How Should The Romantic Quadrangle Resolve On 'Degrassi'?

If your question is, "Has the editor of this site decided to comment on the TeenNick series Degrassi as though it were not intended for actual children?" My answer, in two parts: yes, and you don't have to be a dick about it. I'm Canadian; if I don't watch Degrassi, I risk losing citizenship!

Seriously though, while I grant that Degrassi is not necessarily appropriate viewing for a woman fast closing in on her thirty-eighth birthday, it can be educational (the first time I ever heard "Call Me Maybe" was when it was used in an episode!), and is probably a fine way for didactic messages about proper behaviour and comportment to be imparted to Today's Young People. The new crop of Minor Niners have already taught us a lot: not to be too shy to try out for a weird new band; not to front like your family has money if it doesn't; not to sleep on your sister's prescription drug addiction. But while those issues may not ever face most of Degrassi's viewers, navigating teen romance probably will, and here is where Degrassi is doing some of its strongest and most important work.

WE ALL KNOW that Maya (Olivia Scriven) saw Zig (Ricardo Hoyos) first. But, largely due to her lack of confidence, she missed out on her chance to become his girlfriend when Tori (Alex Steele) boxed her out. And with the recent "Doll Parts" two-parter, we saw the Tori/Maya dynamic played out on a beauty pageant stage: just as Tori didn't even register Maya as a possible rival for Zig's attention, so did she ignore Maya as a possible contender in the pageant. Tori doesn't realize she's put herself at a disadvantage with Zig, compared to Maya: while a previous storyline found Tori learning the lesson that she shouldn't conceal her real personality, suppress her own personality, and take on Zig's interests as her own, her pursuits do not necessarily intersect with Zig's. Now Zig is in a band with Maya, and her pageant makeover has helped him to see her as a desirable girl. Hence: kissing has occurred. Tori doesn't know yet, but it seems clear that she's going to find out pretty soon.

MEANWHILE, Maya is dating Campbell (Dylan Everett). Who's cute and everything, but clearly not a good prospect for Maya...or any girl. Because, look, he's already in over his head with hockey: either he doesn't like it enough to be billeted away from his family to play in Toronto, or he doesn't like it at all but feels like he can't be honest and quit. Regardless of the specifics, he's started avoiding playing by self-harming, so something's going on with him psychologically that's not being addressed. Maybe there's a clue in the fact that he has no apparent interest in Maya, his girlfriend, no matter how hard she throws herself at him. The last time we saw Campbell happy or engaged with life was when he was unknowingly IM-flirting with Tristan (Lyle O'Donohue), who was posing as Maya Cyrano de Bergerac-style. The obvious conclusion seems to be that Campbell is probably gay and deeply in denial about it...but maybe producers are postponing that resolution since they've only just concluded another LGBT plotline, with Becky (Sarah Fisher) trying out a relationship with transgendered Adam (Jordan Todosey). For now, Maya is staying with Campbell even though neither one of them is into it -- probably partly because a boyfriend who's not especially interested or fun is better than no boyfriend at all (classic high school logic), and partly to punish herself for kissing Zig.

It seems pretty likely that producers will get Zig and Maya together eventually; rarely, on this show, does someone develop a crush on another character that isn't reciprocated in the end (er...Adam excepted; sorry, bro). In fact, if there's one area where Degrassi producers are doing kind of a disservice to their young viewers, this is it: portraying couples who manage to get together despite long odds, or who stay friendly with their exes even if one of them cheated on the other, or who stay friends with their same-sex besties even if one of them stole the other's man. Giving teenagers the idea that a successful hookup can transcend the resentment of everyone around it is borderline irresponsible. Though it really might turn out that Campbell doesn't care so much that Maya kissed Zig. Because Campbell is almost certainly gay.