Epitome just released a quick behind-the-scenes video of Bitter Sweet Symphony, getting the reaction of the actors about the episode and taking us inside the readthrough as the cast and crew read the script for the first time.
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The Table Read
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The One And Only: Dylan Everett
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Kary's Degrassi Blog 
awe :(
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And it’s revealed, they brought a character on just to kill them.
If this isn’t proof that Degrassi is more about entertaining people at the expense of good characters I don’t know what is.
Is it worth it to make a good plot at the expense of ruining your characters?
Lame. This show is rapidly going down the drain. I expect it to be off the air within the next 5 years. You can bookmark this because it will happen. It’s becoming no better than 90210 (the remake) or even Glee. It no longer has it’s Canadian charm nor is educational aspect nor it’s good treatment of characters and character development.
I should have stopped watching when everyone started saying the show was becoming bad. I refused to believe them but this takes the cake (pun not intended).
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Personally, I would argue that plot and character are almost indistinguishable in a drama like Degrassi. The circumstances of the plot are what fuel the traits of the character. Cam was a great character BECAUSE of his suicide. He was unpredictable, insecure and volatile in a way that no other character has been on the show. That’s what made him so damn interesting, but you can’t sustain that kind of intensity. It has to come to a boil. If Cam hadn’t killed himself, his unhinged personality would’ve gradually leveled out. He’d be just another pretty boy with girl problems and we’d all be complaining about how his character “used to be SO good.” I’m sorry to see Dylan Everett go, because I think he’s one of the best actors the show has ever seen, but Cam’s suicide was the only satisfactory ending that makes sense for the character.
Also, I thought the episode was actually very educational. The messages weren’t heavy-handed like Degrassi High sometimes was, but I think it’s more effective that way. When something “reads” like a half-hour PSA, it’s very easy to roll your eyes and stop listening, but this episode addresses suicide in a way that feels organic to the characters so I think it’s way more effective. Plus, suicide is a very serious issue; Degrassi has dealt with virtually everything else you can think of, so it’d just be weird if they turned a blind-eye to suicide.
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In terms of quality, what were your thoughts on Maya and Tori reconciling at the end?
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How was this done anymore responsibly than what they 20 years ago? It’s like the same thing as Claude with a more developed character. I guess he didn’t sound as bitter as they made Claude seem and they did mention that he had a mental illness (though they made the selfish statements more than that one.)
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I think what they mean is that Cam’s suicide wasn’t sensationalized; it happens off-camera and it isn’t romanticized. I actually thought it was one of the most realistic episodes they’ve done in a long time. It felt like a real school instead of a group of sexy dramatic teenagers. We had a suicide at my high school and the reactions depicted on Degrassi were virtually identical to what I remember.
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I agree with this. Part 1 was great, but Part 2 really did feel like an extended PSA to me–the dialogue was almost identical to Showtime (except for Dallas, who was awesome). When the counselor’s voice over came on to discuss how they should react, I just rolled my eyes.
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Wait…so he’s done with the show?? Since his name was listed for other episodes I assumed he’d be appearing in dreams or flashbacks or whatever. That’s very disappointing. I hope he’ll continue acting.
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Dylan Everett is one of the closest things Canada has to a young star, even before Degrassi. He’ll be fine.
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Ah, this makes me feel better after balling my eyes out all night. WAY better. I’m still really sad that it had to come this, but what can we do?
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After watching last night’s very special episode, I was surprised to come online and see so many complaints about it. I guess that happens with a topic like suicide: no one is ever really satisfied with how it is done. I do think perhaps I have a different perspective, being an older Degrassi viewer ( or at least I hope I am the older end of the spectrum, as its becoming borderline weird/creepy that I continue to watch it!). Here is my “mature” take on some of the more popular complaints I have seen:
1. “You didn’t see the body/parts of the body & no one talked about how he done it”: I personally think people complaining about that fact completely misses the point. What you really mean to say, whether you care to admit it or not, is that you wanted shock & drama. And what you got was reality. I hate to break it to you, but this episode came pretty darn close to how it would be in real life. It is about a school dealing with the issue of suicide, not CSI. I don’t think good story telling needs to rely on shock all the time – we really have become desensitized. Due to strict rules on confidentiality the details of how a student commits suicide would never be officially released, so that is also very realistic. Plus, I am sure the writers were sensitive to the possibility of copy cat suicides. I felt their choice to leave these things out was very respectful to the subject matter. If you are concerned that it didn’t go “deep” enough, they have the whole season to deal with the aftermath. This isn’t going away anytime soon.
2.” I can’t believe they brought on a cast member only to kill them off, that is so gimmicky”: It is not that unusual for actors to be cast as characters that have a pre-determined storyline or fate, that does not necessarily make it gimmicky. I feel they chose to do it that way specifically because they wanted to deal with the storyline in the right way – straight from the start. The writers and producers stated that they had wanted to deal with this issue for a while but never felt strongly about any of the characters doing it. The only one I could see is Ellie, but she had a certain resiliency factor IMO that would make it less believable. Cam on the other hand, though very sweet and likeable, was just too in over his head, clearly completely overwhelmed with everything and had very little support system (other than Maya). I feel that his anxiety and depression were portrayed very well (I can speak from experience), I found myself in awe that I, as a 26 year old teacher, could relate to the feelings of a high school boy.
3. “Where are his parents in all this”: historically family/parents have not been a huge focal point of Degrassi, rightly or wrongly. I’m sure Cam’s parents were devastated, but this show is about high school and it makes sense that they focused on that.
4. “It seemed rushed”: This is the one complaint I’ve seen that I think is very valid. Yes, it would have been wise to make this an hour long special or combine the part1 & part 2. But given the ½ hour slot, I thought they did well with the time they had.
5. “The emotions expressed by the characters were offensive and/or not realistic”: um, they were pretty realistic. Anger and blaming the person who died are incredibly common feelings and if you don’t think so, you have probably either never been in grief yourself or known many people to go through it. I felt they captured differing reactions very well: It spoke to the experiences of a wide range of people. Oh, and just because Maya said he was selfish doesn’t mean Degrassi is supporting that view or saying it is right. They are showing a character’s legitimate reactions. People saying it doesn’t follow the stages of grief need to do their research. The traditional stages of grief do not have a very solid scientific backing, and even if they do occur, they don’t go always go in order per say. The only rule about grief: everyone reacts the way they react. Period.
6. “Stupid Eli found the body”: Whether you like or hate his character this choice makes perfect sense. Eli has major issues with death; he is the character that would be most deeply affected by finding Cam. Personally, I find Eli amusing. He has been used a lot, but really….meh. Degrassi tends to pick on certain characters.
In conclusion, I commend Degrassi for “going there” but in a classy and responsible way. Kudos! It really reminded me of the classic “issues-based” Degrassi I miss (grit with a touch of cheese). I think lately they have just run out of issues to tackle and now they feel they have to resort to the typical drama of other teen shows. My hope for Degrassi is that they will return to some everyday, more naive teen problems (perhaps some younger, junior high aged characters) mixed in with the heavy “they went there” content. For example, Maya’s whole “my chest is too flat” was so amusing (I laughed so hard, because I have totally been there) – I actually yelled out “80’S DEGRASSI!!!” at the T.V. Or do teens nowadays just not relate to that stuff? Anywho, that’s my rant. Time to stop procrastinating and go write report cards (ugh, grown up stuff!! it doesn’t get any easier folks…..er….I mean….sure it does!!)
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Thank you for saying this! Also as an older degrassi watcher I felt everything you said. I’ve been watching degrassi since DJH & I thought I’ve seen it all and the show really didnt have anywhere else to go. Boy was I wrong! This epsoide really stuck with me. I liked Cam’s character & I’m sad to see him go, but I feel like if there was ever a character that were to take their life he was the perfect fit. Sure they could have kept him around and showed him getting help. But they already did that with Eli’s character. It was time to show what could happen if you get to that point when you feel like you have no other choice. It’s sad but it happens. I feel like this episode can really help get the conversation going about self harm
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YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! I was very surprised about the comments as well. Showing grief doesn’t mean cry your eyes out and waiting in a line with other to get some therapy. It’s different for everyone. That’s what one of the character’s said (think it was the counselor. ) That’s what all of you and Katie, Zig, and more characters that i’m missing need to realize.
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I agree with you completely. Being a somewhat older Degrassi viewer, seeing all the comments and reactions other fans are having is a little frustrating. Although we all loved Cam, this storyline needed to happen on TNG. And the way they did it was very realistic and believable to me. It was very sad, yes, but also very raw.
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Re the parents, I just assumed they hadn’t gotten in yet. The whole episode takes place over the course of a day or so, and Cam was pretty far from home the whole time. I’m just going to assume they were too busy either a. identifying the body or b. planning funeral arrangements to come to a spontaneous candlelight vigil at a school he attended for one semester.
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I can’t believe that no one remembers Ellie trying to commit suicide. She tries to drown herself in Degrassi Goes Hollywood but then Craig saves her.
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You’re right, but this is the first time they’ve actually done a suicide storyline to the finish. The thing with Darcy was pretty intense as well, but the suicide topic was really never discussed or addressed enough. They needed to focus on it for once because it’s a really important issue.
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I am glad that they show how mo morn death, because that how i handle death. when someone die i dont want be sad so i start to crack jock and as you see in show people got upset at him for doing so. that why when this happen in my life i have to mouth shut, because it most people see as sin to do so when so die. so i glad the show that because is how i and some other people handle death.
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I dunno, this doesn’t compare to JT for me just because of how much longer we knew JT Even though “Rock This Town” was more spoiled that BSS, which was mostly a speculation type thing, the emotional connection with JT to viewers was greater than someone we knew for one season. Plus, I thought the ending to “Rock This Town” is probably the greatest ending we’ve ever seen to an episode, while the BSS conclusion was just okay. That probably has something to do with freeze-frames, which I wish they would bring back for every episode, but especially this one. Even though to me RTT was better than BSS, I hope Degrassi uses this as a jumping point like with “Standing In the Dark,” returning to its “Go There” origins. That was a great start to a dark storyline with Darcy, and I hope something can be taken from this with Eli to see him deal with what happened like we saw with Emma post TSS. I know we are all hoping for that Snake-Claude-Eli connection. Hopefully even if TSS and RTT were more emotional, this can establish a precedent for Degrassi to have a whole great beginning to what might be called the “Next Next Generation.”
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I don’t think you’re SUPPOSED to compare JT and Cam. The situations are very different. They needed a way to write JT off the show so they did it as dramatically as possible. With Cam, they created the character specifically with a suicide storyline in mind. Also with this last part of season 12 I think it’s more about how Cam’s death will continue to affect everyone else, rather than Cam himself, if that makes sense. Yeah I just don’t think JT and Cam are comparable.
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What the hell ever happened to Luke? Will we ever get a Luke storyline again?
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