Hey hey! Welcome to Grading Degrassi, the column I created to justify (re)watching every episode of every season of every series of the Degrassi franchise and then ranking them. That’s more than 500 episodes in total. We’ve covered The Kids of Degrassi Street and are moving on to the second season of Degrassi Junior High, which premiered on January 4, 1988. So, y’all, this was the first premiere for which I was actually alive!
Here are all 13 episodes of Season 2 of Degrassi Junior High, ranked from worst to best:
(Spoilers, of course.)
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“Dog Days” (S02E09)
Recap: Following more drama after their parents’ split, Stephanie (Nicole Stoffman) gets super depressed, and Arthur ( Duncan Waugh) gets super attached to his dog.
Reasoning: I get that people weren’t as in the know about mental health back then, but the number of times that Stephanie makes concerning comments that are ignored or brushed off as maudlin was disturbing. To make matters worse, her depression is never again mentioned in the season.
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“Sealed with a Kiss” (S02E08)
Recap: Twins Erica (Angela Deiseach) and Heather (Maureen Deiseach) go after the same high school guy to prove that they’re not the same person.
Reasoning: Umm, what? Also — who are these people?
“Fight” (S02E06)
Recap: Joey (Pat Mastroianni) is getting bullied and dragged into a scheduled afterschool fight. Meanwhile, Stephanie makes moves on the new kid, Simon (Michael Carry).
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Reasoning: Did anyone ever actually experience a scheduled fight during their school days? Not that I endorse fighting, but it seems the perfect way to get the fight not to happen — either by one person not attending or by the authorities finding out. Isn’t part of a successful fight the element of surprise?
“Trust Me” (S02E11)
Recap: Snake (Stefan Brogren), Joey and Wheels (Neil Hope) have a sleepover while Snake’s ‘rents are out of town. Joey gets the brilliant idea that they should drive Snake’s parents’ car. Of course, they get caught, resulting in the boys being grounded from seeing each other.
Reasoning: This episode wasn’t particularly interesting, nor did it offend me — a solid middle-of-the-road outing.
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“Eggbert” (S02E01)
Recap: Spike (Amanda Stepto) has decided to keep her kiddo, so she’s in counseling, where she’s advised to take care of an egg as preparation for the actual event. She’s also mad at Shane (Bill Parrott) because he hasn’t told his parents he’s gonna be a daddy.
Reasoning: Why must all the parents on this show be so darn awful? If I were Shane, I wouldn’t want to tell my parents I was having a baby either. Also, we had “egg babies” when I was in middle school. How on Earth would that be any preparation for the real thing? (Side note: I gleefully smashed mine to the ground after the project was over.)
“Great Expectations” (S02E03)
Recap: Joey has a crush on the new girl, Liz (Cathy Keenan), and the second she shows any interest in being his friend, he goes and buys condoms.
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Reasoning: When everyone hits on Liz, and she (rightfully) hates it, she takes it out on Stephanie for purposefully dressing “provocatively.” The patriarchy sucks enough without women dragging each other down.
“Pass Tense” (S02E13)
Recap: Joey discovers that even though he technically passed the year, his parents and teachers have decided to hold him back. It doesn’t matter, though; he’ll still see his friends ’cause Degrassi Junior High will include 9th graders next year! Oh, and Spike goes into labor.
Reasoning: Degrassi is known for coming up with excuses for keeping kids around, but that doesn’t mean they don’t annoy me, lol. Why didn’t they just make this season one semester long? Sometimes there are simpler solutions than silly conceits.
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“Dinner & a Show” (S02E04)
Recap: The families Shane and Spike have a dinner to hash out the whole baby thing — condescension and passive aggression abound. Meanwhile, Yick (Siluck Saysanasy) asks Melanie (Sara Ballingall) out. She says yes at first, then ditches him when Snake also asks her out.
Reasoning: Oh, Melanie — don’t you know you live in a TV show and are bound to get caught? From what I can see, it seems this iteration of Degrassi has a race problem. No one finds Yick desirable, and Lucy’s (Anais Granofsky) got problems on a whole ‘nother level. What gives? Also, Shane’s family suckssss.
“A Helping Hand” (S02E02)
Recap: The substitute teacher, Mr. Colby (Marcus Bruce), does some bad touching to poor Lucy. Luckily, Wheels catches him before it gets worse.
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Reasoning: I couldn’t stop thinking about how awful this must have been for the actors involved. Sure it was “just” a hand on a shoulder. But it was so creepy, and Anais Granofsky was so young. But, kudos for addressing the issue, Degrassi.
“Censored” (S02E10)
Recap: A large group of Degrassi parents fights for Spike to get kicked out of school ’cause she’s preggers. Caitlin (Stacie Mistysyn) doesn’t think that’s fair, so she writes an op-ed in the school paper.
Reasoning: This episode was quite nuanced — not the whole kicking Spike out of school bit — but the reactions to Caitlin’s article. Firstly, I liked that students know how crappy it is that Shane isn’t getting kicked out of school. But, it’s also an excellent storytelling choice that Spike wasn’t pleased that Caitlin went to bat for her without first asking her.
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“Bottled Up” (S0207)
Recap: Resident mean girl Kathleen (Rebecca Haines-Saah) tries to hide the fact that her mum (Sheila Brogren) is a person with alcohol use disorder.
Reasoning: Yeah, I know that sometimes people are just jerks, but I’ve found that many, especially children, usually have extenuating circumstances causing their jerkitude. It’s nice seeing into Kathleen’s homelife and the lengths she goes to hide what she and her mom are going through. Also great — she seeks help.
“He’s Back” (S0212)
Recap: Mr. Colby’s back! And this time, he’s got his eyes on the school’s only other BIPOC girl student, Suzie (Sarah Charlesworth). 🙄
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Reasoning: OK, obviously, I wish the Degrassi Junior High had addressed Mr. Colby’s targeting Black girls — by leaving it just hanging in the air like that, it seems like the show isn’t aware of what it did there. However, I liked that Lucy’s and Suzie’s friends rallied around them to support reporting Mr. Colby. And while it may sadly be unrealistic, no one questioned them.
“Stage Fright” (S02E05)
Recap: Caitlin has epilepsy! She doesn’t want to take her meds, though, which leads her to have a bunch of episodes in class and with her friends.
Reasoning: Despite this line: “You’re such a sex-starved maniac! Do you want to end up like Spike?” this episode rocked. Sure, the depictions of the absence of seizures were a little overdramatic. Still, I hardly ever see people in media with epilepsy, and it made me happy to be represented in that way.
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Grading the season overall
Season 2 of Degrassi Junior High is better than Season 1. It’s found its footing — the show now mixes the funny and the serious much better. That said, the parents are still awful as ever, and Degrassi Junior High dropped the ball on issues of mental health and race.
Final grade for Season 2 of Degrassi Junior High: B+
Grading Degrassi will be back later this month with the rest of Degrassi Junior High! See you then!
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