JustMe2000

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Otherwise the bar is ours. The day and the night
And the car wash too, the matches and the Buds
And the clean and dirty cars, the sun and the moon.

Forwood4Bamon

thanks for the title summary.

Inesal

That was a pretty good episode. It managed to involve multiple characters in the storylines organically. And while I am not thrilled by the archetype of the poor little rich boy, the guy has some acting ability.

MegaJ

Decent ep. I'm glad the writers are getting better, this standalone episode felt a lot "meatier" than others in the past. Not to mention a lot of character interaction.

A Plot. Clancer. Still good stuff, Clare getting past the changes in her body and now may face a possible tumor. Yikes. Wouldn't that be something if the cancer was terminal? In any case, good stuff like I said. I'm glad we got a Clare/Adam scene in there (and cute recurring action with him not being able to keep his trap shut about secret stuff), good to see Drew checking in on her, yadda yadda yadda.

B Plot. OMG OMG OMG. They're totally not hiding the fact they didn't even leave the lot for the Paris scenes. Dat green screen, OMG. I'm going to assume we're going to get a LOT of interior shots. Anyway, I could relate to Tristan being apprehensive around the other boys about not wanting to make them uncomfortable/being judged by them and Alli being left out (and it also highlights we kinda need another senior boy, I hope Jahmil is coming back in the fall). Though I'm pretty skeptical that any school overseas program would get let kids wander around Paris alone. Enh, I'm used to adults not turning up on Degrassi anyway.

ihavealife2uknow

I enjoyed this episode.

The Clare plot continues to be great. It was great seeing Drew, Adam and Imogen appear.

The Tristan/Miles plot was great too. For some reason I think those two have a good chemistry and wouldn't mind seeing them together if Miles is bisexual or gay.

The Alli plot was okay. Obviously a set up for whats to come with her. I'm glad she's thinking of Clare and whatnot but her carrying the cardboard picture of Clare around everywhere was a little over the top for me.

JustMe2000

-In an early episode last season, Tristan pretended to be Maya. In this one, he pretends to her boyfriend. Progress?
-Those moments with camera gazing at Miles' abs made me think I was watching an Abercrombie & Fitch commercial for a second. But I suppose it did a good job of showing where was Tristan was coming from.
-Miles trying to tease Tristan to lighten the mood made sense to me. And even though, I'm not 15 or gay, Tris's reaction made some sense as well.

-Connor- "I'm glad I don't have cancer." I realize they're trying to play up the Asperger's, but I also feel as if the writers are forgetting Clare and Connor's history together on the show. I'd like to think there's a happy medium, but I don't know if these writers have the ability to reach it.
-I loved the notion of the kids wanting to get cheeseburgers and go shopping at chain stores while in Paris. That seemed exactly how I would expect a lot of teenagers to act.
-I've been feeling this way for a little way, but that little bit with Zoe and Winston totally put me on their train even it's probably the only possible relationship from that group that has no chance of happening. BTW, where was Miles during that little bit?
-Alli walking around Paris with Clare's head on a stick gets plus points from me as it reminds me of a situation with my nephew recently.
-Alli hooking up with a local waiter? Yeah, that's going to end well.
-Oh and...umm...guys, the next time someone pitches the idea of using green screen to show a locale? Fire them on the spot.

-In typical Degrassi fashion, Clare's nurse? also runs her group therapy session. I imagine she's doing that MRI that Clare's getting too.
-Loved the little bit of Eli and Clare watching Zoe on West Drive, especially since it was her in a hospital.
-Despite myself, I couldn't help but laugh at Drew's reaction to Clare's shaved head. He was indeed probably the right character to use for that reaction.
-Without getting into my feelings on the Eli/Clare moments, I will just say that I was very glad to see Clare's interaction with Imogen and the Torres boys. Looks like we're getting more next week, which I'm also happy about.
-Along those same lines, they really needed to figure out a way to have Jake show up for an episode or two. His absence is pretty glaring, imo. If this story line continues into the fall episodes, I hope they bring him back.

So this was really the first stand alone one-part episode in a while and there were some definite positives to it. I do think Clare's plot, at least, felt a little more substantial. On the other hand, having two subplot in a 20 minute episode (as opposed to 40) might make it harder for those plots to leave much of a mark.

One unfortunate side effect of these new credits, or lack thereof, the only names listed are those that appear in the episode. So within the first few minutes of each episode we'll know exactly who will and won't be appearing.

I'm not sure any of these plots entirely worked, but they all had their moments (more so the Clare and Tristan plots than the Alli plot).

One final note, I know Degrassi's all about the kids and the kids making the decisions and what not, but the lack of adults on the Paris trip is pretty appalling. Hell, just hire some extras to make it seem like there's an adult presence.

Forwood4Bamon

I'm really glad we got to see imogen/adam and drew interact with clare.

Nekoshoujo

I think it was a bit of a mixed bag in the sense none of the plots was outstanding but they all had great classic Degrassi moments. I agree that three plots might have been too ambitious for 23 minutes.

Of the three plots Clare's was my favorite. The image of Clare looking into the mirror with the clips is reminiscent of Spinner's incredible scene from DoG. But since it was coming from such a different place it worked. I liked that instead of heading straight into Clare's dealing with her own mortality we got a vanity pit stop first. The fact is yeah, a 17-year-old girl is going to worry about losing her hair, and how her boyfriend is going to feel about her getting sicker. What worked for me is that this kinda brought a huge issue like cancer down to the everyday smaller level just about anyone can relate to.

I also like that even though we got a lot of Eli/Clare we got some new reactions both from the people that are still around her (The Torres brothers and Imogen) and the people who are far away (Alli, Jenna, and Connor). The reactions are totally different because it's one thing to be missing someone and worrying about them when you're halfway around the world and it's another thing to be actually facing your friend with cancer. So I that was a good choice. I also think this accounts for Connor's reaction. It's probably hard for him to have a "proper" emotional reaction when he has only heard about what Clare is dealing with.

I really liked the Clare/Adam/Imogen scene for so many reasons:
1. I really applaud the writers for not trying to carry over some stupid grudge between Imogen and Clare because they dated the same guy. Imogen realized she really only wanted to be Eli's friend so it would be really stupid if they tried to make them enemies or something.
2. Clearly Imogen is the one to call when you need a decent selection of wigs.
3. It reminds us that Adam and Imogen have a progressing friendship while not trying to cram yet another plot into a short episode.

I'd like to see some more of this trio. I've always thought emotionally these three were around the same level, mature in some ways but clearly still naive and young at heart.

I also liked the introduction of Paula. Considering she only had like three lines, the actress did a good job of striking that balance of not being too over the top but very effective. And again so much of this episode was about Clare and her peers so it was nice to see her spend time with someone her own age who is dealing with the same illness. I hope we see more of her and her amazing red wig. Plus considering it seems doubtful Eli and Clare are going to break up, it was smart to see the flip side which is the sad reality that a lot of teenage boys aren't Eli and can't deal with serious illness.

Which is exactly why I appreciated Drew's reaction to Clare's bald head also.

It would be nice if Jake at least sent flowers....or if Darcy did


The Alli plot was a little thin on material but had some excellent moments.
+ Burgers and H&M? Yup, this is an accurate representation of a school trip to Paris.
+ Alli taking the Clare photo with her to all the landmarks to share the experience with her bff was really cute. It also gave us the friendship nod that we're missing out on by having them be so far apart all summer.
+ The fact they're focusing on Alli's love life yet again is disappointing but it's Alli so of course she's having a summer fling.
+ Paris doesn't look all that different from the rest of Degrassi-land so... yup.

Tristan's plot was overall pretty good. For one thing it showed us a different side of Miles which I liked. Um, nice that they touched on the awkward politics of room sharing. I'm glad that Tris pretending Maya was his GF didn't last because that would have just been too awkward to watch all summer. And I'm glad that Tristan defined the teasing as bullying. Yup. There wasn't all that much to this plot but overall I thought it hit on a good issue.

Knowing this show Zoe and Winston are bound to hookup at some point so why not?!


I'm guessing Alli shot Clare an email about Zoe ditching her and that's why Clare said she's supposed to horrible. I did like that we saw a bit of her on West Drive and it was essentially the same plot as Clare's. yup....

Xhin

I kinda expected more from this episode for some reason and was like "Wait, what?" when the credits started to role. Clare's cancer plot is indeed a sad and strong one.

As a gay male close to Tristan in age, I truly understand where Tristan is coming from, but I was majorily disapointed and felt like not only was pretending to be straight a step backwards, it was so OOC for Tristan who is "Loud and Proud" as openly gay to lie because of what others may think. Tristan really needs to check his gaydar - Not every guy that is nice to you is into it and I bet that is exactly what he is thinking. "OMG Miles is being so kind to me and let me hug him only in swim trunks (boxers?)!" If he just jumps to assume the other is gay and likes him, he deserves all the emberessment and heartbreak he is about to get. As a gay male, you need to assume Straight untill proven gay not vise versa and so far I don't get any vibes of gayness from Miles. Most guys around my area are cool with me and there are a few like Miles who don't care that I'm gay and will let me hug them and what not. Hell, they'll even kiss me on the cheek here and there, but I know they're straight. I don't jump and think they're gay. We'll see where this goes.

Forwood4Bamon

I really like the clare/alli. She had a cut out of her.