JustMe2000

It was the most recent episode and the obvious symbolism of Clare happily riding home between Jake and Eli in the truck that inspired me to make this thread.

However, that's just the latest in a long line of romantic triangles the show has used over the years, usually to create tension between couples when the writers are too lazy to come up with other ways to do it.

Obviously other shows overuse the device as well, but it does seem to hold a unique spot in the Degrassi Universe. There's already been a handful on Season 11 and we still have the second part of the season.

So post here about your least favorite romantic triangles (and squares and more in some instances) and your general distaste of triangles on the show.

Oh and it goes without saying that this isn't a thread to compare the two couples in a romantic triangle- i.e. no individual couple bashing.

shance

I hated the Manny/Craig/Ellie triangle. It was totally degrading for Ellie's character, and really lacked the passion of Manny/Craig/Ashley (and seemed like a "replacement" of sorts for it, since Ashley was gone at the time).

Nekoshoujo

Honestly this really comes down to my main issue with Degrassi right now which is it's too relationship centric. What happened to actual storylines? Love triangles are just a way to keep the drama going when in reality couples shouldn't even be the central focus of an episode.

That said Chantay/Danny/Leia was beyond uselessly stupid.

bailamicorazon

Hmm, one of the things that irritates me is that the writers seem to think love triangles are the only issues couples face. There are SO MANY reasons why relationships don't work, or why conflict may arise in a relationship--and yet, they almost always bring in a third person for the sake of conflict/drama. It's not just couples either; the few friendship-related plots we've had, almost always have two friends fighting over one guy or girl. Again, there are a lot of reasons friends fight--they don't always have to be attracted to the same person. Overall, I agree with others who have said the show is too relationship focused right now.

As for triangles I've hated: Clare/KC/Jenna (I thought it was poorly handled), Eli/Clare/Jake (I'm really, really tired of this one), Manny/Craig/Ellie (like another poster said, it kind of just felt like a replacement for Manny/Craig/Ashley, except it wasn't handled as well), Manny/Peter/Emma (Hated this one during season five), Liberty/Damien/Emma (It really brought out the worst in Emma), and anything involving Danny and Lea (/Derek or /Chantay; on a related note, I also hated Danny/Random Girl/Derek from GMMSOY)

Holland Fan Forever

I am also someone who thought that Ellie was rarely on screen as time went on if she wasn't someone's love interest and I thought that she easily could've been a much more compelling character than she ever got to be on the show. I also thought that Ashley really didn't get to do much after she dated Craig and that if she wasn't Craig's love interest, she then became Jimmy's love interest. I think that the whole problem was really Craig in that whenever Craig had a love interest that it was always all about Craig all the time and it was never really about his love interests regardless of who they were. I was glad to see that Manny at least got over Craig and eventually got her own storylines and to me Manny was a rare character on this show in that her storylines got better over the years. I feel bad for Jake because let's be honest he won't get to do anything productive or for himself until and when he and Clare split up. The writing of this show really flatlined in Season 7 for me and that the writers just haven't done a good job with friendship storylines lately outside of Fiona and Holly J and I've liked what we've seen from Eli and Fiona's friendship so far. I liked the Misfits but to me it seems like Adam is a really good friend to Clare and Eli but we don't see it in return from either of them.

EClare_x3

This thread was long overdue! I actually can't believe how many triangles there have been so far in just season 11 and it frustrates me to no end.

How many triangles has Clare been involved in? KC/Clare/Connor, Eli/Clare/Fitz, Eli/Clare/Jake, Jake/Clare/Katie, and you can add Alli/Clare/Jake in there too if you want. This girl has been involved in too many of them and before she changed for the worse, she was my favorite character and has the potential to be in such great storylines individually. My favorite scene of hers was when she found out about her dad cheating on her mom. Put her in more of those scenes -- not feeling the triangles!

kaleidocat

All credit to this thread goes to Justme2000! Right down to the great thread title. He asked me if it was a good idea and I was like...I hate all love triangles. Of course I approve!

I'm mentally writing an essay on the repetitive love triangles Craig was in but I think I'm going to have to edit this one so we'll hold off on it. Instead I'll start with a couple givens involving Caitlin:

Joey/Caitlin/Kevin Smith - Who doesn't hate that this guy had to act out his fantasies and break up the old school favorite? At the time Goin' Down the Road aired I remembered I accepted it. As a (former) fan of his, I was actually excited for Smith's appearance. It was obvious that Stacie wanted to exit the series so I made a lot of rationalizations for her departure, although now I feel quite upset that she decided to leave her family for her career. While I respect that she values her career, it's just heartbreaking to hear her describe Craig as her sort of step son in the previous episode, witness bipolar meltdowns, and she departs and it's not ever explored how it affected someone who was almost her stepson who has never had a stable family situation. I just don't think Caitlin would cut all ties like that. But the character derailment continued...

Ellie/Jesse/Caitlin - I don't know why Stacie even bothered to return. Unless if she really wanted to make out with Steve Belford and take her shirt off.

necklace

To be honest, I think that there was only one triangle on this show that was handled well and it's the Cranny/Crash one (this is coming from someone who hates both couples and is not a big fan of Craig). I believe that all three characters were sympathetic at one point or another and the whole thing went a little bit deeper than the whole "I love my bf/gf but that other person is hot". No love triangle that came after came even close to being half as good.

bailamicorazon

Oh! I forgot about these. I was a huge Caitlin fan through DJH/DH and even enjoyed her on the first few seasons of TNG. As the seasons wore on, though, the writers really destroyed her character. GDTR and JG were two episodes I wish were never made. :/

I also agree with necklace about the Ashley/Craig/Manny triangle. I thought it was handled pretty well.

And to EClare_x3, you're forgetting Clare/Eli/Imogen. They really love to put Clare in these triangles, don't they?

Nekoshoujo

I totally agree with that. I think another thing that worked about this triangle was the set up. It wasn't just played for drama, I could completely understand why they ended up in this situation. That's something I really appreciate. Now a days it seems like a character's personality is secondary to what eventual goal of the writers. Who cares if so-and-so is acting completely out of character if it moves the story along right?
Plus they got to deal with issues resulting from the triangle like Manny's abortion, and the battle of the bands. So it wasn't just another "omg I like so and so and yet I still love so and so and I'm just going to sit here and talk about it for 10 episodes and do nothing else" kind of thing like the last few triangles have been.

EClare_x3

Oh wow I did forget that one.

I think an example of a good recent triangle is Bianca/Drew/Katie. Solely for the reason of both girls having a good chance with him. It's confusing because I don't know where they are going with Bianca and Drew but that is what keeps the triangle interesting and keeps you guessing. Oh and they pulled this one off without ruining any of their characters.

Holland Fan Forever

I think that Katie is a character who hasn't been given much to do so far and I think that Katie and Drew have no romantic chemistry to put it simply. Drew and Bianca have been given more to do than Katie has and for me Krew and Cake are two couples I could really do without because to me they are just better suited for other characters but at least the writers have tried to completely ruin Katie or Bianca's character yet with a big emphasis here for me on yet.

Crystal_Ann

I hate when the writers do love triangles, they are rarely well written. Even though I loved both pairings, the one I hated the most was Sean/Emma/Peter. Peter's character growth was regressed to make Sean the better option and it made no sense that Sean left town being in love with Ellie and returned being in love with Emma. Nor did it make sense that Emma had no hesitation about reviving a romantic relationship that ended badly and resulted in her having a lot of bitterness towards her ex for a long time.

Also hated the Clare/KC/Jenna triangle, the character destruction of KC was painful to watch. He was one of my faves until that crappy storyline.

Holland Fan Forever

It seemed to me that after a short time that the writers really weren't interested in Peter or his character unless he was dating or trying to date someone. I think that Peter became infamous for having his love interests leave the show more than anything to do with him. I think that the writers and the powers that be liked Sean and Emma as a couple and that Ellie and Peter did suffer for it but to me Ellie was always the character where she always seemed to have deeper feelings for a guy than they ever had for her in return. I hope we don't have to see Jenna and KC together again as a couple because the writers will make it so that the whole thing is all about Jenna all the time and it got to the point where we really didn't see KC at all outside of the Kenna dynamic and that there was always some kind of excuse for Jenna much like what happened with Craig and Mia before her.

mellifluouscloud

OMG it's like this thread was made for me.

Add this to the list: Snake/Spike/Hatzilakos. Even the teachers/parents needed love triangles and relationship drama in season 5!!!

Oh and Emma/Manny/Kelly was PAINFUL.