Degrassi: Extraordinary Machine (Part 2)

Tonight concluded the two part episode named after a Fiona Apple song. It's also the end of week 5 of Degrassi: Now or Never! We saw conclusions in two storylines and possibly one for the Eli/Clare/Jake for now...

It's the day of the play Love Roulette written by Eli Gouldsworthy and directed by Fiona Coyne! Imogen catches up with Eli about their make out session the day before. She is upset to hear him still plotting to break up Jake and Clare. Eli plans to plant his pills in Jake's bag and then tip off Principal Simpson. Imogen worries about him and ask him to get back on his pills and focus on the play, and her. Eli apologizes to her, but he is not giving up on Clare. Imogen then offers to do the dirty work for Eli. Though Eli is shocked during the locker search when Jake's bag is clear and Clare is the one hauled into the Principal's office after the pills are found in her bag. Eli breaks Imogen's heart when he lashes out at her for framing Clare. He rushes into Principal Simpson's office and tells him that Clare was holding his pills for him. Principal Simpson excuses Clare and asks to speak with Eli's parents. Eli convinces him to wait until after the play tonight. Later, Eli tries to explain things to Clare but she angrily reminds him that they are never getting back together. At the play, Imogen is a no-show and Eli is refusing to go on. Fiona talks Eli into going and takes Imogen's place as "Clara". The audience (including Imogen) watch the play written about the events that happened at the "A Night in Vegas" dance last semester. Eli begins getting frustrated with himself and Fiona on stage and interrupts his own play to angrily talk to the audience. He states that you cannot write a happy ending, and that people's mind tend to play tricks on them. He owns up to the way he has been behaving lately. He concludes by taking the script and setting it on fire. Fiona calls lights, and Ms. Dawes begins the round of applause followed by a standing ovation. Backstage people are praising Eli for his work, but he does not respond. He sits alone on the stage when his father Bullfrog comes to check on him. He knows that he wasn't acting on stage and that he hasn't been taking his medications. He is afraid to yell at Eli because he's afraid of what he will do. Eli assures his father that he now wants to get better for himself, and not for Clare. The next day, Jake talks to Clare after reading her positive review of the play. Clare does not believe Eli will ever finish the ending. Eli walks out of Principal Simpson's office with his father who is taking him home for a few days off of school. Clare steps out into the hallway and watches as Eli smiles on his way out the door, leaving Clare behind him.

Anya rushes home to tell her mother about plans to join the Canadian Forces. Her mother is not happy with the idea and tells her to reconsider but Anya has made up her mind. She later gets a phone call from the recruiter who says that she thought Anya was perfect, however she failed her drug test and cannot enlist. Later, Anya and her mother go to the play to watch Riley's acting debut. Anya's mother confronts her about finding her necklace with cocaine inside. Anya apologizes and explains how lost she has felt lately. She feels bad that she has now messed up her chances to join the army as well. The next day the two are in the car going over new plans for the future. Anya informs her that she is working on a second chance to enlist and her mother now offers her support because she can see how much Anya wants it. She makes plans to drive Anya to her recruitment office.

Dave informs KC that he is not cool with him sabotaging the adoption for Baby Ty. KC explains that he was trying to delay it in hopes of figuring something out. KC later apologizes to Jenna and explains that he worked things out for the adoption to go ahead. Later the two share an emotional farewell to Baby Ty and hold each other as he taken out the door. Jenna later packs up her things, thanks the Guthries, and leaves to move in with Alli. KC's mother comforts him after he has lost the people he loves.

This episode was a nice surprise, and possibly one of Degrassi's most memorable. Munro Chambers delivered another powerful scene for the show. Jessica Tyler and Sam Earle had their best acting in this episode. We saw emotional conclusions to Jenna and KC's story, a promising future for Anya, and an awakening for Eli. This episode gets an A and hopefully the rest of Now or Never keeps up the great work.

Next Week: Two part episodes "Don't Panic" and "Drop It Like It's Hot"

Degrassi: Lose Yourself (Part 2)

"I don't want to be a failure"

The fourth week of Degrassi: Now or Never concluded tonight with part two of the episode named after an Eminem song. These episodes were clearly surprising and did not end the way we expected.

Jenna and KC take turns monitoring Ty over night. The two panic more when they find out that Child Services is visiting them this afternoon. Jenna stays home to clean and make sure everything is good enough for approval, as she fears that they will take her baby away from her. KC's mother assures Jenna that she is a good mother. Jenna goes to school and present her song with Sav for the school play to Ms. Oh. Jenna runs into Alli and Dave as she looks for KC and sees him getting into a car with Marisol. Jenna gets suspicious and Dave lets it slip that something is going on with them. KC arrives home later to see Jenna confront him about being with Marisol and lying about work. The two drag out everything and have a huge fight which ends with Jenna swinging her guitar into KC's face, knocking him onto a table that collapses. The second Jenna realizes what she's done, Child Services is arriving. The woman from Child Services tells them that they cannot allow KC's mother to be alone with the baby, due to her past. She questions KC's black eye, but he tells her it's from bumping it in the shower. Jenna now is devastated that she cannot go back to school. KC spins the idea of him working more to afford child care. Jenna lashes out at him for trying to work more, which has caused some of their problems. Jenna goes for a walk to think about things. The next morning KC and Jenna argue as they are being watched by the woman from Child services while they get ready for the day. Jenna finally questions her about adoption, but KC refuses the idea. Later Jenna brings it up again which upsets KC. He does not want to be a failure but Jenna tells him it's too late. She reminds him that they can go back to sports, school, and their dreams and give Ty a better life in the process. KC reminds her that if they give up Ty, then she has no reason to live there. Jenna knows that without Ty they have no reason to be a couple.

Mo had to blackmail Sav in order to get him to collaborate, but they are happy with the finished product. Ms. Oh loves the music and praises Sav for his work. Mo pushes Sav to go for it with Ms. Oh but Sav does not think it's possible. Sav is later alone with Ms. Oh and is shocked when he sees that Mo has emailed her the song Sav wrote about her. She loves it but Sav rushes out the door in embarrassment. Mo apologizes and takes Sav out to a concert to find a new girl. While out they see Ms. Oh and try to sneak out, but Sav bumps into her on the way out. Ms. Oh introduces him to her friends, who all find it sweet that he wrote that song for her. She tells him to call her Winnie outside of school and invites him to watch the band with her and her friend. The next day he tells Mo about his fun night. He tries calling her Winnie at school but she corrects him to address her formally. As she sits down at her desk, Ms. Oh winks at Sav.

Clare is now working on the play to keep and eye on Jake and Eli. Jake however is not worried, and is reading for "Fritz" during the read through. Clare is upset to hear Eli's version of the "A Night in Vegas" dance, that paints her as a villain and lies about events such as Fitz's poisoning being an accident. She confides her fears in Adam, and stresses about this play that is being promoted as being based on a true story. Clare decides that as she reports the story, she'll figure out more. She attends the read through and watches as the story fabricates the events that took place at the dance. She questions why Eli would change the story in order to trash her and lets him know how much it's hurting her. Fiona kicks Clare out of the read through and Clare waits in Jake's car. Jake comes out later and Clare tells him all the lies that Eli is spinning. Jake laughs and tells her that he would never believe Eli. Jake finds Eli to be weird and does not trust him, and the couple share a laugh over the whole ordeal. After reading the final version of the play, Clare meets with Eli. He has changed the story to write Clare as the hero because, according to Eli, she was. The two share a moment after Clare sees a less angry Eli.

This episode was refreshing and surprising. Jessica Tyler has come a long way as an actress and Jenna has too as a character. Another great story that was disguised as a love triangle. Degrassi is proving that good story telling can trump a typical relationship drama. This episode receives and A-. The build up needed some improvement, but the overall stories ended in surprisingly more interesting ways. We now have three more weeks of Degrassi: Now or Never!

Next Week: Two part episodes "Mr. Brightside" and "Extraordinary Machine"