[kaleidocat]

1 week left of Now or Never! What's everyone's opinions? Personally I haven't really been as excited for it as I was The Boiling Point. The stand out storyline for me was the Kenna teen parents storylines; I'm still missing it. I wish it wasn't over. Every once in awhile I'd like to edit out scenes from episodes and this is one that I'd put into a mini-Kenna movie. I was really into Drew's PTSD-ish story after the gang came after him...but honestly I kind of feel myself growing tired of it. We all wanted to see Bianca's perspective but by the time we did, something just felt different. But I'm guessing all this will be hitting a climax and by the 2nd half of season 11, will be well on it's way to being resolved, if it isn't already.

[JustMe2000]

The KC/Jenna/Tyson storyline was definitely the highlight of this run for me. I also enjoyed the Anya storyline, even if the ending was too satisfactory. The Drew and his PTSD storyline had its moments, although it may have gotten a little bogged down in relationship stuff. And yes, they waited too long to touch on what Bianca was going through. My favorite relationships from this season were the Dave and Adam friendship and the Dave/Alli relationship, although the latter didn't quite have the best of endings. I also really liked the little Sav/Mo friendship that we saw during those episodes. The Holly J storyline was the easy choice for my least favorite. It's really one of my least favorites in recent years.

I like all of the newbies. They need to move Jake away from the Clare/Eli box and get him involved with other characters, ala what they did with Imogen in her recent plot with Bianca.

[Holland Fan Forever]

The Kenna storyline was easily my least favorite storyline of this season because the writers to me spent too much time making the storyline like a bad "Teen Mom" episode and not enough time dealing with the often bleak reality of being a teenage parent. I would've preferred seeing more of the underused and graduating seniors meaning anyone outside of Holly J. I enjoyed seeing Holly J's scenes with Fiona and Dawn and was it Holly J's best storyline? No, but, she at least got a storyline with some build up and I can't say that happened for Chantay, Zane or Riley. I also think that it would've been better for Anya if her downfall started last season and I think that Sav's storyline reinforced what I've thought for a long time in that the writers and the powers that be gave up on his character years ago. I think that Sav not only deserved a better farewell/exit storyline but that he deserved to have better storylines all along but the writers gave most of the storylines and screen time to his younger sister Alli. I also think that with too many of the senior storylines that by the time a decision was made one way or the other about the direction of a storyline that it was already too little, too late. I have enjoyed the Drew and Bianca storyline but I think we still needed more of Bianca's point-of-view and she still gets my vote for the character who needed and deserved more screen time this season.

[Nekoshoujo]

Honestly I was pretty disappointed in the final storylines for Sav and Holly J. Both plots interested me but not as send off plots. This was their last chance to do something great with two of the most iconic "new cast" characters yet the writers settled for ho-hum. HJ's plot did give Charlotte a chance to put her acting talent to good use, and I don't think Ray lacked chemistry with Cory but overall their episodes this season felt decent and I know with different material they could have been great.

If they had kept those two together maybe they could have had a joint plot that packed a bigger punch somehow. Or maybe this is just my Savvy J shipping side wanting more scenes with them together.


I agree about Jake being stuck in the Eclare dynamic. I know they'll break him out of it soon but he's in grade 11 already, the clock is ticking. I wish they had focused more on the parental awkwardness/divorce plot instead of Cake's lovey-dovey relationship in their plots. Clare's scenes with her mom were more actually outstanding this season, as was the scene where she finds the divorce papers. From Jake's end I think we should have seen his side of the finding out about Glen/Helen situation. It's like the writers created a really interesting, not done before on Degrassi dynamic and didn't even focus on the actual dynamic. What? Strangely the most interesting part of the love square stuff was probably the Eli/Jake scenes. They should have put more of those in the A-plots.

As for the new characters I really do love Jake. He's just so chill and normal. I really loved the realistic characters this year. Which is also why I found Katie so appealing. I just wish they had gone more the awkward with guys route with her. Sure she's been pretty awkward with them: Jake ditched her, she didn't know Adam liked her, and the upcoming sex issue with Drew, but that's still three guys interested in her before she even had her own plot. Not quite what I expected. That said I love the Katie/Clare dyamic and Katie/Drew continue to hold my attention even if I don't quite ship it. Imogen wasn't my favorite but I don't hate her or anything, I like her friendship with Bianca a lot!


Storylines I liked: pretty much everything! No really, season 11 has bit fantastically solid. Extraordinary Machine part 2 is my favorite episode currently. But I'm sure this last week will pack a punch so that might change.
Storylines I'll remember the season for:
- Anya's Coke Bender: First Degrassi Drug storyline I've liked since Jagged Little Pill. For once a character's motivations for taking drugs were explained, the drug use lasted more than five minutes, and it tied into plenty of relatable issues like feeling lost during senior year and feeling like crap when your friends judge you.
- Kenna's Baby Storyline: wow. I really hate KC and Jenna as a couple but this storyline was perfect. It really made up for the fact they were in some kind of strange unrealistic la-la land for the entire pregnancy last season. Great acting, actual character development, and some truly memorable scenes.
- Drew's PTSD/Gang violence/Bianca: It's about time they covered gang violence! And this was a pretty neat way of doing it because they tied in PTSD at the same time. I'm adding Bianca to this storyline but honestly I loved every scene she was in this season. Drew will probably be my Season 11 MVP. It was cool to see Degrassi actually do in depth character study for once. The one negative was Mr. Brightside, while I adored part 1 I felt like Katie's romance with Drew took away from the core of the storyline which was this is a journey for Drew. His singlular focus from the earlier episodes was actually what put the magic in this plot.
- ummm... I don't know how to title this next one, what about Extraordinary Machine part 2 and the bits leading up to it: I didn't really like the love square dynamic, and I wasn't a fan of Imogeli. But I loved seeing the broken up side of Eclare. It was better than the whole last half of their relationship. Aislinn and Munro do have some serious chemistry. Mostly though I liked seeing Eli realize he needed to get better for himself. I also really liked the Clare/Imogen and Jake/Eli scenes. I would rather see more of those sorta-rivalries-sorta-friendships than more Eclare, Cake, or Imogeli romance plots.
- Dave: yeah not even a storyline just Dave. He was perfect with Adam. Bhandurer was great this season if not short lived. He made a great radio DJ. Yeah, give this boy scenes with anybody I'm sure I'd love him.
- Sav and Mo have awesome times and make epic musical scores: pft! Hands down the best Sav related friendship. Too bad it happened so late. Why didn't we meet Mo back in season 9? And Hallways of My Heart is best Jess Tyler song I've ever heard. Please release a full download, Degrassi!

[Holland Fan Forever]

Originally Posted by Nekoshoujo (View Post) Honestly I was pretty disappointed in the final storylines for Sav and Holly J. Both plots interested me but not as send off plots. This was their last chance to do something great with two of the most iconic "new cast" characters yet the writers settled for ho-hum. HJ's plot did give Charlotte a chance to put her acting talent to good use, and I don't think Ray lacked chemistry with Cory but overall their episodes this season felt decent and I know with different material they could have been great. If they had kept those two together maybe they could have had a joint plot that packed a bigger punch somehow. Or maybe this is just my Savvy J shipping side wanting more scenes with them together.

I thought that it was obvious this season that as long as Fiona and Anya were with Holly J in a storyline on any level that Sav just wasn't going to be there much if at all. I think that the main issue with Holly J and Sav's relationship is that it was all about her to me and while there were chances for them to deal with real issues and conflict as a couple that the writers decided to more often than not have them deal with their issues separately. I think that Holly J got plenty of storylines and character development before now and so it would've been okay to see her to a backseat as far as storylines. However, Sav is another story to me. Here was Sav's chance to actually have a life where it's about him making decisions and his happiness for once but to me it's really too little, too late and to me Sav had a lot of potential but to me the writers focused so much attention on Alli that Sav unfortunately got ignored. I think that it would've been nice to see Sav stand up for himself in a scene with his parents but we didn't even get that basic scene. This show is not known for good senior storylines to begin with and I would've liked to have seen Sav in a supporting role in several episodes like Adam was opposed to yet another doomed relationship storyline.

[JustMe2000]

Just so you know that whole line count thing isn't done in complete vain.....the Degrassi Top 40 for Now or Never.

Or 41.


40. Dr. Chris- 26 (tie)
40. Bullfrog- 26 (tie)
38. Mr. Bhandari- 29 (tie)
38. Sadie- 29 (tie)
37. Lisa Guthrie- 30
36. Dawn- 31
35. Ms. Dawes- 32
34. Mr. Betenkamp- 36
33. Liam- 39
32. Mrs. MacPherson- 42
31. Zane- 45
28. Helen Edwards- 46 (tie)
28. The Unfortunately Named Vince- 46 (tie)
28. Julian- 46 (tie)
27. Hannah- 49
26. Snake- 57
25. Mrs. Torres- 65
24. Connor- 67
23. Mo- 80
22. Ms. Oh- 91
21. Riley- 97
19. Wesley- 131 (tie)
19. Marisol- 131 (tie)
18. Owen- 136
17. Charlie- 143
16. Imogen- 153
15. Jake- 176
14. Bianca- 186
13. KC- 198
12. Sav- 221
11. Jenna- 235
10. Katie- 253
9. Adam- 264
8. Holly J- 317
7. Alli- 330
6. Anya- 333
5. Eli- 352
4. Clare- 394
3. Dave- 397
2. Fiona- 442
1. Drew- 489

[LsK101]

My usual sources of information on the rest of season 11 have been quite mum for the most part since the most recent episodes. Funny thing is, I managed to find (once again, not sure if these were posted yet) some snaps from soon to be new episodes, from facebook of all the places, showing a few characters in their new unis.







I for one think that Eli and Bianca look pretty good in blue. For some reason, seeing red on Clare didn't have that contrast impact that the other characters had since she was always around Eli, Imogen, and Jake.

BTW, sweet stats JM, I was actually curious as to who came up on top with that. I wonder if they parallel with the stats I ended up taking this season so far:

1st number is moral alignment basically, anywhere between -3(jerkoff bad) to +3(angel good) for each episode, 2nd number is a mix of plot importance and how well the actor/tress played the role (+1 to +3 per episode), and the 3rd number is how many episodes the character made an appearance in. The 4th and 5th numbers are averages of the 1st and 2nd numbers, respectively.

Mind you, the numbers may be a tad skewed because of the number of appearances a character made, like Clare for example who has a high actress rating mainly because she made a ton of appearances, which is why I added the averages at the end to show more of a "truer" statistic. Also, I only included main characters (credited in the intro) and a few extras who I suspect will play more than recurring roles later on.

Moral alignment (total):
1. (+20)Fiona/Annie
2. (+17)Holly J/Charlotte
T3. (+15)Bianca/Alicia
T3. (+15)Clare/Aislinn

Moral Alignment (average):
T1. (+1.67)Bianca/Alicia
T1. (+1.67)Sadie/Alexandria
3. (+1.31)Holly J/Charlotte

Plot Importance, Actor/Actress Rating (total):
1. (+28)Drew/Luke
2. (+25)Eli/Munro
3. (+24)Fiona/Annie

Plot Importance, Actor/Actress Rating (average):
1. (+2.11)Bianca/Alicia
T2. (+2.00)Connor/AJ
T2. (+2.00)Drew/Luke

Total Appearances:
T1. (19)Clare/Aislinn
T1. (19)Fiona/Annie
3. (17)Eli/Munro

Altogether:
(+09/+19/14/+0.64/+1.36)Adam/Jordan
(+07/+13/11/+0.64/+1.18)Alli/Melinda
(+05/+21/11/+0.45/+1.91)Anya/Samantha
(+15/+19/09/+1.67/+2.11)Bianca/Alicia
(+02/+03/03/+0.67/+1.00)Chantay/Jajube
(+15/+23/19/+0.79/+1.21)Clare/Aislinn
(+00/+08/04/+0.00/+2.00)Connor/AJ
(+08/+15/13/+0.62/+1.15)Dave/Jahmil
(+14/+28/14/+1.00/+2.00)Drew/Luke
(+14/+25/17/+0.82/+1.47)Eli/Munro
(+20/+24/19/+1.05/+1.26)Fiona/Annie
(+03/+04/04/+0.75/+1.00)Hannah/Samii
(+17/+22/13/+1.31/+1.69)Holly J/Charlotte
(+05/+12/11/+0.45/+1.09)Imogen/Cristine
(+12/+13/12/+1.00/+1.08)Jake/Justin
(+11/+14/09/+1.22/+1.56)Jenna/Jessica
(+00/+01/01/+0.00/+1.00)Jess/Taysha
(+01/+04/04/+0.25/+1.00)Julian/Stephen
(+12/+18/13/+0.92/+1.38)Katie/Chloe
(+04/+14/09/+0.44/+1.56)K.C./Sam
(+01/+03/03/+0.33/+1.00)Liam/Tyler
(-02/+11/11/-0.18/+1.00)Marisol/Shanice
(+04/+06/06/+0.67/+1.00)Mo/Jake
(+08/+14/11/+0.73/+1.27)Owen/Daniel
(+04/+09/08/+0.50/+1.13)Riley/Argiris
(+05/+03/03/+1.67/+1.00)Sadie/Alexandria
(+14/+14/11/+1.27/+1.27)Sav/Raymond
(+03/+05/05/+0.60/+1.00)Wesley/Spencer
(+01/+05/04/+0.25/+1.25)Zane/Shannon

By Class:
(+05/+21/11/+0.45/+1.91)Anya/Samantha
(+02/+03/03/+0.67/+1.00)Chantay/Jajube
(+20/+24/19/+1.05/+1.26)Fiona/Annie
(+17/+22/13/+1.31/+1.69)Holly J/Charlotte
(+04/+09/08/+0.50/+1.13)Riley/Argiris
(+14/+14/11/+1.27/+1.27)Sav/Raymond
(+01/+05/04/+0.25/+1.25)Zane/Shannon
(+15/+19/09/+1.67/+2.11)Bianca/Alicia
(+14/+28/14/+1.00/+2.00)Drew/Luke
(+14/+25/17/+0.82/+1.47)Eli/Munro
(+05/+12/11/+0.45/+1.09)Imogen/Cristine
(+12/+13/12/+1.00/+1.08)Jake/Justin
(+01/+04/04/+0.25/+1.00)Julian/Stephen
(+12/+18/13/+0.92/+1.38)Katie/Chloe
(-02/+11/11/-0.18/+1.00)Marisol/Shanice
(+04/+06/06/+0.67/+1.00)Mo/Jake
(+08/+14/11/+0.73/+1.27)Owen/Daniel
(+09/+19/14/+0.64/+1.36)Adam/Jordan
(+07/+13/11/+0.64/+1.18)Alli/Melinda
(+15/+23/19/+0.79/+1.21)Clare/Aislinn
(+00/+08/04/+0.00/+2.00)Connor/AJ
(+08/+15/13/+0.62/+1.15)Dave/Jahmil
(+03/+04/04/+0.75/+1.00)Hannah/Samii
(+11/+14/09/+1.22/+1.56)Jenna/Jessica
(+04/+14/09/+0.44/+1.56)K.C./Sam
(+01/+03/03/+0.33/+1.00)Liam/Tyler
(+03/+05/05/+0.60/+1.00)Wesley/Spencer
(+00/+01/01/+0.00/+1.00)Jess/Taysha
(+05/+03/03/+1.67/+1.00)Sadie/Alexandria

Take 'em with a grain of salt. (Damn you Marisol for being a crappy character and misaligning the columns with your negative signs)

[LsK101]

Kari over at degrassiblog posted a character list for the "new" season.

I'm pretty upset. No sophomores on that list, so no Jess or Sadie. Hannah's missing from the juniors too.

[Holland Fan Forever]

Originally Posted by LsK101 (View Post) Kari over at degrassiblog posted a character list for the "new" season. I'm pretty upset. No sophomores on that list, so no Jess or Sadie. Hannah's missing from the juniors too.

In my opinion, there was always going to be a lack of sophomores and I think that it would've been a good idea for the powers that be to deal with lack of sophomores and I think that there will be characters like Katie and Marisol who could've easily stayed on the show for a few more years in my opinion but instead they are seniors.

[kaleidocat]

@LsK101 That's a crazy system you got going on there! No, not really...I just don't like numbers. Like at all. If I know how old I am and what day it is, I'm doing good.

I'm trying to remain optimistic for the show without the seniors, but it's hard. As long as the storylines are solid it shouldn't be a problem. I wasn't expecting to enjoy Drew's gang involvement/PTSD storyline as much as I did because he's not a favorite character of mine. But I am nervous because the second half of season 10 didn't hold up to "The Boiling Point" at all. Let's hope the cast and crew are feeling the pressure without the seniors on set and they will give us something good.

Oh and can they get rid of those ugly uniforms already? Please???

[Holland Fan Forever]

Originally Posted by kaleidocat (View Post) @LsK101 That's a crazy system you got going on there! No, not really...I just don't like numbers. Like at all. If I know how old I am and what day it is, I'm doing good. I'm trying to remain optimistic for the show without the seniors, but it's hard. As long as the storylines are solid it shouldn't be a problem. I wasn't expecting to enjoy Drew's gang involvement/PTSD storyline as much as I did because he's not a favorite character of mine. But I am nervous because the second half of season 10 didn't hold up to "The Boiling Point" at all. Let's hope the cast and crew are feeling the pressure without the seniors on set and they will give us something good. Oh and can they get rid of those ugly uniforms already? Please???

I think that other than Holly J that the writers and the powers that Season 11 reinforced to me that they didn't care all that much for the seniors unless Holly J was involved somehow for the most part. It's hard for me to miss this last group of seniors outside of Holly J because I thought that as a whole that they were underdeveloped to say the least and that the current seniors also known as Fiona and Eli's class have gotten better storylines heading into senior year than most of the seniors who have now left ever got. I liked Drew and Bianca's storyline because it gave both of them something productive to do and that it was a storyline that was definitely better than I expected.

[kaleidocat]

Random thought: wasn't there a press release that mentioned shoplifting would be an issue of season 11? I remember there was speculation in the Kenna thread that it could have gone to baby daddy KC so I know this was a season 11 prediction. Unless if I'm completely blanking or an entire plot was cut, shoplifting hasn't been addressed yet. Have there been other issues mentioned in early press releases that haven't happened yet?

It wouldn't be unusual if this happened. Remember "running away" being hinted at in the season 10 write ups. We figured it was Fiona but later it became clear it was Alli.

Oh I remember why I thought of this. I was thinking about how awesome last week's The Walking Dead was because there was looting and that makes my inner teen shoplifter happy.

[JustMe2000]

There was a mention of a male shoplifter in a TV addict article. I hope that this isn't a case of their source getting their wording wrong and that the "shoplifting" is actually a reference to Connor's storyline.

[kaleidocat]

The shoplifter storyline has to be coming. When I first heard of it I thought it would be a simple b-plot with a scare the youth message...but maybe it's more complex. It'd be nice if it was a plot that dragged on for a bit. But I'm surprised that it's a male shoplifter. What's his reasoning? My prediction would be he is hanging out with a different, tougher (by Degrassi standards) crowd, and looking to impress. Who is most likely to fit that description?


SHOPLIFTER!!!

[JustMe2000]

Assuming you're right about the storyline coming, and it involving the premise you mention.......

Dave? Been there done that.
Wesley? Well, I'm all for some more dramatic stuff with him.
KC? Maybe, although if he hasn't already hit rock bottom after what happened with Jenna, I'm not sure he ever will.
Adam? This one could make some sense, and it would get him into a different storyline than what we've seen with him.

I think we can probably rule out the others. Except Snake.