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Season 4 Wrap Up Part 3
by thedonoman
Dance's with Carrying Moons Degrassi 410-413
410 - Neutron Dance
The first part of the 3 episode arc involving Craig and Ashley. This episode mainly serves as a continuation of 318 "Rock and Roll High School." This gives some closure on the band situation at least for now, and the writer's did a nice job of using the song and lyrics from last season to play a big part in what happened. This episode also gives us our first hint that Craig is acting strangely impulsive for some reason. Paige, oddly enough after being raped by an older guy, takes interest in the new teacher's aid Mr. O. I guess she never learned her lesson, although it is quite clear that Mr. O is a very different kind of guy than Dean.
- Quote of the episode goes to Jimmy, "I might be crippled, but I'm not blind." Alas, he foresaw the Crashley reunion.
- A writers critique here: Hazel should definitely have a more dominant role in one of the plots following Time Stands Still. She even gets shafted in 416 "Eye Of The Tiger," and really only gives any insight into her relationship with Jimmy in a short lived rant to Paige in 420 "West End Girls."
- Craig shows off his wonderful way with words, as instead of explaining nicely to Ashley what the problem was with the band, he states "you need to leave."
- Ashley delivers a hilarious punch to Craig in the final scene. It looks funny and somewhat strange, but it was actually the most realistic gesture that could have been used. It's a very girlfriend/boyfriend kind of move, Ashley gets some "cute girl" points for that one.
- We're treated to the first real sighting of the ever mysterious and always talked about Heather Sinclaire. However we still do not see her face, which I doubt will happen until the series finale, if ever. I believe this is the last real reference to Heather, as the writer's made a point to include her in almost each of the first ten episodes, closing the joke up for a while, with this episode.
411 - Voices Carry Part 1
Craig's Crazy!!! Yes that's right, while at first it appears that this twist comes out of nowhere, it actually does make sense. Fans learn in this episode that Craig is Bi-Polar, which explains alot of his problems over the seasons. Subsequently this realization caused a huge debate over what being bi-polar means, the answer: Bi-Polar can be different to different people, stop arguing. Craig and Ashley take a large step in the episode by having sex for the first time. The subplot of this episode is barely noticeable, as Liberty and JT battle to find a way to put on a meaningful play in the aftermath of the shooting.
- Marco, really really really can't sing at all. Although, I do find his version of "Everything's Dust" a little bit catchier than Craig's, in its own weird way.
- Love the little implied joke Jimmy makes. Basically it's like, "So craig, what do you want me to do, see if they have any vacancies here at the hospital?" Because by the end of the two parter Craig is doing just that, checking into a mental hospital.
- Nice touch on the writers part having Ashley's mother being extremely upset that her daughter would ever consider getting back with Craig. Ms. Doom and Gloom from Episode 320 "I Want Candy" comes to mind.
- Love the cameo from Ashley's cousin. Almost doesn't quite fit the Degrassi world however, perhaps she would have been a better guest star for a show more like the O.C. or Dawson's Creek. Oh, and Craig earns some points with Ashley after brushing off her aunts flirting, the nice side of Craig.
412 - Voices Carry Part 2
Degrassi tackles gay marriage head on in the conclusion of this two parter, making it ever more apparent that this is a Canadian Show. The writer's did a nice job of adding some more season 1 references, as they introduce "Chris" Ashley's dad's boyfriend mentioned years ago. Craig and Ashley seem to compromise on getting married "someday," but by the end of the episode (if not the end of the season) it seems that may not actually be the case. Liberty and JT share their first kiss (that didn't get cut from an episode), finally making them a couple after Liberty crushed on him for four years.
- When you're going shopping always bring a gay guy. Let's face it, they've got damn good taste. The song was a nice touch to the shopping scene as well, but it was hard not to feel bad for Craig's character watching all those swipes of the credit card.
- In my opinion, the funniest moment of the entire season comes when Craig is in the elevator. Production wise it's an odd angle in itself, as it is straight on. But particularly, it's the realness of the scene and its brilliant writing. Craig, "That look good? Yeah. You think it'll be great?" Awesome and rediculous phrasing of the question.
- Watching Craig at the wedding is perhaps the most painful thing the viewers are subjected to in the history of Craig. I really couldn't help but cringe as he made social faux pa one after another. Too bad for that table as well.
- Small little touch that I found nice. Jimmy asks Craig are you "drunk" or "high". Another small example of how the show acknowledges that the character's growing older. As minuscule a line as this is, it speaks leaps and bounds that the shows makers understand that kids aren't so sheltered from topics like that, and that furthermore Jimmy wouldn't have been terribly surprised if Craig was intoxicated.
413 - Bark At The Moon
Whether or not you liked this episode, at the very least it offered you a break from the Craig/Ashley story arc that dominated 410-412 and pops up again in episode 414. Manny and Spinner's special friendship that had been hinted at in earlier episodes comes back into play. A lot of people hate them together, but whether you like them as a couple or not, they make sense together. Both are immature and in a good contrast we see how Manny and Chester (in his first appearance of the series) doesn't work, where as Manny and Spinner does. Also Paige and Matt make the first step in their relationship, that is clearly doomed to be exposed by the end of the season.
- Another brilliant example of Craig finding the perfect words for the situation. Calling Manny his "biggest" mistake since he's been at Degrassi. What a guy.
- Mr. Raditch, a character that goes all the way back to Degrassi Junior High makes what seems to be his final appearance of the series. It fit in well with the plot (i.e. the Time Stands Still situation), but I'd imagine most likely it had to do with the actor Dan Woods, for one reason or another not being able to be on the show anymore. The farewell scene was quite fitting as most of his speech was basically able to apply to Raditch and Woods.
- Good job on the writer's part tying back in the "fluffy fluff" collection. Also a good way to let us realize that alot of Manny's relationship problems are a direct result of Craig. Definitely a good episode to flesh out a lot of what Manny went through in season 3.
- Space is played out wonderfully in the last scene. Manny starts off very far away from Spinner. And as things slowly get better between them, they inch in and in until finally they kiss. Of course, this won't last for long as we will see in the upcoming episodes. But that's for next time!
The above article was published by dTNGHO, please credit if cited or used
author contact info: donovan@korn.zzn.com
