Teenagers Web Series: Episode 8 (Video & Review)

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One has to wonder whether or not the kids in Teenagers share the same curse as the Degrassi kids, given how this finale plays out.  Maybe suffering through a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances is a Canadian thing.  Either way, Episode 8 delivers a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that leaves the door open for these stories to continue.

“There were some…complications…with your test results.”

There isn’t much to say in terms of Ash and Bree in the finale.  Apparently Bree receives good news about her chlamydia diagnosis, but on the other hand, Ash is informed there were complications with his test results.  On top of that, Ash receives a rejection letter from the University of Toronto.  The more we see Ash hanging around Bree, the more we see him opening up, allowing himself to be vulnerable.  “It weird, sitting here with you,” Ash says.  “I feel like everything’s gonna be okay.”

Bree chooses not to share her good news with Ash, and later at the party we see her behaving carefree, while things in Ash’s life seem to be falling apart.  This storyline fades into the background of the finale because there are much bigger things happening.  However, we’re kind of left wondering whether the current state of these two individuals will slowly tear them apart in the future.

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Throughout the first seven episodes of Teenagers, T has been involved in two separate storylines.  I never would’ve guessed that the two would eventually merge, creating a shocking turn of events for viewers to absorb.  While Ricky’s in the hospital, two of his “friends” show up at T’s house looking for their large bag of weed.  T’s able to convince them to come back later that night when his mother isn’t home, and one of them take T’s phone as insurance.  Later, Olive is worried because hasn’t shown up to her birthday party and he isn’t answering his phone.  Sara suggests that the two drive to T’s house to see if he’s there.  T finally arrives at the party, and when he finds out Olive went to his house he frantically heads there knowing Ricky’s friends will also be there.

Jeremy’s still pissed at the thought of T and Olive, and he plans to take care of T for good.  Jeremy and his two friends break into T’s house at night, and trash his room.  The trio discovers the bag of weed in T’s desk and decide to take it.  As they’re leaving, Ricky’s friends happen to return to the house and confront them, pointing guns at Jeremy and demanding their weed back.  The encounter becomes physical and one of the guns go off…it’s revealed that Olive was in the background and was shot in the stomach.  Ricky’s friends as well as Jeremy’s friends flee the scene, leaving Jeremy there stunned by what’s just happened.  T walks in and sees only Jeremy, assuming he’s the one who hurt Olive.

This episode is twice as long as every other episode in the series, allowing for T’s storylines to burn slowly before they eventually collide.  We finally get a pair of faces to coincide with the fear that reduced Ricky from a menacing-looking sibling to a paranoid child in earlier appearances.  The duo easily intimidate T, the guy with his physical appearance and the girl with her arrogant taunting.

The events leading to this episode’s climax are suspenseful.  It’s a shocking moment once it’s revealed Olive has been shot, one that leaves everyone in the room speechless.  As everyone else runs out, Jeremy is paralyzed and in tears because of the irony of his actions.  There he was at T’s house, with the intention of hurting T, and in a twisted turn of events Olive ends up getting hurt instead.  As T sat on top of Jeremy beating him, the show flashes back to the beating Jeremy gave T in Episode 5.  From T’s perspective we see a guy who’s finally able to take out his frustrations from that day by beating Jeremy unconscious.  In Jeremy’s eyes it doesn’t really matter; he doesn’t put up a fight, seemingly numb because of what’s happened.  Episode 8 does a great job of providing that “go there” moment, and then leaving us wanting more.

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There’s so many unanswered questions…

I enjoy cliffhangers when they leave you on the edge of your seat like Episode 8 did.  Of course there are plenty of questions that will need to be addressed in the next season…

*The #1 question is obviously “Will Olive survive?” I’m not a doctor, but getting shot in the stomach doesn’t seem to bode well on a TV show…I’m not sure what reason they’d have for offing her so quickly though.

*What will become of Jeremy and T?  Jeremy will have to explain why he was in T’s house, and how the shooting occurred, and if Olive survives she’ll tell people what she saw as well.  What implications could that have for Ricky’s friends? If those two are outed, I’d like to believe it could cause even more trouble for T’s family.  Also, how does this entire situation happening in T’s house affect his future?  We know T has a bright future ahead of him, but bad shit keeps happening to and around him, and now it’s to the point where it’s right on his front doorstep.

*Will Sara ever get to reveal her true feelings?  She was so close to confessing her love to Olive, who was too busy freaking out over T being missing.  T’s arch could go on without Olive, but Sara’s character would be rendered pointless if Olive died, making this a reason to believe Olive will be fine.  We could see Sara using this situation (Olive’s vulnerability after facing mortality) to wedge her way in between T and Olive romantically.

*What’s going on with Ash?  He’s opened up quite a bit since the first episode, but will he revert back to his old self with all of this bad news he’s receiving? It’s weird to say it, but chlamydia helped Ash and Bree bond quickly because they could rely on each other for support, since they were in the same boat.  If Bree’s on the mend far quicker than Ash, what’s stopping her from exploring her womanhood even further?

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