With my other half not home to make me watch Smash Lab or Fight Quest, I thought it was time I go back to my soap opera, Degrassi the Next Generation. Now in season 7, Emma and Manny are seniors(Manny turned 18 Filipino style with a debut in the hilarious “We got the beat”)and the older kids are wrapping up their first year of college. The new crop of costars has failed to inspire a following, at least in me, and the producers keep claiming this is the last season. It doesn’t help that American cable channel the N always splits the new seasons into chunks and prolonging and sometimes killing any sense of anticipation. Nevertheless, I tuned in to the latest, “Jessie’s Girl.”

Ellie(looking wan; is college in New York and TV in Toronto too much?)continues to put up with her seventh year senior boyfriend Jesse, despite his arrogance as newspaper editor and that annoying way he calls her Frosh. Never mind his history of cheating and his brief fling with her housemate Paige. Ellie, once a strong level-headed journalist, is mush when it comes to her man. (It’s happened to the best of us.) When Jessie hooks up with her mentor, Ellie gets drunk, ruins an opportunity to shine in the press, and considers leaving the paper in hopes of saving the relationship. Yikes!
In the subplot, Mia(the likable Nina Dobrev who deserves better storylines) tries to help the dyslexic sidekick of mean girl holly J. Now Paige, in her Degrassi heydey, was a mean girl but she had a heart. Holly J is truly one dimensional and therefore makes me cringe, and not giggle. Part of the new ensemble, it remains to be seen if they will ever contribute much more to the episodes.
Despite this lukewarm review, I plan to tune in this week as original focal character Emma tries to sex up her image and in hopes that the show has some life left.