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I’ve really been enjoying 13C so far as the show has churned out four solid episodes in a row. Excluding Young Forever, last week’s episode Power to the People is the best overall episode of season 13 to date. (FUN FACT: Degrassi still films episodes in blocks of four. Episodes 1317-1320 were directed by Dawn Wilkinson; they were the first Degrassi episodes she’s ever directed.)
To be honest, I’m not expecting much from tonight’s episode, No Surprises. The last four episodes have been pretty heavy, and with the next major storyline looking to be in full swing starting next week with Basket Case, it means we’re in line for a pretty quiet episode tonight.
Clew looks to finally take center stage for the first time since their kiss in 13B. I’m neither for nor against Clew, but I need more in-depth interaction between these two than what we’ve seen. There have been flashes of course, but it pales in comparison to the vast amount of time we know they’ve spent together in season 13 running Student Council.
Maya and Miles…at this point all I can ask is that they provide something even remotely valuable. I really need the Tenners to step up and be consistent at some point in season 13. As much as some fans are tired of characters like Drew and Clare leading the way, the Tenners have been inept and all over the place in season 13…is that what you want as the faces of this series once the current seniors graduate?
I might be one of the very few people who have some shred of faith in the writers’ ability to not force Bhandallas so quickly after Alli’s breakup with Leo (I don’t think its happening any time soon, at least). They’ve made it clear that Alli still isn’t over Leo, and is still dealing with the physical and emotional pain he inflicted on her. The “romance” aspect of Bhandallas is completely from Dallas’ perspective at this point. Don’t forget that Degrassi has placed roadblocks in front of Bhandallas before, and there is an even bigger roadblock in play now.
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Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, reads my episode reviews and takes the time to post their own analysis of the episodes. We’ve now reached the portion of the year where from now until November my weekly schedule goes into full overdrive mode; it will impact my ability to watch the episodes live. I’m probably going to end up posting just abbreviated reviews from this point forward (I’ll just jump directly into the analysis with either no recap or an abbreviated recap of what happened in each plot).
My review of tonight’s episode will come tomorrow, and I’ll post any promos for next week’s episode tonight.
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Kary's Degrassi Blog 
Hey Kary, I am really glad there’s a blog like yours out there with decent posts and episode reviews (thank you!). I like your critical, yet justly view on the degrassi episodes and topics. I can agree with you that 13C has been better than 13A and 13B. But overall I don’t really like this season. Season 10 to 12 were much better in my opinion… I have the feeling that degrassi kind of lost its spark. They have kind of created a new image for the show (bright colors, selfies, everyone wears like trendy clothes) and it is just not working for me. Maybe because I don’t really associate it with high school (it doesn’t feel real and credible to me). On the other hand I understand they want the show to stay up to date and attract young people and teens.
The other problem I have with this season are the subjects of the story lines. There’s just too much relationship drama. There are so many other big and little issues in high school that they could use in the episodes. And also, as you say, the Tenners really have to go bring their a game. It’s sad in a way, because they made such a good and interesting introduction in season 11. But all of this doesn’t take away that I will keep watching degrassi. I have been a loyal viewer for a while now and I like to keep it that way ;-) Watching the episodes online without subtitles and reading your blog is also good to improve my English. I’m from Belgium and they don’t air degrassi here anymore since season 12, so I watch it online. So sorry if some of my sentences/words aren’t correct or sound weird :-p Thanks again Kary for all the effort you put in to this blog! You have at least one follower from Belgium :-)
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Just look at that picture of Drew and Clare; it really symbolizes just how forced some of the relationship drama is during this season or better yet, that the writers are out of ideas. They can try to cover it up with a few good plots/subplots from time to time but the message is clear: this show has no cohesiveness. I mean just look at how they’re using Drew and Clare’s characters right now and the Tenners. Each one wasted despite the fact that if given the right material they can shine. I can only hope Zoe’s plot breaks this dull curse.
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I enjoyed reading the 2 previous comments. AnseH your English is better than most people I talk to and I live in California. :) You and Matthew raise good points. I still like the show a lot. I loved seasons 10-12 because Bianca, Fiona, Anya, Eli, Holly J, etc. were my favorite characters. I think when your favorites graduate and move on you lose that special connection. I was upset the way my favorite couple, Bianca and Drew, was written. They had such chemistry and its all gone in 2 months because Bianca goes off to college? It seemed fake and unreal to me. The actress that played Bianca, Alicia Josipovic, said on her twitter account that Bianca’s behavior was “uncharacteristic.” That’s an under statement. …..I also think with Cam’s suicide and the character of Tori leaving that the writers had to try out different things. Throw stuff against the wall and see what works and what doesn’t.
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Part of the issue is that the plot had to work around the loss of two characters I don’t think they expected to lose right yet (Tori and Adam, which were both choices made by the actors in question). Which meant that things started at a bit of an uneasy start, riled up with Adam’s death being a necessity of the narrative. As such the tempo for this season has been all off. There was no slow simmer into big plots (which S10-12 did flawlessly).
I’m hoping the first half being weaker was due to putting all these new pieces on the board, and we’ll soon be at the heavier plots later on. Due to the Cam plot they were probably trying to space before Maya was in a heavy plot, and Miles and Zoe were too new to be thrown into a drama-heavy A plot as the focus character (Drew/Zoe was good for helping to build Zoe’s character).
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THANK U for writing this blog kary!! i love u for it bro! I think the recaps u do of the shows are unneccesary.
excluding the summer block i think this is the best season of the last 3 seasons. i think this season is better then 11 and 12. but only if u exclude the summer block cuz that was lil corny.
but i have to give props to degrassi cuz i think a big part of the conryness was due to the plot involving adams death. jordy wanted to leave and they had to create a huge plot turn because of it. but its all for the best i think. degrassi really had nooo idea wat to do with adam for season 11-13. the only reason i really liked adam was cuz of the chemistry he had with eli and clare in the 10th season but that faded by the 11th. adam and becky werent even believeable as a couple. neither were fiona and adam in the beginning. but annie played her so fricken well she made u believe she was freakin lesbo. so now that adam is dead and gone the show can really flourish i think. im really proud of degrassi this year!!
DEGRASSI FO EVAAAA
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I actually loved this EP, Miles home life is really bad emotionally. Dads secrets, mom staying for he husbands career, lying to your kids.. Its nice we get to see the real drama with parents and how it effects the family. We figure that Clare had some feelings for Drew but we really got to see it in this EP. So why is Clare holding on to Eli and why is Eli still friends with Lenore is there something more going on there too that we are not seeing? Yes Eli could have called a few days before to tell Clare he is behind on this short film not at the last minute, does this sound like Eli to you, no it doesn’t?? And then there is Dallas, he needs to stop. Hes thinking with his testosterone instead of his brain. I really hope he doesn’t do anything stupid, for goodness sakes he has a young son to think about not revenge.
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