kaleidocat

1011- Try Honesty (Part 1) - Aug 4, 9:00 PM ET (MuchMusic and TeenNick)
-Holly J. thinks Declan doesn't want her to tag along when he visits Yale. Meanwhile, Wesley and Connor try to help Dave; and Clare doesn't like Eli messing with Fitz. (TV Guide)
-Holly J’s job search becomes the least of her worries when she finds incriminating photos of Declan. Can their long distance relationship really work? Dave, Wesley, and Connor form a band to get girls. (Cable TV Talk)


1012 – Try Honesty (Part 2) - Aug 5, 9:00 PM ET (MuchMusic and TeenNick)
-Declan offers to assist Holly J. with finances. Elsewhere, Eli's revenge plans for Fitz worry Clare; and Dave's lack of vocal talent puts his band and his friendships at risk (TV Guide)
-Declan offers financial help to Holly J . But when she starts to feel like a kept woman, Holly J must choose between her relationship with Declan and her self-respect. Eli comes up with a plan to put an end to Fitz’s bullying. (Cable TV Talk)

BeasleyCrazy

I'm pretty excited for this episode. Not pretty excited, I've been excited for this episode since the boiling point started!
I'm excited for both parts because 1-Eli is the best character to ever walk the degrassi halls and 2-I really like Holly J and Declan's relationship.

I know Declan and Holly J probably end up breaking up because of the whole Sav and Holly J thing (gag me please!) but I really don't want them too. I don't think Declan was really cheating on Holly J, that's just Tinsley being her ****ty self.

As for the Eli plot, I'm most excited for it. I bet Eli could kick Fitz's ass, so he better watch it. Well, I know more are leaning towards Fitz, but the little ones are always the scariest. HAHA.

Denmark

I can't wait for Fitz to pick on Adam. I want to see Eli beat the crap out of him. :|

JustMe2000

If my math is right, Thursday's episode (1012) will be the 200th in the show's history.

Denmark

... I don't follow.

Nekoshoujo

A-plot- I feel like with Eclare being around my Hollan J love has dropped a little. But this episode kinda got me down on them. I felt like HJ was really relate able in this. I felt for her. In a way what got me and that I do think this connection to Declan is holding her back. I love her ambition and I don't want that crushed by a relationship. The Fiona/HJ scenes in this were really great. I'm enjoying their friendship a lot. I liked the scene with HJ and her mom post-shopping trip.

Okay so my favorite part of the episode was actually Adam bouncing on the ball in the MI room with Eli. Actually pretty much all of Adam's scenes were spot on. "your locker...?" The subplot was my favorite mostly because I loved seeing all of the interactions between the misfits. I really liked Clare and Eli talking on the way to school. The fence being between them... Adorable! I wish that Clare and Adam had talked though. I get the feeling part 2 will be really good because Eli is pretty badass and I'm curious how the plan will play out. I'd say this plot was a little light but I think that's mostly because it's set up. I'm curious how this rivalry plays out and I hope part 2 isn't the end of it.

I have to say though Munro is a great actor and I think he nails every line. I have to agree with Annie that his one liners (and Adam's) are stand out. Pretty much my favorite parts of the episode.

The C-plot was okay to me. I'm glad that Dave, Connor, and Wesley are getting some screen time and I like their friendship. Wesley is a surprisingly good addition to the dynamic. I think he's a good match for Connor (as a friend). I loved that Dave couldn't sing. Didn't see that one coming! Wesley and Connor's reactions were great!

mellifluouscloud

I'm really glad they finally addressed the fact that Holly J's primary reason for wanting to go to Yale was so she could follow her boyfriend and have her "prince." Fiona's comments about Holly J "marrying rich" so she wouldn't have to worry anymore were equally disturbing/enlightening.

It seems fairly obvious that Declan isn't cheating, but I like how that became sort of irrelevant. It's like, that's what set Holly J off, but it helped her to realize other things about herself (namely, how codependent she had become and that she was losing sight of her own goals and aspirations). So, I have to wonder if they're really going to last much longer despite his big romantic gesture of showing up to surprise her (which, btw, so predictable). I guess part 2 will have to have some sitcom-esque plot of her attempting to erase the voicemail before he hears it. Unless he already has. Or unless it was on his house's landline.

I don't really have much to say about the B- or C-plots. I think Eli might be crossing a line, and I really don't like the way he grabs Clare's arm when she's walking away from him. He's done this at least twice now. Coupled with his apparently violent nature, this is alarming to me. As for the band... are they really any worse than what we've seen from Degrassi before?

Broadway_Princess

I liked that this brought Holly J to sight that "does she really want to go to Yale because Declan does too?" She is very independent and should do what she wants. But I do see Holly J wanting to go to an Ivy League school or something like that.

Holland Fan Forever

I think that Declan is the guy on the show who is most like Holly J and that Holly J would really walk all over Sav whenever she wanted to and what exactly would she talk about with Sav? I also think that she wanted to go to Yale prior to meeting Declan as she has always been ambitious. I would like to see Holly J go to the Ivy League. I think that if Danny can go to the Ivy League, why can't Holly J who always worked hard go as well? I don't think "Degrassi" has ever had a couple like Holly J and Declan before and I hope that if they break up that they get back together eventually. I think Holly J has suffered enough and I'd like for something good to happen to her. Eli is one the new kids that I actually like and want to see more of even if he's not with Claire.

mellifluouscloud

But the point is that Holly J has completely lost herself in Declan. This has been obvious to me for a long time and we finally got to see it vocalized (which is somewhat rare). Codependent relationships shouldn't be glorified.

I'm thankful the relationships on this show are ever-evolving and characters frequently break up and date other people because you generally don't meet "the one" at age 15, 16, 17. Clearly a lot of these kids think they do, but that's just part of being young and naive, I guess.

If Holly J still wants to go to Yale for her own reasons, I'll be happy with that decision. But not to follow Declan around. There's nothing romantic about that.

JustMe2000

I'm a Declan/Holly J fan and I still largely agree with this sentiment. I was glad to see her mother raise those points about the current reasoning behind her goals, and it did seem like Holly J had come to that same conclusion herself.

I'm assuming this will lead to a true Declan/Holly J break up in the second episode and while I still love them as a couple, I'm okay with that given where they are in their respective situations. And since this is Degrassi, we know there's a good chance for a rebirth down the road.

As for the other plots, I'm on team Fitz in the great Eli/Fitz war, which I'm sure isn't the "right" side, but so be it. Actually, really more than anything I'm on team Clare.

And yeah, mellifluouscloud, that's an interesting point about the way Eli has grabbed Clare's arm. If you compare that side to side with the way Bobby grabbed Fiona's arm back in the first two episodes, I'm not sure they would look all that different.

The band plot? Nope, they're really aren't much worse than what we've seen before with Degrassi bands. More than anything I loved that plot just because it produced this line:

"You're a winner, Dave! A winner!"

Every single episode he's on, that kid gives us at least one great laugh.

mellifluouscloud

I'm glad you noticed that too. I'm kind of hyper-aware when it comes to relationship violence in TV shows/movies so that just... rubbed me the wrong way. There was nothing inherently violent about it, but, I don't know. I sort of accepted it the first time because Eli seemed like a sweet kid. But now that I know he has a violent streak, and he did it again, it really bothers me.

I have a feeling it wasn't meant to mean anything though. Which also upsets me. I want Degrassi to show a relationship that is manipulative and controlling in more subtle ways instead of the blatant, visible violence (marks and bruises) seen with Bobby/Fiona and Rick/Terri. Of course the latter is extremely important, but not all violence/abuse is that recognizable.

And I worry for Clare because she seems to be drawn to guys with violent natures, and I don't know what we're supposed to make of that.

Holland Fan Forever

I think that Declan has never really gotten in the way of her dreams and goals, if anything I think that he liked her just the way that she was which is really rare for this show where so many times someone wants to change their significant other. I think that the best example of a codependent relationship on this show was Paige and Alex of the earlier Degrassi, I think that it got to the point where Alex didn't seem to be on screen unless Paige or Jay was with her. I think that of late Sav and Anya were really a completely codependent couple where they weren't given much to do. I think that Sav especially needs to be alone and learn who he is and what he wants to do without his father being involved. I think Holly J will walk all over another guy on this show and I don't think it's good when one person is so clearly going to walk all over and dominate the other person all the time. I also don't think it's good to build one person up while bringing the other person down in the process regardless of it being intentional or not which is what I think will happen even though I don't want it to.

I think that the writers missed the boat here, I think that Holly J is someone who would want to go to an Ivy League school with or without Declan being there. I am at least glad that she is still motivated to do well for herself despite her fianacial sitation. I think that the main difference that I've seen between Holly J and Declan and the other couples on this show right now is that they don't normally fight just to show that they can and they don't normally fight over trival things and that they are interesting both together and separately. I think that Declan brings out the best in Holly J. I also think that unlike a lot of couples on this show that they actually have chemistry.

.*.~.Laura.~.*.

okayy so, once again no complaints! I don't really find many Degrassi episodes bad though haha

A Plot - Okay, im on the fence. While Declan did seem to be kind of ignoring Holly J, She is jumping to conclusions way to fast. But i think her biggest problem is she can't seperate her life from her life with Declan. She is planning around him, which is sad because she was always so independant. I really do want things to work between, I did think how he surprised her in the end was cute. But the promo's for tonights episodes have me half nervous for the outcome. I don't really see Holy J as a golddigger in any sense, I mean she goes out with a guy who has money, but she also loves him. I don't call that goldigging, I just call that lucky haha.

B Plot - Im reallyyyy enjoying the Eli/Fitz dramzzz. Not only is it intense, it's also pretty funny. and while I do get Eli's beef with Fitz, dion't think what he is doing with the ID is smart. But man was he ever fierce, when he stopped Fitz from punching Adam. all I could think about at that point was omg Fitz is going to smoke a girl in the face, and while I know Adam is living as a guy, it still made me cringe when he got shoved against the locker. I just love Clare's "leave it be" attitude and Eli's complete ignorance to it, the Eclare was super cute I will say though when Fitiz kicked Eli my non exsistent male parts even hurt lol. All the Eli/Adam/Clare dialogue I loved, all of their lines were hilarious. Im not looking forward to the smackdown between Fitz and Eli because it looks brutal but I do want to see the outcome!

C Plot - I could really take it or leave it. I mean they are main characters and do deserve to have a plot, butttt i didn't see the relevence. Hpwever, I like the Connor/Dave/Wesley trio. Its a cute plot but I don't see it going anywhere

necklace

I see it a bit differently. Sure, he grabed her the same way that Bobby did with Fiona, but there was a major difference. Eli was gentle enough, not to cause Clare pain. I didn't really see it as a proof of violence, rather as a proof of something else. He's the kind of guy you shouldn't mess up and who never backs down. And even in that small conversation we can see that he won't just take the comment, he will respond to it, and you will look straight into his eyes as he does. After this episode I'm officialy in love with his character. I never saw him as a sweet guy. I knew he would be quite messed up and a little dangerous. And he really is, but not in the physical way. I mean, that stunt with Fitz? This can end bad.

Again with the grabing, my last boyfriend used to grab me all the time when I was being stubborn. It never hurt me. Not everything that seems violent truly is violent. Yes, he is violent towards Fitz, but I'm guessing many guys in his place would be that way. Still, this is just the begininng of season 10. We'll see what they have in store for him. Who knows, maybe your observations turn out to be true.

I agree completely. When I first heard about Yale, I was wondering what happened to the strong, independet woman who didn't need a boyfriend to be happy and satisfied with herself. I love HollanJ and I want to see them together in the end, but now I understand the point Charlotte was making in one of her interviews. Right now, breaking up seems like the right thing to do. holly J needs to find herself again, and if after she still doesn't get back with Declan, well I will still believe it was necessary at the moment.