Blog | clare

Sometimes for work, I have to look through lots of pictures and pick out the cutest ones.

I found some VERY cute pictures of Aislinn Paul (Clare), Luke Bilyk (Drew), Alicia Josipovic (Bianca) and Munro Chambers (Eli) on the set of Nowhere to Run. Here they are, nice and big.

If Clare's mom marries the cabin's owner, does that mean Clare and the cabin can't date?

Drew looks happy to be at the cabin... at least while it's light out.

If I had a cabin, I would totally let Bianca visit. (I bet she could protect me from the bears.)

When you're in the country, it's important to always have a farm animal on your shirt. Right, Eli?

See all that cuteness in action next Friday! Degrassi: Nowhere to Run is coming to TeenNick, Friday, Nov. 18 at 9pm et.

SPOILERS FOR THE LATENIKS. DON'T READ UNTIL YOU'VE DONE YOUR DEGRASSI DUTY AND WATHCHED THE FINALE. NO SERIOUSLY. GO AWAY.

SO! That happened!

Uhhhh, where to begin?

1) How much did it hurt your heart to hear Adam crying out in pain like that? How are you holding up? Let's process our emotions together.

2) Riley and Zane? Totally getting back together in college. Amiright?

3) Bianca? With the Drew and the phone and the shaking? OmGGGG. That was one for the ages. Alicia can act her li'l BUTT off.

4) I'm just gonna come out and say it. What do you think the future prognosis is for Drew and Katie vs. Drew and Bianca?

5) I'm just gonna come out and say it again. E-Clare? Not done yet? Tender moment? Which Eli didn't even mess up his handling of? Sparkles?

6) Not to mention uh, I don't know if you happened to see this teaser for what's coming this fall but uh..........

UHHHHH...................

LOOK OUT! SPOILERS! Watch "Dead and Gone, pt. 1" before you scroll any further!

Hmm.

How come Jake was all:

"Gee soon-to-be-stepmom and dad... your big news sure is swell!"

When Clare was all:

"Mother, you may wish to thank me for averting my eyes so as not to accidentally kill you with my death glare."

??

Theory 1: Jake has had more time to get used to his parents divorce and wants his dad to be happy, even if it's at his own relationship's expense. Clare is still reeling and doesn't particularly care how happy her mom is at this point.

Theory 2: Jake spies an easy way out of this relationship, and is gonna take it.

Theory 3: Jake knows they can't "win" this one so he's not even going to try.

I'm leaning toward a combo of 1 and 3. Especially based on the look on Jake's face when Clare was like "You didn't think about involving me in this decision?" But maybe I'm misinterpreting his face there? I don't know!

What did you think?

Only one more Degrassi: Now or Never episode left! SSSSSIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHH

SPOILERS BELOW! Watch "Don't Panic, pt. 2" before reading.

OK. I have two things I want to touch on from tonight's Degrassi episode.

#1: This face. Drew making this face when Katie picks her "best friend" Marisol to be her V.P.:

Drew is sooo excited to spend lots and lots of quality time with Katie's bestest buddy Marisol!

Poor Drew. Can't blame him for not wanting to have much to do with Marisol. Do you think Katie and Marisol's friendship should be over at this point? Or do you and your best friends work through really bad fights all the time?

#2: Eli! Get out of the sweat lodge! I mean, I appreciate his enthusiasm for "doing the right thing" for Cake but OMG, a little privacy while they work through their issues, maybe? Him injecting himself into their relationship like that did not feel 100% healthy to me, even though I know he's at least given up on the notion of getting Clare back. Your thoughts?

SPOILERSSSSSSSS BENEATH. LOOK OUT. Watch "Extraordinary Machine, pt. 2" before reading.

The vast majority of people in our 'Does Eli have a shot?' Facebook poll yesterday said that while Clare isn't 100% over her feelings for Eli, she's definitely done dating him. And based on tonight's ep (and on E!'s interview with Aislinn Paul), that sounds about right to me.

I'm curious what the hardcore "no retreat, no surrender!" E-Clare shippers out there are feeling after this episode. Those final moments -- Clare putting a stamp of finality on things ("I'm just glad... he and I can go our separate ways."), followed by Clare making the following face:

Eli and Clare can "go their separate ways" now. What would you call this emotion? Uncertainty? Peace? Regret? Wist?

... followed by Eli walking out of Degrassi feeling like he now finally has a shot at getting his life back under control, while Clare watches silently:

Eli, finally ready to move on. What's Clare feeling here?

Holy poignancy! Did any of the hardcore E-Clare fans get any sense of closure out of tonight's ep? Let us know in the comments...

Oh, and speaking of poignant. Oh my God. Jenna and KC watching Tyson get carried out of their lives? That was the worst. I know I wasn't the only one doing the ugly cry watching that scene. And Jenna just looked numb. I'm sure she has yet to really fully process her emotions about it, even if she feels sure they made the right decision. (Makes you think about what Holly J's birth mom went through when she gave her up -- wasn't Holly J eleven months old, too?)

What's crazy is: that scene destroyed me, and yet it can't even hold a candle to the true level of sadness that moment would rise to in real life.

It's especially hard because they had no happy options left. Raise Tyson, constantly struggling... to complete high school (if Jenna could ever really make it back at all), to make enough money to live on, to find any time to take care of their own needs (such as for instance, "having any fun")? Or give up Tyson, and break their own hearts to tiny, sad, little pieces in the process.

The only happy options they ever had existed before they ever got pregnant. They could have held off on sex, or they could have used protection every single time.

Jenna and KC bawl after saying goodbye to Tyson

SPOILER WARNING: Don't scroll down unless you've seen "U Don't Know, Pt. 1."

If you loved Eli and Clare as a couple on Degrassi, how are you holding up this summer? Last week, we had lots of Clare and Jake "cake-out" sessions... and tonight things got pretty steamy during Imogen's audition.

If you consider yourself an Eclare fan (or ever did), please answer the following questions:

1.Do you think Eli and Clare will get back together?
2.How long do you think Clare and Jake will last as a couple? Is Jake a rebound for Clare?
3.How do you feel about Eli and Imogen's big ole kiss tonight? (He didn't kiss Sadie during her audition.)
4.Imogen was pretending to be Clare during that kiss. On a scale of 1 to incredibly-freaking-weird, how weird is that?
5.How will you feel if Eli and Imogen start dating? Do you see it as a rebound thing or do they have real potential?

I know we've got some really sensitive Degrassi fans out there, so if any of you are having a tough time coping as Eli and Clare kiss other people, I just want you to know that the whole Degrassi community is here to support you. Feel free to discuss your feelings in the blog comments, on the message board, on Facebook, or Twitter. We're here for you.

p.s. If you've got something to say about Holly J's health situation or the Adam / Katie storyline, feel free to share your thoughts on those, too. (Holly J was trending worldwide on Twitter tonight! Nice job, HJ.)

Elmo or Elimogen or Imogeli or whatever you want to call them.

So. Clare this season.
Clare has gone boy crazy, I would say. Back in season 8 when she said to Darcy "I'm going to school for education, not boys..." Nope! Not really, anymore. It's good though, because she's definitely growing up and going through quintessential teenage experiences.

Were you surprised at people's anger at Clare for breaking up with Eli?
I don't want to label any audience members who were upset, but I think some of them were maybe... distracted? By Munro, and the "damaged character" -- that's always been a magnet for young girls. So I understand how that may have skewed their opinion, but I think Clare made the right choice, personally. And I don't know if I would have been strong enough to make that choice if I were in her place, so I'm really proud of her.

Even though Clare's the type of person that wants to help, she had given so much already that it was taking a huge toll on her, and it was important to take a new direction.

With the casual relationship that Clare and Jake are trying to have, I think no one's sure if Clare is really built for casual. But do you think it's good for her to try?
Clare tries to do that because she doesn't want to get hurt, and I think the experience overall is good for her. She's trying a lot of new things this season, and I think it's all good for her. As teenagers, even the bad choice is a good choice because you get the experience. And Clare's losing her naivete, I suppose.

What does the world need to know about Justin Kelly?
There's too much to say! He's awesomeness in a really tall package! He's a really good artist, he draws the greatest cartoons. And real sketches, too. He's hilarious. And he's really tall.

So, with Ray and Charlotte and everybody graduating, you're kind of one of the seniors now, in terms of being a show veteran. How does that feel?
In all honesty, I'm petrified. I'm so, so scared. I was talking about this with my friend Krista; how once Jajube leaves, I will be the longest-running cast member still on the show. And it makes me... not a leader, because we don't have that around here. But it feels almost like a burden, a responsibility. Like -- I love all the people who are leaving, but Charlotte was an idol. And a friend. And every great thing someone can be to you. I was always looking up to her and trying to emulate her, and I'm not ready for her to leave! She's always that awesome, put-together person. She did great on the show, she did great in interviews, she had great style, she listened to great music, and we just got along so well. And with her leaving... she's impossible to replace, but I do want to give that kind of attitude to the new young'uns coming in.

HEADS UP! SPOILERS BELOW!

Clare has a totes casual sexy kissing dream about Jake. Easy breezy!

You know... Clare is many things, but "casual in the romance department" does not strike me as one of them.

Although... maybe I shouldn't jump to conclusions. I mean I also never would've thought she'd date a guy who wears guyliner. Hell, a few years ago, I never even thought she'd wear actual non-uniform clothes. Clare's growing up, and maybe this is one symptom.

And maybe it'll even be good for her. She could definitely use some fun. And what's more fun than making out with a Lumberjake?

I don't know though. There are some who would argue that casual relationships (...or dating more than one person at once ...or friends with benefits) ever really work in the long run.

What do you think? Can casual relationships work, and under what circumstances?

DREW AND BIANCA: It took some pretty extraordinary circumstances to do them in, but now it appears that Drianca are over. I talked to Luke Bilyk and Alicia Josipovic about the break-up, and they were as bummed as some of you guys out there about it:

Alicia: We were SO UPSET.
Luke: After we did that scene, we were like, "So, Stefan. We're getting back together, right?"... It was really rude of Drew to do that, especially after all that Bianca's done for Drew.

What do you think... was Drew rude? And do you think they'll get back together?

KC AND JENNA: So, Jenna's stuck in a pile of poo-protectors while KC gets to go to school -- and now a job -- with friends. How do you think things will go for them long term? Will Kenna figure it out and stay together until baby Tyson is old and gray?

ANYA AND OWEN: After a rough week, Anya is going for a sure thing. Do you think the fact that Owen is so into her will be good for her self-esteem? Or will he find some way to make things even worse?

ANNND CAKE. The mighty mighty Lumberjake has ambled into our lives, eaten Mrs. Edwards' food, and kissed Clare just to shut her up. Do you think he really is as "low drama" as he seems?

NEXT WEEK: We meet Imogen! And Katie! Plus some Ziley story, and two of my favorite eps from all of Now or Never.

And don't forget -- the Degrassi mobile game has already had its first update (and I officially suck at Degrassi skee ball... but I'm really good at making Eli like me.) It's only $0.99 in the app store at iTunes - just search for Degrassi.

SPOILERS BELOW! Watch the ep before reading... it'll be online some time tonight.

Without taking sides in the great E-Clare v Cake Debate of 2011 (well... except to say that I really want to have a serious sit-down talk with anyone who thinks a life-threatening stunt is "romantic")... now that you've met Jake, what do you think? I am personally a big fan of his low-drama vibe. And I like that rather than staring goggle-eyed at Clare when she had her petite tantrum, he "saved" her -- and made me laugh at the same time.

Also, how satisfying was Clare's rant at Above the Dot?! "IT TOOK YOU A YEAR... A YEAR TO GET OVER YOUR EX!" Not saying I've ever freaked out quiiiite like that in public at an ex before buuut... I'm sure I'm not the only one who's said some version of Clare's lines into my tear-stained pillow after a brutal break-up. I'm glad Clare took one for Team Frustrated Girls Everywhere and just said it all out loud.