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?