A Haven for the Underdog

[degrassidrawings]

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From the instagram page of @mrzacharysterling.

My over analyzed Interpretation:

First off. The artwork itself. This is sick 🔥. I could see this type of illustration being apart of an official Degrassi comic book series.

Now for the context. The illustration seems to suggest that Rick had been planning to shoot up the school since season three, based on the backpack he's clutching against his chest and how his eyes are glazed over by his frames, which could shift your perspective on Rick if you didn't already have an unfavorable opinion about him. Considering the artwork is inspired by the season three timeline, I find this suggestion to be a bit misleading. Rick didn't plan on resorting to a gun until after the events that transpired in season four. He was seeking forgiveness: a chance at redemption. This lasted up until he was humiliated for all to see. He wasn't sadistic and didn't premeditate his attack as this artwork suggests. Well...at least not until season four where we learn that Rick has made a list of all of his unfavorites at Degrassi (this was deleted and instead replaced with his list of crushes).

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Pokemon Legends: Z-A Style Gallery

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Laura's Reasoning is Flawed

Ryan suggests to Laura that there could be another way besides killing Chris Hackett to cure Max and herself. "Have you thought of that?" He asks.

"I've spent the last month thinking about nothing else." Laura replies. "If there's another way, I'm all for it."

Except there was another way. Travis in the jail tells Laura, "I've been hunting this damn white wolf under the full moon so long, I started to think it doesn't exist, you know?" What did she think that meant? That he was hunting his own brother? His brother that he kept locked up in the storm shelter? C'mon, Laura, you're supposed to be smarter than that. She even acknowledges that Travis had been out hunting at the end of Chapter seven as she stole his gun with silver bullets. Who was he hunting, Laura? Clearly there was another wolf that Travis was tracking down to kill in order for the curse to be lifted. For her to respond with, "That's not possible" after Travis tells her that Chris wasn't the first wolf was diabolical. You have had several hints that there was someone that preceded the Hacketts' curse, and you ignored them all. No other counselor besides Ryan challenges her about this, and Laura is supposed to be the hero of the story?

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"I Can Think of Seven"

Travis says this to Laura and Max in the jail cell while they lay it on thick to get on his good side. Spoiler: it doesn't work. He says there are seven reasons why they can't be buds, but that also works the other way around. Here are seven reasons why Laura, or the audience by extension, wouldn't want to be "buds" with Travis. These are in no particular order.

He drugged Laura with a sedative. Risky move. He doesn't know this woman's medical history or allergies. What if the dosage was too much for her body size? What if her body had an allergic reaction? She's a slender girl. Travis could have had way too much in the syringe for her and killed her from an overdose or from an allergic reaction.

He had her in meager restraints too close to Max's cell, who became a deadly beast. She lost an eye because of this. Thank goodness she was able to free herself from the cuffs, otherwise she would have been sitting there all night bleeding from her eye, most likely getting an infection from it. Seriously, what was Travis thinking here? He could have just held her back while they both watched Max transform, and then he could have escorted her back to her cell. This was the most careless, stupid thing that Travis did the whole game. It was by sheer luck that Laura was able to get away.

He had the couple detained illegally for one month before he told them what was going on. Little do Laura and Max know that Travis had one of two options: illegally detain them, or kill them on the spot. Still, he could have explained more to them. He could have thrown them a bone at least. I understand that he didn't want them to go after his brother. but the solution is to communicate more, not less, and speaking of which...

"Because I told you to go to the motel" is not a reason why the counselors shouldn't go to Hackett's Quarry. It's quite simple for him to point out how he's related to Chris Hackett, especially since he is his brother, and simply say that Chris is currently compromised. To his credit, If you choose to be dismissive as Laura to the cop, he will say that they are in an open hunting zone until the next day. With that said, Laura and Max were one night early; they really had no reason to go to camp at that time, and if they were as broke as Laura claimed they were, she should have said so instead of try to argue with a law enforcement officer. "There's just one problem." She said, and only admits to being lost instead of being both lost and broke. In hindsight, we know that Travis is trying to save their lives. He could have worked something out with the motel or cover the expenses himself if only Laura and Max had been transparent. After typing this out, both parties are equally at fault here.

He's covering for his family's murders. This does not bode well, especially for being the Sheriff of your county. His niece and nephew got dozens killed in a fire, killed the missing hikers as werewolves, and disposed of their bodies as humans.

Laura has to kill Chris. When you have to kill the brother of the person who you're trying to establish a relationship with, it's not going to go well. Laura is set on curing Max, the guy she loves. None of these other dudes matter.

He's quite rude. The lesser of all of the offenses listed obviously, but it is something to consider if you are wanting to be buds with someone. We've got a fifty six year old man who doesn't know how to articulate his thoughts properly. After the scene with his mother, we understand why he is the way he is, but that doesn't excuse his behavior.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to dislike Travis, but at the same time, once you learn more about him, you will gain a better perspective of his side of things. I may be a Travis Hackett fan, but you will never see me glazing him. XD

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A Missed Opportunity in The Quarry

Credit Goes to the Youtube channel called The Hidden Object Guru, who has videos of deleted scenes from the game. Weirdly enough, they're dubbed in Russian. I will be focusing on the first deleted scene featured in the video.

I mentioned this in an essay I wrote about Travis Hackett: the only choice that causes Travis to turn against Laura is when she shoots him in jail trying to escape. You can do everything wrong: kill all his family, try to take the gun, and be rude to Travis, but as long as you don't shoot Travis, Laura will be fine. There was a deleted scene with Laura after Constance catches her. If you recall, Constance turns off the gas lamp, so Laura can't see who she's shooting at the beginning of Chapter nine. The deleted is an extension of that scene, which shows Laura shooting into the darkness, where she has the option of aiming at one of three silhouettes: Constance, Jedediah, and Travis. This scene is evidence that the writers were possibly considering having an accumulative system where if Laura pisses Travis off enough times, whether or not she shoots him in jail, Travis will kill you. Like the YouTuber I'm sharing here, I wish that that was actually the case in the game's final release: it would make all of those scenes building up to the prison break that much more intense.

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Why Alex Wasn't Punished for the Prank: The Short Version of An Essay I Wrote Before (Degrassi TNG)

There are two major reasons why she got away with the paint and feathers prank:

1. Finding the pranksters wasn't the priority anymore. After the shooting, the Degrassi staff's primary concern was supporting students who were affected by Rick's actions. At this point, the students are considered survivors of the shooting, and they wanted to make sure the students were healing in a healthy way so that they could continue and finish out the school year. The focus was on moving forward with better awareness of gun violence rather than looking back to see who was responsible for Rick's humiliation. After all, It's not like they could bring justice to Rick after he got himself killed. Remember: it was Raditch who promised to find the perpetrators and punish them accordingly, but once he was assigned to a different school and Hatzilakos took over, that was placed on the back burner.

2. The kids weren't busted by the staff: Spinner Came Forward out of guilt. The principal was made aware only because Spinner came forward, and the only reason he did confess was because he felt guilty that he and Jay threw Jimmy under the bus, an event in which Alex did not participate, which is what got Jimmy shot. Spinner only realized this in hindsight, and had been carrying the guilt around until he couldn't keep it to himself any longer. Jimmy's return to school in a wheelchair was just too painful of a reminder that Spinner was indirectly responsible for his best friend's current condition. Alex did not participate in Jay and Spinner's lie, therefore Spinner didn't feel the need to give her away. Keep in mind that Spinner did not feel guilty for humiliating Rick; he only felt bad after it almost cost Jimmy his life.

This isn't to say that Alex shouldn't have faced disciplinary actions for what she did. This is just to show that it was Spinner's actions that were the driving force that got he and Jay expelled from school and ostracized by his classmates, not the adults. They were only reactionary to the information that Spinner gave away, which did not include Alex.

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"You blew half the head off my niece, Kaylee Hackett: one of the kindest, gentlest souls to ever walk this earth."

This line says a lot about Travis Hackett, which is why it's my favorite moment of his from the Quarry. It shows you that he does, in fact, value kindness as a trait in a person. Considering what kind of family he comes from, one that lacked warmth and support (especially from his mother Constance), we can understand why Travis would be complicit in trying to protect his niece from incarceration.

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Travis Hackett, The Villain Imperfect, Likable Antagonist

"...To present [the complexities of a character]...you have to be careful; you have to run a fine line because if you're gonna play [a character] all one way or another, you'll spoil it...that's what makes any good character, in my opinion...interesting. If they're just one way, it's boring. 'Muhahaha' is boring."

--Ted Raimi on playing Travis Hackett. Source: Dan Allen Gaming on YouTube

There's something about a morally gray antagonist done right that makes him compelling. Travis Hackett is an example of such a character. He shined in The Quarry, even as a non playable character. That speaks volumes about the actor portraying him, Ted Raimi. I still can't believe that the man who played this guy:

was the same person who also portrayed this guy:

Let's give it up for the acting range of Ted Raimi! Now to focus on Travis Hackett. I'm going to focus mainly on the canonical events of the game. There is just too much information to cover in what will already be a lengthy post, so I will be missing some details.

Creepy Cop

We are introduced to Travis in the prologue of the game as he encounters Laura and Max while the player is controlling Laura. He learns from them that the reason why the couple is "all the way out [in the woods] this late at night" is because they were heading to Hackett's Quarry one night earlier than when they were due. He then orders them to go to the nearest motel in the area. He commands Laura to step out of the car, so he can mark the location of the Harbinger Motel on her map (and in an alternate timeline where you fail Laura QTEs, Travis will insist on wiping dirt off of her face). He then sends them on their way and seemingly follows them, presumably to make sure they make it to the motel. Another option is that he didn't follow them but intended to go back to Hackett's Quarry to check on the status of his brother Chris, who is a werewolf at this time. The couple deliberately goes against the cop's wishes and heads to camp anyway, where Max encounters a monster in the storm shelter that attacks him. Laura tries to pull him to safety and almost succeeds until the beast pulls him back down at the very last second. It's at this moment that Officer Hackett steps in, drugs Laura from behind, and fires three gunshots into the storm shelter, albeit reluctantly. At this point, the writers could have gone in either one of two directions with him. The first and most obvious route would be the "Bwuahaha" option where he utters some sinister line as Laura falls unconscious. Instead, we see his composure crack, and then he proceeds with this reaction:

It's one of the most memorable moments in the game. This shows us that the cop is not the psychopath that the writers were trying to convince us he was. At the same time, the man is far away from being any kind of saint.

Guarded, Tired, & Heavy

Bar from a few hints sprinkled throughout the game, we don't see or hear anything about Officer Hackett again until chapter seven as Laura makes her return to the story as one of the playable characters. In an extended flashback, the audience learns that Laura and Max have been in jail for the past two months under the supervision of the cop, who we learn throughout the chapter is actually Chris Hackett's brother. While most fans argue that Chapter seven is a huge damper in ever wanting to replay the game again, during the first play through, this segment of the game is a giant lore fest as we get to learn more about who this cop is, and it's in this chapter that we learn his name: Travis. You can also find this information before the seventh chapter by looking through all of the content in the game menu where the "paths chosen" theme is represented in the form of VHS tapes.

Unfortunately, Travis has a lot on his shoulders. Half of the members of his family are afflicted with the werewolf curse, and it seems that they take full advantage of Travis' power as the Sheriff to cover up their horrendous deeds, which includes breaking the law, something that would not only cost Travis his job, but all of the participating family members prison time. He describes his predicament to Laura using the following metaphor:

"...if your whole family, every last one of 'em decided to jump down the bottom of a well and they're all just...hangin' on the end of a rope, how can one person be expected to pull them all back out? You can't. Once you pull on that rope, you're just gonna fall right down the bottom of the well with the rest of 'em."

That was all he needed to say at that moment for the audience to open up to him. While he doesn't give away details of his situation, we can see that Travis is a tormented soul, using the bottle to cope with the stress of everything. It is up to the player and the choices we make as Laura to make Travis realize that opening up to the counselors was either noble or futile. Fortunately the game makes it easy for Travis to side with Laura under the condition that you don't shoot him as you're trying to break out of jail as Laura.

Then comes the cherry on top. After the Laura and Max flashback in chapter eight, we are introduced to Constance Hackett, who is the matriarch of the Hackett clan. There's a scene that unfolds featuring her and Travis, her eldest son, where Travis breaks the news to his mother that Kaylee Hackett, Chris' daughter, had been killed. Mrs. Hackett doesn't take it well. Quite the contrary: she blames Travis for everything. This results in the following conversation where the cop seemingly admits to his mother that he had been holding Max and Laura in jail behind his family's back. After Constance suggests that Travis should have "taken care of the problem while [he] had the chance," we get the full picture of why Travis is the way he is, why he acted the way he did in the previous chapters, and why he seemed to be a sea of contradictions. He wanted to help his family, but he didn't want to harm anyone else in the process. He didn't want to harm anyone else, yet caused Laura to lose her eye by the hands of werewolf Max because he left her exposed to him. He wanted to enlist Laura's help, yet withheld crucial information from her that could have gotten her on his side. He wanted Laura to be on his side, yet was hostile towards her and Max during their time spent in the slammer. It was all because he was torn between being loyal to his family and doing the right thing. Once the players see Travis walking this fine line, trying to balance himself on a tight rope over a raging inferno, we can't help but feel for him.

Constance still isn't done with him. In her outburst of grief, she speaks poorly about Travis' profession and implies that he didn't earn his position as Sheriff but only reached that status because his predecessor perished in the Harum Scarum fire.

In the Hackett house, the player alternates between playing Laura and Ryan, who combined get to make some major choices regarding their own fates as well as the fates of each Hackett family member. If the player plays her cards right, Travis, Laura, and Ryan will survive the rumble in chapter nine, and the cop will ask the two counselors to help him kill Silas and lift the curse that haunted his family for six years. Succeeding at this mission will give the players the "best" ending.

"Use Your Words, Dude!"

--Ryan after being stabbed and thrown around by Bobby Hackett

Now that the recap is over, let's start with common talking points surrounding Travis' character. The most obvious one being the flaw that started it all: why couldn't Travis properly communicate with Laura and Max in the beginning? Gaming logic dictates that there wouldn't be a plot for the game otherwise. The writers' intentions were to make the cop come across as creepy as possible in the prologue, and part of that package included having Travis using cryptic language. "You're not gonna make it to Hackett's Quarry...not tonight." That's it. That was his explanation for them not to go Hackett's Quarry, aka, there wasn't one. XD This is the reason why some fans of the game dislike Travis. They can't look past this flaw. His lack of communication, combined with Laura and Max breaking and entering the camp storm shelter, is what sets the events of the Quarry in motion, so it's completely valid for fans to have a bone to pick with him. This lack of communication also continues well into chapter seven where he opens up to the kids just enough for Laura and Max to understand why he has them locked away. He still doesn't reveal who bit Max, though when we learn that it's his brother he's protecting, we understand why he kept it a secret, especially considering that Laura takes the first opportunity to break out with the intention of killing Chris. It's every man for himself in The Quarry. I do believe if Travis had been more transparent with Laura and Max while they were in jail and not have been so hard on them, he might have been able to persuade the couple to help them. There was still a good chance that Laura and Max would still plot behind his back to escape, but I do think Travis could have made a greater effort to form an alliance with the pair.

This flaw has been shown to run in the family with not only Travis but with all of the Hackett men. We see that Bobby and Jedidiah are watching over the seven counselors who are stranded at camp during the full moon. Bobby catches up to a couple of them, and instead of having a discussion with them, he either grabs them (Abi), abducts them (Nick), or tosses them around (Kaityln). You know the expression referring to someone as all talk and no action? The Hacketts are the exact inverse of this. They're hard pressed to keep everyone safe, which is a good thing, yet do not present themselves as allies to the counselors, thus causing the kids to lash out at them out of fear. This could also be one reason why all of the counselors, except Ryan, didn't push back on Laura's reasoning to kill Chris despite working with him all summer.

An Alternate, Dark Ending

The Hackett rumble can end in one of several different ways. In one of those alternate timelines, after Ryan shoots and kills Chris, if Laura shoots Travis in jail beforehand, whether accidental or intentional, Travis will kill Laura. Since Ryan broke Chris' werewolf lineage by killing him, Laura will no longer have her supernatural abilities to protect herself from Travis, and he will stab Laura to death with a large shard of glass from the mirror he was knocked into by werewolf Laura. This all happens as you play as Ryan, and in that moment, you are forced to choose to either kill Travis or be killed by Travis (additionally if you fail to stab Bobby as Ryan, Bobby will kill Ryan after Ryan shoots Travis). This is a secret ending with a sinister twist as the cop's shadow side consumes him after being shot by Laura.

As dark as this ending is, this universe almost never gets discovered on a first play through. In fact, it's more probable that the player fails to shoot Chris as Ryan, resulting in Chris murdering Ryan, and Laura and Travis to die at each other's hands. This ending is more the result of chaos run amok rather than pure, sinister, murderous intent as is the case if Travis decides to kill Laura and Ryan. This leads us to the second most asked question about Travis. Why does he kill Laura only after being shot by her?

Both Laura and Ryan have the chance to wipe out Travis' whole family, and he will still work with the counselors so as long as Laura doesn't shoot him earlier that day. Why is Travis taking a bullet the only decision that affects his decision to kill her going forward? Ryan and Laura both trespass on the Hackett Property, so the Hacketts were legally within their rights to kill them both, especially considering that Laura is armed with a shotgun with the intention of killing one of the members. Laura has the ability to shoot Constance and strangle Jedidiah to death. Ryan can weaken Bobby by "returning" the knife that Bobby stuck in him, which will inhibit Bobby from fighting off Chris, thus causing him to be mauled to death. Of course, Ryan can kill Chris as well. That's four family members the kids can kill in one night, not including Kaylee. Even still, as long as Laura doesn't shoot Travis, he will form an alliance with her and Ryan to kill Silas. The question here, therefore, isn't why the cop kills Laura after she shoots him, but rather why doesn't he kill Laura after she kills his parents?

Freedom

It all goes back to that conversation between Travis and Constance in the kitchen. We get a lot of insight on how Travis is treated by his family. While I don't believe that Constance was always as cruel to Travis as she was in her moment of grief, she absolutely uses manipulation to get Travis to protect the family at all costs. If Constance is killed, Jedediah tells Travis to no longer provide protection for any outsiders. If you don't kill Constance, both she and Jedediah pressure Travis to pull the trigger on Laura, and he will hesitate every time (even if Laura shoots him in the jail cell). Back in chapter seven, Chris pressures Travis to do something with Max and Laura in jail. Everywhere Travis turns, his family is pushing him to clean up their mess:

"Maybe if you had done your job, they wouldn't have been at the camp that night. You ever think of that?"

"No more protecting anyone, Travis."

"Shoot her. Take her face off."

"A good boy protects his family. You ain't no good boy!"

Then his family is killed, and now he is free. He doesn't have to put up with the pressure of trying to obey his family any longer. You see, I think the outcome that makes the most canonical sense is when Ryan stabs Bobby. Bobby, as I stated before, can't fend off Chris, so Chris kills Bobby and then goes on to kill Constance and Jedediah. In this way, Travis can't fully blame Laura and Ryan for killing Chris as killing him means Travis' life is spared from werewolf Laura. The result of his family's death was brought on to themselves. The secret they tried to keep from the rest of society spiraled out of their control, and it consumed them in the end. Even if Laura killed Constance and Jedediah, Travis would still be free from their control. Even after Laura killed Kaylee, a niece who Travis described as "one of the kindest, gentlest souls to ever walk this earth", Travis will still set that all aside to work with the kids to end the curse for good. Then again, it was Kaylee and her brother Caleb that brought the curse to the Hackett family, even if they didn't realize it at the time, so Travis no longer has to worry about the welfare of his niece now that she is gone. You could tell that he loved Kaylee, but she was a huge part of the weight he carried on his shoulders for many years. I love how it was Travis who gave character attributes to Kaylee, a girl who we never got to know, and that the things he valued most about her were her kindness and her gentleness. Considering the lack of warmth he received from his family, it makes sense that Travis would have a soft spot for a kindhearted persona.

Nobody Can be Trusted

What's going on inside of Travis' mind as he kills Laura? Remember the only thing that can trigger this ending is if Laura shoots Travis earlier that day in the jail cell. Why does he react to Laura's betrayal in a more visceral manner than he does when she kills his family? It's because he wanted to trust Laura and Max. He needed help with tracking down Silas, and he knew that Laura was his only hope. I think Travis saw a bit of himself inside of Laura whenever she told him that she wouldn't leave Max even when she had the chance to escape. The door was locked, but even so, Laura wasn't going to abandon her boyfriend. The game tells us "The Sheriff admires your dedication" if Laura explains herself to Travis. Like Travis, Laura was committed to freeing someone she loved from the curse, causing her to sacrifice her life and her dreams. This is what prompted him to open up to the young couple. It was almost as if Travis knew Laura would get her eye scratched out by werewolf Max and was testing her to see if she would run away. When she doesn't, he decides that she is worth trusting. He provides for her the formula she needs to cure Max without giving away his brother. Again, he's not revealing his entire hand, but the fact that the Sheriff was comfortable enough to let the couple in on what he's dealing with is a huge deal for his character because, similar to Laura, he is stubborn as hell.

Too bad for Travis that Laura hears his conversation with Chris. The moment she learned that it was Chris who bit Max, all chances of them working together evaporated in Laura's mind. A go-getter personality like Laura's couldn't wait another day in jail, especially since she knew what needed to be done to cure Max. As Laura, you have the opportunity to break his trust not once, but twice. The first is an inevitable part of the story: Laura pretends to be hurt to attract Travis to her cell. As soon as he approaches her, Laura breaks his trust by either surprising him with a needle to the neck, or by stealing his gun and aiming it at him. The safest route the player can take is to simply use the syringe, but should you choose to take Travis' gun, you can plead for his keys, lock him in, and apologize to him. That leads us to the second and final straw of Travis and Laura's relationship: once you shoot him, it doesn't matter if it's accidental or deliberate: Laura's fate is sealed. Not only does Laura shatter any rapport she had with the cop, but she leaves him to die. She locks him in the cell as he's bleeding out, and to add salt to the wound, she makes a cruel remark towards him:

"Let's give him some alone time. Let him think about why he's in here."

Shooting a man who was vulnerable to you, Laura, an outsider, after years of keeping it all in, makes it personal. Any sliver of compassion Travis may have had for the outside world died in him the moment he was shot. It just makes Constance's insults sting that much worse because in the timeline where Travis is shot, she was right, or so Travis (probably) thought: he should have protected his family, and he shouldn't have spared Laura and Max. Even if you don't shoot Travis and work with him to find Silas, if Laura refuses to shoot the white wolf, Travis will try and lunge for the gun. After he misses and falls on the ground, he says to Laura, "I should have killed you when I had the chance." If you let Silas kill Travis, and, consequentially, everyone else there, those would have been last words. This is what years and years of being conditioned not to trust the outside world looks like. As Laura, you can prove Travis and his family wrong or right depending on your choices.

My Favorite Character

I've been grappling with the following question. If Travis and Laura are similar to each other and are both connected to the plot, why is it that I favor the former and not the latter? I think the main reason is that the game isn't trying to convince us that Travis is a good guy. After all, he is an antagonist, so he is by definition written to be against the protagonist. Travis is a hot mess, and everyone knows it. Laura, on the other hand, is written as the hero, and while she's nowhere near as bad as Travis, she can be reckless in her haste to get things done. Hell, she almost becomes just like the Hacketts. Laura has also proven herself to be pretty capable when push comes to shove, and she is too young to have lived a life rife with bad decisions and regret, unlike Travis, who has made mistakes that have and will cost him his livelihood when the night ends. You simply cannot help but to feel for the guy. Additionally, when it comes to the branching scenarios in The Quarry, he can either be a friend or a foe given the circumstances. It's so much fun to imagine him in a world where things are drastically different either for better or for worse, and that's what makes him interesting. I know I speak for Travis fans when I say I prefer to envision him in a world where he can get his happy ending. He might not have earned it, but in my opinion, he deserves it.

[spinelli-gemelli]

I Finished an Essay About Travis Hackett. That was tough.

This is coming from someone who wrote ten, long winded essays about Rick Murray from Degrassi. Seeing the world through Travis Hackett's lens is emotionally taxing, even harder for me than writing about Rick. It's proof of how good of a character he was in The Quarry. I was not expecting that to weigh so heavily on me, but now that I'm done with it, I can finally relax.

[spinelli-gemelli]

From Admiration to Fatigue: Laura Kearney, My Mixed Bag

Feat. Travis Hackett

One could make the argument that Laura Kearney and Travis Hackett are the main characters in the story of the Quarry. The former is a playable character, and Travis is the main N.P.C., or non-playable character. There was a recent post in the Quarry Subreddit that inspired me to write this. I will primarily be discussing Laura's role in the game, in the story, and I how I feel about her as a character and as a person, but I can't mention Laura without bringing up Travis as they both have the biggest impact on how the events in the Quarry transpire. He will be featured here as well, but my primary focus will be on the counselor.

If The Quarry were solely a Laura Kearney story, and the players only played as Laura the entire game, then the format would have worked better. Instead, we get a prologue sequence that features her, Max (her boyfriend), and the cop; six chapters with barely a mention of them let alone an appearance; and then a reemergence of Laura who claims the title as the main character and never leaves the spotlight. Unfortunately the eight other playable characters in the game are sidelined in favor of Laura and the plot. This includes Ryan Erzahler, a character who we spent most of the six chapters with before Laura returned. I must say: the first time I experienced the Quarry, I liked the twist of the classic horror trope, which is getting the prologue characters killed immediately.

Horror Trope Flipped on Its Head

We are introduced to the pair as bright eyed, bushy tailed new counselors. They encounter the werewolf Silas, unbeknownst to them at this time, and swerve on the road to avoid hitting him. Ever since, the couple is meant with supernatural occurrences as Max attempts to fix the damage on his S.U.V. Then they encounter none other than Officer Hackett. With good intentions--and very poor execution--he orders the pair to bunk up at the Harbinger Motel, which, according to Laura, is both completely out of the way and out of the budget. Miss Kearney and her boyfriend know best: after all, why take advice from a creepy, small town sheriff? For all they knew, it was a stage for a kidnapping. Disobeying the cop's request, Max and Laura continue their journey and head straight to Hackett's Quarry summer camp, where they planned to arrive one night early.

There's just one problem with their plan: Chris Hackett, the camp's director, wasn't aware that they were arriving early. "They know we're coming. We called ahead." Laura told the cop. Laura, however, didn't speak with Chris directly. She left him a voice message, and he never replied to it. Laura made the assumption that it was okay to crash the place all because she announced their arrival, but she never received the okay from Chris. We soon learn why. After Laura and Max break into the camp's storm shelter in an attempt to help what they believed was a person who was trapped, Max gets attacked by an unknown creature, and is bleeding out fast. Laura tries to pull him to safety, but the beast pulls him back down, and Laura watches helplessly until Officer Hackett arrives on the scene and drugs her from behind. We watch as she is knocked out and then the cop who reluctantly fires three shots into the storm shelter.

It's bad news for the pair; however, we don't see anyone die in the opening scene, and the unspoken rule of horror is that no one is dead until the audience witnesses their death. Seven chapters later, Laura is back! She is on a mission to kill Chris Hackett at any and all costs. Her demeanor is incredibly different from the one we were introduced to in the prologue. It's quite impressive not only for her character's development, but also speaking on the range of the actress playing her, Siobhan Williams. She is determined, focused and has adapted well to her dire circumstances. She must act quickly, or she will turn into a werewolf like her boyfriend and either kill, be killed, or be captured by the Hacketts. This is all great source material. The plot has thickened.

Remember the eight other counselors I mentioned? They all basically get side lined with the exception of Dylan and Kaitlyn who have their own little subplot going on underneath the Hackett Family Rumble. This is my main grievance with Laura Kearney. She leaves no breathing room for the other playable characters once she re-enters the game. In the next few paragraphs, I will explain why I take an issue with that.

"This Isn't About Good and Evil, Ryan...believe me, if there's another way, I'm all for it."

This is the biggest grievance I have with Laura's character. Laura says this to Ryan at the beginning of chapter eight as they make their way towards the Hackett estate. If this isn't about good and evil, then why is it that Laura's method is viewed as the only way out? Why doesn't the narrative lend any credence to Ryan's perspective? Why does the game make Ryan seem like an idiot for trying to defend his mentor's honor? Ryan challenges Laura on her reasoning to kill Chris, but since he knows less about the werewolf curse than Laura, Laura's argument takes the higher ground. This is frustrating to me for a couple of reasons. The first being that it was certainly not the only way for Laura to cure Max and consequentially herself: it was the only way she wanted to cure themselves. Again: this in and of itself is not a bad thing. Laura is in a time crunch, and she doesn't have time to take others' feelings into consideration. It's the fact that there are no characters that are capable of challenging her on her strategy and framing her to be this fearless hero when in reality she is just as flawed as the Hacketts since, like the Hacketts, Laura and Max have afflicted the werewolf curse on themselves. While it is noble for Laura to save her boyfriend's life, she is doing so by ending someone else's life. There is more to the story than "Chris has to die", but Laura doesn't care to know the full story. It's not only because she has to beat out the curse taking a toll on her body, but also because she rejected the opportunity to work with the one man who knew more than she did: Travis Hackett.

Laura the "Badass"

The more this term is used, the more I hate it. When Laura returns with an eye patch in chapter seven, she does look cool I must admit. There's something about her behavior after being bitten, however, that feels forced. I wasn't a fan of the writers fusing the symptoms of the werewolf curse with stereotypical, tiring girl boss tropes the way they did with Laura. Example: Wow look, she's so strong! What a bad-ass! Even though super strength is a symptom of the curse, this was an attribute given to Laura herself. I understand that this was meant to be an extension of her determination and mental resilience, but for some reason, I wasn't a fan of how it was executed. She's also portrayed as being smart, which she is. There's just a caveat: when it comes to the curse, Laura had two whole months to figure everything out, so when she's being compared to the other counselors regarding their knowledge about werewolves, it's not a fair judgment call. The others had one night to learn what was going on. In fact, before Laura introduced herself to the others, Kaitlyn, Dylan, and Ryan were doing a great job at putting the pieces together. Eventually they would have arrived at the werewolf conclusion without her insight. She's also incredibly stubborn and arrogant towards Ryan in the beginning. She was a know-it-all in the sense that she believed the only way to lift the curse was to kill Chris Hackett, which turned out to be false. No need to mention the obvious chemistry they tried to force between Laura and Ryan, which didn't work at all. Most of all, at this point in the story, Laura does't give a damn about anyone but herself and her boyfriend. In fact, it was quite generous of her to slow down and give the other counselors the run down of why she needed to kill Chris. A YouTuber argued that this was character growth on her end since Laura has always been a character that had to "go, go, go" and didn't care who was coming with her or not. Be that as it may, it wasn't my cup of tea.

"...Just cuz you know, Doesn't Mean you Know..."

This was a drunk Travis Hackett rambling to Laura in Chapter seven of the game. It seems like hogwash at first, but he is on to something. Just because Laura was aware of the curse, didn't mean she knew the full story, and he was right. There is an easy solution to this, though: Travis is transparent with Laura and Max. Unfortunately his lack of communication is what sets the events of The Quarry in motion, and by misfortune I mean for the characters in the game, not for us as the audience. I won't spend time preaching to the choir since the entire fan base echoes the following sentiment: If Travis had been clearer about the danger Laura and Max were getting themselves into, even if it meant making up a story about open hunting season, then he might have been able to convince the couple to go to the Harbinger Motel. He didn't want to risk giving away the family secret, but he could have easily made something up on the spot. The same can be said while he had them locked away in jail: he could have told them everything. I understand Travis had to be careful because he didn't want them to go after his brother, but they went after him anyway.

That's besides the point. After Max and Laura trespassed, were attacked by werewolf Chris, imprisoned by Travis, developed rapport with the cop, Laura could have set her ego to the side and collaborated with the Sheriff to help end the curse. Perhaps Laura decided that Chris wasn't worth saving after overhearing the conversation between him and Travis. They were responsible for the deaths of the hikers after all. This family wasn't innocent by any means, but they were trying their best to keep their curse contained as much as possible.

Not to mention the fact that Travis left her exposed to the dangers of Max as a werewolf. This cost Laura an eye. If anyone were in Laura's shoes, they would harbor some resentment towards the cop for not giving a damn about her safety in the prison cell while he left her vulnerable and unprotected for the night. In Travis' attempt to save everyone, he made some poor decisions, something that he and Laura have in common. We can't fully blame Laura for wanting to break out of prison, especially seeing as they have been illegally detained. Little did they know that Travis was trying to save their lives. His family wasn't keen to outsiders learning of their secrets, as we heard Constance say to Travis later. Travis could have murdered the both of them as soon as Max was bitten, but he spared them. That says a lot about his character.

The Silver lining

Not every character gets sucked into Laura's M.C. orbit. Travis has enough lore to stand his own against her in their shared scenes together, which is why their interactions are by far the most interesting dynamic in the game. These are the characters that created problems that set the game in motion and have to work together to solve them. Both are stubborn and would never admit to themselves that they need help trying to fix everything let alone to each other, which is what creates good tension. Sadly, some members of the fan-base confuse this with, dare I say, sexual tension. This is a crack ship I despise even more than Laura's character utilization in the game--but that's a story for another time.

Speaking of characters who cause problems for others, remember Jacob Custos? After the prologue, he is the first character we get to play in chapter one. It's a shame that they cast him to the side even though he was a character that had the potential to undergo an incredible character arc. If only Jacob had the chance to redeem himself after sabotaging the van. That would make him just as compelling if not more compelling than Laura and Ryan. I could go on and on about the directions the writers could have taken with the rest of the cast, but let's not beat the dead horse.

Back to Travis and Laura: while they are both similar in the fact they make poor choices regarding their reactions to the werewolf curse, I am more partial to Travis simply because he has all of the positives that Laura has without the negatives. His presence in the story doesn't outshine scenes with the other characters. Then again, he is only seen alongside Laura and Max for most of the game, so that doesn't mean much.

I've said a mouthful, but at the end of the day, I don't hate Laura's character. I just love the other characters enough to feel a degree of indignation that they didn't get more screen time. Considering that this is an ensemble cast designed for you to care about more than just one character, I take issue with this flaw in The Quarry. With all that said, I still love the game three years after its release, flaws and all. I would love it more if we spent more time with more than two characters.

Giving Laura Her Flowers

I don't want to end this post without giving Laura some praise. Hands down, her best character quality is that she adapted to her hellish circumstances and didn't let being trapped in a cage for two months dampen her spirit. I have respect for Laura for being able to tend to her eye without medical assistance, which was something she should have received ASAP (thanks, Travis.). Another moment I liked of hers was the tender moment she shared with Ryan as she tended to his stab wound. We see a softer side of Laura for a change, which to me makes her more likable than just the hard ass she's been for the majority of the game. My wish, however, remains the same: we needed more screen time from the other characters.

[spinelli-gemelli]

If You Don't Understand why Alex Wasn't Punished for the Prank, you Haven't been Paying Attention.

There's a difference between understanding why Alex wasn't punished for the paint-and-feathers prank and believing that she deserved to be punished for it. I totally understand why fans would be upset that she didn't get the same treatment as Spinner and Jay seeing that she actively played a role in Rick's humiliation, which led him to...well, you know. However, there is a sequence of events that play out in the episodes after the shooting leading up to "Eye of the Tiger" (4x16) that explain why the events played out as such.

"Do you wake up every morning thinking you can walk and then remembering that you will never, ever, walk again?! It's not your fault...it's mine." --Jimmy Brooks, "Eye of the Tiger"

We get glimpses of Spinner in "Back in Black" (4x09), moments where he doesn't say anything, but is communicating through his facial expressions. It is evident that Spinner is riddled with guilt after he and Jay lied to Rick in the restroom, telling the kid that Jimmy was the mastermind behind the prank and set him up to be humiliated on stage in front of his peers. This is the event that drove Rick to retrieve his gun from his locker and shoot Jimmy in the back. Remember: once Rick was in the restroom cleaning off his face, he had decided to suspend his quest for revenge or at least prolong it before Spinner and Jay entered the men's room, causing Rick to hide in one of the stalls. Once Jay and Spinner identified Rick's paint covered dress shoes behind the stall, they proceeded to have a fake conversation and threw Jimmy, Spinner's friend, under the bus. After Jimmy had been shot, Spinner had been grappling with the guilt for months until he could take it no longer. The stresser that caused Spinner to break was Jimmy's return to school, confined to a wheelchair for what could be the rest of his days on earth. He tried to ignore it by overcompensating on Jimmy's behalf, constantly rushing to his aid whether or not Jimmy requested his help. Then, finally, Spinner and Jimmy are in the gymnasium alone, and they address the elephant in the room: Jimmy may never walk again. After Jimmy laments, he then blames himself for Rick coming after him:

"Look, stuck in a bed for three months, you can't stop thinking...about Rick, and how I rode him just as hard as you guys...even harder."

The icing on the cake: Jimmy confesses that he wishes Rick "had better aim", implying that he would have rather been killed than to live without the use of his limbs. "It's not your fault." Jimmy says to Spinner. "It's mine." He looks away from him, appearing frustrated, discouraged, and disappointed in himself.

It's at this point that Spinner couldn't handle hiding the truth from him any longer. He proceeds to tell Jimmy that he and Jay told Rick that Jimmy was behind the prank. Jimmy then connects the rest of the dots. "And then he shot me." He says. He pauses, then leaves Spinner alone in the gym. As a result of his confession, Spinner loses all of his friends except for Jay. This includes Paige, Hazel, Marco, Craig, and even Manny, who he had been dating briefly until that point. Spinner would later show up to their party drunk and beg Jimmy for his forgiveness, but Jimmy isn't having any of it, and he is brutally honest with Spinner on what he thinks about him:

"Why don't you for once just think of somebody other than Spinner? Or you know what? Just go drive off a bridge. I don't care, I don't. You're dead to me already."

Jimmy was heavy handed, but Spinner received the message loud and clear. They were no longer friends. That bad blood between them would last for more than a year.

Finally, we end the episode with Spinner's confession to Principal Hatzilakos, who had been newly appointed after Raditch had been reassigned to a different school. He admits to bullying Rick constantly and to being responsible for the Whack-Your-Brain prank. "It was my idea." He told her, bowing his head in shame.

After a very long pause, the principal asks, "Is there anyone else I need to talk to about that?" Her voice is calm and quiet.

Spinner gives away only one other name: Jay Hogart. Immediately Ms. H. calls for Jay to be pulled out of class and proceeds to expel them both, and that concludes the episode.

Have you noticed something here? I haven't brought up Alex once since the first paragraph. That's because Spinner's reason for confessing to the prank had little to do with the prank itself and everything to do with the staged conversation that took place between Spinner and Jay -- a conversation in which Alex did not participate. He was motivated to confess through his guilt of indirectly getting his friend shot: something that Alex was not apart of. In fact, very little of the narrative focuses on Alex at all, which is why I haven't brought her up until now. This story is about Spinner's redemption. Sure, Alex participated in the prank with Jay and Spinner; she set the whole thing up. It was Spinner, however, who additionally threw his alleged best friend under the bus. Jimmy wasn't a friend of Jays; he was a friend of Spinner's, so for him to participate in the lie to Rick that not only an innocent person was behind the prank, but his best friend at that, makes it that much worse for Spinner and only Spinner. He realized his mistake only after it was too late.

That isn't to say Alex wasn't feeling any guilt. If we look back at "Back in Black" (4x09), we can see Alex wanting to talk to counselors at school and begging for Jay to come with her. While Jay rejects such an idea, Alex tells him, "You may not need to talk about what happened, but I do." Jay relents, but not before warning his girlfriend to be careful about mentioning their role in the paint-and-feathers prank. Should Alex have been punished for it? Absolutely. However, she was not the narrative focus, and as I mentioned before, Alex wasn't the one who set up her own best friend.

There's also something else worth mentioning: after the shooting, the staff is not primarily concerned about finding out who was responsible for Rick's humiliation. It's not that it wasn't important to them that the students involved be punished accordingly; it just took a back seat to what was now the more eminent threat to the learning environment: gun violence. They are not actively seeking out the perpetrators of the prank but are rather looking for ways to stop gun violence in the future. They are trying to help their students, who are now considered survivors of the school shooting, some of them traumatized and devastated by what happened. The adults are stuck with trying to understand how Rick could feel so humiliated that he would be driven to potentially kill his classmates. That's a more pressing manner than to find and punish his bullies. After all, Rick would have been the main beneficiary of this justice, but since he is now dead because of the choices he made, and because he shot another of his classmates, the focus is now shifted towards how Degrassi can be made to feel like a safe environment for students again. The adults are looking for ways to support their scared students who still have to finish out the academic year after tragedy struck their halls. Spinner just made it convenient for the principal by coming forward, and he brought up only those who he felt played a hand in Jimmy's fate, which, to him, was only Jay and himself. In Spinner's mind, Alex had nothing to do with Jimmy getting shot, which was why he left her name out when he turned himself in to Ms. H. This was the reason why Alex didn't face any consequences. Spinner never gave her away.

[spinelli-gemelli]

"It’s not just a poem." Abi Standing up For Laura is the Most Underrated Abi Moment in The Quarry.

I also posted this on reddit. If Abi is still alive after Laura arrives, and if you are unconvinced by Laura's reasoning as Ryan, then Abi will stand up to him. It's scenes like these that make me wish we had more character development from Abi.

[degrassi-daily]

top 5 dynamics per character: → emma nelson

[spinelli-gemelli]

Is Emma Really THAT bad?

(A Degrassi Essay about Emma Nelson)

Part 1

As of last September, I've been a member of Reddit, and, in traditional Reddit fashion, I have joined subreddits in topics of my interests. Suffice to say, I am all UP in that Degrassi community. It's a drama party in the best way. If you're out in the Degrassi wild too, you may have noticed that there are a handful of characters that the fans love, and I mean LOVE, to hate. There's a rotation of girls that get most of the heat, which I will refer to as "The Unholy Trinity". As the name suggests, this Trinity consists of three most disliked Degrassi girls, who are the following:

Ashley Kerwin

Emma Nelson

Clare Edwards

Honorable mentions go to Ellie, Becky, and Maya. There is also an occasional Liberty disdain for those who feel brazen enough to criticize a black character even when they are not represented well in the show (not to say that fans aren't allowed to criticize black characters: all is fair game in the fictional universe). This post will focus on Emma. I will say, that, out of the three girls mentioned in the trio, Emma probably gets the least amount of hate, though honestly between her and Ashley it's a toss up depending on the season. What inspired me to write this essay was a YouTube compilation video entitled, "Emma nelson being the worst Degrassi Character for 5 minutes straight" by NysClips, which I will link here.

First things first: I'm not coming after the uploader of this video, nor do I know her personally, so this is NOT an attack on her. In fact, I like this video: the editing does what it should do in a compilation video. She includes the set up to the line, the punchline (or action), then cuts to the next clip. This person also doesn't ruin the humor by smothering the scenes in a bunch of memes and annoying sound effects, which I appreciate a LOT. She understands the concept of less is more. I am simply analyzing what the author deems as Emma's worst moments and will determine for myself whether I believe each moment in the video is truly that bad. Keep in mind that I am only being half serious, so hopefully the tone of the essay reflects as such. This is just a fun little argument with me disagreeing with the "Emma is the worst" stance that fans tend to take. It goes without saying this is an opinion piece, so you don't have to agree with any of my takes. Now that that's out of the way, let's take a look at all of the moments in the video. There's a lot to cover, so I will space them out in multiple posts.

1. "Liberty, shut up for once!"

We're coming out of the gate hot! Emma is completely over Liberty's blabbering and was rude to the poor girl as a result. This is from the epsiode "I Want Candy" (3x20). Emma is in the B plot, and here she believes that her stepfather's chemotherapy has failed him, and, as a result, she is on edge...until Alex's meddling pushes her over the top (a story for another time). Needless to say, with her belief that Snake was going to die soon, she wasn't in a healthy state of mind, so when Liberty is perky and geeking out over their Canadian Geography class, Emma is just not in the mood for it, so she snaps at Liberty in the hallway. I felt bad for Liberty at this moment. She didn't deserve that XD. Was Emma being rude as hell? Absolutely. Was it the worst thing ever? Nah.

2. "You're dressing like an idiot."

This moment is from season three's "U Got the Look" (3x03). In one scene, Emma is being supportive of Manny's change in her image, and in the next scene, she tells her friend that she's "dressing like an idiot". While it seems like Emma is talking out of both sides of her mouth, what's missing, however, is the context. Manny is trying to impress Sully, her current crush, and after her conversation with Paige, she was convinced that the only way to get boy attention was to alter her image to a more revealing style of wardrobe. Emma responded positively to it because it hadn't gotten to Manny's head at first. Then Manny seemed to be stringing J.T. along, doing a test trial on her new image to see if it would work on her actual crush, not realizing that J.T. was taking a genuine interest in her, and that he was hurt by Sully shooing him off. In addition to that, the principal had advised her about the dress code and how she wasn't allowed to have her undergarments visible over her clothes, but instead of changing her outfit, she simply removed her underwear altogether. She was sporting low riders with no panties. Keep in mind that this girl is only supposed to be fourteen, and the actress herself was even younger! Emma was simply calling Manny out for her inflated sense of self. In my opinion, Emma was not being a bad friend here: she was being honest with her.

3. Frappes & Paige > Manny & Liberty

This is from the episode "Mercy Street". Paige invites Emma to hang out with the grade elevens at The Dot after Emma tells Paige that she can organize a protest to drive Rick out of the school. I have an entire essay series dedicated to this topic, so if you want to read about my takes on the Rick content, start there. Here, we're looking at Emma's remark to Manny and Liberty as she walked past them in the girl's bathroom. "Gotta go sip a frappe with Paige. Have fun in your hot tub." Again, context is key. Manny and Liberty have iced Emma out since Emma was being unkind to Liberty again in the episode "King of Pain" (4x03). Basically Emma broke up with Chris, and Liberty took an interest in him, but Emma thought that by Chris dating Liberty after Emma, Emma would somehow look bad. Manny told Liberty about it, and Liberty told Emma off as a result. As a way of getting back at them, Emma gloats about being able to hang out with the cool kids in an unsolicited comment. It was totally unnecessary, but at worst it's a scoff and an eye roll. Sadly, this moment in the girl's bathroom is not enough to give her a prison sentence.

4. "Next time can we try asking before trespassing?"

Can you believe that little twelve-year-old Emma was talking to her mom like that? This was funny to me. Emma's mom, Spike, and Kaitlyn are using the computer in Emma's room, and Emma, clearly a grown up lady in the seventh grade, does not approve. This is from the series premiere of The Next Generation "Mother and Child Reunion" (1x01). I don't have much to say here: Emma was being a typical rude twelve-year-old who was out of pocket with her mom, but Spike quickly took care of it by basically telling her not to be rude. The end, lol.

5. "You're wrong. I don't care, Sean."

I'll just come out and say it: this moment doesn't belong in the video XD. This is taken from "Here Comes Your Man Part 2" (6x02). Sean had just committed a hit and run and was looking to find refuge at Emma's place. Emma wasn't going to protect him from the law after committing such a serious crime, and Sean wound up being turned into the cops after what happened. She made the right call here. Sean needed to take responsibility for his actions and to stop running away from them. Keep in mind that Emma, even though she had made out with Sean, was in a relationship with Peter, though they were currently on a break. We know Peter is not quality boyfriend material and frames Sean by planting drugs in his locker, causing his expulsion from Degrassi. This is a moment that infuriates me still, which I'm sure those of you fans can also relate to. The fact still remains that the decision to street race was also Sean's, not just Peter's, and it was a stupid one. This was intense to watch, but I was proud of Emma for standing her ground here. This moment doesn't come close to the other shady things she's done.

6. Emma Trips Rick at The Dot

Again, I'm focusing on the Emma side of this scenario. I have ten other posts dedicated to Rick, so read those if you want to learn about my takes on him. This moment is from the episode "Mercy Street" (4x04). Quick context: Emma created a protest to try and pressure Rick out of the school; Rick approached her later in the hall to try and donate over five hundred dollars to the cause in hopes of being forgiven; his donation is ultimately rejected by Alex; Alex then tells Paige of the moment in the hall, causing Paige to accuse Emma of feeling sorry for Rick. In order to prove to Paige that she was on her side, Emma ignores Rick as he's greeting her at The Dot, then goes on trip him as he's holding a coffee cup, causing him to fall and spill hot coffee over himself. This was absolutely a douche move, but I wouldn't say that this was her worst moment, even if Rick wasn't causing any trouble during this scene. It all boils down to the fact that Rick had been a terrible person in the past, and everyone was making him pay for his actions as a result. Karma!

7. Who Was There for Emma in the Hospital?

This moment combines scenes from episodes "True Colors" (6x03) and "Our Lips Are Sealed Part 2" (5x16). As a side note, the two-part episode covering Emma's E.D. is so heavy to watch, especially considering that the actress, Miriam McDonald, and her sister were suffering/had suffered from eating disorders in real life. From episode 6x03, Emma says to Manny at the masquerade dance that she shouldn't care about Sean's imprisonment the way she does when it was Peter who was there for her during her darkest time. Then we cut to the scene in "Our Lips Are Sealed" showing Manny beside Emma's hospital bed. This was tastefully done, I must admit, and I know that the YouTuber was being humorous here, but if Emma was hospitalized for having a panic attack brought on by her not eating, it's safe to say she stayed in the hospital at least a few days. That's a long enough time frame to assume that Peter had come in and visited her to support her. We as the viewers just didn't see this moment. Also, as the name "True Colors" suggests, this is the episode where Emma learns the truth about the drugs found in Sean's locker and how fans find it distasteful that Emma would be with Peter after everything he did to her best friend Manny. We're still not discussing until later.

8. But What will they Think of her?

Ah, a classic from the episode "King of Pain" (4x03). If we're thinking of Emma's worst moments, this one is near the top. In old fashioned mean girl behavior, Emma tries to interfere between Chris and Liberty's flirting with each other. Her reasoning is that people won't think highly of her if Chris started dating Liberty after Emma. The implication being that Liberty is an upgrade from Emma--a thought that mortifies our Mary Sue of the franchise. "You wouldn't be [embarrassed]?" Emma would go on to say to Manny. "What are people gonna think of me if Chris goes out with Liberty next?" Yowch. What did Liberty ever do to you, Em? I'll answer that: nothing! This marked the beginning of Emma's mean girl era, and what a time it was. She was definitely a jerk here, no questions asked.

9. "He Does Go For 'Girls Like That'"

Moment from the episode "Venus Part 1" (5x01). This was directed at Manny and not in a flattering way. While it wasn't Emma who said it, she was hanging out with the girl who did, and she did NOTHING to stand up for her friend. Emma Nelson, the girl with a strong moral compass, who has a backbone, just stood there and let her best friend be insulted like that? All because she was intimidated by the idea that her crush, Peter, liked Manny better at the time? Noticing a common theme here? I don't have much to say here, since it's a no brainer that Emma was the jerk by being the bystander and letting her friend get put down, especially since she is written to be the one to stand up for what's right. Emma let Manny down here. Now after that moment, Emma does ask if Manny was okay "Manny, what is going on? Have you been crying?", so it isn't like she walked away from Manny after she let her get insulted, but still. Not a good look for our little Blondie.

10. "I Asked Him, and He Said he Didn't do that!"

This clip is also from "True Colors" (6x03). Emma is talking about Peter and the drugs at this point. Sean is trying to tell Emma that Peter planted the drugs in his locker, yet Emma is having a hard time believing it. I get that she wants to think that the guy she's dating wouldn't be so slimy, and I would empathize with her if the guy she was with wasn't Peter, aka, the guy that leaked a video of her best friend's bosom all over the internet for the world to see. When it comes to this kid, Emma's brain leaves the building. At this moment with Sean, while she is being extremely naive, I wouldn't call her a jerk since she wasn't the one who planted drugs in Sean's locker, nor was she responsible for landing him in prison. It still doesn't make her look good, though.

To prevent this from becoming an extremely long post, I will stop at the two minute mark of the video. Of the ten moments I featured in this post, I only take issue with numbers two and five as I consider both these moments for Emma to be in character for her and standing up for what she believes in. For numbers seven and ten, Emma was being naive about Peter's nature, so they're not terrible moments from Emma, tho considering that she knows how Peter treated Manny makes her look shady. The others are fine for the topic of the video, though some moments are worse than others. That means that out of the ten clips we covered, Emma was a nuisance eighty percent of the time. So far not bad. More to come in the future.

[doomedsaints]

Carrie is such a good tragedy cause. It was already too late from the beginning. Even if the love was there. That teacher? She fucking loved that girl. The girl who had her bf take Carrie to prom? Sure she was a dick at first but she really did wanna help. Even the bf seemed to really enjoy himself.

But it doesn’t matter cause the problem is at home. Carries mother is insanely abusive and manipulative towards her, keeping her unaware, childish and afraid. The teachers and principals are aware of this, but as of the 70s and Carrie almost being an adult they didn’t do anything. And that’s the tragedy.

If someone stepped in before, took her away from her mother, had her live a normal life without the Christian guilt, this wouldn’t have happened.

It’s her mother, after all, who tells her they will all laugh at her.

Even when they weren’t. Save for a few, the laughing Carrie hears is a hallucination. Everyone seems quite awestruck and sad. They were happy for her for a moment. Everything was okay for a moment.

But it wasn’t enough. The love was there but it was too late. Carrie is long past her breaking point. The girl she wanted to be, was so desperate to be, has already had her light snuffed out by her mother. Carrie White the monster burned with her mother that night, but Carrie White the girl died on that stage.

[spinelli-gemelli]

A hauntingly sad story. EDIT: A lot of people compare Rick Murray’s tragedy to Carrie's, both seriously and unseriously. This is due in large to the fact that they were both humiliated on stage in front of their peers after experiencing a moment of glory, causing them both to snap soon after. There is one crucial difference that sets them apart, however: for Carrie, it was too late to intervene; for Rick, it wasn't. In Rick’s case, there were plenty of moments when someone could have done or said the right thing to stop tragedy from striking Degrassi. Rick’s problems were largely exacerbated at school and less about the problems he was having at home if any (that isn't to say the way in which he was raised was irrelevant).

[spinelli-gemelli]

A Degrassi Essay Series About Rick Murray

(Part 7)

In the last essay, I mentioned that it was difficult to have an unpopular opinion about the Rick debate. In this essay, I'm closing in on one specific question: how could one feel sorry for Rick, a woman beater? This question still boggles most Degrassi fans today. After all, it's a valid opinion to not feel sorry for the guy. Once you put all of his wrongs in writing, it proves even more difficult to empathize with him. Consider all of the following of which Rick is guilty:

Domestic violence: he attacked his girlfriend three separate times.

Aggravated assault: this resulted in landing Terri in a coma. If she had died, he would have been possibly charged with third degree murder.

Vandalism: he spray painted a giant "X" on Spinner's and Jay's car windows.

Possession of a deadly weapon: He brought a gun to school. This is exacerbated by the fact that Rick is also a sixteen-year-old adolescent/minor.

Attempted murder: he shot Jimmy Brooks in the back. If he had succeeded in killing him, he would have been charged with second degree murder. He later found Emma and aimed the gun at her face. If he hadn't been stopped by Sean, he would have killed her instantly.

It goes without saying: on paper, Rick is a classic, S-tier douchebag. Heck, one could probably expand on this list. And yet...some people feel for him? Why is that? Obviously there is contextual information missing from the list that would explain why Rick was driven to make many of the decisions he did. It's not like he woke up one day and decided that he wanted to kill everyone at Degrassi. In Rick's mind, he had tried everything: he tried to make amends with Terri's friends; when that didn't work, he tried to mind his own business; when that didn't work, he began to retaliate. When he finally got the chance to show the school how valuable he was, he was pranked on camera, and everyone that previously cheered him on began to laugh at him. In Rick's mind, the school betrayed him. Nothing else he did was going to work. The only way Rick was going to right the wrongs done to him, the only way he was going to earn respect, the only way he was going to fend off his bullies--in his mind--was if he used violence. Rick bringing a gun to school wasn't premeditated: it was his last resort. You see after his interaction with Paige that he goes from intending to shoot her to immediately concealing his weapon after he realizes that Paige wasn't there to give him a hard time. He reconsidered his choice after that single conversation. He put his backpack in his locker afterwards, a clear indicator that Rick didn't want to harm anyone if it wasn't necessary. Of course, after "overhearing" Spinner and Jay, he receded back into his violent ways for good. In the beginning, Rick was looking for a second chance. In the end, he wanted to avenge his suffering. Ephraim Ellis, the actor who played Rick, talks about the psychological whiplash that Rick undergoes in the span of a second: after he is doused in paint and feathers, Rick goes from the best day of his life to the worst instantaneously. After all of the hell he had been through, that was just a devastating blow for him.

Degrassi fans aren't shallow: crimes 3, 4, and 5 would be better understood if Rick also wasn't responsible for committing crimes 1 and 2. Rick's abusive past, and a recent past at that, is the point of contempt with some Degrassi fans when it comes to exploring the school shooting plot line. For one thing, high school shooters in real life typically didn't have records of domestic violence against women, though some definitely had some misogynistic overtones. For another, it makes it difficult to sympathize with the bullied victim when the victim himself has been cruel to his own girlfriend. Why couldn't the writers have chosen another character, one who was innocent beforehand, to explore the school shooting story line with? If Rick was innocent of any crimes before the extreme bullying, there would have been a chance to make him relatable to the audience and for more people to garner sympathy for him. This is the perspective that these fans are coming from, and I can understand and appreciate their reasoning.

I can also see why the producers decided to go with Rick's character, this former abuser, to tackle the gun violence topic. From a casting perspective, the Degrassi crew saw the actor playing Rick, Ephraim, as a talented young man, so they knew after his performance in season 3 that they wanted him to be back for Rick's tragic end in season 4, which is half of the reason why Terri's abusive boyfriend and the bullied school shooter are the same person. The writers have been wanting to do a school shooting episode since season 1, but they knew that they needed to "earn" that experience before they did so; they had to wait until the actors, who were all very young in season one, were old enough and experienced enough to pull off such a heavy and demanding role. Ephraim, playing a recurring guest role, exceeded the creators' expectations, so they decided to give him the most difficult part: he had to play the school shooter. Considering that fans still are appalled by Rick's character today, I'd say that Ellis successfully played the role.

I also understand this decision from a moral standpoint. I mentioned this in part 6 of this essay series: the writers were wanting to demonstrate the vicious cycle of violence and the ripple effect it can leave on a community for years after the fact. They wanted to show teens that solving violence with violence only creates more violence in the end. We see this when Rick almost kills Terri; when the students bully Rick relentlessly; and lastly when Rick brings a gun to school and essentially gets himself killed because of it. Nothing was solved in the end. Only pain, guilt, trauma, and devastation remained. The creators were implying a lesson to their teen audience: don't bully, even if the bullied deserves it. I think this is more powerful to teach kids than if the school shooter was just a cut-and-dry, loner nerd. I also think it was a more realistic way to introduce Rick's bullying problem, which was initiated by characters we care about who traditionally aren't bullies save for Spinner and Jay. You can understand why they did it. If the victim was innocent, it would be harder to understand the motivations of the bullies, and the story would be very black-and-white obvious. As I mentioned before, a lot of the main cast aren't written as bullies, so it would be strange to see these mostly good kids decide to torture one kid for no real reason. In this case, the kids had a legitimate reason to hate Rick, so the writers used that conflict to explore school shootings. Degrassi is about the nuance, and boy did Rick's arc have a bunch of that. You may not have liked him, and it's okay if you didn't sympathize with him; he wasn't designed for you to feel sorry for him. However: right is still right, and wrong is still wrong. It doesn't matter if Rick wronged Terri in the beginning, that he wasn't the "perfect" victim. He was still wronged by the school and his parents afterwards, and in the end, Rick committed the ultimate wrong. This whole tragedy is summed up in one sentence by Snake at the end of episode 4x08: "None of us took Rick's bullying seriously enough."

That still doesn't answer the main question. Sure the majority of fans have no empathy for Rick, but there are still a few who do. Why is that? How can that be possible? Considering that there is not much in the show's writing to suggest that Rick should be pitied, except when he was humiliated on stage, all of the credit goes to his actor, Ephraim Ellis. In order to make a character believable, whether they are playing a good or bad person, the actor himself has to find a way to relate to the character he is playing. Ephraim put in the hard work and had to internalize Rick's inner world so he could deliver an amazing performance. That is very difficult to do, especially when Rick becomes violent and sinister in the end. There is an interview Ellis did for Popgurls magazine twenty years ago that I recommend you take a look at. It may seem bizarre to reference such an out of date interview, but that era of Ephraim Ellis has fresh memories of playing Rick as he shot the episodes for Degrassi just months prior. You will get a better idea of what was going through his mind as he played Rick during the date of the publication, which was December 5th, 2004. In this interview, he discusses finding common ground between himself and Rick in order to connect to the character, and he says that they were both theater nerds and hopeless romantics, which is how I think Ellis was able to make Rick believable. He bridged the gap between his conscience and Rick's with what they shared, and then went from there. Consider the following which was said by Ellis:

"...when the character grew more in Season Four, when [the audience] learned there was a lot more to him than just this evil abusive person and that underneath he was just a kid with a problem who sincerely wanted to change – that’s when things got a lot more interesting for me as an actor. I had my run-ins with bullying throughout middle school and such, but it’s unthinkable what Rick had to go through, despite his past."

This was how the actor saw the character he was playing: "just a kid with a problem who sincerely wanted to change". This puts things into perspective. I get that this was in 2004, and Ellis is now twenty years older, but, as mentioned before, this is him talking just after he finished playing Rick. I remember reading this interview when I was younger and being impressed by how Ellis was able to sympathize with a villainous character, but then I reminded myself that he's an actor. It's his job to connect to the character he's playing; that's how you sell the part. That is what every actor is required to do: they have to make you believe that their character is real, and in order to do that, they have to be able to connect to certain parts of the role. Obviously he doesn't have to relate to everything that the character stands for, especially in Rick's case, but imagine if Ephraim looked down on his character and didn't take his psychosis seriously. It would show in his acting or lack thereof. Yet Ellis encapsulated the role of Rick. He was a natural at the part.

It makes sense from an acting standpoint to connect with Rick, but what about the average viewer? It is never confirmed in the show that Rick was "sincerely trying to change" apart from Rick's declaration. Did the viewers believe him? Is that why they were more apt to feel sorry for him when bullying didn't let up? That appears to be the correlation.

Since the first essay I published about Rick Murray, I have been using hashtags that I deem relevant to the series. One of them is #Degrassi confessions. In case you were wondering what that meant, here is my confession: I can't get through "Time Stands Still" part 2 because my head canon can't help but believe that Rick never fired his gun. Up until the moment he decided to shoot Jimmy, I was a believer in Rick's repentance. I didn't want my bias to shroud the integrity of this essay series because I wanted to give validation to all sides of the debate, but there was something about the way Ephraim played his character in season four, with a complete change in his demeanor, that I couldn't help but root for. There's something to be said about him not hitting any of his classmates back in "Mercy Street" (4x04) even though many of them had no problems with pushing, shoving, or punching him. Some argue that it was because he was more intimidated by guys than he was girls, but girls were also hitting him, yet he turned the other cheek constantly. If this kid has anger issues, poking the bear would bring them out, but Rick kept his head down and didn't retaliate during the ribbon campaign, keeping his temper in check.

No, I don't think he is blameless: I've laid out my case in all of the preceding essays. Everyone is to blame for participating in the cycle of violence, including and especially Rick Murray. He was deeply flawed. He was terrible at reading the room; he underestimated the difficulty it would take to earn forgiveness; he couldn't take a hint that Emma wasn't into him; and he was wrong in assuming that it was okay to force a kiss on her. It also goes without saying that it was disturbing for Rick to decide that Emma was worth killing because she didn't reciprocate his feelings for her (though I've made the argument before that at this point in his arc, no one feels bad for Rick). Still, before the shooting, I genuinely believed that Rick was making an effort to improve, however poorly he went about demonstrating this. He still had a lot to learn, but he never once, since returning to Degrassi, said or believed that the students were overreacting to what he did to Terri last year. He never denied what he did. He knew he was in the wrong, which was why he was putting in the work to be right. Maybe a different school or juvenile hall would have been a better fit for this transformation, but I do believe that Rick was trying to change. The fandom's perception of Rick's intentions has shifted throughout the years, but even so, I still find myself wishing that things turned out better for him. The whole story is just tragic all around because, despite what happened, there were many opportunities for this to have gone the other way. As I said before, this was the story the writers wanted to tell the audience. Rick wasn't meant to have a happy ending, but there were plenty of chances for him to get one. He sealed his fate the moment he thought it was justified to shoot his classmates. It's a tragedy that Rick had to lose his life, but he was a threat, and he needed to be stopped by any means necessary.

[spinelli-gemelli]

A Degrassi Essay Series About Rick Murray

(Part 6)

What proves that Rick Murray is such a nuanced character is that there is no such thing as an unpopular opinion about him. Because these are valid thoughts:

As are these:

And these:

And this:

And even this:

All of these comments and more can be found under Dontorious' video titled "Everyone Bullying Rick", which can be viewed on YouTube. There are also many comments like these in the Degrassi subreddit, and though you will find that most tend to be in the "No Sympathy" camp, there are a few who will pick up the empathy flag and wave it on Rick's behalf. You get my point: if you find yourself nodding along with all of these comments and understanding each perspective, then it's probably a position you've heard before or agree with. Frankly, none of these comments are jaw-dropping, "I can't believe you just said that!", kinds of opinions, so I better not see any of you writing stuff like the following examples:

"UNPOPULAR OPINION: The bullying with Rick went too far." (Yeah, no duh)

"Am I the only one who doesn't feel sorry for Rick?" (Darling, have you been on any Degrassi discussion board ever?)

"I can't be the only one who thinks it's the principal's fault for letting Rick back into the school." (Not even close)

I promise that someone has voiced your sentiments many times before. Degrassi fans have been discussing this moment for over twenty years. Heck, even my essays have reiterated common talking points on the subject. My goal with this series is for people to consider all sides of the debate and demonstrate the shades of gray it entails. Degrassi fans should understand that just because others react to the Rick arc differently than they do, it doesn't make them bad people (or naive depending on what opinion you have). This is something to take into account in all areas in life. If you share a common goal with someone you know, and you have different ways of reaching that same goal, then you and that person are not enemies.

On that note I will say this: it doesn't matter if you feel sorry for Rick or not. Empathy or lack thereof doesn't stop school shootings. It is perfectly okay to have no empathy for Rick; he has a wrap sheet of sins that he has to answer for, but if you were the kid in the situation, sitting back and letting the bullying occur would still bring about the tragedy. Some argue that Rick was a ticking time bomb and state that nothing that anyone did could have prevented the school shooting. That couldn't be further from the truth. In most tragic cases, there were moments where someone could have stepped in and taken action, but nothing was ever done until it was too late. There were many times in episode 4x07 where if someone had made the right choice (Rick, Spinner, Alex, Jay, Raditch), things would have turned out very different. You may think that Rick deserved the bullying, but it was the bullying taken to the extreme that set him off. Doesn't matter if this has been supposedly debunked in the years after these episodes were made. This is the story of Rick that the writers wanted to tell: it is about perpetuating a cycle of violence. It began with Rick; it was continued by the student body; and it ended with Rick. The show made it clear that, under no circumstances, Rick got an excuse for resorting to a gun. Some people include this in their reasons not to feel sorry for Rick, but they miss the point that this is when everyone loses their sympathy for him. It goes without saying that the moment you start to shoot innocent people, it proves difficult to take your side. Similarly, no one in their right mind would justify any of the abuse that Rick afflicted on Terri. It's after the therapy, seeing a change in Rick's demeanor, and recognizing that the bullying went too far where the window of empathy begins to open for him. It is immediately slammed shut again once we see him reach for the gun.

Imagine those who ever felt sympathy for Rick in the format of a bell curve. When we're first introduced to Rick being abusive, we want him to be stopped. When he returns to Degrassi, we don't care. When it becomes clear that the punishment has dissolved into constant bullying, our sympathy is on the rise, and finally, at the end of his arc, when he brings a gun to school and shoots Jimmy, there is no more sympathy left to give.

As stated before, that is beside the point. This is about doing the right thing regardless of whether or not you think the victim is a saint. After all, this is a show for teens. Innocent or not, it would not be very responsible for the writers to advocate bullying. Remember these episodes aired five years after Columbine, and all we knew about school shootings at the time was that the killers claimed to have been bullied profusely. We also have to remember that Rick is not a full-grown adult here: he's sixteen like the rest of his peers who detest him. There is plenty of opportunity for growth and change in a sixteen year old. One cannot say with absolute certainty that this was an inevitable outcome, especially if you're one of those who argue that Rick shouldn't have been at Degrassi the following year. Here you are making an argument that the shooting wouldn't have happened had Rick chosen another school, and that may have very well been the case. Maybe he would have gotten along with peers at another school, gotten himself in trouble and suffered the consequences of his actions, thus forcing himself to actually change now that his record has been soiled. Even at Degrassi, if Jay and Spinner hadn't have lied to Rick about the prank, there was a possibility Rick would have just gone home and canceled his plans that day. We don't truly know, but boy there were many chances for this to have gotten better. One fact, however, remains indisputable: the blame all falls at Rick's feet. He made a choice, and that choice cost him his life in the end.