Degrassi 14B Preview

Degrassi returns tonight for what’s been promoted as the “2-week event,” where the networks air all of 14B during that time frame.  Don’t be fooled into thinking this burn off is a bad thing; those telenovelas Degrassi did for three summers have fared much better than the weekly format.  By default, the episodes “feel” better in the daily format simply because we don’t have as much time to process them before we hastily move onto the next episode.  Add the fact a major group of characters will leave the show at the end of all of this, and 12 weeks of promos/images/fandom chatter will be compacted in two weeks, this is truly more of an event than just another block of episodes.  The only thing that really matters in the short term is how the final episodes of this block pan out for the graduating class.

Some random thoughts:

*Zig and the gang. FINALLY! The Degrassi fandom is a pro at complaining about everything. We’ll complain about them doing something, the show will correct it, and we’ll still find a way to complain about what they just did. As this show looks to reboot in 2016, we as a fandom should get better a pointing out when this show is actually doing something right.

I say this because one of the biggest complaints about the show is when they wrap up plots too quickly.  But if you’ll notice, there’s also times where they’re extending arcs over multiple blocks (Zoë’s assault, Clare’s stuff no matter how nonsensical it is), and now, multiple seasons (Maya’s been dealing with  Cam’s death since season 12).  They’ve been setting up Zig’s gang plot since 13A.  We learned there was a reason he was missing while the rest of the characters were off frolicking in France.  Maya offered him a helping hand in getting out of gang life, but it’s not easy when said leader is Vince. Now we’re finally going to see this gang life that Zig and Tiny have been so desperate to escape.

*Zaya. I’ll withhold judgement until we see it, but it’s a little concerning that these two may suddenly become a thing when Maya’s had literally no romantic interest in him for a long time.  I’m not saying people don’t change their mind, but if you strip away all fangirl emotion/etc, I just need this to not be the show’s way of giving Maya Matlin (who’s been fantastic since 13C) something new to do.

*Drecky. As anti-Drecky as most people are, I would still rather see them become endgame than Spemma.

*Damon/Jackogen. Yes! Punk Gibby returns, and he’s going to cause trouble.  I’m also very interested to see how things with Jackogen play out.  I’m not a fan of them as a romantic pairing (quick reason: Jack’s likable as a character, but sketchy as a romantic partner. Imogen tries too hard to be whatever it is that she thinks will impress Jack instead of being herself).  However, as underused as Imogen has been from a plot perspective, I’d like to see her stand strong in her final outing.

*Eclare.  Someone should give the Degrassi Writers an award.  They’ve sucessfully managed to create a ship that, 5 years later, *still* has control over this fandom and its emotions.  I’m talking about shippers and anti-shippers alike.  Why would they have ended a ship in season 12, when they knew they could still get a rise out of both sides for a few more seasons?  We can paint this ship as fanservice all we want, but by both sides responding strongly at even the slightest mention of Eclare, even in 2015, we’re all responsible for years of playing right into the writers’ hands without even realizing it.

With that said, I’m not sure if Eclare riding off to New York will happen, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be endgame.  The only guarantee at this point is Eclare will no longer be on the show after July 31st, and the fandom will move onto fighting over MatlingsZaya, or whatever Maya-related ship the show chooses to go with.

*Connor is Valedictorian.  And no, I don’t want Jonnor relationship plots in 14B.  Jonnor is so freakin’ close to endgame I can practically taste it!

I don’t think people realize just how few ships in the entire 30+ years of this franchise have ever been endgame.  Despite fans assuming otherwise, your ship receiving screen time on this show is generally not a good thing. I don’t need the writers suddenly taking an interest in Jonnor just to crap on them at the end for no other reason than “just because.”  Let Clare have all the plots she wants these next two weeks, just leave my Jonnor alone!

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What I’ll be doing during 14B

There’s not enough time in the day for me to do all the Degrassi-related stuff I want to.  As much as I hate it, I’ll be sticking with the abbreviated reviews for this block. Since the networks are airing “Watch Out Now” and “Ready Or Not” as a one-hour premiere tonight, I’ll review them together.

The Power Rankings will be back after every episode, and I’m excited knowing Connor will actually move up beyond last place, and others who’ve been lingering near the bottom will get a chance to rise.  Here’s where the rankings left off:

TeenNick is killing it in the promo department, and I expect their frequency to continue.  I’m also hoping during the episodes we’ll also see the fan-related video content they’ve been soliciting for all summer.  If you’re looking for any TeenNick promo/video stuff I’ll of course be posting them here, but just know Degrassi Source will be handling recording and uploading all of that stuff.

So….what about that 2-hour movie?

The 2-hour movie (the actual final episodes of season 14, episodes 1425-1428) appeared on MTV’s schedule for Sunday, August 2nd at 9pm.  With all that’s going on with the 2-week event, we may have to rely on a press release (or another poorly-time press blunder) to confirm.  For now I’m also assuming TeenNick would air this on the same schedule.

 

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