Degrassi Update

It’s a well known fact that when it comes to television, I have a guilty pleasure and that guilty pleasure’s name is Degrassi. Degrassi is Canadian melodrama which chronicles the often intertwining lives of two groups of teenagers from junior high onwards. Last night was the premiere of the sixth season and I must admit, I am excited for things to come.

Degrassi’s history, at least from my perspective has been somewhat like a rollercoaster. The first two seasons were close enough to amazing, but season three was iffy at best. Four was near-perfect, full of nice, clean character development and excellent storytelling. Season 5 was iffy. There seemed to be too much trying to force issues on certain characters instead of just letting the characters be themselves. I stopped watching it about half way through because I couldn’t take it anymore. However, I did tune in to see the season finale and I was amazed. They seemed to bypass the previous suckitude, and with a little help from Stars, ended the season on one of the highest notes the show has ever hit.

So, with last night’s premiere, it looks as if they plan to continue the quality. About half the students are now in college and most of the rest are seniors. The characters have grown up and thusly, so has the show. Everything about it seemed more mature, from the credits to the plots. This is still melodrama, but I’ll be goddamned if it isn’t well written, compelling melodrama (I’m looking at you, Grey’s Anatomy).

Most of last night focused on Emma and Sean who returns to the show as a regular this year (!!!!). Of course, Emma is happily involved with Peter, so things get tricky! Seeing Emma and Sean together again were probably the best moments as my heart did a bit o’ melting every time they were on screen. Sean and Emma are like, the couple and you know they have to be together, no matter what. The whole street racing thing was a little lame and another example of the shows writer’s trying to be too topical, but whatevs. It left me eagerly anticipating next week’s episode.

A few other notes. I’m so glad that the Spinner/Jimmy drama is over. The dynamic between them is pretty great when they’re actually friends. And seeing Spinner, Marco, Jimmy, and Ashley all playing together at Paige’s going away party. OMG. Speaking of Paige, I hope they actually do something interesting with her as she’s really the only one going away to school. Make it interesting, folks.

And that’s all I have to say about Degrassi this week but if I’m really lame I will update about each new episode because this is my only outlet.