aka, "Alli and Clare become friends again, Tristan finds a new boyfriend, Zig learns a lesson of personal responsibilty"
Episode 19, Season 14
Original Air Date: 7/27/15
Main Storyline Character: Alli Bhandari, Tristan Milligan, Zig Novak
Previously on Degrassi:
-Alli and Clare
-Tristan once dated Miles, until Miles found better things to do with his time.
-Zig and Maya kissed, now he has to find a new home.
We open on Alli giving Dallas, Jenna, Drew and Connor a tour of some elaborate living diorama of the prom theme that she and Clare have been planning since freshman year (I don't remember any of this discussion). However, Clare is noticeably absent. There are twinkly lights, bistro tables, a big "Starry Night" backdrop a la Van Gogh, and about 20 random students acting as students at a dance, complete with dresses and suits. Haven't they already done a Paris-themed dance on this show before? Dallas is obligated to agree that it's romantic, given that it's his GF giving the tour, but Drew finds it so boring. He just ain't feeling the romance since Becky went away. He just wants a BOAT! How about a boat? You want a boat? You want a boat? They all vote and boat wins! Prom is being held on a boat. Alli put all that effort in and it was vetoed for "boat" in all of 30 seconds. Nice try!
Alli dismisses her 20 minion actors to go change clothes and attend class that they were missing for the strangest reason. She then tells Dallas that she just wanted prom to be PERFECT but now Drew ruined it! Maybe she can get a plank! But Alli, my prom was on a boat and it was great. I think you're underestimating the power of a boat. Dallas believes it'll be fun as long as they're "all together." Dude, why'd you have to say that? Now I feel like someone's gonna die! You just jinxed it for all of us.
Alli finds Clare in the library and complains some more about the prom boat. It's a boat, Alli! Not a rehabilitated prison! Everyone of all ages likes a boat! Clare quickly realizes through Alli's ramblings that oops, she totally forgot about that meeting and therefore didn't get to vote on Alli's idea for non-boat prom. Alli's a bit pissed, but she hopes Clare had a good excuse. Clare has not talked to anyone about the miscarriage, except Eli, so of course Alli is completely in the dark here. "If this pregnancy thing is too much, I can find another co-chair." Clare promises (albeit not very enthusiastically) that she can help. Alli snaps that she doesn't sound too excited. Clare says she'll help and things are left very business-like.
Alli and Dallas meet up at the Dot and Dallas talks about how he got on some professional hockey team in Japan that he's super excited to play on (and get paid to play on). Alli doesn't really care, since she has her own problems. But also because Dallas is uninteresting. Sometimes I feel like all conversations between Alli and Dallas were cherry-picked from awfulfirstdates.com. Alli tells Dallas that she thinks Clare is so over the friendship of the century, and Eli overhears and interjects. "I thought you'd be a bit more understanding." "About the baby? Clare isn't the first girl in the world to get pregnant, you know." "She's not [pregnant anymore]." Oh, snap. Alli had no idea! Eli walks away, mad, for no good reason unless he wishes Alli were more psychic sometimes, gosh.
Becky and Jonah are crooning their melodies to the ears of Drew, Alli, Dallas, Jenna and Connor. Alli thinks it's the perfect song for the slideshow, but Drew isn't convinced. Look, Drew, if you're gonna be Mr. Grumpypants all the time because Becky found someone else, then YOU go find someone else! Stop harshing everyone's mellow. Clare enters with coffee, and Alli is super nice now that she finally knows about the miscarriage. Clare quickly realizes that Eli told Alli, and she's pissed because she didn't want people to treat her differently. Alli gently reminds her "How do I know what you want; you never tell me anything. I feel like I don't even know Clare Edwards anymore." Clare gets mad and storms off.
Alli gives an unenthusiastic presentation to Mrs. Pill. "You know what they say...the best ship is the friend...ship." Mrs. Pill loves the idea. Alli is surprised. Why is it so hard to imagine a fun boat ride? It's a boat ride!
Alli later heads over to Clare's house with a bouquet of yellow roses, symbolic of friendship. They both apologize, Alli for excluding Clare from planning prom, and Clare for not being there for planning prom. This apology is a catch-22. Clare finally spills that she excluded Alli from her life because as discussed in the previous episode, Clare has no college plans, she dropped everything for a baby, and she has a boyfriend who maybe is only sticking around because she's pregnant. But Alli has her life in order, with a ton of respectable colleges to choose from, good grades, a nice boyfriend. I'd stop at nice boyfriend because Dallas isn't the best catch. "And me! You'll always have me," Alli says. Aww. They hug. Alli says they have to keep talking, though, since her psychic abilities aren't up to par.
Ugh, Tristan. Why does he have to be one of the storylines? I'd be totally cool if he was relegated to an "occasional reference character," much like Shay Powers. But I don't get my way, and Degrassi has to pan to easily hated characters once in a while as filler, so here we are.
Tristan is chatting with Zoe about how he just can't get any action as a 17-year-old out gay kid. I see how that could be a problem. Miles walks past and invites them to a concert, but Tristan is quick to shut him down. Tristan will always hold a grudge for people who've moved on from him. Zoe isn't so quick to judge, since she always likes arm candy of the hunky male persuasion. Tristan also assumes Miles' chipper mood is because he's crushing on someone. He's not sure who, but Zoe smirks because she knows she's pretty and she's been spending time working in the cafeteria a lot with him lately, so maybe that crush is on her! Tristan is still heartbroken from Miles dumping him, but with Zoe thinking this Miles crush could be in her favor, she's quick to tell Tristan to move on. What a great friend!
Good ole' Grace set up a hot business in some food truck in the school parking lot, in which she charges a dollar a day for students to store their phones. I assume it's so students can come back out at lunch time and retrieve them to text or call or whatever. With myself being from a different generation, I just don't get why people would need to retrieve their phones so frequently throughout the day. You're students, and all your friends are students! "Chirp" on your own time! Speaking of badly renamed social media, Zoe mentions that Tristan is on "Teender," aka Tinder for teenagers. Or maybe her Canadian accent is making her hard to comprehend. Tristan can't get no satisfaction on the app, and Grace points out all the profiles are looking for masculine, athletic dudes. The closest Tristan's gotten to playing sports is selling steroids to the basketball team. Zoe tells him to just lie on his profile. C'mon Tristan, this is 2015; everyone lies on the internet!
Zoe snaps some pictures on Tristan's phone of him holding a barbell in the front of the school. So natural! Tristan uploads the picture, and Grace warns that he's being fake. One thing is posing like an idiot with a barbell, another thing is filling out your profile with hobbies that include "drinking protein shakes" and "rock climbing." That's going a little too far, Tristan. Immediately he gets a match, presumably from a non-Degrassi student who doesn't have the "Draconian" measures of no violence, cell phones or PDA in their school. Tristan immediately realizes that his match, a "greek god" who loves outdoorsy things, will be expecting a protein shake-drinking, barbell-lifting jock. Uh oh!
Tristan and Gage (yes, that's his date's name) go hiking and it's clear from Tristan's huffing and puffing that he'd really like to sit down now please. Gage is surprised that they have so much in common and have never met before! Tristan just wants to go home.
Later, Tristan is disgustingly cleaning his wounds with his leg up on the desk at school. Ew, please use the restroom for your cougar bites or whatever those are. Zoe is thrilled that the date panned out, but Tristan is not so sure. He worries that Gage doesn't like him for him. Zoe says to go out again, but be himself, since Gage has to find SOMETHING to like about Tristan to want to spend time with him. What Zoe doesn't know is that in itself is sometime difficult to find in anyone who knows Tristan. I myself am trying to find some redeeming quality of his. Let's see, there's...ok what about...nope, nothing.
Tristan and Gage go on another date, and Tristan admits that he lied on his profile. Gage admits that he too lied on his profile. They both lied for the same reasons: being an out gay at age 17 makes it difficult to find love interests. Gage says that he crushes on guys then find out they're straight, or people will set him up with the only gay male they know, and he has nothing in common with them. Finally, a realistic analysis of this! I always thought it was weird when Marco found Dylan, the only gay dude, and they were magically compatible. Gage doesn't like hiking, but he loves cooking and music. Tristan asks him if he saw the latest episode of "Chopped." It's a match!
At the Dot, Zoe enters to find Tristan and Gage finishing up their date. Tristan gives Gage a hearty pat on the shoulder as a goodbye. If only my dates ended so romantically. Zoe checks to see if Tristan is over Miles. Yes? Okay great, she immediately asks Miles if she can go to the concert with him. Zoe doesn't even leave a little grace period.
We first see Zig talking to his social worker, Jose, about moving out. Jose, much like Mrs. Matlin, reprimands him for kissing Maya. ONE RULE, Zig. There was just one rule in this house! Jose talked to the Novak family, and Mrs. Novak doesn't want Zig back, especially since she heard that he was present when Tiny was stabbed. Really, Mrs. Novak? Just hear stuff through the grapevine and you're so quick to judge your son like that. So now Zig has to find somewhere else to live, so instead of hopping from abandoned building to abandoned building like he did before, he decides on living with Tiny. Jose warns him about that choice, since Vince lives there, too, and Vince recently had a stint in jail. No, Zig is a very responsible 17 year-old, and he can make big life decisions now, so thanks but no thanks, Jose! Maya isn't so sure Zig will be safe. But let's just shove those worries on the back burner because anxiety is a dish best served pressure-cooked.
Zig moves in to Vince/Tiny's house, which has poor lighting to indicate that it's a bad place, just like Sean's and Ellie's and Alex's apartments all had. Vince immediately asks him to join in on some video game. Not a video game, Zig! You know those can lead to violence! Zig needs to go to bed for early musical rehearsal tomorrow, but Vince is as convincing as a gang leader and coaxes Zig into playing. And drinking a beer!
The next morning, Imogen is running through the blocking with Winston and Frankie when Zig misses his cue. Misses his cue...because he isn't even there yet. He then comes in, disheveled from that one light lager he had the night before. He says he slept in. "Yeah, we noticed" jokes Winston. "CAN IT, GLASSES! Sorry." Zig, never apologize to Winston, especially when he's making dumb jokes that no one laughs at. There's a reason they're doing a musical and not a Winston stand up comedy hour. Imogen wants to know what's up with Zig, and he shares that he's crashing at a friends house and going to bed at the break of dawn. Imogen, being one of few responsible people, tells him he needs to be responsible for himself. Her wise senior words are in your hands, Zig!
Zig comes home to Tiny and Vince playing video games. Zig is quick to share that he needs to practice his lines. Vince teases him, but then asks him to rehearse in front of him. It's easily the weirdest scene. Zig starts singing his weird bad guy theme song, while Vince casually watches him from the couch with a weirdly frustrated/angry look that turns into a grin when he yells "Nailed it!" and applauds. Vince is so creepily weird sometimes. Maya calls Zig, and they video chat with her obligatory "I'm so glad you're doing great and in good hands" line just before some dude knocks at the door saying he's the cops. Zig hangs up, confused, and the dude walks in with a sack of drugs. Clearly he was joking about being the cops. Vince tells Zig since he's freeloading, he better contribute. And there Zig is, dividing Molly into little ziploc bags for distribution.
Favorite Quotes:
Vince: "Ziggy! Come check this game out."
Zig: "Sorry man, I got an early rehearsal tomorrow."
Vince: "Alright then, enjoy that bread sandwich!"
*long pause, Zig is confused*
Tiny: "You remember, right? Last week at Chompie C? That's right, you were at rehearsal. So we realized that everything on the menu had some sort of bird in it, which meant the only thing a vegetarian could have is a bread sandwich!" *laughs*
Zig: "But I'm not a vegetarian."
Vince: "It means you're missing out on the best parts of life!"
--all of this because Vince thinks he's clever but he's not.
Lesson Learned: Keep up communication with friends, since you don't know what they're going through. Don't lie on the internet, even though everyone does. Stand up for yourself, since only you are responsible for you.
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