Getting Real? Degrassi: The Boiling Point Finale

I have mixed feelings about last night's episode.  The Drew-Alli (Dralli?  Alew?) plot was phenomenal.  The Sav-Holly J (Sally J?  Hov?) plot was... no.  Just no.  I didn't even get it.  So Sav writes Holly J a song and instead of doing something sweet that expresses your true feelings, Holly J strips for him and he's just like "Okay, that works."  Then Holly J, who is still clothed, gets caught "stripping" which makes me wonder if that officer had just been standing there watching until she realized that she had a job to do.  But because I have very little time, I'm only going to elaborate on that major plot, the real boiling point (even though it didn't even happen in the boiler room...).


The Eli-Clare plot was not what I was expecting at all.  Does anyone remember in Heart Like Mine when KC sat there with the gun and then didn't do anything?  (Which, by the way, is sort of out of character now that he's such a... for lack of a better word douche.  He would've just shot someone and then said it wasn't his fault, he had no choice and it was really their fault for being in the path of the bullet.)  Well, that's exactly how I felt about this episode of Degrassi.  And this one was a total joke up until the very last second.  I still don't even understand why Eli sunk to the floor like he'd just been stabbed when he hadn't.  Because if that was me I probably would've peed myself and then ran to hug my girlfriend and never look back because Fitz is clearly a psychopath.  But whatever floats your boat.


This morning, my friend and I were discussing how last night's episode didn't really get as intense as we were hoping, when my sister walks in and the following conversation happened -
My Sister: Did you see that episode last night?
Me: Yes, stupid, I see every episode.
My Sister: (surprisingly unoffended) Ohmigod, it was -
Me: Such a joke, I was hoping someone'd get stabbed!
My Sister: Are you kidding me?  That was so intense, like EVERYTHING HAPPENED.


Now I'm wondering if I missed something or if everyone was just expecting something so intense they imagined something...because after the episode I got 3 texts telling me how they "nearly died it was so intense."


In retrospect, All Falls Down (part 2) was intense by the usual Degrassi standard.  But this was the BOILING POINT.  It needed to be so much more than the standard to meet my expectations.  Stephen Stohn and Stefan Brogren were both ecstatic about how impressive this episode was gonna be.  They were working with Degrassi in the age of Rick and the shooting!  Of JT's death!  Of JT selling drugs!  Of Craig doing crack!  I'm not saying I want in-your-face intensity 24/7 but when you say it's going to be in-your-face, I'd appreciate it if it actually was.


So after, and I quote you, Mr. Stephen Stohn, "the best half hour in TV history" I had to think about other Degrassi seasons, making me wonder why would such a reputable show that doesn't hold back ever would not have Eli get stabbed, even if he lived.


So in an effort to defend Degrassi, I've developed a theory as to how that was a ground-breaking episode.  Enjoy my list of possibilities.


1) Fitz and Eli are both alive.  Fitz was just ARRESTED and could quite possibly be blaming Eli for it, even though it's sorta his own fault.  This feeling could develop into a need for revenge, which will lead to a longing for revenge.  This need could escalate to an even bigger conflict, one from which someone's not escaping alive.  Or at least not in one piece.
Flaw - If Eli fights the same way he did in the Boiling Point, he loses Clare and Eclare is one of my new favorite couples, neck and neck with Sean and Ellie or Jane and Spinner.  It'll either be without her, behind or back, or in some new revolutionary way.
2) Now that Simpson is "making some serious changes," Degrassi can do things it's never done before.  These changes are bound to come with complications for certain characters that will push them over the edge.
3) And with these characters getting pushed over the edge comes, perhaps, new issues I can't even imagine.


You've got 24 episodes to prove to me that the best half hour in TV history wasn't just hype.  It better get real.  Because I trust and respect you Degrassi, and can't stop believing that was for a reason.