Since “Showdown” ended, I’ve thought about this post daily. I’ve gone back through to the episodes, skimmed through reviews, and it’s weird saying that I can’t come up with as much in the “Bad” and “Ugly” categories as I normally do. But at the same time this list isn’t about pointing out every good thing that happened or nitpicking everything that went wrong. It’s about highlighting the points in this episode block that stood out the most in my head.
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THE GOOD
The First Week of Showdown
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Even the most critical of Degrassi fans loved the first week of Showdown. I haven’t witnessed that kind of excitement about Degrassi since The Boiling Point (which ironically has been airing on TeenNick during the primetime slot all this week). That first week of episodes (Come As You Are and Walking On Broken Glass) is a prime example of what happens when everything comes together, and every plot in every episode is worth watching.
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Mike Dallas
Dallas is freaking awesome from a character perspective. They managed to establish depth to his character without giving him an actual storyline of his own (granted, the fact he was in nearly every episode of Showdown helped). To me, he represents the persona of a lot of people: he’s intelligent, loyal and caring, but if you cross him or anyone close to him he will come after you. There’s a couple of moments that stand out when it comes to Dallas. When talking with Katie in Never Ever he told her he had no shot at making the NHL. This is coming from the captain of the junior hockey team, and despite being aware that he has no future in hockey he sticks with it. There’s also the fact that he can’t seem to get women to save his life. Now obviously he had no chance with Clare (and Katie was in a weird place, stuck between him and Jake), but the way Dallas reacted to being rejected by Katie suggests that while Cam can’t “get the ladies” despite being a hockey star for his own reasons, Dallas can’t either and has been rejected many times before.
Oh, and there is that little thing about the garden getting destroyed. While a seed of doubt about his role in it was placed in our heads, I’m not so sure anymore after watching Scream. Dallas was present when Tristan talked to Fimogen about his love troubles, and that’s kind of the only viable explanation as to how the plan to lure Tristan away and lock him in a room would happen. Did Dallas physically take part? Did he tell Luke and then they did it together? Did he complain about both Katie and Tristan to Luke, then Luke went off on his own and did it?
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Less Relationships
It doesn’t matter which ships you love or hate, direct couple drama was toned down dramatically in Showdown. This was the block of couples acting like normal couples who have things to do outside of hanging out with each other. Call it “The Eclare Show” all you want, but for a majority of “Showdown” Eli was focused on his play while Clare was wrapped up in her internship. Fimogen started off with Fiona wanting to spend all of her time (and even have all the same classes) with Imogen, but Imogen didn’t want that and was also preoccupied with WhisperHug. After the whole Krew drama died down and Drew dropped out, he and Bianca were so busy doing their own things that Drew felt out of the loop. And the whole reason that Dave joined the play was because Alli was hyper focused on school. The Stohn said Season 12 was going to focus less on relationships the season and he’s been right…so far.
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Writing Improvements
I’ve yet to find a word that describes the upgrade we saw in the character dialogue. Fresh, hip or fun don’t really seem to fit. Either way, I enjoyed it. These teenage characters talked more like teens. The dialogue between friends was wittier and it allowed for them to play off each other well. The niners are the masters of all of this, but we saw it a lot more with the other characters as well.
There were also great moments that none of us were expecting: KC leaving, Cam jumping and the show killing off Volta and showing the corpse. Normally fights on Degrassi suck, but the big one in Sabotage was enjoyable…I’d rather them go over the top with a fight scene than the standard scene where two people basically try to hug each other to death.
There haven’t been many “go there” moments over the past several years; the fact Degrassi had the balls to not only pull off these moments, but also keep them quiet is impressive. (SIDE NOTE: When it it came to promos, I did find myself enjoying TeenNick’s promos during Showdown. There were times where the promo for the next day would focus on something other than the main plot. Now normally that’d give us the greenlight to rip TeenNick’s head off once again, but it actually worked in our favor, especially in the case of the promo for Never Ever Part 1. That allowed us to go into the episode in the dark about Imogen’s plot and be blindsided by Volta’s death).
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The Bad
Drew Torres
So Drew’s “I had sexxxxxxx” video has to be one of the funniest moments of Showdown (behind Cam asking Bianca for sex). But him dropping out and essentially drifting away from the rest of the characters seemed to be a head scratcher. I’m not really opposed to a character feeling as if they don’t have what it takes to complete high school and quitting, but at the same time this is Drew Torres, above and beyond the most-featured male character on Degrassi for the past season and a half. It’s been proven time and time again that it’s difficult to keep people interested in characters who aren’t actually going to Degrassi. The show knows this, which is why they had Drew move in with Fiona. Still, isolating a character is a dangerous move unless it’s temporary or there’s plans to give them the axe. I don’t think fans are interested in having another Spinner Mason or Peter hang around longer than necessary, and if Drew doesn’t return to Degrassi that would be a case where I actually agree that time is being wasted on a character that could be used elsewhere.
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THE UGLY
Jake Martin In “Say It Ain’t So”
I’m still baffled by what happened to Jake Martin in Say It Ain’t So. I remember sitting there after his fight with Luke thinking, “What the fuck did I just watch?”
Jake not wanting to go to college isn’t the issue…if someone decides they’d rather skip college and enter the work force after graduating high school then good for them (and it’s pretty nice that they don’t have to worry spending the next 20 years paying off student loans). It’s about Jake’s passion for the environment coming out of left field and being amplified by him being somewhat verbally aggressive with his dad, and of course him attacking Luke over a soda can. People attack people over stupid stuff all the time, you know over things like characters and couples on a cheesy Canadian teen drama. But I think Jake becoming borderline OOC in the midst of it all takes the cake.
What do you think are the good, bad and ugly moments of Degrassi: Showdown? Feel free to share your comments below!
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Kary's Degrassi Blog 
all i can really say is THANK FRACKING GOD Krew is over & done with. other than that i never really cared for drew too much but have been more interested in him this block but mabe that could be because i dropped out of highschool as well. m question is will he pressure B to get married too fast
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Definitely agree with this post! Nice job :)
I really did think the writing improved and the plots seemed more relatable to me. As far as Dallas, honestly I don’t like his character (by himself), but I do like what he ADDS to the show. Even though he hasn’t had a main plot, he is amazing as a supporting character (which is something Kary talked about in the last post).
And the “Ugly” being Jake Martin definitely hits the mark. I did not see this eco-friendly behavior coming…no one did! The fight was bad…it was sooo overhyped by promos and the whole team thing. I’m guessing it was just a plot to get the garden made and use it for the hockey players vs. Clare plot? Not sure, but overall season 12 has been amazing up to this point. I hope the writers keep it going into the fall block.
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Actually I wasn’t surprised by Jake’s environmentalism because I’m the only person who has ever looked at those character Twitters. I was bored one day last season and went and followed the links to the character Twitters and perused their tweets. They usually setup what happens in the coming episode, and after, and fill in time. But anyway, a bunch of Jake’s filler tweets were about recycling and sustainability. There was one that even said he couldn’t stand it when people throw recyclables in the trash. On a sidenote: if you thought Clare was annoying last season, her tweets took it to a whole new level.
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The Good
Camaya – I will admit, when I first saw the Bite Your Tongue promo I was skeptical at how the writers would utilize Campbell and Maya’s relationship since the promo was labeling them as star-crossed lovers. However, when I saw Walking On Broken Glass I was blown away with how the writers were efficiently developing their relationship by first showing Cam’s attraction to Maya and then vice versa in future episodes.
Seeing these two interact together and experience awkward dates reminded me of Melanie and Snake from Degrassi Junior High who never had successful dates. BTW Maya alone is what Melanie would have been if she were a musician. I have to give praise to Olivia and Dylan for displaying Camaya’s chemistry in a natural way. They are basically how a couple should be handled on Degrassi. Plus, they are not “EClare 2.0” as some believe because they have a refreshing nature.
Now, in terms of how they are going to be handled in the second half of Season 12 is going to be interesting to see. This is becuase there will be two ultimate tests to their relationship:
1) Maya’s reaction to Cam hurting himself on purpose to get away from hockey.
2) Cam’s reaction to Maya kissing Zig which might have something to do with the first one.
In general, I enjoyed watching these two this season and I’m excited to see what will happen to them in the second half.
Mike Dallas – Kary, I can’t agree with you more about Dallas. He is without a doubt one of the best additions to the show along with the Niners and Cam. The fact that we see this guy as neither good or bad is amazing itself. What always captures my eye is how Dallas blends well with any character on the show whether it’s being the voice of reason for Fiona or the older brother figure for Cam. I’m eager to see what the writers have in store for him this fall.
Characters Who Had Their First A Plot – Every single character that had their first A plot during Degrassi: Showdown was amazing. For Zig, he redeemed himself in his storyline about being poor and was able to wow me with his insecurities towards himself and Tori. Also, Ricardo Hoyos had some improved acting and made this episode surprise me.
For Cam, he masterfully showed both his happy and dark side in his storyline about feeling the pressure of hockey. Dylan Everett was wonderful in this plot. Plus, this storyline had one of the most jaw-dropping “Go There” moments in Degrassi history where Cam throws himself off the catwalk ledge on purpose to injure his arm and get away from hockey. This episode is easily a highlight of Degrassi: Showdown given it was relatable and executed realisitically.
For Imogen, her storyline about her father’s dementia was heartbreaking and the fact he ran over Voulta without knowing or remembering. It was sad seeing her life almost collapse as her father’s condition got worse. Some great acting by Cristine Prosperi especially during the hospital scene in Part Two.
Production Style – I don’t know about everyone else but I loved the HD look this season as opposed to the glossy red camera look that was seen in seasons 10-11. I’m glad the Degrassi producers toned it down because this makes the show look less artificial and more realisitic. Thank you!
Side notes:
-The fight scene in “Sabotage” is the best one to date. It is one of the reasons why I consider Sabotage Part Two the best episode of Degrassi: Showdown.
-The Season 12 opening was an improvement over the previous one that almost put me to sleep. The Degrassi producers put in more effort which I commend them for.
-If Cam awkwardly asking Bianca for sex is the funniest moment in Showdown then Dave trying to act gay comes in second. That scene left me in stitches lol
The Bad
Drew Torres – You took the words out of my mouth again, Kary. This character is useless at this point and I fail to see why Drew is getting any screentime if he is not going to Degrassi. Please writers, give this show some saving grace and just write this character off.
Fiona Coyne – Every episode that Fiona was in during Degrassi Showdown showed how much her character is deteriorating. Write her off, please. Her romantic chemistry with Imogen is still dull and the writers are making a lame attempt to throw another love interest her way. As a result, Imogen’s perspective is yet to be discovered. It is ironic how the first week of Degrassi: Showdown was the best and Fiona did not appear in any of the episodes.
The Ugly
Jake Martin Going Green – The majority of Degrassi: Showdown was solid and compelling. However, the season had a weak point when Jake Martin turned into a male version of Emma Nelson by trying to build a eco-friendly garden. Talk about out of character. It was almost like I was watching an episode from Season 8. And the fight scene is the worst one in Degrassi history.
Overall, I loved this season mainly because it is a improvement over seasons that have had hit or miss episodes. Also, the realism was shown more in these episodes, especially in regards to Clare’s sexual harrassment and its fallout.
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It seems as though there have been many more nuanced details added into the show, and I’m loving them. For some reason, one that sticks out for me is in Sabotage (2) after the fight at Fiona’s loft. Fiona snaps at Dallas and tells him to leave, and he just gives her this plaintive look and whimpers, “Fiona…”. That was the moment I fell in love with Dallas. It was a tiny detail, but it just conveyed so much about his character to me. He can be an immature, boorish asshole one moment, and then the next moment he’s vulnerable and hurt. I also think that Fiona is the one person he actually cares about, and you could tell that his heart was just shattered when she snapped at him. I’m not saying I ship Fallas, but I feel as though the two of them will hook up. Imogen also seems to be threatened by Dallas, so I think there’s some foreshadowing going on. I foresee Fimogen parting ways in the second half of the season, Fiona will be devastated, and seek support from Dallas. I think that her vulnerability will cause her to mistakenly hook up with him. Part of me thinks it would be interesting, but most of me really doesn’t want Fiona to make out with another guy, even if it’s a mistake.
Also, say what you want about Fimogen, but they certainly are an affectionate couple! I don’t think that any same-sex couple on the show has been seen canoodling as much as they have, so kudos to the writers for having the balls to feature them making out so much.
I still love Fiona, especially how she’s been developed regarding her sexuality. She’s really believable as a lesbian. While I loved Alex, I didn’t feel as though her sexuality was developed well enough for me to buy her as a lesbian. I always wondered what happened between her break up with Jay, and her relationship with Paige that caused her to realize she was gay. She also never really made much reference to her sexuality. Fiona CONSTANTLY does. She TALKS about her attraction to girls. She mentioned having movies on her watchlist just because they all have Olivia Wilde. She’s not just a girl who’s dating other girls, she’s a FULL-ON LESBIAN. Again, those little nuances go a long way in establishing characters.
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I have to agree with you too about Dallas. “Fiona snaps at Dallas and tells him to leave, and he just gives her this plaintive look and whimpers, “Fiona…” That is when I really fell for his charater too. He is a bit of a cad not an ass. He does have a heart. And I still blame Katies wrath with the problems with the Hockey players mostly with Dallas . She blamed them for the wrecking the garden with out having any evidence. Then the chain reaction hit, first Jake, then Clare and now Eli. Im tired of these fans putting blame solely on Dallas.
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I would like to mention another ugly thing about the Showdown…how some extreme Eclare fans were talking about how Clare was being selfish and how she should leave Eli alone because it’s not like she just got sexually harassed (sarcasm). Of course you might not count that because that was just some fans and not the actual show or the whole fandom.
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Another scene I loved was in Never Ever (2), when Imogen’s going through her home, and “dad-proofing” it. It beautifully echoed her father’s state of mind. She was going from room to room, doing very practical things to help, very reasonable things, but in the end, she hit a wall (her father mistaking her for her mother), and realized that there was nothing she could do to stop her father’s sickness.
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I also think what made this scene so powerful was the way it was shot. People may not have noticed but this was a one-shot. I was surprised to see one since they barely do those (I remember one I think at the beginning of New Beginnings). The way the camera flowed with Imogen from room to room was very nice to see. But of course, the content of that scene was especiallty powerful too ;)
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I think the Ugly should include the total disappearance of Wesley, he was a really great character with a lot to offer even though the writers said that they used his character to the fullest. I was really enjoying the interactions between him and the other characters and I was waiting for him to get a really serious storyline that would help him to mature and grow as a person, I just think it’s so unfair that he’s going to leave the show and probably never be mentioned again. At least Darcy and Dr. Chris had Kenya and KC has BC, they at least should have written Wesley off instead of completely removing him from the Degrassi Universe. It’s just such a shame and I was hoping that Kary could give him a goodbye on here, he deserves it.
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Wesley’s disappearance was a part of Season 11. he pretty much dosen’t exist this season.
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Am I the only one who thinks Fiona is NOT irrelevant?
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Well, anyway:
The good: In this season, it finally wasn’t the Eclare show.
The bad: Fimogen kissing was always interrupted!!! lol
The ugly: Jake becoming a tree hugger
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The ugly: And Campbell’s heavy breathing
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Maybe he can’t help it? When I was younger I used to breath heavily (as my bro used to say), but I didn’t realize it. I calmed down once I realized I did breath heavily, though.
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^ I believe her comment was an inside joke. If you pay close attention to the TeenNick promos throughout Showdown, the ones leading up to Rusty Cage featured that sound clip of Cam breathing heavily so much it kind of reached a funny point.
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I can’t believe you didn’t mention Clare. This season was her best season so far. At the very least, it featured some of Aislinn Paul’s best work.
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This has been such a strong season. The story lines, writing and acting have been consistently good.
Drew dropped out of school so that the show had a legit reason to bring him back for season 13. I don’t hate him and thought he was pretty interesting during the concussion story. Then he went back to being a tedious boob.
Dallas and Cam are excellent new characters, and there’s still a lot we don’t know about them. Becky warming up to Adam suggests she has possibilities as well.
Pretty much love everything about the niners.We all know there are makeups and breakups in the years ahead, but it would be a serious mistake to send all four into their own little worlds. Hope that doesn’t happen.
I’m fine with Fiona and Imogen. I don’t think either will be back next season, so here’s hoping they stay together until graduation.
The Jake-Luke fight was the weakest thing in the season.
I like Katie a lot more. Since she lost everything she used to care about, she has become pretty fearless and a little crazy.
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I agree with you. Degrassi: Showdown was solid. In a way it reminded me of not only the earlier seasons but the Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High seasons as well. Like Kary said, the interactions were more natural and there was less focus on relationships. The new characters, along with the niners, give a refreshing feel to Degrassi.
I know I’m interested to see the fall block of episodes especially since Becky will have the A plot in the premiere episode which will have to do with Adam.
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DALLAS IS A SENIOR,CORRECT? SO HE’S JUST HERE FOR SEASON 12 AND SO LONG DALLAS OR WHAT? ORIGINALLY I DIDN’T REALLY SEE DEGRASSI GOIN ON MUCH LONG IF AT ALL ONCE CLARE & ALLI GRADUATED. BUT THE NINERS ARE ACTUALLY A VERY GOOD ADDITION TO THE SHOW AND I CAN SEE THE WRITERS RIDING IT OUT UNTIL THEY GRADUATE AT LEAST. HAS THERE BEEN ANY WORD ON WHO WILL CONTINUE DEGRASSI AND WHO WILL LEAVE BECAUSE KC LEAVING WAS SO OUT OF THE BLUE
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Sorry I couldn’t hear you, you werent loud enough. Like your comment, don’t like the all-caps though ;)
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IT WASN’T A COMMENT TO BE LIKED,IT WAS A QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED. IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE ANSWER THEN MOVE ALONG
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I agree with Kary and pretty much everyone in the comments, Showdown has been great! The writing was better, the storylines too. I must admit I’m afraid for 12.5. I know the writing will probably stay at this level of greatness but I’m scared that the regular one episode a week format will damage the show. Part 1s will really have to be outstanding to keep me interested and make the waiting worth it. Degrassi, I put my trust in you (as always).
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In my opinion, Connor and Marisol were irrelevant in season 12 (mostly Connor).
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In my opinion, Marisol had about as much relevance as Owen and Mo. All three of them were relevant to an extent, but lacked major roles in a storyline.
Connor was more relevant than all three of them, because he had a stronger role in Clare’s “Closer to Free” plot than the three of them ever got.
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that’s because they are SUPPORTING characters. Their relevance comes with supporting other people or being awesome background noise. Like with marisol being a good friend to katie and making fun of Jake. I love how the supporting cast was a lot funnier and just overall better this season!
I’m so sad for connor, now that KC is gone who will be his friend? Because I don’t see him girl talking with clare, alli, and Jenna.
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Hey Kary, I’m not sure if you addressed this yet, but there’s been a lot of debate in the fandom about whether or not Katie raped Drew because he didn’t/couldn’t neccessarily give consent. Any thoughts about this?
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^ Sadly, this is true. Because of the way rape is actually defined, technically one could say that Katie actually did rape Drew. He was intoxicated, and she was not. In the rulebook, that’s classified as rape right there.
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If he said yes, then that’s all that matters.
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Not exactly. When someone is intoxicated, they are said to lose all ability to properly give consent. Sure, he may have wanted it. But according to law, we can’t know for sure because he wasn’t sober — he wasn’t thinking clearly.
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at least, that’s U.S. law. idk if its different in canada.
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Katie didn’t rape Drew because she didn’t know he was intoxicated. He convinced her he wasn’t, and when they broke up at The Dot, she even said “you said you weren’t”. If she had believed he was intoxicated, his “yes” would be invalid consent and it would be rape, but she didn’t and Drew agreed, so it’s consensual sex.
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For me, the Good was Maya and Cam’s relationship, Imogen’s plot in Never Ever, Becky and Adam’s interactions (more for the potential than what’s actually happened so far), and definitely Mike Dallas (catalyst for multiple good plots, dramatic and comedic). It’s a shame that presumably they’re not going to have Dallas around for very long. The bad was Drew’s plots after the first week’s fireworks; hopefully there’s more of interest to come in the second half of the season. The ugly, I thought was the way they got rid of KC; felt very abrupt even if it was preceded by a weak lower level plot involving KC. They could have done more with the character; and now if Alli does leave early, it only leaves Clare and Connor from that class that started as niners in season 8. Additional good things are some of the small moments you appreciate on re-watching the episodes: Becky’s excited wave to Jenna in the beginning of Closer to Free, Maya’s smile at their band practice in Got Your Money, etc.
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I wonder if the fake-out at the beginning where that rumor the school would close felt like it came from nowhere and then they turned around and blew us away with the rest of the first week was on purpose. (I think the letter home will be the last piece of Degrassi-related printed material referred to in the show that won’t actually be written and posted to the official Tumblr.)
I like the idea of an earnest, slightly annoying “cause boy”, basically a male Emma but that should’ve been baked into a niner from the start instead of suddenly grafted on to Jake (and yes, they did hint about it on Twitter).
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I agree with everything you said Kary! I just have some additions :)
The Good: Connor was really enjoyable to watch in Showdown. He was on his way to becoming the Toby of this generation. An interesting character with so much potential with one storyline in their first season. Connor was lucky enough to get a second storyline during the Boiling Point, although I felt it was kind of weak. You can tell that Connor is trying to fit in and his jokes have gotten really funny. Hopefully we’ll see more of him in 12.5.
The Bad: The Jenna storyline in Closer to Free was so OOC. While I was impressed that it took the direction of Jenna becoming religious because she was lost, I was highly disappointed with her original intention of getting baptized for a guy, especially one she barely knew. She has come a long way since her debut in Season 9 (when I absolutely couldn’t stand her) and up until CTF, she was one of my favorite characters. I’m glad she’s on the right path now and not becoming a crazy Christian like Becky.
The Bad, honorable mention: No Wesley!! :(
The Ugly: Absolutely no discussion of what’s going on in New York with Fiona’s mom. You can’t just end a season with this big story of a parent on house arrest without even bringing it up in the first half of the next season (Besides Imogen asking Fiona, but we didn’t get an answer). A Skype chat would’ve been nice to see.
Side notes: 1) I was really enjoying the Clare/Katie friendship at the end of Showdown. I’m interested in seeing if they’re still friends in 12.5.
2) I feel like the only reason Luke is around is so we can have Becky. He barely had any lines and his presence just annoyed me.
3) The niners have stepped up their game this season! I seriously felt like I was watching Zoey 101 during 11.5. Maya is going to be the next star of the show, after Clare graduates.
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Forgot to add another sidenote.
Whoever came up with the idea for the StuffClareSays video with KC, Dave, Adam, and Connor was a freaking genius.
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Pretty much agree with what you said, Kary
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I HAD SEXXXXX!!! Hilarious. & I dnt see Dallas as good or bad, I see him as a teenager. Teens are mean sometimes, teens are nice sometimes. He is a great character so far (one of my favorites). Also, I dont have a girl favorite character which might be weird. I mean Dave, Dallas, Adam, & Eli are my favorite male characters but I cant come up with a female character whose storylines I cant wait to see. Cant wait for the summer block
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