DEGRASSI: AFTERMATH - SEASON 3 EXPLANATIONS
So yet another seaon is in the bag! You were probably pretty impressed with the speed I was writing the last episodes, but the fact is that there´s more scrapped material for this season, than the first two seasons combined. I ended up writing out three different plans for the season until I settled on which one to use. I wrote about an episode and a half for the first plan, that I plan on using as a dream episode or something like that. It was an interesting storyline, but it would fit better as a one or two part special, than as part of a whole season. When I´ll end up using it, I can´t say, but I will eventually.
As always, thanks to everyone who´s reading the series. It recently passed 1000 views and with the Corona virus keeping everyone indoors, it´s reaching more and more people every day. It´s turning in to what I hoped it would become and to say that I´m excited for the future of the series is an understatement. Of course a special thanks goes out to Lemondrizzlecake, who´s the best motivator a guy could ask for! Again I urge you to check out her writing. It´s pretty awesome.
So, it´s time to settle those bets and wake up those pets, because it´s explanation time!
Episode 1:
Names:
Antonia Crowe - Antonia is the name of a psychiatrist a friend of mine went to down in Spain. Crowe comes from Malcolm Crowe, the child psychiatrist from "The 6th Sense".
Storylines:
Maya´s Storyline this season - I just won´t let her catch a break, will I? I knew that I had to keep up the drama with her, if this season was gonna live up to what I did with her last season. One of the most interesting thing about her character was her mental issues, so I decided it was time to dig in to them. Several ex inmates suffer from PTSD after their time in jail, so I thought it had a certain relevance to it as well.
The kids "getting wild" - I love my kids in this story, but in order to keep things interesting with them, there has to be changes to their group dynamic here and there. In order to still keep what would eventually happen realistic, I needed a big turning for them to start the season off with. They were given more screentime this season, than in the other two and probably twice as much as they had in season 1, which is simply because I love writing them and their storylines come to me pretty easily. One thing that´s different about their storylines this season, is that we´ve have a few storylines where the boys were the main characters and the girls were the secondary ones. In the first two seasons, the girls were always the main characters. It also gave me a chance to use The Ravine for the first time in the story. It´s a part of Degrassi I plan on using more in the coming seasons.
Frankie and Jonah´s storyline - I brought Frankie in last season and originally I planned to do a storyline with her and Zoe fighting over Lola´s heart, but decided against it. Therefore she ended up being pretty under used, which was something I knew I wanted to rectify this season. I know this one might split the fan base a little, since he wasn´t exactly the best boyfriend to her on Next Class, but that was 10 years earlier and he´s come a long way since then, just like she has. I liked Frankie´s whole development as a character this season, sort of keeping her matured, but bringing back some of the old Frankie we know and love at the same time.
Taylor and Charlie becoming bigger characters - One problem with Chrissy and the gang is that they´re still very young and innocent, so there´s a limit to what I can do with them. Adding a couple of older teens to the mix helps open up new possibilities. What I did with them is something Degrassi did quite often, introducing the characters a year or two before they became "major players", to establish their characters.
Using "I Wanna Be Where The Boys Are" - Those rebellious California Girls from the 70´s managed to sneak their way in again! For the first time, we get a whole song with them playing it. In season 1, Lisa and Chrissy watched a bit of the "Cherry Bomb" video and in season 2, we had The Dead End Kids playing "Dead End Justice". The title just fit completely with Chrissy, Julie and Lisa´s situation here and it´s a cool little feminist teenage rock song.
Episode 2:
This is probly the cutest episode, I´ve written so far. I´m very pleased with it, especially the long sequence of scenes in the school. beginning with Julie trying to work up her courage and ending with Chrissy consoling her. In TV time, that would probably have been a four to five minute sequence.
Storylines:
Making Amy a bigger character - She is a sweetheart, that little Amy. When I introduced her in season 2, she was only supposed to be a one episode character, but I´m glad I decided to keep her around. This season she´s like mini Maya and actually plays a big part in Maya getting over some of her issues, just by making Maya feel better about herself, from being able to see how the thngs she did for Amy, have improved Amy´s life. She also served well as Frankie´s confidant throughout the season.
Using "I Want You To Want Me" - It was either gonna be that one or "One Way Or Another" by Blondie and I was going back and forth on them until I decided. The original is by Cheap Trick and was a big hit (especially in Japan) in the late 70´s. I used the Letters From Cleo version (which is from the "10 Things I Hate About You" soundtrack) because it´s a little poppier than the original and it has a girl singing it. SInce the montage was about Frankie trying to get with Jonah, it wouldn´t have made sense to use the one with a male vocal, even though it has guitar god Rick Nelsen playing on it, which the other one doesn´t.
Episode 3:
Storylines:
Eddy´s addiction storyline - I knew that I wanted to do an addiction storyline at some point and I think it turned out pretty well, with the setup starting back in the middle of season 2 and paying off over these two episodes. Manny getting pregnant was something I knew I wanted to happen eventually, back when I started writing the series. I didn´t draw it out, like I could have, but it´s still one I could return to in the future. I like addiction storylines, when they´re done well, you just can´t have too many of them.
Bringing up Cam again - I wanted to dig a little deeper in to Maya´s mind, while I had the chance. One thing I think they underplayed was her reaction to his death and it seemed a little unresolved to me. In reality as well, a horrifying experience like that for someone her age at the time would have left big mental scars.
Lola and Amy´s storyline - In order to built up Amy as a character, she needed storylines. Doing this cute little comedy storyline with her and Lola was a nice little character builder for her. With the heaviness of the PTSD storyline and the addiction storyline, I needed one that was more light hearted to even it out. Amy just can´t win, can she (which again is the mini Maya in her)? It´s no secret to any of my friends, that I absolutely loved Game of Thrones from season 1 to season 6. I´ve also read the first two of the books. The way the series went downhill, to the point where it was almost unwatchable in the last season, will forever be the most disappointing event in TV history for me.
Using "Rhiannon" - I wanted a song that really shows off a great female vocal duo. Using Kayla and Maya here as stand in´s for Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks seemed like a good choice to me. It´s also an incredibly beautiful song, if you ask me.
Episode 4:
Storylines:
The writing of Hunter - This one is another one that probably divided people. The way I see it, Hunter wouldn´t have stayed the angry young man he was, or he would have ended up either in jail or dead. Putting the part in about how he became even more of an outcast in the year after the series ended, would have helped built the "Supremacy Complex" in him, that we already saw signs of in Next Class. I´m especially thinking about the sick joy he had from thinking that he was controlling Maya´s mind, when they were bullying her. Without Miles around to help keep him grounded and to support him, my guess is he would have turned to his father for company, especially if he´s fighting with Frankie too. Hunter didn´t have any major problems with his dad, it seemed except for Miles hating him. Already showing signs, that he could end up a sociopath and with a taste for controlling others, he would have realized that a personality change would have been in order, in order to lure people in. Meddling with his dad´s rich friends and studying their behaviour, would have given him a chance to perfect it before college began. College would have been a fresh start for him and with his dad´s money and connections, he would have got into a prestigious school, where he would have met other rich kids and made the connections that (along with daddy´s connections) helped him get his start in politics afterwards. He now plays with people´s minds all the time (which has got him to where he is) and no one is safe, even Frankie or someone he´d never met, like Amy. He saw immediately that she was innocent and an easy victim, so he went after her right away. With the first impression that he made on her, he probably would have been able to seduce her pretty easily, if he wanted to. Even though he didn´t, he still got off on knowing that he could have.
Using "Down in a Hole" - "Dirt" by Alice in Chains might be the greatest rock album of all time and "Down in a Hole" is one of the highlights of it. It´s so sad that half of the band that made that album are dead from drug overdoses, Bass Player Mike Starr and Lead Singer Layne Staley. It´s a slow and moody song, that fit the scenes here perfectly.
Episode 5:
This double episode is probably the one I´m proudest of so far.
Names:
Allison Lambert - A mix of my favorite on screen weird girl, Allison from "The Breakfast Club" and Alicia "Al" Lambert, the loveable tomboy from "Step By Step".
Martin Rogers - His last name comes from Steve Rogers, a Canadian newscaster who´s made several appearances in episodes of "Trailer Park Boys".
Storylines:
Using "Carousel" - I wanted a good skating song and "Carousel" is a fun little song, that´s just 2 to 3 minutes of all out rocking! It´s a very old school Blink 182 selection from the album "Dude Ranch" that came out in 1997, before they hit it big.
The shooting storyline and the original plans for the episodes - I had a shooting storyline in one of the season plans, that I didn´t use. Originally the two episodes were going to mostly have storylines centered around the Mason/Nelson families, which was why I had the setup in an earlier episode about Emma´s brother coming back. He was supposed to play a big part in them and end it with a romance storyline with Amy. Another storyline would have been centered around Chrissy and Lisa finding out about Taylor being pregnant and helping her tell Charlie. In stead, these were the episodes, that came out of me. I´m a life long pacifist myself, so I knew I wanted to do an anti violence episode or two along the way. Thankfully, I live in a country where things aren´t anywhere near as bad as they are elsewhere, but it´s something that still affects us all. Doing it the way I did, by focusing on the kids and how they perceived it, gave it a different feel from what you usually see and helped it not to become "preachy". The Eddy storyline I had in there to show that in the middle of bad situations, there are still good things going on. I also felt that I hadn´t used him enough in season 2, so giving him an extra storyline here didn´t hurt the overall story at all.
Episode 6:
Names:
I went all out with mix names for the band members, except for Suey.
Sandy Kramer - Sandy West from The Runaways and Joey Kramer from Aerosmith.
Mickie Hamilton - Mickie Steele from The Bangles and Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith
Nancy Whitford - Nancy Wilson from Heart and Brad Whitford from Aerosmith
Storylines:
The feel of the episode - After the high drama of the episode before it, I wanted to end it on a hopeful, yet thoughtful note.
Using "Everything That You Do" - It would only have been the start of it we heard, but it was a cool little song back in the day. They were two beautiful girls from Norway and were kind of a one hit wonder.
Using "People Are People" - There´s a lot of great anti violence songs, but this has to be one of the best in my book. It´s also one you pretty easily could rewrite from an early 80´s electronic pop song to a modern rock song. Depeche Mode were and still are one the best bands on earth. It´s a regret of mine, that I haven´t seen them live, but every time they play here, they sell out in no time.
Episode 7:
Finally, it was time for Emma to give birth. In every season plan, it was the one constant, but it happened at different times in each of them.
Names:
Storylines:
Taylor and Charlie´s storyline - This was a storyline i ended up being pretty satisfied with. I wanted a storyline of how pregnancy can be a bad thing to oppose the "Baby Joy" with Manny and Emma´s pregnancies. They get a hopeful ending here, but in reality, they have one hell of an uphill battle ahead of them.
Sean´s daddy storyline - This was one, that I originally planned to have been longer, but in the end it got cut down to this, which is probably for the best. It´s the first time I´ve had a storyline from his point of view and it probably won´t be the last.
The Paige/Frankie/Jonah love triangle - Jonah and Paige had been a fun idea and I liked the scenes I had with them, but I knew that I wanted Paige to end the season with Spinner and Jonah to end it with Frankie, when the season ended. Making Jonah and Frankie´s reunion bittersweet was another thing I liked, to oppose all the "100 % positive" relationships going on.
Using "Secret Garden" - It´s no secret that I´m a big Springsteen fan. I´ve seen him live 4 times and hope to get at least one more in, before he retires. "Secret Garden" is one of the most beautiful songs he´s ever written and the sax solo from Clarence Clemmons is to die for.
Episode 8:
Storylines:
The TV Program - I needed a big storyline to keep Maya´s continued misery going. I can´t have my little drama machine become too happy! Not yet anyway and the more I pile on the misery in her life, the more it means when good things do happen for her.
Paige´s "Girl Power" break up mehod - She is a Michalchuk! Having been single for years, it also would have hurt her even more that he cheated on her. Maybe it was a bit out there, if it had been anyone else but her.
Using "Are You Ready?" - Does anyone need an excuse to use AC/DC in their series? The scene was also about them getting ready for a party (while getting a bit "rowdy" with one another), so it couldn´t have fit better.
Summer Dreams Part 1:
I explained most of it in the Author´s notes. In retrospect it´s pretty cool to have it in there to show the extreme contrasts between the two "realities".
Episode 9:
This is the first episode, that isn´t in some way named after a song. It´s named after a Shakespeare play.
Storylines:
The Prom - Of course the kids needed to have their prom. I thought it showed really well how much the characters have grown over these 3 seasons. Chrissy has probably had more storylines about her in a schoolyear than anyone in Degrassi history, except for maybe Emma in Season 1. The costume part was classic Degrassi. Especially in the later seasons of Next Generation, they seemed to have them all the time. It also gave me a chance to do a little character building with Suey, who´s a character I have big plans for in the future.
Jay and Maya´s storylines - I´d already decided before writing it, that the last episode would be centered on the competition. So, I wanted to do a storyline that both showed the consequences, but sent them in to the season break in a hopeful place. Amy moving out is sort of her graduation and a nice ending to the first part of her storyline, that stretches back to the prison.
Episode 10:
Names:
Alicia Adams - Her last name comes from skateboarding legend Jay Adams.
Storylines:
How did I know the names of the tricks? - I played a lot (and I mean a lot) of Tony Hawn Pro Skater on the first Playstation and on PC. The 360 McTwist that Simon tried is probably not one, you´ll see a kid his age try in real life. It was invented by Tony Hawk himself and there´s only a handful of skaters, who have been able to pull it off, from what I know.
Julie and Jack getting together - I played around with several combinations with the kids, until I settled on Julie and Jack. I thought they were very cute together here and provided a good back bone for the episode, so it had more than just the competition and the adults. I could have made a big drama out of it, but the way I´ve presented Lisa, She wouldn´t freak out about it, especially if she´d had a little time to get used to it already. She´s got her Suey now and those two are pretty cute too, right?
Lola and Zoe´s brief storyline - This was more or less my excuse, for why they had so little screentime together this season. It´s something I hope to rectify in the future.
Paige and Spinner getting together - As I mentioned before, it was planned from the beginning of the season and I sewed the seeds for it way back in episode 8. Given Spinner´s love for his kids, I don´t think he´d jump in to anything with someone he wasn´t sure of. Him and Paige make complete sense as a couple and should have been the endgame for the two characters, in my opinion. Now, don´t worry that I´m just gonna pair everyone up with their exes. I think the series is starting to reach it´s limit, as far as that goes.
