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IMHO: "Degrassi" episode 8.05, "The Man with Two Hearts"
For six seasons Degrassi: The Next Generation has included a variety of queer characters including Marco Del Rossi (played by out actor Adam Ruggiero), lesbian Alex Nuñez, bisexual Paige Michalchuck as well as Marco's various dates and boyfriends, including Paige's brother Dylan. But by the end of the last season all of those characters had been written out or had been dropped to "recurring" status. Friday, Degrassi outed one of the new characters introduced this season. Does this new story have the potential to live up to Degrassi's gay-friendly past? In short, yes and no ... find out about Degrassi's new gay — and why I'm giving this the sideways arrow — after the jump. Football player Riley (Argiris Karras) has been floating in the background so far this season, basically acting like your basic cretinous high school jock character (arrogant and quick to tease anyone who doesn't fit in). This week we learn he's become close friends with Peter, which makes sense considering that Peter used to be an arrogant jerk as well. We're quickly clued in that Riley is nursing a crush on Peter by the way the music changes when their hands touch when Riley tries to help him get up from a fall. Things get extra tense when some Wii Boxing turns into actual boxing lessons. When Riley leans in to correct Peter's form, he goes in for a kiss. When Peter isn't receptive to the move, Riley runs away.
Peter quickly compensates by diving into a relationship with Mia, apparently needing to wash away the taste of Riley's lips by kissing a woman. Peter tries to talk to Riley but he's quickly brushed off. When Peter tries to bring up the topic again, Riley turns violent and shoves Peter into some lockers. Finally, when Peter tries once more to approach Riley, Riley calls him a "fag" in front of his teammates. My immediate problem with "The Man with Two Hearts" is that we see the story entirely through the eyes of straight guy Peter. Riley obviously has a lot to work out, but the episode focuses largely on Peter. The way Peter rushes into a relationship with Mia, worries if he led Riley on and generally holds the focus of every scene, it almost feels like Riley's struggles exist only to give Peter something to do. Still, there's plenty of potential here. Riley tells a different story from Degrassi's past gays. He's not sweet and sensitive like Marco. He may be a jock like Dylan but Dylan was much more confident about his sexuality. Riley is a young man taught to suppress his emotions with alpha male behavior and very much in denial about himself. Gay characters in teen dramas are still rare, so it's great to see a teen drama that is willing to explore the variety of experiences queer kids goe through.
I'm not sure if Degrassi can really meet that potential, though. The show has really been struggling since last season when a bunch of new characters were introduced. Riley isn't the focus of the next four episodes and considering how frustrating the pacing was last year, I'm not sure that Riley's story will come close to Degrassi's previous gay storylines. What do you think? Am I just being too cynical after a bad season of Degrassi? Is Riley a student you're eager to get to know? Submitted by on Tue, 2008-11-11 12:34.  Hmmm...Submitted by
Anthony D. Langford (7496 points) (1638 posts) on Tue, 2008-11-11 13:04...... I see what you mean, but I actually liked it. I think given Peter is an established character and this is really the first time we've actually seen Riley with more than a few lines of dialouge this season, it makes sense to tell the story through the eyes of someone we know and are familiar with. Plus, Peter's first reaction was a typical 'straight guy' kind of thing, but unlike other soaps (anything that would air in the US), the story ultimately was not Peter trying to adjust to his friend being gay, but Peter wanting to help his friend deal with how he was feeling. It would have been a completely different story if they had of focused on Riley and I think it would have been a bad storytelling decision to tell it through the eyes of a character we don't really know, especially since the other half the show was focused on newbies. I do think the show made a bad decision to introduce so many new characters all at once though. But I'm certain that as the season unfolds, the story will come to tell it through Riley's POV. I'm intrigued.
 I think the problems withSubmitted by
Steve Berman (176 points) (34 posts) on Tue, 2008-11-11 13:56.I think the problems with the episode are indicative of why the written word works better than television for exploring gay teen issues (and I think Brent will back me up on this). Because television is based on scenes, you have moments that are so artificial - such as when Riley rushed off after the kiss. In a book you could expand upon the scene - Peter could have rushed out after him, they could have had further confrontations, etc. You're not competing with the other A or B storylines as much. Plus the POV can be more fully explored and shifted. My problem with the ep is that it seems a bit dated. Yes, plenty of gay teens are in the closet, but I'm disappointed that we don't see the growing post-gay trend emerging in the mass media. It's like Canadian television is 2 yrs behind real life (and American television is 10 yrs). Now Steve's New & Improved with Andre Norton Award Finalist power for Vintage!  It's a good point, SteveSubmitted by
Read my books! Explore "Brent's Brain" at http://www.brenthartinger.com no votes  Riley kissing PeterSubmitted by
GayTVluver (4431 points) (1016 posts) on Sat, 2009-01-03 11:54.I finally saw the episode, it played on the N here the other day. I don't get the criticisms, not one bit. I thought the episode was excellent and the way they played the Riley/Peter kiss really worked. I don't think they had to have Peter rush out after him. Peter was just as jarred by the moment as Riley was. The next scene where Peter tried to discuss it and then Riley had his violent denial was perfect. They didn't have to give him a lot of script because what he did with those few minutes really showed the internal struggle he must be going through. To me, the episode and the storyline are not dated at all. The struggle that Riley is having is one that is very much a part of the lives of gay youth. Especially a gay youth who is active in sports. There are amazing things they can do with this character if they decide to continue with his story. Edit: The commercials on The-N show some pretty big storylines coming up for Riley. Starts again Feb 14th.  I think the storySubmitted by
jjose712 (2560 points) (552 posts) on Tue, 2008-11-11 15:34.has potential to be interesting. It depends of the writting to develop all this potential
The problem might be...Submitted by
Darius (5 points) (1 post) on Tue, 2008-11-11 16:27.I think Degrassi's first problem is that The N only airs it in 6 or 7 episode chunks, making it very disconnected. This season they're trying to reboot with a bunch of fresh faces since the old cast has now moved on. I think they brought in too many though. Riley's story has potential, because it's another way people deal with being gay - denial and unacceptance. Hopefully they will deal more with it in the future. Though who knows, maybe Peter's rush to hook up with Mia was indicative of his hidden desire for men!
http://zeowads.blogspot.com  Scheduling is definitely...Submitted by
Lyle Masaki (3516 points) (4428 posts) on Tue, 2008-11-11 17:26.part of the problem. It doesn't sound like Riley's next major episode will happen until after a hiatus (The N is advertising only 2 more eps until hiatus.) I think, too, part of the problem was that this is the second season of revamping as last season tried to introduce new characters while continuing to focus on old faves... but since only a few of the old faves and new Lakehurst characters interacted, it was a difficult transition at best. This season has introduced new characters more smoothly but considering what has aired so far and some of the ambitions voiced so far (besides Riley there's also Connor's story, which hasn't even started) has me wondering if there'll be time to tell those stories. Maybe it'll work out if they Degrassi team gives up on the tedious Anya/Holly J/Mia who've been pretty heavily used this season.
I think this season of Degrassi is great!Submitted by
jai (220 points) (43 posts) on Wed, 2008-11-12 22:27.I'm happy with Riley's story so far and it doens't bother me that it will be returned to later in the year and slowly progress rather than being focused on for the next few episodes. It is part of Degrassi's not wrapping things up neatly at the end of episodes and making people think, and its being an ensemble show rather than having stars. I also think the point made by another poster about why it was a good decision to do this episode from the point of view of Peter to introduce Riley, and then switch later in the season to episodes from the point of view Riley, makes a lot of sense. I hope Peter will remain a part of this story though. Connor's story about his autism has started. The seeds are all the times he has complained about his routine being disrupted, such as how KC took his seat in class, and how they switched tables in the cafeteria at lunch, and how the group working on the robot always meets at Clare's house so they shouldn't change that. Agree they should lay off a little on Mia/Holly J. Anya has potential which should be explored further instead of her remaining in Holly J's shadow.  I listened to the podcastSubmitted by
Aloe (739 points) (150 posts) on Wed, 2008-11-12 07:10.I listened to the podcast with Argiris Karras on the Degrassi website and I must say that he gave perhaps the most comfortable interview I've ever heard from a young actor who's playing a gay part. Not a bit of homophobia or I'm really straight but or anything like that. He even seemed very comfortable with having to kiss his co-star 6 times for the kissing scene. You guys should check out the podcast.
The Canadians are so far ahead of us in the US. There gay characters actually get to be affectionate with each other on screen and kiss, even if they are teens. If you want to see the difference check out how GREEK handles Calvin's relationships as if they were handling nuclear waste or something. They seem to think that if they let Calvin and Heath kiss then peoples heads will explode. Degrassi / RileySubmitted by
AnnieO (217 points) (42 posts) on Wed, 2008-11-12 12:57.Aha, I called it! I knew Riley was going to end up being the gay character that all the commercials were hinting at. Anyway, I'm pleased with the storyline. Degrassi works in much the same way as Mad Men, so Riley will never be more than an ensemble character, but experience shows that he'll end up having his own episodes here and there along the way. Marco's story arc lasted for six years, and he progressed from an insecure high school kid living in the closet (with a fake girlfriend) to an out-and-proud college student.
Are my eyes deceiving me orSubmitted by
syrus (289 points) (57 posts) on Fri, 2008-11-14 02:06.Are my eyes deceiving me or is there something off about that picture? The football player looks like he has an erection! I listened to the podcast tooSubmitted by
jai (220 points) (43 posts) on Sat, 2008-11-15 19:53.I didn't think he seemed all *that* comfortable in the podcast (although not uncomfortable either) ... But I found it interesting that he mentioned the "first kiss" between Riley and Peter, suggesting perhaps there will be more?
Episode is on today - 1/2/09Submitted by
GayTVluver (4431 points) (1016 posts) on Fri, 2009-01-02 12:24.Short notice but ths episode is on today at 1:30 (CST, I think). It airs on The-N network. Riley on DegrassiSubmitted by
GayTVluver (4431 points) (1016 posts) on Mon, 2009-01-05 10:48.I've been Tivoing the reruns on The-N and they are pushing the Riley storyline hard. Anybody else notice this? It's the only character that has their own commercial.
Riley's commercial on YouTubeSubmitted by
GayTVluver (4431 points) (1016 posts) on Mon, 2009-01-05 11:42.Reily's Character and what is neededSubmitted by
David ^.^ (5 points) (1 post) on Sun, 2009-01-11 03:24.Ok firstly I am going to be a little noobish "kid" everyone hates by saying Argiris Karras is so hot! Ok now that that is done back to buisness. Like the header says I am going to discuss my beliefs on Reily's character. Like many of you have stated previously Reily is not much of a "superstar" character yet. But what we can notice (Also brought on by alot of you) is that his character has potential and there is likeyly the possibility of a story to go along with him. This I believe is also true, but what I was thinking after I saw this episode is that Peter is going to be like a really close friend to Reily. Become his first BF? Probably not... but you never know with TV these days. I believe that Reily needs another person to you know 'crush' on. Like a new outed character that makes his character sweat and almost want to break the silence of his sexuality. This will add: 1) More story towards Reily, 2) Better feeling of what a teen closet-case (Like me ^^) Goes through on a daily basis no matter who it is, and 3) More meaning towards the gay community towards the people around the US. I know many people who watch this show, and because of it some have even 'came-out' the more I think people realize (Other than the stupidity of others like the 'jerky' people) on what we as a community go through and struggle with. I would like to audition if this were to happen but sadly I live in the US >.< so i can't. But I see that potential character to be a mixture of what Ellie was (Appearence wise) and the Outed Marco (Acting wise). Bad MedicineSubmitted by
jai (220 points) (43 posts) on Sun, 2009-02-22 02:50.The next episode featuring Riley, "Bad Medicine", has now aired on The-N. Has there been a new blog entry about it?
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