He was in drake’s aka “jimmy’s” music video and drakes friends were beating him up in the video obv it was acted but it was fun to see. Ppl still tweet him today asking him why did her shoot drake 😩😅🤣
I blame Jay. Jay was the central person that inflamed those tensions, that just couldn't let it go. Alex is just as guilty. The administration had no choice. They couldn't, at the time, punish someone for something that didn't happen in a school context.
@@camm7985 I agree, Degrassi's pretty notorious for being light handed on punishments-Jay and Alex got nothing, Peter never got anything, Fitz was slapped on the wrist, it goes on and on. Rick's not even top 5.
I think this episode really triggered Craig's bipolar disorder because he saw Jimmy get shot and then his manic episodes started getting worse and worse after that.
@24kgoldplatedvermeilagreed, the shooting might have triggered the episodes going forward but he definitely had BP tendencies when he tried to get hit by the train with Sean in his premiere season
@24kgoldplatedvermeil yea that season when he became homeless was hard to watch. Even when he got better he still decided to use drugs when he got famous and was touring the world. Remember when he got manny to do coke? Now that I think about it, he never took his disorder seriously, like ever….
I think one thing that gets me about everything is if you watch the Degrassi High you also know Mr Simpson ended up being the one to find Claude after he shot himself in school and him knowing that there were signs he missed. He tried his best to prevent a suicide again but failed not knowing it would be way worse. He knew Radish couldve done something too and rightfully projected his trauma and anger that now his step daughter has a similar, definitely worse, trauma
This is a good breakdown. The complexity of character interactions and the way they all intertwine and the permanent effects of decisions has always been stellar. I like your take on the "nurture" part or environmental factors but I think there is a lot to ponder on the nature or biological part as well. Rick was definitely a step above socially inept. It's one thing to misunderstand someone but to force a kiss to that degree makes me wonder if those two had hooked up and things got better for him, would his abusive patterns continue. There was obviously a lot still wrong with him, even in his redemption period, and while the bullies made it worse, I can't imagine he came back a completely new kid. He spent a lot of time reading when he should have been in after school therapy. As far as Degrassi lessons to their pre/teenage audience go, it would have been nice to see more kids talking to adults and reporting rather than just the kid who is getting bullied and the staff who feels like there is nothing they can do. But for a soap opera for teens that hits hard subjects, still a 10/10.
The fact no one told was the most realistic part though. Most people don't want to speak out to bullies because they don't want to be bullied or feel they'll be ostracized as well. Adults also can turn a very blind eye to it as well saying "it builds character" or "makes you stronger". Until we have outcomes like this. Trust me after school therapy wouldn't fix the problem. It might delay it, but people would still be cruel.
@@Sal-fg3rs That's actually a really good point about it being realistic. As in like.. would the episode have been as impactful if the students did what we want them to as a way to teach the audience... likely not. The impact was seeing the outcome. Sometimes those outcomes are what we would hope and teach us to be more accepting or at least model what acceptance could look like, as an example. And sometimes the outcomes are exactly this and then we sit and talk about why that is the sad reality and how we can do better. Thanks for bringing that up. I like how even after all these years degrassi makes me sit back and ponder. Truly an impactful show all around.
I just realized the parallel between him using the trust fall exercise to get her to have more faith in him by catching her as she's falling to then him pushing her/causing her to fall and seriously injuring her. Never made that connection before
Rick was a great actor. Seeing all the red flags before terry got hurt is scary to watch. The bullying triggered him to try to murder people and he also had a jealousy plot with Emma. I felt bad about bullying
No, the William made how he already was worse. Ya'll need to stop acting like this. Man wasn't a whole abuser. He got away with it came back 6 months later. After putting somebody in a coma, stop the b. S yeah, really are psychopaths low key.
I could never feel sorry for Rick. Even if he seemed to have become a better person I remember he claimed to be better when Terri got back with him in the first place. Also after going back to hurt those who hurt him he was about to hurt someone who only rejected a kiss.
He did show plenty of signs of him not being a better person. The kissing contest is weird and doesn’t indicate him being better. And him mistaking Emma’s kindness for love is forgivable but he full on forced the kiss which for me anyway indicated that he wasn’t better and if she did for some reason accepted he might not shoot jimmy but I think it shows he still has the behavior that would lead him to abuse Emma like he did Teri
I loved your analysis, it was so thorough and beautiful and really took into consideration the different aspects of everyone in play and the fact that at the end of the day we are all human
I think about this episode a lot. We watched Degrassi in health class for learning about certain teenage realities but I never watched the full series. Among all the handpicked Degrassi episodes and other shows we watched this really stuck with me.
i completely forgot that spin and jay were the ones to plant the lie about jimmy omg this was a great revisit to a wild episode that changed my teen brain XD
Great video. I was way too young to watch degrassi but I did. The bullying was messed up but tbh Rick was also really messed up. I wonder if he would’ve snapped somewhere in life had this not happened.
This got me crying by the end. Great video! I’ve recently discovered the Degrassi channel on Pluto tv and I circle the channel like a vulture. I know it’s streaming on something else, and I finally just need to rewatch the whole series. I thankfully was never witness to a school shooting, but from 2003-2006, I lost several friends, one died by suicide (7th grade 03/04), one in a car accident (05), and one of my best friends moms from breast cancer(06), and she was a bus driver for the school. so she also worked random positions within the highschool too. Her death shook the whole school. So many students loved her. I like to think this show helped me cope with such difficult emotions at a young age when no one else was talking about it.
@@hesayshesayhowboutmesay umm I do think Aubrey rlly shined the most bc the story was centered around him after that they didn't rlly give him more which was unfortunate but to me one of the best acting in terms of consistency was Jake esptine performance who played Craig imo and Dallas from the newer cast ughh rlly wish they gave him more imo but umm great performances over all rlly wish they did more with the cast imo
What about actor who played spinner. He was great. Now that's character development. Along with sean. Even though his story got a little vague along the way
16:41 i always thought that maybe he was lying to his mom to make her not worry so that she wouldn't take him out of degrassi. i never thought he was thinking that frfr. also love this video its amazing !! 🫶🏾
@dollie1537 idk. I think it's part of whatever his mental illness is. He literally told Emma "I thought you loved me." Seems like his whole scale of what a frienship/relationship is had been consistently off
Rick is the perfect example of the series accidentally stumbling into the perfect intersection of character and plot. We have stacks and stacks, tomes at this point, that bullying is not the source of school shootings, and instead violent misogyny and white supremacy are at the core of the issue, the former being a huge factor. Rick's past of being extremely abusive of Terri perfectly set him up to do this. The social consequences of his actions weren't the issue. Rick was. He didn't misinterpret the handful of people being less shitty to him, he was trying to manipulate them and choosing to lie to his mother to continue manipulating people who knew he was a pos, to see how far he could get. He just didn't appreciate how most people saw through his bullshit and didn't let him get away with it. This is not to say bullying and harassment aren't issues, they are, just not the issue in this instance. They cause inwardly focused violence, like disordered eating, self harming, and suicidal ideation. They do not cause what Rick did.
you put this far better than what i was trying to write lol. It's Rick's violence. It's Rick's choices. He didn't say he was sorry for hurting Terri until AFTER he was about to shoot Paige... the only reason he did was because Paige says she's sorry for him first. He's desperate for people to hear him out after he almost killed Terri, but he doesn't even consider asking Jimmy if he was actually part of the prank, he just wants to exert power over others. He tries to shoot Emma just because she didn't return his feelings? Bullying wasn't what led him to his initial violence. He never would have even been bullied if he didn't put his gf in a coma. His arch is NOT an anti-bullying psa. It's to show how dangerous his lack of personal accountability, unchecked past violence, and a parent who protects their kid from the consequences of their own actions can be.
Thats what im saying. I think this video was a bit too sympathetic to his character and wasnt nuance enough in the way of considering how manipulative he was, how charismatic he was to get people to like him and how self absorbed he was too. Some people may change or learn that this way of living is harmful but in 5 months?? Idk. Actively bullying him got ridiculous especially putting him a dumpster but ignoring him or not wanting to be around because he was unsafe is incredibly valid and is not bullying when he put someone in a coma after abusing them emotionally and physically for months.
I understand your point. I don’t think that’s what the writers intended, but it definitely fits the context. However, I’m a bit confused why you said he was manipulating people. I didn’t really catch that. Edit: Oh! Your saying he tried to take advantage of people who felt sympathy for him?
@@phoenixmorphix he clearly manipulates his mother regularly, he was extremely manipulative with Teri, and he did very clearly exploit people who had sympathy for him yes
19:27 …I take it not a single one read or watched the book/movie Carrie? Cause this would have been a good hey, maybe let’s NOT do that scene from Carrie that ended poorly for everyone involved and not involved?
I can completely see your point on human complexity, I just know for me personally it's very difficult to see the other side to a person's personality if what they put out forms the view everyone has of them to begin with. Like they dig themselves a hole and bring others down with them, and we're supposed to live and let live?
Like damage was already done, people were hurt, and now the perpetrator wants to change? You had chances and now magic they grow a moral back bone. Too late.
Is it bad that I honestly don’t feel bad for Rick at all? Lol I’m a victim of domestic violence, and I truly don’t care when someone’s who’s gone out of their way to hurt the person they “love” gets hurt back. So Terry gets put into a coma, and we’re supposed to feel bad that the guy who abused her and pushed her head first into a rock getting bullied for his actions? Actions have consequences. His parents should’ve known better than to take him back to a school where everyone knows what he’s done. I feel 0 sympathy for someone who could’ve literally killed their girlfriend because they have a temper they can’t control. Also, if Rick was expelled he wouldn’t have been able to come back to Degrassi at all, expulsion is permanent, you cannot go back to that school again.
I completely understand this perspective. I know people that have been through domestic violence as well. I think its totally justified foe people to also not sympathize with him at all. It makes sense
the Rick storyline isn't suppose to paint him as the bad guy it shows him being a loner(loser) in middle school to finding a girlfriend and not wanting to lose her and then lets his anger get the better of him like most teenagers do. The Series of episodes leading up to what Rick does also highlights the difficulty of school administrations have in trying to prevent bullying and incidents from happening. The episodes after the shooting shows the aftermath of incidents like that. Also Drake's reaction to the actor who plays Rick getting covered in paint and feathers was a raw reaction because the writers didn't really tell the other actors in the scene that it was going to happen so when it did we got reactions that were realistic and varied
The thing is, teenagers can often be overtaken by their anger yes, but it takes someone with anger issues and a lack of concern for others to continue hurting the same person over and over, in the same ways, which is what Rick did to Terri. I agree that the show didn't portray Rick as a bad guy, but it did portray him as a guy who has a tendency to do bad things to others. I mean, it doesn't seem like he valued anyone's opinions or feelings aside from his own, which is why he even came back to Degrassi in the first place. "I like it here." The fact that's the reason why he came back shows that he underestimated the impact of his actions to others.
@@boxingelfis1499 that's what the writers were trying to point out because when you watch the Rick storyline he starts off at a low point and it's stated that he has always never really had any friends in school and the view we get about his home life shows that both of his parents work and he's left alone because they believe that he's responsible enough to take care of himself. Then when he finally makes friends and gets a girlfriend he doesn't know how to handle a breakup when Terry it also doesn't help that he's really thinks that Terry belongs to him which makes you think about how his father treats his mother because he had to learn that behavior from somewhere
@@chayo4537 that wasn't the point of storyline to paint Rick as the "bad guy" it was to show his decent into the irrational action he took because if you remember Degrassi was set in middle school with tween/teens who think that what happens in middle/high school is the world
I'm glad nobody brought up that episode where Ricky comes back and possesses some girl to get back at Spinner. Man, that episode was a spit to the character and just a slap in the face for mass shootings aftermath. I'm curious about your view on that episode. For me, it was one of the reasons why DeGrassi greatly went downhill.
The young man who played Rick is an incredibly talented actor. He delivered the performance of a life time in the role. I remember watching this when it came out, and I really did feel so conflicted about the character. He reminded me of friends of mine in school that were bullied heavily, but he’s also an example of a type of abuser I’ve dealt with before. As I’ve gotten older, I really just feel more conflicted. I’m mad at administration for letting him into the school, I’m mad at his mother for not taking the incident with Terri for the red flag it was, and I’m mad at the kids who bullied him with knowledge of his violent proclivities. The situation is set up so perfectly to be the worst case scenario.
There was a kid in my middle school that was bullied so bad my whole grade had to have a whole day bullying prevention, a cop and the principal were there and said he didn’t want to come back because that’s how bad we all made him feel. I felt so fucking bad in that moment, it wasn’t a joke anymore, things did change luckily and he did make some friends but thinking about it now we were alll terrible people and for what? We didn’t gain anything besides just being horrible humans to someone because we thought it was a game. Seeing this storyline play out was extremely well done and I think a very accurate description of how far bullying can go. However Rick coming back to the school makes zero sense, I would of much rather had a storyline of Terri coming back to school after the attack and how she navigated that trauma and how it affected her dating life. I feel like that was a huge missed opportunity.
I feel sorry for Rick at first I didn't like him for the way he treated Terri and obviously putting her in a coma but he had anger and control issues and was trying to be better but was constantly being bullied and I just hate bullying anyway. He really shouldn't have come back to degrassi especially knowing people hated him there and the teachers and principal didn't help him he was just a ticking timebomb until he finally went off and poor Jimmy suffered because of it. Im surprised Jimmy ever forgave Spinner because I don't think I ever could.
While I don’t feel too bad for Rick, not getting treated with respect. It understandable that Terri friends not forgive him, what he been doing to Terri and putting her in hospital in a coma. Even though he never plans to do that to her. I agreed that Rick don’t deserve, any forgiveness or sympathy. From Terri friends or anyone at school, but he didn’t deserve to get bullied and harassed. As they were just as bad as he was, as it was uncalled for and unnecessary. While what caused him to snap and ended up, hurting and having someone in hospital. Then later Rick losing his life.
There are signs that Rick might bring a piece to school and bullying may have just been the triggering event that day but he was heading down this road way before the way he mistreats that poor girl.
I wish they had another storyline like this but where the Rick archetype triumphs over everything and reforms. His problem is his self defeatist mindset; when his confidence in jimmy was shook he should’ve realized he still has Emma on his side. He should’ve tried expanding to others or just keep hanging out with Emma until more people accepted him. If he waited it out the truth about jimmy could’ve came to light as well. Dude had the potential to become a soldier (figuratively speaking) with the biggest glow up
he doesn't exactly have a "glow up" but hunter in the later seasons/next class series has a very similar arc and though he gets very close, he doesn’t end up shooting anyone and he does go through a lot of character reformation afterwards
I wish there were more people with this mentality! Having a point of view from all sides and not just hating the person that makes bad decisions but still being sympathetic with them as a human being people don’t just do things like that for no reason we should always ask what led them to do this?
I read this somewhere, so this isn't an original thought, but I also like how Paige never found out that she was almost shot. It was very much just for us viewers & I like that she was never overly praised for being nice to Rick in that moment.
I’m kinda on the same boat with Rick in terms of being bullied. During my first year at Highschool, I got into a terrible argument with some girl named Victoria because this other girl named Ester was treating me like crap for no reason and Victoria was defending her. I told her to go f**k herself and she got offended by it. Just as I was about to get read for school, Bertie, Victori’s boyfriend charged in and assaulted me for what I said to Victoria. I tried to apologize to her for what I said, but she stubbornly refused. I got really angry and started lashing out at her. Rodrigo, another friend of Victoria charged in and started pushing me from her. He then pinned me on the floor and was trying to knock a book out of my hand for no reason. I don’t know what came over me, I threw the book at Victoria. She started to sob after being hit and Rodrigo and another guy named James started attacking me. As I got back to my room, Bertie then started to beat me up. I tried to stop him from throwing another punch at me, but he clawed my left eye. The next day, everyone was glaring at me as I entered in the cafeteria. Some of them were saying awful stuff about me behind my back. Even if months passed, the students of the Highschool I used to go still haven’t forgiven me for hitting Victoria. Lauren, another friend of Victoria, called me a Devil Worshipper because of what I did to her and said that after the incident, she said she never wanted to go to that school again. It was like she was guilt tripping me as if I almost made her wanted to transfer schools. Worst of all, two guys named Zach and Josh started bullying me for very little reason and they also brought up the Victoria incident as if I was going to hurt her again.
@@DankPope Well for starters, I was at a school where most of the students have violent impulses. Second, I didn’t want to hurt Victoria, but Rodrigo was hurting me whenever I was arguing with her, so he left me little choice. Or maybe since most of the students in that school tend to pick fights with me or they would just assault me for no reason, I was slowly becoming like them.
So you hit a girl who wasn’t fighting you even tho it wasn’t the guys who were actually fighting you😂 you were rightfully ostracized. It’s not like she was throwing punches at you
@@alarrim29574 I was rightfully ostracized? That's something a bully would say. I was already being bullied by people at that high school before the incident because they thought I was annoying, or I was the smart one and they felt insecure. Ester hated me for very petty reasons, like she acted like it was my fault that I interrupted her breakfast when some students were harassing me about taking out their dishes. These two guys started accusing me of looking at porn when I was doing my homework in the school library, when I first enrolled in that school. And this other girl Mikaela treated me like crap for interrupting her doing homework. Like it was my fault for being harassed by two jerks accusing me of looking at porn.
To be honest, although Rick had done terrible things, he was a kid who had anger problems from bullying that led him taking his frustration out on Terri. All they did was took an understanding grudge against him way too far, and because of that, Jimmy got Shot, Emma nearly got killed, and Rick lost his life. If there’s one thing that people need to learn is that two wrongs don’t make a right. If they respond with violence as revenge, they won’t be any better than the person they trying to seek revenge against, not only that, their actions are gonna bite them in the ass later on
@@Lindaamujjerr yeah that, idk why he thought that “well I want to go back to Degrassi cuz I’ve change and prove people that I’m not a bad guy” you know what they say, it’s easy to forgive, but hard to forget. Plus, he came back a year or a semester after putting Terri in a coma, so yeah.
This is wild defending this guy lol Dude went on a rampage against everyone for no reason and beat on a girl until she was put into a coma, karma has a way coming back around. Guy publicly humiliated girl but we should feel for him? Especially knowing that he ends up shooting a person because people disliked him for his poor choices? That really makes no sense lol Someone deserved to get shot because he was abusive and put someone in the hospital so people disliked him for that?
I thought Terri wanted to go after Rick despite Paiges objections... Rick DID have a point that Terri may be under Paiges shadow but it backfired on him... Rick wasnt expelled, his parents pulled him out after he cried crocodile tears... (I made the same mistake years ago too thinking he was expelled) Didnt mention that Emmas intentions were also cause she got excluded from Manny and Liberty for the Chris situation Was toby AWARE of Ricks actions and why was he his friend? (Blame JT) If Rick was straightforward and said bullied, Raditch wouldve had to take him more seriously Didn't talk about Spinner "confessing" to the prank leading to a fight with Jimmy and possibly realizing that Jimmy was going to narc, Jay see this and tries to help Spinner Didnt talk about Craig being involved and seeing Jimmys prone body... if it werent for the spat with Joey, he wouldve been home sick and not have to experience this I also feel that the students' bullying of Rick was also fueled by the lack of help from Raditch who didnt do anything to hear their screams of anger so it was mob mentality all the way GREAT VIDEO THO
Teen actor, not child actor. Child actors are children who are 12 or under. Teen actors are adolescence which is a transitional stage of human development from childhood to adulthood.
@@vice2versa A teenager is still a kid. Ergo, child actor. No one calls them "teen actors", or at least I don't (and I've never heard anyone else call it that, either). So I'm not gonna split hairs with you. Or be corrected. Kay? I also don't need you to explain what adolescence, or what a teenager is, as I'm pretty certain that I was one at one point.
@@briannawilliams97 why do you feel bad for Rick? I feel bad for the fat girl being in a coma and nobody cared about her. What’s wrong with the food coma but y’all think it’s OK to put her in a real coma 🙄
![fellow fellow - พรุ่งนี้ไม่มีใครรู้ feat. INK WARUNTORN [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QP6JyjYx_W0/mqdefault.jpg)
The guy who played Rick did a scary good job with his character.
He was annoying
He was in drake’s aka “jimmy’s” music video and drakes friends were beating him up in the video obv it was acted but it was fun to see. Ppl still tweet him today asking him why did her shoot drake 😩😅🤣
@@Tinyjam196imagine you shoot a guy on tv and it ends up being drake 😂
I blame the administration for allowing Rick back into the school and forcing redemption down everyone’s throat in a still inflammatory circumstance.
I blame Jay. Jay was the central person that inflamed those tensions, that just couldn't let it go. Alex is just as guilty.
The administration had no choice. They couldn't, at the time, punish someone for something that didn't happen in a school context.
The real issue is his parents knowing he’s troubled/prone to aggression but still deciding to let him be around guns
@@AndreNDPJay with his track record should have been expelled long before that, so, it comes back to the administration
@@camm7985 I agree, Degrassi's pretty notorious for being light handed on punishments-Jay and Alex got nothing, Peter never got anything, Fitz was slapped on the wrist, it goes on and on. Rick's not even top 5.
@@AndreNDP Jay got expelled too mostly cause Spinner told on HIM, Alex got away with it (confessing her guilt wouldve helped her character)
Ephraim Ellis does not get the praise that he deserves for his portrayal of Rick
I think this episode really triggered Craig's bipolar disorder because he saw Jimmy get shot and then his manic episodes started getting worse and worse after that.
@24kgoldplatedvermeilagreed, the shooting might have triggered the episodes going forward but he definitely had BP tendencies when he tried to get hit by the train with Sean in his premiere season
@24kgoldplatedvermeil yea that season when he became homeless was hard to watch. Even when he got better he still decided to use drugs when he got famous and was touring the world. Remember when he got manny to do coke? Now that I think about it, he never took his disorder seriously, like ever….
That’s so true
@@brg4622he used drugs because being on stage gave him anxiety
@@brg462217:49 😅 17:50 😮😮😮😮😅😮😅😅 18:01 😂😅😢
This storyline rlly shaped degrassi 😢
Ah, the story line that brought us Wheelchair Jimmy. Sorry, not sorry AUBREY. 😂🤣
Also- very good perspective on this episode!
I think one thing that gets me about everything is if you watch the Degrassi High you also know Mr Simpson ended up being the one to find Claude after he shot himself in school and him knowing that there were signs he missed. He tried his best to prevent a suicide again but failed not knowing it would be way worse. He knew Radish couldve done something too and rightfully projected his trauma and anger that now his step daughter has a similar, definitely worse, trauma
This is a good breakdown. The complexity of character interactions and the way they all intertwine and the permanent effects of decisions has always been stellar. I like your take on the "nurture" part or environmental factors but I think there is a lot to ponder on the nature or biological part as well. Rick was definitely a step above socially inept. It's one thing to misunderstand someone but to force a kiss to that degree makes me wonder if those two had hooked up and things got better for him, would his abusive patterns continue. There was obviously a lot still wrong with him, even in his redemption period, and while the bullies made it worse, I can't imagine he came back a completely new kid. He spent a lot of time reading when he should have been in after school therapy. As far as Degrassi lessons to their pre/teenage audience go, it would have been nice to see more kids talking to adults and reporting rather than just the kid who is getting bullied and the staff who feels like there is nothing they can do. But for a soap opera for teens that hits hard subjects, still a 10/10.
The fact no one told was the most realistic part though. Most people don't want to speak out to bullies because they don't want to be bullied or feel they'll be ostracized as well. Adults also can turn a very blind eye to it as well saying "it builds character" or "makes you stronger". Until we have outcomes like this. Trust me after school therapy wouldn't fix the problem. It might delay it, but people would still be cruel.
@@Sal-fg3rs That's actually a really good point about it being realistic. As in like.. would the episode have been as impactful if the students did what we want them to as a way to teach the audience... likely not. The impact was seeing the outcome. Sometimes those outcomes are what we would hope and teach us to be more accepting or at least model what acceptance could look like, as an example. And sometimes the outcomes are exactly this and then we sit and talk about why that is the sad reality and how we can do better. Thanks for bringing that up. I like how even after all these years degrassi makes me sit back and ponder. Truly an impactful show all around.
Emma going on to marry spinner was wild! lol
I pretend that didn't happen lol
I like to pretend that she got back with Sean.
@@cjd5235 I agree. The Emma/Spinner thing seemed thrown together or something.
I just realized the parallel between him using the trust fall exercise to get her to have more faith in him by catching her as she's falling to then him pushing her/causing her to fall and seriously injuring her. Never made that connection before
Rick was a great actor. Seeing all the red flags before terry got hurt is scary to watch. The bullying triggered him to try to murder people and he also had a jealousy plot with Emma. I felt bad about bullying
No, the William made how he already was worse. Ya'll need to stop acting like this. Man wasn't a whole abuser. He got away with it came back 6 months later. After putting somebody in a coma, stop the b. S yeah, really are psychopaths low key.
I could never feel sorry for Rick. Even if he seemed to have become a better person I remember he claimed to be better when Terri got back with him in the first place. Also after going back to hurt those who hurt him he was about to hurt someone who only rejected a kiss.
He did show plenty of signs of him not being a better person. The kissing contest is weird and doesn’t indicate him being better. And him mistaking Emma’s kindness for love is forgivable but he full on forced the kiss which for me anyway indicated that he wasn’t better and if she did for some reason accepted he might not shoot jimmy but I think it shows he still has the behavior that would lead him to abuse Emma like he did Teri
Not me currently rewatching Degrassi and literally on this episode 😭😭
What streaming platform are you watching on?
I loved your analysis, it was so thorough and beautiful and really took into consideration the different aspects of everyone in play and the fact that at the end of the day we are all human
I think about this episode a lot.
We watched Degrassi in health class for learning about certain teenage realities but I never watched the full series. Among all the handpicked Degrassi episodes and other shows we watched this really stuck with me.
I remember when this episode dropped. I watched this show religiously growing up. Still to this day i call Drake, Jimmy lol.
The reason why it's important to analyze villains is because given the right circumstances stances we could all become one
When I watched these seasons I was so sad Terri never came back 😢
I've just discovered your channel today and this is the only video I've watched so far. Excellent attention to detail and a 10/10 voice.
i completely forgot that spin and jay were the ones to plant the lie about jimmy omg this was a great revisit to a wild episode that changed my teen brain XD
They should have never let him back to the school if this was real life
This episode was wild, childhood memories.
How does someone put a person in a coma not get expelled. This show was real raunchy looking back, just like Euphoria.
I never watched this and wasn’t expecting it to be this traumatizing 😮😢
Paige saved her own life.
Kend-RICK 🤯
STOPPPP THIS IS SO FUNNY
LMAO
There’s a bar in there for sure
LMAO
Loved Degrassi ❤️ idk why I was watching this at like 10 years old lol my older siblings got me into it 😂🤣
I was way too young when I saw this for the first time.I think I was 10. It blew me away. Watched it on "The N" A k a nickelodeon for teenagers
Great video. I was way too young to watch degrassi but I did. The bullying was messed up but tbh Rick was also really messed up. I wonder if he would’ve snapped somewhere in life had this not happened.
I remember when this episode aired.. I was NOT well after I watched! My heart stops every time 😢
I wish I had never missed the Rick episodes when he was being so controlling. I ended up dating a guy exactly like that in high school for 3 years.
It's not ur fault tho I hope things are well now and I'm proud of you 😊
Ignore the emoji typed that on accident I'm sorry
@@Fishfartypartywhy you put a smiling emoji freak
@@Fishfartyparty Nah I like the emoji, it's worth smiling that everything is so much better now :)
@@asifallintonothingne I'm so happy to hear that 😁
What a great video 🤝🏽🤝🏽🤝🏽
Crazy how bullying can get so bad
This got me crying by the end. Great video!
I’ve recently discovered the Degrassi channel on Pluto tv and I circle the channel like a vulture. I know it’s streaming on something else, and I finally just need to rewatch the whole series.
I thankfully was never witness to a school shooting, but from 2003-2006, I lost several friends, one died by suicide (7th grade 03/04), one in a car accident (05), and one of my best friends moms from breast cancer(06), and she was a bus driver for the school. so she also worked random positions within the highschool too. Her death shook the whole school. So many students loved her.
I like to think this show helped me cope with such difficult emotions at a young age when no one else was talking about it.
Aubrey Graham is still the best actor from this show. He really did a great job and this storyline built up so well. Rick too, excellent acting.
@@hesayshesayhowboutmesay umm I do think Aubrey rlly shined the most bc the story was centered around him after that they didn't rlly give him more which was unfortunate but to me one of the best acting in terms of consistency was Jake esptine performance who played Craig imo and Dallas from the newer cast ughh rlly wish they gave him more imo but umm great performances over all rlly wish they did more with the cast imo
He ain't
What about actor who played spinner. He was great. Now that's character development. Along with sean. Even though his story got a little vague along the way
one of my favorites.
The principal failed. He should’ve been kicked out of that school, and forced to transfer, after putting her in a coma.
Who knew an abusive relationship would lead to all of that.
Everyone
16:41 i always thought that maybe he was lying to his mom to make her not worry so that she wouldn't take him out of degrassi. i never thought he was thinking that frfr. also love this video its amazing !! 🫶🏾
@dollie1537 idk. I think it's part of whatever his mental illness is. He literally told Emma "I thought you loved me." Seems like his whole scale of what a frienship/relationship is had been consistently off
Damn back when Drake was dating in his age range
Shawn’s parents look so old compared to the other parents.
Well they have an older son as well so, there’s that.
Excellent analysis! Please keep doing videos on the older degrassi seasons! Subbed :)
This episode still has me on the edge of seat….
This was a fantastic video, very well written
Degrassi it went there
We were all shook in our preteens watching this madness 😂
Rick is the perfect example of the series accidentally stumbling into the perfect intersection of character and plot. We have stacks and stacks, tomes at this point, that bullying is not the source of school shootings, and instead violent misogyny and white supremacy are at the core of the issue, the former being a huge factor. Rick's past of being extremely abusive of Terri perfectly set him up to do this. The social consequences of his actions weren't the issue. Rick was. He didn't misinterpret the handful of people being less shitty to him, he was trying to manipulate them and choosing to lie to his mother to continue manipulating people who knew he was a pos, to see how far he could get. He just didn't appreciate how most people saw through his bullshit and didn't let him get away with it.
This is not to say bullying and harassment aren't issues, they are, just not the issue in this instance. They cause inwardly focused violence, like disordered eating, self harming, and suicidal ideation. They do not cause what Rick did.
you put this far better than what i was trying to write lol. It's Rick's violence. It's Rick's choices. He didn't say he was sorry for hurting Terri until AFTER he was about to shoot Paige... the only reason he did was because Paige says she's sorry for him first. He's desperate for people to hear him out after he almost killed Terri, but he doesn't even consider asking Jimmy if he was actually part of the prank, he just wants to exert power over others. He tries to shoot Emma just because she didn't return his feelings? Bullying wasn't what led him to his initial violence. He never would have even been bullied if he didn't put his gf in a coma. His arch is NOT an anti-bullying psa. It's to show how dangerous his lack of personal accountability, unchecked past violence, and a parent who protects their kid from the consequences of their own actions can be.
Thats what im saying. I think this video was a bit too sympathetic to his character and wasnt nuance enough in the way of considering how manipulative he was, how charismatic he was to get people to like him and how self absorbed he was too. Some people may change or learn that this way of living is harmful but in 5 months?? Idk. Actively bullying him got ridiculous especially putting him a dumpster but ignoring him or not wanting to be around because he was unsafe is incredibly valid and is not bullying when he put someone in a coma after abusing them emotionally and physically for months.
I understand your point. I don’t think that’s what the writers intended, but it definitely fits the context. However, I’m a bit confused why you said he was manipulating people. I didn’t really catch that.
Edit: Oh! Your saying he tried to take advantage of people who felt sympathy for him?
@@phoenixmorphix he clearly manipulates his mother regularly, he was extremely manipulative with Teri, and he did very clearly exploit people who had sympathy for him yes
Period
It’s crazy how much Rick reminds me of my ex and he does give off these vibes. Crazy.
19:27 …I take it not a single one read or watched the book/movie Carrie? Cause this would have been a good hey, maybe let’s NOT do that scene from Carrie that ended poorly for everyone involved and not involved?
I can completely see your point on human complexity, I just know for me personally it's very difficult to see the other side to a person's personality if what they put out forms the view everyone has of them to begin with. Like they dig themselves a hole and bring others down with them, and we're supposed to live and let live?
Like damage was already done, people were hurt, and now the perpetrator wants to change? You had chances and now magic they grow a moral back bone. Too late.
This was a rewrite of Claude's story except Rick didn't pewpew just himself
i’ve always thought Rick just lied to his mom about his friends, this completely changed my perspective!!
Is it bad that I honestly don’t feel bad for Rick at all? Lol I’m a victim of domestic violence, and I truly don’t care when someone’s who’s gone out of their way to hurt the person they “love” gets hurt back. So Terry gets put into a coma, and we’re supposed to feel bad that the guy who abused her and pushed her head first into a rock getting bullied for his actions? Actions have consequences. His parents should’ve known better than to take him back to a school where everyone knows what he’s done. I feel 0 sympathy for someone who could’ve literally killed their girlfriend because they have a temper they can’t control. Also, if Rick was expelled he wouldn’t have been able to come back to Degrassi at all, expulsion is permanent, you cannot go back to that school again.
I completely understand this perspective. I know people that have been through domestic violence as well. I think its totally justified foe people to also not sympathize with him at all. It makes sense
the Rick storyline isn't suppose to paint him as the bad guy it shows him being a loner(loser) in middle school to finding a girlfriend and not wanting to lose her and then lets his anger get the better of him like most teenagers do. The Series of episodes leading up to what Rick does also highlights the difficulty of school administrations have in trying to prevent bullying and incidents from happening. The episodes after the shooting shows the aftermath of incidents like that. Also Drake's reaction to the actor who plays Rick getting covered in paint and feathers was a raw reaction because the writers didn't really tell the other actors in the scene that it was going to happen so when it did we got reactions that were realistic and varied
The thing is, teenagers can often be overtaken by their anger yes, but it takes someone with anger issues and a lack of concern for others to continue hurting the same person over and over, in the same ways, which is what Rick did to Terri. I agree that the show didn't portray Rick as a bad guy, but it did portray him as a guy who has a tendency to do bad things to others. I mean, it doesn't seem like he valued anyone's opinions or feelings aside from his own, which is why he even came back to Degrassi in the first place. "I like it here." The fact that's the reason why he came back shows that he underestimated the impact of his actions to others.
@@boxingelfis1499 that's what the writers were trying to point out because when you watch the Rick storyline he starts off at a low point and it's stated that he has always never really had any friends in school and the view we get about his home life shows that both of his parents work and he's left alone because they believe that he's responsible enough to take care of himself. Then when he finally makes friends and gets a girlfriend he doesn't know how to handle a breakup when Terry it also doesn't help that he's really thinks that Terry belongs to him which makes you think about how his father treats his mother because he had to learn that behavior from somewhere
What the hell are yall on in these comments? You have all this sympathy for a psychopath
@@chayo4537 that wasn't the point of storyline to paint Rick as the "bad guy" it was to show his decent into the irrational action he took because if you remember Degrassi was set in middle school with tween/teens who think that what happens in middle/high school is the world
10:07 rest in peace, Fruitopia…
I remember watching this, I never felt bad for Rick, never
I would only watch this as a kid because my sister had it on, and I never understood a single thing going on.
U know what always freaked me the fuck out, how J.T.'s shirt in Rick's funeral episode looks exactly like his own Funeral/Memorial picture.
I'm glad nobody brought up that episode where Ricky comes back and possesses some girl to get back at Spinner. Man, that episode was a spit to the character and just a slap in the face for mass shootings aftermath. I'm curious about your view on that episode. For me, it was one of the reasons why DeGrassi greatly went downhill.
You're talking about those short movie things they made. I forgot about those. I think I might have found a new video topic. Thanks so much!
How have I never heard of these???
The young man who played Rick is an incredibly talented actor. He delivered the performance of a life time in the role. I remember watching this when it came out, and I really did feel so conflicted about the character. He reminded me of friends of mine in school that were bullied heavily, but he’s also an example of a type of abuser I’ve dealt with before. As I’ve gotten older, I really just feel more conflicted. I’m mad at administration for letting him into the school, I’m mad at his mother for not taking the incident with Terri for the red flag it was, and I’m mad at the kids who bullied him with knowledge of his violent proclivities. The situation is set up so perfectly to be the worst case scenario.
This episode was hard to watch; to this day I've only seen it once. 😢
There was a kid in my middle school that was bullied so bad my whole grade had to have a whole day bullying prevention, a cop and the principal were there and said he didn’t want to come back because that’s how bad we all made him feel. I felt so fucking bad in that moment, it wasn’t a joke anymore, things did change luckily and he did make some friends but thinking about it now we were alll terrible people and for what? We didn’t gain anything besides just being horrible humans to someone because we thought it was a game. Seeing this storyline play out was extremely well done and I think a very accurate description of how far bullying can go. However Rick coming back to the school makes zero sense, I would of much rather had a storyline of Terri coming back to school after the attack and how she navigated that trauma and how it affected her dating life. I feel like that was a huge missed opportunity.
I feel sorry for Rick at first I didn't like him for the way he treated Terri and obviously putting her in a coma but he had anger and control issues and was trying to be better but was constantly being bullied and I just hate bullying anyway. He really shouldn't have come back to degrassi especially knowing people hated him there and the teachers and principal didn't help him he was just a ticking timebomb until he finally went off and poor Jimmy suffered because of it. Im surprised Jimmy ever forgave Spinner because I don't think I ever could.
I just rewatched this season a week ago, and even at 32 years old I also don’t think I ever could have forgave Spinner.
Spinner really irked me when he had his identity crisis
Remember when he shaved his head with his dramatic ass 😂❤
@@chayo4537isn’t that when he found out he had cancer?
While I don’t feel too bad for Rick, not getting treated with respect. It understandable that Terri friends not forgive him, what he been doing to Terri and putting her in hospital in a coma.
Even though he never plans to do that to her. I agreed that Rick don’t deserve, any forgiveness or sympathy. From Terri friends or anyone at school, but he didn’t deserve to get bullied and harassed.
As they were just as bad as he was, as it was uncalled for and unnecessary.
While what caused him to snap and ended up, hurting and having someone in hospital. Then later Rick losing his life.
There are signs that Rick might bring a piece to school and bullying may have just been the triggering event that day but he was heading down this road way before the way he mistreats that poor girl.
Imagine having Rick and Esme interacting!
It was hard to keep watching after Terri left.....she was the only likeable character on the show
@@ellebell9139 rlly u should continue imo it's worth it
I wish they had another storyline like this but where the Rick archetype triumphs over everything and reforms. His problem is his self defeatist mindset; when his confidence in jimmy was shook he should’ve realized he still has Emma on his side. He should’ve tried expanding to others or just keep hanging out with Emma until more people accepted him. If he waited it out the truth about jimmy could’ve came to light as well. Dude had the potential to become a soldier (figuratively speaking) with the biggest glow up
he doesn't exactly have a "glow up" but hunter in the later seasons/next class series has a very similar arc and though he gets very close, he doesn’t end up shooting anyone and he does go through a lot of character reformation afterwards
I wish there were more people with this mentality! Having a point of view from all sides and not just hating the person that makes bad decisions but still being sympathetic with them as a human being people don’t just do things like that for no reason we should always ask what led them to do this?
I read this somewhere, so this isn't an original thought, but I also like how Paige never found out that she was almost shot. It was very much just for us viewers & I like that she was never overly praised for being nice to Rick in that moment.
I’m kinda on the same boat with Rick in terms of being bullied. During my first year at Highschool, I got into a terrible argument with some girl named Victoria because this other girl named Ester was treating me like crap for no reason and Victoria was defending her. I told her to go f**k herself and she got offended by it. Just as I was about to get read for school, Bertie, Victori’s boyfriend charged in and assaulted me for what I said to Victoria. I tried to apologize to her for what I said, but she stubbornly refused. I got really angry and started lashing out at her. Rodrigo, another friend of Victoria charged in and started pushing me from her. He then pinned me on the floor and was trying to knock a book out of my hand for no reason. I don’t know what came over me, I threw the book at Victoria. She started to sob after being hit and Rodrigo and another guy named James started attacking me. As I got back to my room, Bertie then started to beat me up. I tried to stop him from throwing another punch at me, but he clawed my left eye. The next day, everyone was glaring at me as I entered in the cafeteria. Some of them were saying awful stuff about me behind my back. Even if months passed, the students of the Highschool I used to go still haven’t forgiven me for hitting Victoria. Lauren, another friend of Victoria, called me a Devil Worshipper because of what I did to her and said that after the incident, she said she never wanted to go to that school again. It was like she was guilt tripping me as if I almost made her wanted to transfer schools. Worst of all, two guys named Zach and Josh started bullying me for very little reason and they also brought up the Victoria incident as if I was going to hurt her again.
Dude you hit a girl , why didnt you actually fight the boys that attacked you.
@@DankPope Well for starters, I was at a school where most of the students have violent impulses. Second, I didn’t want to hurt Victoria, but Rodrigo was hurting me whenever I was arguing with her, so he left me little choice. Or maybe since most of the students in that school tend to pick fights with me or they would just assault me for no reason, I was slowly becoming like them.
So you hit a girl who wasn’t fighting you even tho it wasn’t the guys who were actually fighting you😂 you were rightfully ostracized. It’s not like she was throwing punches at you
@@alarrim29574 I was rightfully ostracized? That's something a bully would say. I was already being bullied by people at that high school before the incident because they thought I was annoying, or I was the smart one and they felt insecure. Ester hated me for very petty reasons, like she acted like it was my fault that I interrupted her breakfast when some students were harassing me about taking out their dishes. These two guys started accusing me of looking at porn when I was doing my homework in the school library, when I first enrolled in that school. And this other girl Mikaela treated me like crap for interrupting her doing homework. Like it was my fault for being harassed by two jerks accusing me of looking at porn.
@@DankPope who cares if he hit a girl, girls arent innocent. The girl was the entire reason he got bullied in the first place. Who cares about her.
I loved degrading and have seen every episode! Please do more vids
Write a poem about turtles
"stared from the bottom now we chair"
To be honest, although Rick had done terrible things, he was a kid who had anger problems from bullying that led him taking his frustration out on Terri. All they did was took an understanding grudge against him way too far, and because of that, Jimmy got Shot, Emma nearly got killed, and Rick lost his life. If there’s one thing that people need to learn is that two wrongs don’t make a right. If they respond with violence as revenge, they won’t be any better than the person they trying to seek revenge against, not only that, their actions are gonna bite them in the ass later on
Or Rick could have just moved schools his ego is what made him go back he thought he could make people like him again
@@Lindaamujjerr yeah that, idk why he thought that “well I want to go back to Degrassi cuz I’ve change and prove people that I’m not a bad guy” you know what they say, it’s easy to forgive, but hard to forget. Plus, he came back a year or a semester after putting Terri in a coma, so yeah.
Wait if you been expelled how do you get back into the school
This is wild defending this guy lol
Dude went on a rampage against everyone for no reason and beat on a girl until she was put into a coma, karma has a way coming back around. Guy publicly humiliated girl but we should feel for him? Especially knowing that he ends up shooting a person because people disliked him for his poor choices? That really makes no sense lol
Someone deserved to get shot because he was abusive and put someone in the hospital so people disliked him for that?
He started from the bottom now he chaired
I thought Terri wanted to go after Rick despite Paiges objections...
Rick DID have a point that Terri may be under Paiges shadow but it backfired on him...
Rick wasnt expelled, his parents pulled him out after he cried crocodile tears... (I made the same mistake years ago too thinking he was expelled)
Didnt mention that Emmas intentions were also cause she got excluded from Manny and Liberty for the Chris situation
Was toby AWARE of Ricks actions and why was he his friend? (Blame JT)
If Rick was straightforward and said bullied, Raditch wouldve had to take him more seriously
Didn't talk about Spinner "confessing" to the prank leading to a fight with Jimmy and possibly realizing that Jimmy was going to narc, Jay see this and tries to help Spinner
Didnt talk about Craig being involved and seeing Jimmys prone body... if it werent for the spat with Joey, he wouldve been home sick and not have to experience this
I also feel that the students' bullying of Rick was also fueled by the lack of help from Raditch who didnt do anything to hear their screams of anger so it was mob mentality all the way
GREAT VIDEO THO
He could’ve tried to tackle him or something he had plenty of time
I had no idea this show was so good. Wow.
The day degrassi stopped degrowing
Nerdy Toby got game yo
My childhood ✨
I wish there was a degrassi and letterkenny crossover squirrelly Dan would have to haves comes to Jesus meetings with him
The other scene that always gets is jt
Does Rick shooting up Degrassi compare to that other guy in Degrassi Junior High, who ends up shooting himself dead in the bathroom stall?
Low key tho, Rick came back with great hair. He had a little glo up lol.
WOP WOP WOP WOP WOP
Why do guys get upset about girls nights? Sometimes we need girl time.
I didn't even know Drake was a child actor lol
Teen actor, not child actor. Child actors are children who are 12 or under. Teen actors are adolescence which is a transitional stage of human development from childhood to adulthood.
@@vice2versa A teenager is still a kid. Ergo, child actor. No one calls them "teen actors", or at least I don't (and I've never heard anyone else call it that, either).
So I'm not gonna split hairs with you.
Or be corrected. Kay? I also don't need you to explain what adolescence, or what a teenager is, as I'm pretty certain that I was one at one point.
Jay and spinner suck for setting up jimmy like that
Emma is and will always be the worst
Should've just went to a different school in a different city honestly.
He could get redemption, just not in society. Should've been put to juvie. But it is a Canadian show so the laws might be different.
The day Drake peaked 😂
Did Terry come out of her coma? :(
Yeah, I forgot to mention it, but the actress leaves after season 3 so in the beginning of season 4 they say how Terry transferred schools
@@briannawilliams97 Thanks for telling me.
I always assumed she never came out of the coma. I guess I missed the quick mention of her transferring
@Twiceonce2005 it's so quick in the show, I don't even blame you
@@briannawilliams97 why do you feel bad for Rick? I feel bad for the fat girl being in a coma and nobody cared about her. What’s wrong with the food coma but y’all think it’s OK to put her in a real coma 🙄
BBL Wheely
Rick reminds me of women.
Why did he shoot drake
😮😮😮😮 team drake