this episode were Bianca’s snark and blatant “I don’t give a fuck” attitude and Katie and Marisol high ideas.
And don’t even get me started on how they tried to legitimize Cake.
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I’m devistated that the writers thought it would be a BRILLIANT idea to destroy Clare at the expense of….what, Cake?
It’s crazy, because since Eli and Clare broke up, they became two COMPLETELY different people. Eli is beginning to bounce back to his former self….and Clare….she’s so far gone I don’t even know if she can be saved at this point. :/
This episode was funny, and Bianca was BRILLIANT lol. But at the same time, I’m extremely upset because:
1. Degrassi DESTROYED Clare’s character. She used to be amazing and I used to love her….and it kills me to see what she’s become. She’s a ghost of her former self. and it absolutely devastates me. I understand that Clare is going through a lot of stuff in her life….but I don’t understand how a person can lose sight of themselves so fast. Maybe she’s going through what Eli went through? Maybe she’ll redeem herself? I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t. I don’t trust the writers anymore -___-
2. CAKE SUCKS NOONE LIKES CAKE I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THEY ARE ACTUALLY IN LOVE LOL. Degrassi has yet to prove to us what is so ‘great’ about Cake -_____-
They’re a joke to me.
3. This show keeps giving us hopeful EClare scenes, and then squashing that hope into the ground. Time and time again, the writers do this. I know Degrassi loves drama, I do too, but this is becoming cruel… especially since the writers KNOW how much EClare meant to a ton of us. dammit, I’d rather there be no EClare scenes at ALL instead of being fed false hope.
I know Degrassi is all about drama, but this is beginning to be too much. All of my favorite aspects of the show are being wiped away and I don’t know how much longer I can take it before I turn off the TV ;( This has nothing to do with the actors, the actors are AMAZING….but this story is just killing my heart ;__;
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See, that’s how I felt at the beginning of S11 too, that Clare was going through some rough changes in her life, and as a result, she would change too. But now it’s to the point where her behavior makes no sense. There’s just no defending her anymore. Clare used to be the example that not all teenage girls are the same, but now? Now she’s just become like the rest of them: selfish and far too wrapped up in her own relationship to give a shit about anyone else.
I don’t trust the writers either. Nowhere to Run has kinda destroyed my faith in them. It’s like they don’t even know their own characters.
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I literally am hating Clare. Forgive Jake, but dont forgive Alli. ANNOYING. She used to be my favorite, now I just can’t stand Clare.
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Also: not enough Adam.
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Bianca: Clare, Katie, sacrifice yourselves !!! … TOTALLY LOL !!! =]
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Boring episode, and I can’t believe I stuck around to watch Lauren Toyota’s “My Time at Degrassi” after. The whole show was basically her walking around Epitome Picture going, “HAHAHAHA!….OH MY GOD!….HAHAHA!…MUNRO CHAMBERS!…shut up…SHUT! UP!…”
The only remotely interesting thing it did give us was a tiny tiny clip of Katie sitting down with Maya.
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Are alli and Clare done being friends
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Watching the awful Cake relationship has gotten so bad I almost long for the days when the Eli fangirls worshiped EClare.
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Hey what website was it that we can vote for some Degrassi awards?
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http://dnawards2011.wordpress.com/
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the “SHUT UP MARISOL!!!” virus strikes again in this episode. and that was before the weed.
i liked the one bit of foreshadowing at the end when Katie said her knee was sprained or something. Hopefully we’ll get to see her as a soccor athlete, and there may be some injury.
for once, Eli is suitable just being ‘there’ in an episode. not bad.
but still, Nowhere to Run did not impress me.
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I think the Bianca-Drew-Katie plot can become interesting and carry a few episodes.
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The episode was annoying, but I knew that going into it.
Nothing interesting happened. You throw a bunch of teens into a cabin and no one brings beer? In a real getaway, they’d all be bogarting Marisol’s stash, which just magically appeared at the cabin? Eli’s arrival was rather pointless and he didn’t do much in terms of the plot. Jake and Drew would have found Claire eventually. The only highlight was Bianca’s snarky comments, who pretty much played the role of “chorus” in the episode, speaking on behalf of the audience.
I did enjoy the random pairings. Claire and Bianca on the car ride together was super weird, but I loved it. Even Drew and Jake working together was rather amusing.
They have to stop playing up the mystery of something bad happening because unless Marisol was strung up by her lower intestines, there were no real consequences here.
And before I forget to mention it, not ONE mention of Darcy being unable to attend the wedding? She didn’t even make the cake! Might as well just forget she existed all together.
The rest of the season better make up for this really lame “special.” If they want Jake to remain a viable character, he has got to move on from Claire. She has got that boy whipped like Willow Smith’s hair.
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“She has got that boy whipped like Willow Smith’s hair.” bahahahah that made me laugh. not just because it’s clever, but because it’s true XD
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The available evidence suggests that Darcy Edwards has fallen into the “Chuck Cunningham” black hole. For those too young to know, Chuck Cunningham was the older brother of Richie Cunningham on the American sitcom Happy Days. Chuck mysteriously disappeared sometime during the second season. Not only was he never seen again, but he was never again mentioned by any other character during the series run. Did he die? Did he join the French Foreign Legion? Was he recruited by a secretive espionage organization (a la Jennifer Garner’s character in the ridiculous “Alias”)? Did he bravely come out of the closet only to be forever cast out by his family (the series was nominally set in the 1950s after all, Anson Williams’ hair style notwithstanding)?
I’d like to think that, beyond the event horizon, Chuck and Darcy will become BFFs – episode one can involve Darcy bringing Chuck up-to-date on such modern lingo. In that Land of Forgotten Characters they can enjoy well-deserved teen psycho-drama, and perhaps provide Mr. Tuxedo Pants with a loving home.
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Wow even I forgot darcy hahaha. I loved the weed scene.
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Are we forgetting though that Jake totally threw Alli under the bus!!! No wonder Clare is still mad at Alli, Jake made it ALL her fault! If I blame anyone for this whole mess its him. I love Clare, she might even be my fave character but it was totally not cool of her not understand that Alli has problems too. My best friend is like that and it drives me insane! Alli was wrong to kiss Jake even if she was vulnerable, Jake was an idiot, he took something that was both his and Alli’s fault and put all the blame on her. It was totally fair.
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YES! Like….what? Huh?????? I’m so confused. lol.
I’m just waiting for the degrassi peeps to jump out of the bridge and say, “GOT YA!” xD
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I think everybody is forgetting about the most surprising thing in this episode. When the HELL did Dave Turner get enough game to have sex over the summer?
I found that hard to believe.
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Cosigned.
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I want it to turn out that he and Jenna hooked up. I hate when they have relationships like this off-camera, but if it would lead to a secret Jave rendezvous, I’d be all for it.
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Probably the only shocking thing that happened in this episode. I was PISSED. How the HELL does a boy go from not even kissing his girlfriend to losing his v-card to some random girl?!
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Also: how dare the writers cheapen both Dave’s character and Bhandurner with this terrible plot device. Dave was the first one to call K.C. out on how painful cheating can be (although I don’t think what Dave did was technically “cheating”, but it was still wrong), I can’t believe he would ever do the same to the girl of his dreams.
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This Ep was ok. What Iliked about it was you got to see how their real personalites outside of Degrassi. Bianca messing with Katie’s insecurities and not once made a move on Drew.
I know many people a pissed at Clare but look at like this. She was brought up pretty sheltered as was Alli. So they are pretty naive when it comes to relationships and boundries.
(Eclare moment) I know Clare and Eli still have unsolved issues the need to deal with and Eli even said that in Don’t Panic. I am glad they were interrupted because that would have made Eli really upset if he found out Clare used him. I still have no clue why Katie is still friends with Marisol. They reminded of HJ and Anya’s friendship in the past.
I am sorry but Dave should have talked to Alli before he “cheated” on Alli. Shame on you Dave.
Oh Eli was invited but after reading his tweets he has been enjoying biking so maybe he wanted to enjoy nature. Maybe his biking might be a foreshadow on whats to come for the rest of the season.
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I don’t get it, WHYY are all these guys falling in love with Claire?
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Because she was smart girl with large breast. I have no clue but is she keeps acting like a self centered brat she is going to have no friends or boyfriend. Clare is a naive average looking girl who dresses frumpy. Who does not put out and is easily maniputated every mans dream. LOL
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I loved this episode. Sue me.
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The only thing I hated was that all Katie was thinking about was Drianca. It was so annoying. She even said that the reason she didn’t want to die is because she didn’t want to leave Drew to Bianca. Really? -____-
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OH, AND THAT CAKE IS STILL GOING ON! LIKE WHAT THE FUCK?!
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Cake is still together. I had a minor freakout for at least an hour. At least there will be more drama in the relationship. My hope? Clare will cheat on Jake with Eli and that will be there main plot for season 12. That is just so weird. Just the episode, with Clare and Eli and everything. It did not make any sense. The only good part was that Clare didn’t forgive Alli. That was a long time coming. I bet that is why Kary hasn’t put the review up yet. It was just too bad to review.
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“Cake is still together. I had a minor freakout for at least an hour.” BASICALLY. Even the people that used to ship Cake can’t even do it anymore. Why, WHY are the writers trying to make this couple more than what it really is?
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Don’t even get me started. I think Cake being together even after the marriage is retarded. Excuse me for my French.
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I did not like the beginning or the end of this episode, but I thought the middle was entertaining. I was confused because I thought Dave and Alli already broke up anyway. So she might be overreacting, but I guess that’s normal for Alli anyway. Bianca’s tone of voice throughout the whole thing was funny. Marisol needs to smoke weed more often. Katie needs to not exist.
I don’t know why they are clinging to this Cake idea. They dated for a boring 2 seconds before they decided they were madly in love with either other- wasn’t buying it then, not buying it now. They were getting cute right before the marriage announcement, but not cute enough to justify this crap. Why do they think this will lead to anything good? Crazy kids.
I don’t need Eclare back together, but I do need Clare to stop being a bitch when it comes to him: oh, eli, I’m so glad you saved me. oh, jake, I almost kissed Eli….but only to get back at you, I swear!! eli, let me look at you longingly and ask you to ride with us, so you can watch me make googly eyes at another guy! wtf?! I can only see this leading to a couple of things: an Eclare reunion (and it seemed like this would have been the time for it, so it’s gonna suck if this is dragged out forever just for that to happen anyway) or a “Clare is a narcissist” plot. It would maybe be interesting if Clare’s self esteem drops so low that she becomes callous and starts manipulating everyone she can into falling in love with her just so she can feel better… but I don’t know that she could pull off a plot like that.
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I have no idea why cake got back together, clearly it won’t last very long now that their parents married. There will Probably be a storyline about that and them getting caught together.
I want eclare together but did all the angry fan girls actually expect them to get back together just like that in a special?! When/if they get back together it will be a huge thing, probably spanning a few episodes.
I also assumed Alii and Dave were broken up so i was confused. And I don’t blame Clare for not forgiving her.
Bianca is so funny, she’s a bitch but hilarious.
Marisol, so annoying, but such good comic relief.
The episode was a bit disappointing, especially after a Degrassi void, but not horrible. I’m not a harsh critic though.
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Also what was up with Clare forgiving Jake for kissing her BEST FRIEND but not forgiving Alli? They are both to blame, and she’s naive to just say ok I forgive you if he blames it all on Alii? She should be mad at both of them
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It was really annoying to me that Jake blamed the whole kiss on Alli, he took the coward’s way out. They BOTH went in for that kiss, if he didn’t want it, he never had to kiss her back and Clare was just all too ready to jump on board and believe that it was all Alli’s fault.
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YALL GIVIN THIS EPISODE TOO MUCH SHIT LOL. IT WASN’T AMAZING. BUT IT WASN’T GOOD EITHER. IT WAS DECENT ENOUGH TO HOLD ME OFF FOR ANOTHER FEW MONTHS I SUPPOSE.
I LOVE BIANCA.
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It’s called tv, ppl will not always like one character or how they’re being developed. I liked the episode, Let it go. I do agree though this was enough to keep me happy till the season comes back :)
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Clare forgiving Jake and blaming Alli for the whole thing? Did she forget that it takes two to tango?! Clare is really starting to get on my bad side!
Okay episode..really loved Bianca saying “he probably wants a virgin..Katie, Claire sacrifice yourselves!”
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Drew & Bianca are eft to wander the woods…
the way Alicia portrays Bianca is incredible, comedic genius! I wont re-type the virgin line since everyone’s done it (it gets funnier every time).
Did anyone else think Dave’s voice sounded weird?!
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Dave hit a growth spurt
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that’s what I was thinking.
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I think Eli and Jake need to be friends and forget Clare even existed. Sorry I don’t ship Cake or Eclare. I would like to see Jake with Kate, Eli with Imogen and Clare with a therapist.
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I just miss season 10. Jake and Katie would be cute….I don’t ship Eli and Imogen at all, I just want Eli to be single and Clare to get her crap together :(
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Jake and Eli would make a better couple than Cake or Eclare. They should both realize that Clare Edwards sucks the life out of them.
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Latest Buzz 2.0 anyone?
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I hate how they made my favorite character into a whiny, self-aborbed brat. All the times you said she was being one all I could think was, “No, her parents are splitting. I’d probably be the same way” but after nowhere to run I found myself wanting to, for the first time ever, slap Clare.
Honestly, the opening lines made her seem bratty. Her comment to Alli made her into a hateful person, and by the end she’s like KC 2.0.
Why do the writers have to destroy a character to make a couple people only like because two actors are attractive, work out?
SMH, Degrassi writers. SMH…
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Clare is NOT attractive. Darcy on the other hand was. Degrassi has an ugly cast now…
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Marisol rocked this episode, don’t know what you guys are talking about.
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I really wasn’t expecting much of this episode, but it was actually pretty good
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I’m done with clare, she went from being a caring friend who stood up for others, to a self-centered, boy obsessed air head. And her forgiving jake and not alli is typical for a teenage girl, I don’t know why but a girl will always choose a guy over friendship.
Dave hooking up with a random girl, is a cheap plot device for Alli’s “mistake” to not seem so bad. Alli has been the girl of his dreams since forever, it seemed kinda out of character for him to cheat.
I know the love triangle was between drew/katie/bianca, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Drew and Marisol actually got together, I know it sounds crazy, but in this episode, Drew was really going out of his way to tease Marisol…
And I loved Bianca too!!
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I’m warming to Bianca, but I still find find Alicia’s delivery of her snarky lines to be quite over the top and campy. She was great towards the end of the first half of the season (when she dropped the attitude and softened), but her “bad girl attitude” just never comes off as sincere to me. You can’t compare her to Alex. Alex was an actual bad girl. She was not cute. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Bianca is too cute to be a real bad girl. I find Bianca to be less of a “bad girl”, and just more of a “mean girl”. She’s more conscious of her sexiness than Alex ever was, too “girly”, too made up. Alex was more intimidating, because she never gave a crap about looking good (even though she did, because Deanna Casaluce is beautiful). In our society, a girl who doesn’t care about caking on the make-up and wearing form-fitting clothes and heels is an aberration, someone scary.
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Agreed with every single word.
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Just a few random things:
Clare was awful to both Allie and Eli in this episode. I used to want Clare and Eli back together, but now he is much too good for her. I hope he gets with Imogen. And Allie deserves a better best friend.
Dave was trying too hard to sound GANGSTA in his scene with Allie. Where did that come from? Did he hang in the hood all summer?
Katie’s knee being hurt…haha, she totally gave Drew a B.J. the night before. Awesome. I hope he reciprocated.
Jake and Clare eating each other’s faces on the CAKE. Get it? CAKE? Nice homage to the fans calling them that.
I love Allie, I hope she has some major plots this season that don’t involve her life sucking.
I hate Clare, I hope she has a plot where she commits suicide and nobody cares.
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I DON’T THINK HE WAS TRYING TO SOUND ‘HOOD’ AT ALL. WHEN I HEARD HIM THE FIRST THING I TOLD MYSELF WAS EITHER HIS VOICE GOT DEEPER WITHIN SOME TIME, OR HE WAS JUST WAKING UP. MY VOICE IS DEEP IS AS HELL WHEN I JUST WAKE UP
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Yes he was. He was all “y0y0y0 girl, foh shizzle. w0rd”.
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Yeah I also thought he sounded like he had just woken up or something lol
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I think there is a foreshowdow in tow for Clare and Katie. I think with Clare’s emotional flipflopping she is going to have a big emotional breakdown. Katie sudden knee pain is due to a serious sports injury that might lead to complications later on.
I hope Eli finds a cool girlfriend like Imogen. Sorry I really her with Eli.
I want Jake to be friends with Eli, Drew and Adam. Seriously Eli needs more guy friends and he needs to stay away from “precious Clare”
I hope Alli, Bianca, Jenna and Fiona figures out its ok to be single and happy.
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I really like Eli when he’s single. It brings out his funny side.
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OMG I LOVE YOU KARY XD
You gave Bianca a A+! This is the most amazing day ever XD
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This just sums up exactly what I thought about this episode. Bianca was the only good thing about it!
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Seeing Eli close to Clare, alone, was a huge relief, I don’t see any chemistry with her and Jake at all, and I believe Clare is obsessed with Jake. Now, Bianca made me laugh a few times, when she said that Allie was the “skanky bitch” of the scenario and that she dies first, I laughed, and almost felt like I was Bianca’s little sidekick cheering her on. Drew and Bianca wasn’t even thinking about each other, so the insecurity bring-up was definitely spot-on, kudos Bianca. What made me laugh about Eli was the fact that he didn’t understand why everyone was so jumpy, I was thinking the exact same thing. Overall, Bianca and Eli were the most interesting to me…they weren’t over the top, and they didn’t annoy me.
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I didn’t even think I was going to comment on Nowhere to Run because after seeing how blah it was I was completely uninspired, but after seeing everyone else chime in I decided to as well. Many of my points will echo others sentiments, but here they are just the same:
1) Bianca- most definitely deserved an A+ for her performance in this special. She was much needed relief from the strain of having to watch everyone else. I do agree with one fellow commenter on here that Alicia, the actress who plays Bianca, comes off as a little too sweet to be such a bad girl. Occasionally when she delivers a particularly snarky line it doesn’t seem believable.
2) Dave & Alli- First, I also noticed the voice change for Dave and while I completely disagree that he was attempting to sound “hood” (and I’m also giving an extreme side-eye to the person who wrote that. Like if Dave’s character wasn’t black and his voice experienced a change would you have said the same thing?) moving on….I think Jahmil, the actor who plays Dave, might have experienced a natural voice change. I have no idea how old he is in real life but it’s possible. It was definitely jarring at first, but after I got over the initial shock I thought he sounded kind of sexy. I was initially very excited about “Dalli” but as time has worn on it’s pretty clear the writers have no intention of making this a legitimate pairing. We’ve never even seen them kiss and they’ve gone through a gambling debacle, taking a break, and Dave losing his virginity. This is a romance that has happened primarily off-screen and it’s unfortunate because Jahmil and Melinda have really great chemistry.
3) Eli- I don’t understand why Eli was the only character in the special who we didn’t get a backstory for what had happened to him over the summer. We knew that Adam had been recovering from the shooting, Bianca has been working for Drew’s father, Marisol, Drew and Katie have been spending way too much time together, Alli’s been at math camp, Jake at summer camp, and Clare’s been pining away all summer. Eli literally just popped in looking overly-chipper on a bike, and then randomly showed up in the woods. It seems as if the writers knew they needed to include Munro Chambers in this special because of his large fanbase but really had no idea what to do with Eli without adding in characters like Fiona, Adam or Imogen. Like seriously why did he even go to the woods? He was not friends with any of the people in the cabin! Did he go to see Clare, who we can safely guess he hadn’t seen all summer and for what reason? I don’t share the heartbreak of the Eclare fans who think this is unfair teasing of their reunion, but I just think it’s sloppy writing. If you’re going to include a character in a storyline have a reason, don’t just have that person as some sort of stand-in, especially not a lead character.
4) Jake-Alli kiss- to be honest this pairing makes so much more sense to me than Cake. They have genuine chemistry. I wouldn’t necessarily want to see them become a couple, but I do think the idea of them hooking up for a few episodes would be interesting. I’m happy that Clare didn’t forgive Alli because it sets up a storyline for the second half of season 11, that has all the makings of a Manny-Emma-Peter reboot, although without seeing it I can already say it won’t be as good.
5) Clare-I remember during the first half of season 11 I kept commenting on how out-of-character and annoying Clare was, and alot of others on here have said the same thing, but this is actually a Degrassi plot convention that started with Emma, who admittedly Clare has stepped into the role as. There was a period where Emma became so self-righteous and annoying and then suddenly her life went to complete shit (the ravine, the eating disorder) and then we had a rebirth of Emma finding her way, and making up with her friends in time for college. Clare I think is on the same character rollercoaster. I cannot help but feel like the writers have something really drastic planned for her character, because the divorce was resolved rather quickly.
6) Cake-is Blah has always been blah and will forever be Blah. The end.
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Jahmil French is 20 in real life, by the way.
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My main goals for this season:
1.) Eli stays FAR away from Clare. He’s too good and hilarious on his own. He’s one of the few characters who can be great without some big fat great drama being centered on him.
2.) Drew and Bianca get back together. Well, at least keep the tension going.
3.) Dave to not sound like he drank a bottle of Nyquil.
4.) Darcy to kidnap Clare and take her back to Kenya. And to never come back :)
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Yes, I would have said that about a white character who started to speak with a more “hood accent” out of the blue. I would have said that about anyone, because it would have been true. Looks like YOU’RE the one with racist implications in your thinking.
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Plot A (Clare/Jake): It’s bad when one scene between Eli and Clare has more chemistry than an hour of scenes between Jake and Clare. Partially, I think this is because for a while we’ve had Eli and Clare pounded into our heads. But also because there’s just nothing there. When a plot makes me miss EClare’s drama, that’s an issue. What bothered me was that there was no buildup to Jake and/or Clare’s feelings. It was more like, ‘here’s a brief summary of the summer: Clare and Jake both spent the summer thinking the other was over them, but couldn’t move on and faked it.’ The end. Then it picks up with Clare and Jake suddenly deeply in love. My problem is that this couple hasn’t been developed properly; the feelings just kind of happened. The foundation, the intimacy, the chemistry, the ideals and feelings of the relationship, none of theses have been developed. This episode just solidifies that the writers want to break Clare down and flip her character around, but they are going in the wrong direction. The only thing about this plot that was semi-likable was the the Alli/Clare friendship. Clare’s actions were too exaggerated and too dramatic, but Alli’s reactions were spot on. The Alli and Jake kiss was more reasonable than any Cake kisses. Seeing Jake interact with others was nice, but there’s still almost no character development there. The other major issue was the inclusion of Eli. Why have him find her? Why not have Jake find her? Why have Clare confess that she wanted to kiss Eli to get back at Jake? The only reason I can think of is to officially end EClare for good. Personally, I wasn’t an EClare maniac, but I’d choose them over Cake any day simply because of the passion between them. Plus, Clare and Jake having a secret incest relationship (i know not by blood but by marriage) is just too much. I hope the Cake thing ends soon or they start to make sense as a couple.
Plot B (Katie/Bianca): Let’s face it, Drew wasn’t the main issue in this plot. Bianca wasn’t even trying to win him back…at least not directly. I partially enjoyed this plot because it was more about Bianca vs.Katie but not in a fight for Drew but in a fight for dominance. Bianca’s power over Katie was well done. Having Drew as the pawn was fantastic. The main idea of the plot was that Bianca was just making Katie insecure about herself so that eventually she and Drew would breakup and Bianca would get back with Drew. I was disappointed in the little development of the Drew/Bianca friendship that supposedly happened over summer. Even some banter at the Torres house would’ve worked, but nothing. We were just told that they spent the summer getting closer by the episode description. They didn’t have many scenes between Drew and Bianca where they interacted directly so that leads me to think that they are setting up for more Drianca/Krew drama later. Katie’s jealousy was slightly believable, but what made it good was that the paranoia was the only thing she thought about…even when she and Marisol were hiding from the ‘murderer.’ Krew gained only a bit of steam in this episode. They still are an odd couple and don’t really fit, but there was some sort of inkling of chemistry between them (at least more than they had in Now or Never). Part of me wants to see Bianca develop more as a character individually, but part of me just needs Krew to end and Drianca to hook back up.
Other Plots:
(Alli/Dave): Jahmil seemed different this episode. I don’t know what it was, but he seemed more relaxed. Anyway, the plot itself was just a set up for the Alli/Jake kiss, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. My confusion comes from this: they were going to wait for each other, but Alli isn’t a virgin. So that doesn’t make sense. I am disappointed that they would do this to a pairing that a lot of people rooted for and barely had a chance to start. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Dalli.
(Marisol): Easily the most annoying character on the show. The only funny moments come from when she and Drew speak to each other. Other than that, she’s just a filler. Her dragging Katie to smoke weed with her was just stupidity. Who needs their friend to watch them smoke? And her ‘being scared’ and paranoid about the killer was just ridiculous.
Other comments:
The Horror element: Stupid. One word. That’s all it deserves.
The group: The randomness of the group of people is a bit much. First off, Eli and Jake didn’t have any tension and I thought that could be a good point. They aren’t enemies, but they aren’t friends either. Jake and Drew randomly knowing each other was weird and Drew’s concern for Jake in the woods was also random. Also, am I the only one that noticed that Drew and Alli seem to be on good terms? Yet Alli and Bianca still aren’t. Please explain. Oh, and I liked how Drew said nothing after Alli said her boyfriend cheated on her.
Clare/Bianca friendship: Finally!! I think that if they turn Clare around, this could be a very dynamic friendship with some really awesomeness to it.
The humor: Although supplied mainly by Bianca, Adam, and Drew, the humor was great. It was the only reason I kept watching. I was actually laughing at some of the things they said.
Adam: Once again, great use of character existence, like Kary said. I hope I’m not the only one that caught Bianca’s guilty look after Adam said he couldn’t go because he had physio. I really hope they have a Bianca/Adam friendship develop. Oh, and when did he and Katie become cool?
Just my thoughts. I hope this is a preview for the rest of the season because if it is, it won’t be great. Here’s to hoping!!
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bianca made this episode. i couldnt stand the whole thing… only bianca. shes so funny! cant stand krew :/ drianca…. forever… and ever and ever =]
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I finally watched Nowhere to Run, and I have to say I was underwhelmed.
First, I have to address all the Clare haters. Don’t get me wrong I am not happy with the direction the writers are going with Clare as a character. That being said, I don’t see any reason to crucify her either. It was rude of her to tell Alli that her problems were pedestrian. But does anyone else remember when Clare was frustrated with getting Eli as an English partner & he bumped her on the way out the door? Alli basically dismissed her & told Clare to focus on something more important like getting Drew to notice her (paraphrasing). Just as self-centered, in my opinion. Also, people are going apeshit because Clare forgave Jake (which I agree is stupid) but not Alli. Let’s not forget that this is not the first time Alli has done this to Clare. Remember when she kissed KC? It doesn’t matter if they weren’t a couple yet…it still broke girl code. This is typical teenage girl bs…again, no reason to villify Clare. Her life has changed so much in the past year. She has to be hurting. I don’t think she knows how to deal with it all, and her family doesn’t seem to care. Her mother seems more concerned about her own lovelife. We haven’t seen or heard anything about her father since they started divorce proceedings. Not a word from Darcy, either. Alli was away all summer, and Jake dumped her. So, where is Clare’s support system? It’s no wonder she’s so self-centered & feeling sorry for herself.
I thought the interaction between Clare & Eli was sweet, and it reminded of the old days of when they used to be friends, before all the drama. I hope it’s a sign of things to come. I want Eclare back together, but I want them to build up to it as friends first. They have undeniable chemistry…unlike Cake. I really have no idea what the writers are thinking by reuniting them. Unless they are going to use it as a springboard to something else. Maybe their parents find out about them force them to break up, leading to the Clare emotional breakdown we all know is coming.
The rest of the episode was cheesy & silly, but not completely horrible. Bianca definitely stole the show! I would love to see the writers build on a friendship between her & Clare…I think Clare could bring out Bianca’s softer side & Bianca could help Clare channel her inner badass!
Drew & Katie are just as boring as Jake & Clare. I see very little chemistry between them. He definitely had more chemistry with Bianca, although I don’t want them together (I can’t help it…I see Bianca with Adam for some reason). Katie & Marisol are just plain annoying. Katie has the personality of a wet mop. Marisol has some potential…her fighting with Drew was entertaining as was her behavior when she was high. Hopefully, the writers will find a storyline for her as something other than Katie’s shadow.
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I see what you mean about Alli not exactly ever being a supportive friend to Clare either. I never thought much of their friendship, especially compared to the superior friendships of Emma/Manny, Spinner/Jimmy, JT/Toby, Fiona/Holly J, etc. However, I have always expect Alli to say or do something stupid and selfish because that’s just how she’s always been. The fact that Clare mirrors Alli’s teenage drama queen behavior shows just how much Clare’s character has deteriorated; she was never like that before S11, and for Clare lovers, it’s a slap in the face.
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Just how were the other friendships you mentioned “superior”? All of those friends back-stabbed each other, Spinner got Jimmy shot, Emma called Manny a whore, etc. High School kids are selfish as hell.
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They’re superior because they got far more development than Clare/Alli ever did, therefore I actually care about them. All those friendships actually had plots dedicated to them at one point or another. It’s hard to think of Clare and Alli as “best friends” when they were hardly involved in each other’s lives anyways.
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Omg people guess what STEP COUNTS. Step brother or step sister is incest stepfather is incest. Just because we didn’t know Jake before doesn’t mean its not incest, it is. It very much is.. (I’m a human services worker and 24 yrs old I know I’m watching a teen show but been watching degrassi forever and need to relax from real world drama — and from my experience STEP COUNTS. Don’t rule it out just because they aren’t related they are STILL FAMILY)
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Yeah, STEP counts, but Clare and Jake were dating BEFORE their parents got married. I don’t think I would break up with my boyfriend if my parents got married. In fact, I would take full advantage of the situation, if ya know what I mean.
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4some?
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I dont know what you all are talking about. I thought this was a good episode. I thought it was funny too. If your disappointment is about Eli and Clare, I don’t know why, because this episode was obviously a hint that she is starting to like him again and will Probably continue to in the next part of the season.she just happens to like Jake too.
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Jake did not even try to defend Alli. He could have said they both made a mistake but he was just trying to get himself out of trouble. I know Alli was wrong but it was a stupid mistake that shouldn’t cost a long friendship.
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Ok so to all of you talking about jake and clare being incest…i don’t know about all of you but if i was going out with them way BEFORE our parents got married i don’t think i could honestly bring my self to end it if i thought i loved them..in fact having the privilege of living with them i’d find relatively exciting like that’d be sweet the only part where it sucks is if you have to like poop or if you look horrible in the morning and just wanna be home looking like shit or not hang out with the person that sort of sucks…but thats what married couples do who live together so i guess in a way that brings you closer. i mean even if they didn’t date can you imagine the sexual tension ?
Anyways, I think if the clare and bianca friendship occurs bianca will have something to do with clare trying to eff jake.
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[…] already written my review for the episode (it aired several weeks ago in Canada), so you can CLICK HERE to read it (note: my review contains LOTS of spoilers). #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item […]
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So Kary, are you not doing Degrassi Extra for the second half of season 11?
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[…] CLICK HERE TO READ MY FULL REVIEW OF NOWHERE TO RUN […]
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I agree that Bianca was the best part of the uneven hour!
Check out my recap/review at : http://thetwocentscorp.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/degrassi-recap-review-nowhere-to-run/
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“Degrassi, don’t think we didn’t catch that subtle reference you made to Katie’s knee at the end of the episode…please don’t let us down by making it less significant than it should be.”
I didn’t even realize that until you mentioned it. was she actually referring to what I think she was referring to? :| . woww Degrassi!
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I agree with you on everything but Clare. Without Clare the show would not be an all time Degrassi. Cake is just like Emma and Sean, without them whats the point in watching? I admit the brother-sister incest thing might be a bit creepy but I think Cake is whats keeping the show going.
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Clare annoys me soooooo much. She’s the one who wanted to start fresh with Jake, and now she’s all mad at Alli for kissing him when he was just as much to blame as she is. I don’t even understand the Cake pairing. She somehow gets all these guys with no marketable traits to speak of.
“You kissed my boyfriend…What could you have gone through to make you do such a thing?”
1) Uhm, her boyfriend legit cheated on her. 2) HE’S NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND.
And why isn’t she mad at Jake?
They have no chemistry and the fact that they call it love makes me fear for the future of this show.
I liked Degrassi back when it was real and I could relate to it. Call me a realist, but none of these characters even resemble normal teenagers in any aspect.
None of these kids who are supposedly having sex are even people that would in a real high-school environment. Not realistic.
I’d love to write this season and deal with actual issues that everyone can relate to.
Oh, and these new freshman piss me the eff off. Katie’s sister is some sort of musical prodigy? NO ONE CARES. She’s not relateable, and I can already tell that she’s going to be annoying and ridiculously boy-crazy. You can have a conversation with a guy without thinking he likes you. He doesn’t. Get over it.
Fact: not all high school students go through this tough of a time. Have a student that’s normal and chill for once.
Degrassi always finds a way to ruin good characters with awesome potential.
Examples (I’ll stick to newer characters, because I could go on and on about the Next Generation originals):
Holly J – She had all the cute, rich-girl potential in the world. She could’ve been president, rich-girl, and healthy teenage kid while still being believable and likeable. The crush on Spinner was awesome, and that should’ve been more prominent.
Fiona – Let me start by saying that Fiona is one of my faves. But had the writers played on the fact that she was sociopathic, she could’ve been a much more relateable, troubled character. An eating disorder or a sex tape from her prestigious private school would’ve been awesome, too. The lesbian thing was weird and unnecessary.
Declan – He’d do anything for Fiona, and the plot should’ve explained and played on their dynamic more. He could’ve been the manipulative dick womanizer and would’ve been fangirled hardcore. It would’ve made him a more realistic character, whether you would have liked him or not. Imagine it: him, a sexy dbag, a completely sweet prick, a guy who likes to be in charge, being Fiona’s puppet. They could take over Degrassi and manipulate the shit out of everyone, and it’d be pure gold.
Eli – I initially did not care for Eli, (probably because Clare is a selfish drama queen who dresses herself up like a girl who people like when they really don’t) but without Clare, he’s a hoot and a half. But his hoarding thing…why? Believe it or not, most mysterious bad boys are really normal and not emotionally troubled. He doesn’t need to be a freak to be awesome.
Imogen – She has the power to be a fixer, a manipulative little bitch that helps Fiona and Declan get away with murder. Sad waste.
I could go on forever, (Like I haven’t already?) but these are my general tiffs with the Degrassi’s infrastructure.
Great blog, btw.
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