When we last parted ways with Degrassi, Drew and Bianca had just escaped a Las Vegas Spring Break trip hardly any worse for the wear (i.e. still engaged but not yet married), Fiona and Imogen were going strong, and Adam and Becky were settling back into their newly rekindled relationship.
Though we don’t have any Imogen or Adam this episode, and not much Fiona, we do have the beginnings of a plotline that seems likely to keep coming back throughout the rest of the season. Perhaps Degrassi is trying to make up for the fact that there’s not a full season of Skins this spring to rock us with tragedy from the get-go?
It’s Spirit Week at Degrassi! At my high school, this would have meant Pajama Day and Wacky Socks Day, but at Degrassi, it means the student body gets split into color-coded teams for a week-long competition culminating in a pizza party for the winning team. As a leader on the Student Council, Fiona is helping coordinate the week by designating people to teams and handing out t-shirts.
Dallas tries to sweet-talk Fiona into assigning Alli to his team, but, thankfully immune to his charms, she refuses to show favoritism for his crush. She encourages Dallas to just ask Alli out, suggesting that he use Spirit Week to demonstrate to Alli and the school that he’s more than the “cocky jerkface” everyone thinks he is. Tell it like it is, Fiona.
And P.S., no shenanigans, Dallas! Fiona insists that her Spirit Week must be perfect.
Dallas finds Alli in class and attempts to ask her out, as per Fiona’s advice, but she turns him down. “How many car wrecks do I have to pull you out of to prove I’m not a jerk?” he asks, before promising that he’s willing to work hard to win a date with her. Begrudgingly, she agrees to a date if his team wins Spirit Week.
Meanwhile, underclassmen Maya and Cam are still dating, despite the fiasco of Maya kissing Zig coming to light. Cam, who had gone home for spring break, seems to already be fighting back homesickness and depression at being back at Degrassi, both issues he’s been struggling with throughout the season, but soon other emotions trump those.
When Maya and Zig are assigned to the same Spirit Week team, a jealous Cam tries to transfer to Maya’s team to keep an eye on them, but Dallas tells him to stop being clingy. At the first Spirit Week event, though, Cam’s jealousy gets the best of him as he watches Zig and Maya act friendly towards each other, and he blatantly picks a fight with Zig, resulting in a week-long suspension and an appointment with the guidance counselor upon his return.
To add insult to injury, Dallas — likely upset by the impact that Spirit Week event will have on his bet to win a date with Alli — also lays into Cam for putting the season’s success of the hockey team (on which Cam is a key player) in jeopardy.
But Cam admits that he doesn’t want to play hockey anymore anyway. He seems to be headed into a steep downward spiral, feeling like he’s messed everything up and unable to control either his anger or his sadness. He storms into a classroom and kicks a desk across the room before noticing Alli sitting at the back of the room.
When she asks him what’s wrong, he cries out that he never has any good days anymore, he’s ruined things with Maya and got yelled at by Dallas, and he wishes he could just sleep forever. Latching onto his woes with Maya, Alli sidesteps the rest of his cry for help in favor of encouraging him to make things up to Maya.
Attempting to take Alli’s advice, Cam shows up at Maya’s house with flowers and an apology for lashing out at Zig. Annoyed, she struggles to accept his apology but eventually invites him to stay and hang out for a bit. She tells him about a time she was homesick at a summer camp and found comfort in a stuffed animal. Somehow, I don’t think Cam’s troubles can be solved with a stuffed animal…
Alli, after hearing about Cam’s encounter with Dallas — tells Dallas that the bet’s off; he can try to find another girl more willing to date pricks than she is.
In the morning, Maya wakes up to a video message from Cam thanking her for such a great evening and alerting her that he kidnapped her stuffed animal. If she wants him back, she’ll have to meet him for lunch!
As Cam waits for Maya outside the school building, Zig passes by. Cam taunts Zig about his black eye, to which Zig responds by calling Cam a psycho and suggesting that if he truly cared about Maya, he’d get out of her life forever.
When lunchtime arrives, Cam is nowhere to be found, so Maya texts him to make sure their plans are still on. Instead, Cam unexpectedly responds with the news that it’s over between them.
In other news, Clare moved into Eli’s locker, and then Eli read Clare’s diary and is being generally possessive in the way that he tends to be. Oh wait, that’s not news. That’s just daily life when you’re dating Eli.
Next week, tragedy strikes the Degrassi community…
