Parents' Day (D:TNG episode)
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| Degrassi: The Next Generation episode | |
|---|---|
| “Parents' Day” | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 5 |
| Production no. | – |
| Original airdate | November 18th, 2001 |
| Guest star(s) | Christina Collins (Anne Marie Isaacs) Nigel Hamer |
| Writer(s) | Yan Moore Aaron Martin |
| Director | Eleanor Lindo |
| Titular Song | None |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Eye of the Beholder" | "The Mating Game" |
"Parents' Day", is the fifth episode of the first season in the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
[edit] Plot synopsis
Toby is embarrassed about his parents coming to parents' day due to their fighting. Paige and Ashley compete for the attention of Toby's mom, an acting agent.
[edit] Expanded overview
The episode starts off with J.T. and Toby walking to school while Toby is counting time until Parents' Day to the second. Though Toby has decent marks, he is afraid of when his parents will meet for the event and cause a catastrophe. With Toby pointing out that J.T. also has things to loathe by reminding him of his marks, Toby continues counting down to the dreaded Parents Day.
Toby and J.T. continue walking to class while Toby illustrates his living arrangements between his separated parents. They walk into their Media Immersion Class and are presented with one of the weekly "News about Kids" broadcasts, much to the disdain of Emma. The NaK broadcasts give a biased look on the negativity of 'squeegee kids' to which Emma has a strong reaction. Outlining her grieviances to her friends, she is distracted by Toby and bumps into Sean, with whom she shares a little moment.
In the girl's washroom, Paige remarks to Ashley that "everytime NaK claims your airspace, you go all manic depressive". Terri, supporting Paige's comment, says that Ashley should get an agent. Ashley remembers that Toby's mother is a casting agent and her and Terri leave happily while Paige is left in jealousy.
During Lunch, Ashley and Terri asks Toby whether his mother is coming to parents day. Hostile to the reminder, Toby simply confirms Ashley's question, causing her and Terri to simply leave. J.T. and Toby sit down with Manny and Emma, who is now addressing her issues with the NaK broadcasts. Referencing NaK's propaganda-esque approach and their use of advertisements, Emma speaks out against the broadcasts and decides to take a stance.
Walking with Spinner, Paige asks whether he thinks Ashley's prettier than her. Talking about how Ashley is getting an agent, Spinner supports Paige's thought that she also could get an agent.
Emma confronts Mr. Raditch about the ethics of showing NaK broadcasts due to their biased nature and product promoting agenda. Mr. Raditch informs the youth that NaK has funded 18 new computers for the lab in exchange for showing their morning broadcasts. Emma asserts that it's bribery, to which Raditch retorts that it benefits the school, and that the parents had voted for it. Reminding Emma that "not everybody at Degrassi has a computer at home", he also suggests that she write an opinion piece in the Parents Day edition of the Grapevine if she felt strongly about it.
After class, Ashley tells Terri that she has signed them both up for the Welcome Committee, so Toby's mother will spot her first. Paige interjects saying that she may in fact be spotted first as she will also be volunteering in the welcoming committee. She later manages to submit the piece, despite Liberty's strict punctuality policy.
Emma, seemingly unaware of the irony, begins writing her piece on the computers partially funded by the NaK deal. On the other side of the room, Toby is showing J.T. his plans to avoid parent's day altogether. Copying the school logo and scanning Mr. Simpson's signature, he creates a fake letter to his parents telling them that they don't need to arrive for parents day due to his excellence in academic pursuits. At home, Toby presents the letter to his father, who immediately suspects it's legitimacy. Discovering the awkward wording and poor spelling in the letter, Jeff, concerned, asks Toby if he doesn't want him to go to parents day. Concerned about his grades, Toby remarks that his mother called and wanted to go tomorrow. Jeff begins to get angry about his ex-wife's decision to not even call him and it's shown that they can't get along even when they're not together. Toby yells for his dad to stop and points out his parents' destructive relationship. Jeff states that they are on better terms and promises that there will be no fights.
Parents' Day has commenced and Ashley, Paige, and Terri are preparing for it. Ashley is nervously applying eye-liner while Paige appears with a "less than modest" outfit, as they both wish to appeal to Toby's mother. They exit to the lobby where they direct parents and students to their destination. Toby's mother enters and when she begins to talk ask Terri about the Parents' Day, Paige and Ashley jump in and surprise her with attacks of praise. Spotting her ex-husband and son, Anne Marie makes her way towards them and she and Jeff have a little sarcastic and passive-aggressive conversation. The family makes their way into the Media Immersion Lab while Mr. Simpson informs them of Toby's faults and outlines some areas of focus. For instance, Toby's spelling. Mr. Simpson tells Toby's parents that their child as a bright kid, but is not simply applying himself to achieve the best results. His parents slowly begin arguing over the effects of their living arrangements and irresponsibility of the other until Jeff finally remarks that he and Toby will work it out and thus, preventing escalation of their argument and allowing for the interview to continue.
As Emma and her mother are walking down the halls, Emma shows Ms. Nelson her recent editorial. During this, Tracker is praising NaK's support of the school and bashing the writer of the opinion piece to Sean. When they walk by Emma and her mother, Emma confronts him telling him that it was her piece while taking a strong stance for her opinion. Tracker retorts that some kids don't have a lot of options nor good oppurtuinites and tells Emma that there are two sides to every story.
In Toby's parent-teacher interview, Mr. Simpson informs his parents of an occasion where Toby skipped class. This sets Anne Marie and Jeff back on each other and they start arguing again. Ignoring their son's pleas for them to stop, their argument continues to escalate and they are unfazed when Mr. Simpson attempts to interrupt them for them to finish the interview. They continue fighting until Toby jumps in and tells them that his problems are his fault and not the direct fault of each parent. He also sharply points out that they blame each other and then use him as another excuse to argue. Their argument subsides when they both realize the toll it has stricken upon Toby, who now has promised to do better.
In the conclusion of the interview, Toby and his two parents exit and they're problems seem to be resolved for the time being. Anne Marie tells his son that must be leaves but praises him that he stuck up for himself in light of their situation. About to leave, Ms. Isaacs is yet again confronted by Ashley and Paige, who excessively compliment her while trying to give her "something to remember them by". Awkwardly leaving, Anne Marie spots the less aggressive Terri and while giving her business card to Terri, the agent says she "likes her look" and that Terri should call her in the future.
In what appears to be the next day, Emma and Sean are in the computer lab. Though they're sitting next to each other, Emma e-mails him and apologizes for the way things occurred the previous day. Sean apologizes too as they both criticize Tracker while Sean gives Emma some words of encouragement. Toby is walking through the school and is stopped by Mr. Simpson. Toby apologizes for his parents' behaviour while Mr. Simpson compliments his fortitude saying that he "did well". Before Toby leaves, Mr. Simpson tells him that he has to do a ten page essay on "Why It's wrong to falsify documents" due the next day.
[edit] Acting
[edit] Main cast
(As ordered in credits, alphabetically)
- Sarah Barrable-Tishauer as Liberty Van Zandt
- Stefan Brogren as Mr. Simpson
- Daniel Clark as Sean Cameron
- Lauren Collins as Paige Michalchuk
- Ryan Cooley as J.T. Yorke
- Jake Goldsbie as Toby Isaacs
- Shane Kippel as Spinner Mason
- Miriam McDonald as Emma Nelson
- Melissa McIntyre as Ashley Kerwin
- Christina Schmidt as Terri McGregor
- Cassie Steele as Manny Santos
- Amanda Stepto as Ms. Nelson
- Dan Woods as Mr. Raditch
[edit] with
- Christina Collins as Anne Marie Isaacs
- Nigel Hamer as Jeff Isaacs
- Kristen Holden-Ried as Tracker
- Kyle Schmid as NaK TJ / Ryan
- Sabrina Sanchez as NaK TJ / Nicole
[edit] Trivia
- When reading Toby's letter, Jeff points out that the word 'premium' was spelt with two e's. However, when Toby shows his computerized draft to J.T., premium is spelt properly
[edit] See also
List of Degrassi: The Next Generation episodes
