This has been the longest school year ever.
Season 14 is unique in that it’s a direct continuation of the events from season 13. There is no significant reset, though the students are returning from spring break. Season 13 got off to a horrendous start and that left a very bad taste in the mouth of Degrassi fans, tainting a season I felt was pretty good in the second half. So I can’t stress how important it is for this show to get off to a solid start in season 14.
Degrassi tends to be pretty formulaic in how it tells its stories, with small additions here and there. They break into new territory in Smells Like Teen Spirit by starting off with a flash-foward scene 10 weeks into the future. We see Miles searching for his sister Frankie in a smoke-filled school, and he’s unable to find her. We can assumed this is happening in the projected episode Firestarter (1411/1412).
Becky vs. Zoë
With things at home being horrible since Luke’s trial, Becky’s starting up a Power Cheer to take her mind off things. However, Zoë wants to join then team, leaving Becky feeling uncomfortable because Zoë reminds Becky of how she’s suffered because of Luke’s actions.
Zoë nails the audition, but Becky tells her she didn’t make the team because having “the girl who was sexually assaulted” on the team would be too much of a distraction. In the ultimate form of irony, Zoë overhears Clare and Alli talking about Clare’s pregnancy and how Drew is the father. Once the Power Cheer squad takes the stage at the Degrassi renewal ceremony, Zoë intentionally tells Becky about Drew getting Clare pregnant. While Becky is performing a stunt she spots Drew and Clare standing next to each other. Becky’s so distracted by the thought of Clew that she falls and injures herself, and Zoë takes her place on the squad.
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Clare Reveals She’s Pregnant
A morning-sick Clare reveals to Alli in the bathroom that she’s pregnant, and Drew was the last guy she had sex with. She’s adamant about getting an abortion because having a baby would ruin the future she’s meticulously planned out. She’s also been avoiding Drew since spring break because she doesn’t want to accept he got her pregnant. She tries to book an appointment at the women’s clinic for an abortion, but Drew interrupts her by asking questions. Clare lashes out at him before he reminds her that there’s lots of things to be done for student council.
Clare finally reveals to Drew that she’s pregnant and she’s going to have an abortion. Drew is shocked because they used protection, and offers to be there for her if she needs it. The next day, Clare learns she’s been accepted to Columbia. While celebrating with Alli, Dallas notices there’s blood on the back of Clare’s pants. She goes to the hospital and finds out it was just spotting, and she’s still pregnant; the doctor also tells Clare it’s a miracle she’s pregnant after having gone through chemo.
That hospital visit leaves Clare unsure of what to do, but after a discussion with Alli, Clare tells Drew that she can’t go through with an abortion and is keeping the baby.
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Miles vs. His Father
Things have been going kind of well with Miles and his dad lately, until Miles is late for their family photoshoot. Mr. Hollingsworth demands to know why Miles was late and Miles yells out loud that he was making out with his boyfriend. Mr. Hollingsworth thinks that Miles having a boyfriend is ridiculous and just a game Miles is pulling to ruin his mayoral campaign.
That leaves Miles once again upset at his father, and at the Degrassi renewal ceremony Miles is thrilled to tell a reporter that the last piece of advice his dad gave him is “being gay is ridiculous.”
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RANDOM THOUGHTS
*One of the best things about season 13 was Degrassi having characters bleed their personal issues all over those around them. You’re having a bad day? There’s a good chance you’ll snap at someone who didn’t deserve it; that’s what’s happening with Becky and Zoë. Becky’s so caught up in her own head that she unfairly punishes Zoë for what’s happened in her life. Zoë delivers a sharp jab to Becky with truthful words: “Everyone has baggage that can be distracting. Even you.”
*An abortion was never going to be a legit option for this storyline, but now things can officially progress: Drew knows that Clare is pregnant. Drew was good in this episode, supportive as expected. And while I’m still holding onto my projection that he doesn’t completely abandon Clare, the promo for 1402 shows he’s going to have a difficult time coming to terms with the fact he’s going to become a father. Oh and just wait until Eli finds out!
*Miles’ relationship with his father is so toxic. This feud is the one thing that can send Miles off into a tailspin of destructive behavior. As a politician, Mr. Hollingsworth is a master manipulator. Miles has inherited that gene and tries to manipulate situations in a vengeful manner. He’s got something good going with Tristan, and now he wants to use that to intentionally cause his father headaches.
*Welcome to Lola and Shay, who snuck their way into Degrassi in quiet fashion! I’m enjoying that these young characters are appearing and we’re going to just visually see them before they get thrown into plots of their own.
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Kary's Degrassi Blog 
yayy for new degrassi and a new degrassi review!! for some reasonnnnnn…. this is the first season when i feel like it dosent need to have an epic bombastic season opener!! and it wasnt one!! but it was still enjoyable to watch. and im ok with the opener not being epic cuz the rest should be. EXCITED FOR SEASON 14!!
soundcloud.com/aayize
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Ok seriously what is up with these new power squad uniforms? They are supposed to be royal blue and gold (yellow) not sky blue and white #awful
TWITTER: @popculturdallas
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You are not alone in that thought – they look very old school, plain, and awful!
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They keep trying to make us like Zoe but then make her do really awful things like this. She was just starting to grow on me and now I hate her again. Make up my mind writers!
I hate that Tristan is getting the Hazel treatment. He’s only brought out to be someone’s boyfriend but his side of the story is never really told in depth. He’s going to get his heart smashed by Miles. It’s like Adam. He had a string of girls reject him (who then Drew picked up and dated. Seriously, all of them) and then when he was finally happy he was killed off (Drew was there to snatch that up too)
I hope the Clare pregnancy spells the end for Becky and Drew. I HATE them together. It feel just so wrong.
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but wouldnt u prefer to see Triles relationship thru miles point of view?? miles is the one going thru new issues..
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What I love about these three plots is that they pay tribute to the original generation, although I’m not sure if it was intentional. Clare with (what she thought was) her period reminded me of Emma, Becky/Zoe reminded me of Paige/Manny (especially with Becky falling), and the previews of next week with Miles and his dad reminded me of Craig with his dad. I’m excited to see where these plots go!
And even though I was confused about the flash forward, it’s an interesting and new way to start the season and 1000% better than the start of Season 13.
My random thoughts:
I’m glad Alli was there for Clare, but I’m surprised she didn’t talk to Jenna since she has experience in this area.
Did Drew offer to make her spaghetti for support?
This school year hasn’t been that long really… Last season felt forever long because of that awful Paris trip. But I’m wondering if this season will be like Season 11 with graduation in the middle of the year since last school year was a season and a half.
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I hope they incorporate Jenna into this pregnancy storyline. Holy crap. Seriously, this episode tackled Clare’s plot EXTREMELY well and it’s only the beginning. I was expecting it to fall apart. I hope it stays this strong. I’m stoked!
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Jenna’s the new Liberty-type character (a character who is obviuosly disliked by the writers, but still kept around for some reason), so they probably won’t. Sadly, her boyfriend is also this type of character.
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I don’t know if you noticed Kary but they made an error in their condom fact.
Clare: We are the tiny percentage of which they prove ineffective
It’s actually 98% in perfect usage. In reality it’s 85% making it 15% of failure which is a lot more than tiny in my opinion. Also…
Drew states that the condom was not expired and he didn’t put it on wrong. it is very rare for a condom to be at fault for being ineffective. It is more likely and common the user is at fault. The failure percentage is from people not putting it on correctly. http://www.002.com.au/condoms/is-it-still-safe-top-five-causes-for-condom-failure/91/1 (Just to back up my statements).
So if Drew truly used it correctly, unless they got really unlucky and it was the condom, then Clare wouldn’t have gotten pregnant.
Unless this is a subtle message that it may not be Drew’s after all??? Clare immediately assumed it was Drew and didn’t bother to check when she conceived shown when she told the nurse I don’t know. This still works in with the fact that the nurse thought she already knew and that itself works in with the fact Clare was with Eli three weeks prior.
I am not saying that I am correct because I may be wrong. It is just something I noticed. I am an eclare shipper but I am not biased I don’t really care who the father is but I would prefer it to be Eli.
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I thought that the whole condom conversation scene was foreshadowing that Drew may not be the father as well. I’m thrilled to see what happens next.
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Furthermore with the lack of checking, ummmmm there really shouldnt be morning sickness less than a month after conception… Usually starts at around 6 weeks and stops around 14 weeks. So I think its possible that theyre going to use this as a storyline and make the baby end up as Eli’s??? thoughts???
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If thats the case, I’m sure Eli & Clare used a condom too thats if Clare & Eli had sex in ‘Basket Case’?? Clare has not brought up Eli at all. idk to me its a long shot for Eli to be the possible father.
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Assuming that Drew did everything right, there is still that 2% chance… Highly unlikely that she would conceive BUT still possible. Just like it was highly unlikely that she could conceive at all. Also, I’d like to think that the writers like to casually throw a lesson in casually… This one being that you can still get pregnant whether you use a condom or not. Just a thought.
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I loved the fairly quick reveal of Clare’s pregnancy to Drew – I was afraid they’d drag it out. And his reaction was spot on. I also loved the fact that they mentioned that Clare even being pregnant after having gone through chemo is something of a miracle – because as someone who watches and loves the show “Chasing Life,” and seeing the main character make the decision to freeze her eggs regardless of the cost so that she might be able to have kids someday – it’s very true. I can’t see Clare giving this baby up for that reason only – that it may be her ONLY chance to have a child. However . . . I’ve got a bad feeling we’ve got a miscarriage coming . . . dunno why . . . I just do . . .
I wanted to smack both Becky and Zoe. Becky for trying to push Zoe out of being on the squad – I get that she reminds you of your crappy home life, girl – but she was the victim – it’s not her fault, it’s your brother’s – don’t punish her for it. And Zoe for being so mean in telling Becky about the Clew pregnancy and causing her accident – I mean, really, GROW UP! I hope Zig ditches Zoe over what she did . . . I don’t want to see them together anyway . . .
And Triles . . . *sighs* Is it bad that I’m sick of them already and we haven’t seen that much of them together? Something about them together just rubs me wrong . . . maybe because I just don’t really like Tristan . . . I did laugh out loud when Miles blurted out “Making out with my boyfriend!” to his dad – I couldn’t help it, cause his dad is such a total jerk and deserves every bit of embarrassment Miles causes him. I wouldn’t want a man like him as mayor of my town – his family’s a trainwreck, his morals are pretty much shot, and he’s got an abusive temperament. I’m rooting for him to lose his race for mayor . . . for someone to expose him for the douchebag he is . . . SOMETHING, anything where he gets his comeuppance. It’s overdue!
Looking forward to next week’s episode, and the hopeful downfall of the worst ship in the history of the show – Drew and Becky . . .
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“Looking forward to next week’s episode, and the hopeful downfall of the worst ship in the history of the show – Drew and Becky . . .”
Noting is worse than Spemma.
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I don’t know why…but I really have a feeling Clare miscarries…or already has….they didn’t even do an ultrasound…which would reveal the heartbeat of the baby…she could have already miscarried.
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Its too early for an ultrasound. I was having doubts of my pregnancies and the doctors told me not to worry and its too early for an ultrasound… luckily I worked in the delivery unit so my co-worker did my ultrasound. My baby was still an eggsac, too early to detect a heartbeat.
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I still think they should’ve done SOMETHING! Especially because Clare isnt 100% sure WHEN she concieved… Surely there would be some other kind of test to make sure it wasn’t a miscarriage. Also, I think its super likely for her to miscarry due to 1. Chemo/Cancer 2. the compressed timeline of this season, I doubt theyll keep her on after the season coz their previous attempts at “College” scenarios have been pretty ughh… So they need to complete the storyline within the season.
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Those who are trying to conceive; take continuous ovulation tests, taking temperatures during ovulation, on fertility drugs, invitro etc., the doctors can check their hcg levels and monitor over time to see a decrease (indicating a miscarriage). Other than that, doctors don’t usually check that early to see if its a miscarriage, hence the doctor telling Clare, “let nature take its course”. Any further procedures done will put Clare MORE at risk for a miscarriage.
Unfortunately I believe Degrassi will go the miscarriage route only because it wasn’t done. Because Clare is Degrassi writer’s favorite, so they wouldn’t want to make her life more difficulte as a send off. I wish Degrassi will just let Clare continue the pregnancy and focus more on dealing with irreversible mistakes. This stuff does happen. Degrassi isn’t all about happy endings anyways (adam and cam dying).
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This is what I’ve been saying! I recently became aware of something called a chemical pregnancy which is basically an early miscarriage. When I looked it up, it mentioned multiple times that this happens before an ultrasound which worries me since the nurse said it was too early for one.. Why else would she mention that? Also before she went to the doctor, she told Alli in the bathroom that she thought something might be wrong with the baby. I’ve never been pregnant but I’ve known a fair share of pregnant women and they just know when something isn’t right.
One other thought, I know the writers like to mess with us and everyone is arguing over who the baby daddy is… If she has a miscarriage, then we’ll never know the truth.
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Also, Degrassi has never covered someone having a baby and keeping it. It’s been abortion, adoption at birth, and adoption later on. Mia and Dallas had kids before they were on the show. I’m so torn on which story I’d wanna see because Aislinn would do a phenomenal job either way.
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“Also, Degrassi has never covered someone having a baby and keeping it.”
Why do people insist that Mia and Dallas “don’t count” just because they already had kids when they joined the show? It’s still addressing a teen parent. We already saw two characters give birth (and I’m not even counting Spike), so how will showing a character giving birth and keeping the baby really add something new to the show?
We already know that Clare won’t be around next year. She’s obviously going to miscarry.
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I never said that Mia and Dallas didn’t count. We just haven’t seen in a character go through everything. I would eventually like to see a character find out she’s pregnant, go through the pregnancy, delivery, and then show the struggles as a teen parent but continue to push through the hard times. Jenna was the closest thing we had to that but now it’s like it never happened. Teens do have babies and keep them.
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“Teens do have babies and keep them.”
Yes. Mia and Dallas did. Two characters kept their kids and we saw two characters give birth. Why do we need to see a character give birth AND keep their kid?
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Is she going to have the baby
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I hate that Claire is keeping the fetus.
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why? I’m not saying your opinion is wrong, just want to know the reason.
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I may be alone in this, but I don’t think what Zoe said to Becky was that bad. What Becky did Zoe by excluding her from the team for personal reasons and then blaming it on Zoe being infamous for being assaulted was MUCH worse. It was Luke’s fault not Zoe’s, but Becky being selfish is punishing Zoe when she’s been through a shit storm already. Of course Zoe is going to be angry. (Especially if you consider that Becky was the one who pushed the issue when the pictures of Zoe came out and investigated something that was none of her business because she was upset a girl would be naked in a picture.) Zoe told Becky a hard *truth* and for the audience it’s better Becky knows now instead of having a drawn out ‘Drew’s got a secret’ plot.
And it’s not like Zoe planned that Becky would fall. Come on. She probably thought Becky would be embarrassed and let her on the team.
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I also didn’t think what Zoë was all that bad, and it was definitely tame compared to what I was expecting (intentionally dropping Becky or something over the top like she did during her season 13 feud with Maya). I think in that moment she wanted to embarrass Becky and watch her mess up, but I don’t think Zoë went into it trying to injure Becky so she can take over.
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I completely agree with you, Maree!
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I completely agree too! What Becky said to Zoe was downright cruel and she had no right to keep her off the team just because it made her uncomfortable. Zoe is very talented and deserves to be on the team. It wasn’t Zoe’s fault that Becky fell. I’m Team Zoe in this situation and I was disappointed by Becky’s actions. I also can’t stand Becky with Drew, so hopefully that’s the end of that.
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Zoë’s stunt is really only bad if you consider the wider impacts it has, Becky totally deserved to be called on her crap. Zoë’s stunt will wash back on Drew and Clare, and that isn’t Zoë’s concern.
But no, much like the Becky/Eli feud from S12, this is very much the bed Becky made for herself. She has issues, and they are being drawn out.
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I think that the writers just used Zoe to be the one to tell Becky about Clare being pregnant so we can just jump into the drama next week.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Finally, Degrassi changes up the typical season premier formula and does a flash-forward. That excites me because it alludes that some major and dramatic event must have happened to even be worthy of a flash-forward. Initially I was disappointed that they immediately revealed that Claire was so sure about an abortion, but I loved how they incorporated an emotional connection between her and her baby into the storyline. It added more depth to the situation. I’m interested in seeing the aftermath of Zoe revealing the pregnancy drama to Becky and if Becky will seek revenge. From the look on Zig’s face from the scene where Zoe has now joined the PS, it looks like he’s put off by her sinister side and the things she will do to get to the top. I honestly didn’t really care about the Triles storyline. It’s the usual, Miles seems authentic for a while, uses someone as part of one of his master plans to either avoid trouble or get back at his dad, and he ends up pissing someone off. I hope the writers change up that formula with him. I also love the fact, like Kary said, that the writers didn’t try to shove the new characters down our throats, but they just subtly let their presence be known. FINALLY. For once I don’t have to be disgusted with the 9ers (I usually am just because of the forceful and awkward way they are introduced.).
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My hope with Miles is that his strained relationship with his dad continues, but instead of dragging everyone else down with him (Maya, Miles), he drifts into self-harm territory the way Cam did.
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I hope not =\. My daughter is a “condom baby”. The 15% mention above. It would be nice to address the issue of condoms not being 100% effective. They did go over this too in the very last episode of Degrassi High where Joey got his other girl pregnant even though always using a condom.
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Its actually a good sign that Clare is getting morning sickness. Good nights that the baby is healthy. Though spotting does occur … it wouldn’t really be enough blood to soak though your underwear and onto jeans…. even jeans being a thicker material. Spotting is more like quarter size or less … if anything I think they will go down the miscarriage route… I thought they were when the doctor said “let nature take its course”. …. And Degrassi hasn’t done a miscarriage story… seems likely they will.
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Clare is totally going to miscarry. There’s simply no other way around it. We know she won’t be back next year, it’s already spring and Clare isn’t far enough to deliver by the end of the season. There’s no way that the writers will send Clare off with an unresolved pregnancy. They love her too much for that.
I posted this on other comments, but I can predict how it’s going to happen: Drew and Eli get into an altercation and while Clare is pleading for them to stop, she suddenly trails off and notices blood pooling beneath her. It’s the perfect cliched ending to this cliched pregnancy.
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I have a feeling Clare is going to overly stressed trying to get Eli back with Drew’s help. Also trying for Eli to accept the fact she is pregnant with Drew’s baby. Knowing who Eli is he will not want anything to do with it or he feels betrayed some how. Thats what causes her to miscarry then Clare will resent Eli or blame him. Just a theory. What has been said by the cast is what you think may happen doesn’t. I feel this season will be unpredictable just like S13.
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I honestly wasn’t impressed with this first episode of season fourteen. I am really over teenage pregnancy stories, hopefully it won’t be the entire season.
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Has it been 100% confirmed that Becky is graduating? I find it weird that the writers aren’t holding any of the seniors back, this season. I think Becky’s character still has lots of potential to be explored. She’s only been around for 2 seasons. Katie, Jake, and Marisol weren’t around long, but their final seasons didn’t consist of only 28 episodes. I feel as though we didn’t find out that Imogen was staying back until pretty late in season 12…
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Lol we didn’t find out until the season finale i believe and I remember talking about this too on posts during the break. I think that Becky will be held back as well.
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It’s not that weird. Nobody in Emma’s class was held back.
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I think Sarah said her goodbyes on Instagram. Also there was a picture on Cristines instagram also her twitter with all the Senior characters and crew wearing Imogen’s glasses. In one of the pics of the crew I think its Stohn’s pic you can see Sarah/Becky in cap and gown in the far back corner. I think the pic was taken on Aug 1, the last day for the seniors.
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For all we know the Degrassi family, TN and MTV social media are doing this ‘Who’s the Daddy’ to troll the fans to keep the fans excited for the show. They are known to this. TBH I think this will be more about who will be the better father Eli or Drew. My problem if Eli starts treating Clare like crap about her getting pregnant by Drew then later on Clare takes Eli back after all that BS. That to me is sending a very bad message to girls about relationships. I know this is Clare’s baby and its her right to choose what she wants to do. But if she disses Drew feelings that would be screwed up and very ooc of Clare. TBH Eli has no reason to be pissed at Clare. Clare broke up with Eli because he has been distant for months which is another clue that they may bot have has sex In Basket Case, as I believe basket case was near the end of the Jan time line. Also Sparks Will Fly was the near end of Feb. As I remember In the beginning of 13D Miles said its Spring time. Also 13C started up in Jan… Sorry about the rant
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They have already sent some very bad messages about relationships on this show. This won’t be anything new.
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All I got to finally say is. Screw you Degrassi Writers if you go with the miscarriage storyline. That baby is a miracle Baby for being a trooper to survive Clare’s uterus even after all that chemo. And taking Clare’s maybe one and only chance of conceiving is plain EVIL
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Thank You… Clare and Drew have been through too much in S13 and who wants another loss. To me this will be a fresh start for Clare & Drew after they Graduate starting their new life as parents. I think it would be awesome Clare leaves Degrassi pregnant and happy.
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“I think it would be awesome Clare leaves Degrassi pregnant and happy.”
You really think that Clare would be happy about ruining her future?
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She is going to miscarry. They have practically confirmed it. The carriage in the promo was black. Black means death. Black + carriage = miscarriage. One of the final episodes is a two parter called The Kids Aren’t Alright. That even tells you right when the miscarriage is gonna happen.
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I know a girl on the show who told me lots of spoilers ! So exciting knowing what’s gunna happen before it does
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Maressa tell me spoilers!
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im gonna cry if its abortion or misscarriage she had cancer she may never get pregnant again wtf keep the baby no abortion they better not make clare that person
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I honestly think the baby is Drew’s. I think the baby is a miracle is a just that a miracle. I think Drew will get more clarity in the next ep. Drew’s life has been turned upside down after Adam died ans his break up with Bianca. Clare life has been turned upside down with her cancer, losing her best friend, new friend (she met while in the hospital). Also Eli cheating one her and being very distant. And the doctor is right, many women have a hard time conceiving after cancer and chemo. The thing is that Clare probably thinks Eli will take her back in a snap and Drew thinks Becky will ok with this but they will be very wrong. Eli will see this as a betrayal and Becky would want Drew to be with Clare. “Everything will change forever”. Fans have to remember that it takes a lot for Eli to be understanding. Also he his choice to move on from her. I’m not a Eclare but I know you guys will get your endgame. TBH I think its far fetched and too predicable if Eli miraculously is the father. The other thing too I bet you anything Eli is taking time off from NYU to work stuff out until that baby bomb happens. This is why he maybe working at the Dot
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