A few years ago, the tagline for D:NG was "Degrassi. It goes there." Since I've been sick with a sick kid, I've been watching a lot of the whole saga recently, and I've noticed a few random patterns than any hardcore nutjob like me would know, but that I feel like putting out there. So, for your amusement, my list of completely random Degrassi trivia! (And some opinions).
In all of Degrassi, there has only been one suicide.
Claude Tanner committed suicide in the Degrassi High bathroom back in the episode "Showtime." Snake found him.
There have been 2 abortions, 2 babies kept, and 2 put up for adoption.
We all know that Christine "Spike" Nelson was the first Degrassi pregnancy, and she kept Emma, after all, despite a slight fudging of the timeline, Emma is a big part of Degrassi: The Next Generation. The second Degrassi pregnancy was Erica Farrell, also on the original series. The difference here is that Erica had an abortion. Also, if you want to truly appreciate modern pregnancy tests, check out the complicated contraption Erica has to use (and wait 3 hours) to find out she's knocked up. Degrassi pregnancy number 3 is also the 2nd abortion: that of everyone's favorite school slut (hehe) Manny Santos. An impulsive night with someone else's boyfriend led little Miss Santos to the clinic. Pregnancy 4: the first adoption. Liberty Van Zant, the last girl you'd expect to wind up pregnant, does. After much drama, her son is adopted and ultimately moves to Seattle. Pregnancy number 5, only sorta counts as we didn't know about it until after the fact. Lakehurst transfer Mia Jones has a beautiful little girl named Isabella that allowed the show to prove just how tricky teen motherhood can be, as with Spike a generation before. Pregnancy #6 is the one that pisses me off, and I blame the fact that I watched those episodes when I was pregnant/had a newborn of my own. Jenna Middleton, of the latest group of Degrassi kids, gets pregnant, denies it until she's nearly 6 months along, has the baby, and then gives him up several months later because she just couldn't hack it. I get it, she did what was best for the baby, but hormonal, sleep-deprived, newborn having me was not amused. I still kinda hate Jenna.
There has been exactly one accidental death.
The most infamous Degrassi death is the only accidental one: that of school shooter-slash-everyone's favorite punching bag: Rick Murray. A struggle for the gun left Sean convinced he'd pissed himself. Turns out Rick's gun discharged into Rick's gut.
There has only been one major car accident.
Sure, JT wrecked the bus stop when Liberty said she was pregnant, and Sean hit that guy during a street race. Heck, even most recently Ali fell asleep at the wheel and hit a parked car. None of those come close to the supremely heart-stopping moment that defined the end of the Degrassi High series. Drunk off his ass, sweet guy turned screw up Wheels went for a drive. OK, so he and Lucy were on a snack run for the party at the lake house, but still, he was DRINKING AND DRIVING. Sure enough, they wreck. Wheels, naturally, gets only a scratch. Lucy was paralyzed and *drum roll* the little kid in the other car DIED. Yes, a main Degrassi character directly caused the death of someone. Wheels served 10 years in prison for that one, and made one appearance on D:NG when Snake had cancer.
**EDIT: It can be argued that the car accident that killed Wheels' parents is a major accident, but as we never see it and had relatively little knowledge of them before the accident happened, I'm not counting it.
There has only been one murder.Next Generation fans were beyond pissed over the craptacular way the writers decided to bring drama into season 6. They killed JT Yorke, resident comedian, by stabbing him in the back. Seriously, were the classes of 06 & 07 all just doomed?
2 Characters have done jail time.
Derek "Wheels" Wheeler and Sean Cameron. Oddly enough, both for hitting people with cars. Wheels killed a kid in a drunk driving accident and served 10 years. Sean was run off the road during a street race and hit a jogger, who as far as we all know survived. Sean served several months then received two years of probation.
Toby Isaacs is the most tragic character ever.
This one is Gospel Truth in my fandom. Think about it. He has a self-absorbed "career woman" type mother who is rarely around (although he does have a pretty cool step-mom), and, get this, his best friend is killed TWICE. First, Toby had become close to school outcast Rick Murray. If you've been following this rant, you know Rick was the school shooter responsible for Jimmy Brooks being in a wheelchair. Rick died. Fast forward a couple of years and what happens? His best friend since elementary school summer camps, JT Yorke, gets stabbed in the back and killed. WTF, Degrassi? Can't you cut a cute nerd some slack? I like to think Toby came into his own in college and is starting his own engineering firm.
Just an opinion here: I can't take Drake, the rapper, seriously.
I'm sure Aubrey Graham (AKA rapper Drake) feared this just a little bit when launching his music career. I can't take him seriously as a rapper. Every time I hear him, I think of this: (apologize for the quality, it's all I could find!)
