We’re officially one week away from the premiere of Degrassi: Next Class! For Canadian fans, #BootyCall will air Monday, January 4 at 9pm ET on Family Channel. The episode will be available worldwide on Netflix starting Friday, January 15.
Episode Description
Maya searches for a lead guitarist; Shay experiments with enhancing her assets to impress her crush; Zoe attempts to put her “more than friends” feelings for Grace aside; and things get personal for Tristan when he runs for class president against ex-boyfriend, Miles.
Kary's Degrassi Blog 
I’m having a hard time actually getting to enjoy the Triles bc we know Esme is going to play an romantic role in Miles’s storyline and I have 2 ideas; A. Miles is trying to manipulate Tristan to win as Prez or B. Triles is trying to patch things up, but Esme has interest in Miles and meddles.
LikeLike
Kary, do you really think the show is going to go there more now? Also what are your thoughts on the upcoming controversial storyline of Zig allegedly trying to force Maya into sex?
LikeLike
I think the show will go there more, especially with that being something that’s been mentioned by every Next Class interview. I hope people don’t misinterpret the show “going there” as characters dying/getting pregnant/etc every week, because that’s not going to happen. But they have more freedom to be aggressive and show more inappropriate behavior/language than they ever did with TeenNick hovering over their content.
LikeLike
Yeah I agree. I mean already in the sneak peak when Maya and Zig start making out we see her wrap her legs around him and you can tell it was very sexual. Also the Miles/Tristan makeout is going to the first shirtless makeout for a gay character this show has ever done. I really hope they do push the boundaries a little more. Such as in the grace storyline and the Zaya potential rape story, which I don’t think that is going to be an actual rape but more hoping it’s just a bit of Zig forcing himself on Maya to keep their relationship together, similar to Declan and Holly J., because those types of situations really do happen. And also the Hunter storyline in episode 10 is clearly based on Andre Kim’s video game antics from last year. I’m glad the producers kept their word when they said they’d represent that issue in a storyline this year!
LikeLike
Eek.. I made this comment after Close to Me:
“It’d be interesting if they’d do a rape storyline where the victim and the viewers had more experience with the perpetrator- a more intimate kind of date rape storyline, like what people were worried was going to happen with Declan pressuring Holly J into having sex. A storyline where viewers may feel conflicted since some may have previously liked the offender and may kinda see his perspective (I’m kinda thinking Buffy-Spike right now, if anyone was into that show). People do actually go through that- not wanting to accept that someone they thought they knew really did commit a horrible crime. This Maya-Zig thing would have been a great opportunity for that… but, fans would be outraged and it’s probably just way too heavy for Degrassi anyway.”
If Degrassi goes that route, that’s good, because it’s important… But at the same time, now they’ve developed Zig’s character into being a waaaay better person and I like him too much and I’d be so sad :(
LikeLike
I doubt they are going to go that route, but it would be a ballsy move. Granted, technically Luke was a regular when he raped Zoey, but I doubt even one person liked him before, unless it was girls who thought he was cute. Because they sure made no effort to humanize him even before that… at all.
I would commend them for doing something bold and showing teens that it isn’t always going to be the person you least suspect, and even “good guys” can do bad things. Felicity did something like that once but still not with a regular. If any teen show would have the guts to use a well loved main character to show that side of things it would be Degrassi, but don’t think they will. It would pretty much be the end of Zig and I think he is too popular. Would think if they ever did try that they would go with someone like Tiny or Winston (well before the actor alienated most of his fans). Someone liked by fans but who they could afford to “lose”.
LikeLike