5x01/2 Venus--recap

A new season means a New Year, new looks, new characters and lots and lots of new drama including a highly memorable Degrassi moment at least to me.

It’s the end of summer and Emma and Manny are lying out at the local pool. Emma’s got her eye on Peter whose surround by a bevy of beautiful girls and as Manny whose been bitten by the acting bug is telling her friend she hopes that she gets a call back from the agent she sent her profile to Emma hopes Peter notices her. She worries that she’s got stomach rolls and flabby thighs which is massive foreshaddowment for later in the season and soon she explains to Manny how Peter is the first guy she’s liked since Sean. (I guess Chris is being ret-conned or the rebound guy means nothing to her) Emma can have the guys….Manny has one goal….fame.

WHATEVER IT TAKES (I believe it was the same theme music honestly wasn’t really paying attention. The Ashley/Craig and Jimmy/Spinner title cards have changed into a Craig/Jimmy one panning to Spinner who is awkwardly watching his ex-friends (Ashley is gone from the opening and from cannon until the finale) The Sean/Raditch scene has now become Peter/Miss H and there has been an added Jay/Alex scene promoting them to the main cast.

Jimmy, Hazel, Marco, Paige, and Craig enter the school glad that the most cursed class in Degrassi History (lol….just you wait to see what future generations endure then we’ll talk) are now seniors.

Manny enters the school wishing out loud again for her agent to call. JT tells her it’ll happen when it happens and there is a brief passing mention of superfly fries from season three.

Miss H tells Spinner that he has only one shot at redeeming himself and if he messes up he’s out of Degrassi for good. He nods and heads towards his friends trying to ask how their summer is however they ignore him.

Emma sees Peter and is shocked that he’s there….at Degrassi and Manny pushes her to ask. Peter recognizes Manny from the Kevin Smith movie (though he must mean from the media surrounding the filming as the actual premiere isn’t till later in the season). He’s a director….aspiring….(though I don’t feel like current Degrassi Director is an expy of him…no Eli is Craig and Ellie’s love child I swear to god) and tells Manny if she wants an agent she should storm into the office and demand to see one.

Marco and Ellie comment how they have yet to hear from Ashley and its Craig’s birthday the following day.

Manny comes home either at lunch of free period it was un clear and asks her mother for her credit card that she and her dad hold. Manny doesn’t see why she just can’t keep it on her person and her mom tells her she and her dad worry about her. What she does…where she goes…with guys. I think they have reason to do so considering their now junior daughter got pregnant her freshman year. She comments asking if her mom thinks she’s retarded and I had to pause my DVD to gasp. It’s not just the fact that I HATE when people use that word but I wonder if the FCC would even let it fly nowadays. This scene also gives me some strong Alli vibes especially circa seasons 9 and 10. Manny tells her mom she just wants school clothes and she gets the card along with a $50 spending limit.

Marco is telling Ellie about his trip to Africa he took over the summer when she gets an e-mail. Attached is a photo of Ashley and someone who is clearly not Craig. She met a guy in England and isn’t coming back home.

Manny is at the mall and we get a montage of her looking at all these blonde Barbie type shoppers getting an outfit to go see the agent. She is told that she’s a ‘glass of milk’ and doesn’t have something special….the if factor. She’s also told to ‘cut out the beans and rice and dump the lumps’ I found that comment highly offensive as Manny is an ethnic character for once (the actress and I think the character as well is Philippine) and she is stunning. She calls Emma up and in the next scene the two girls are at a surgeon’s office. While waiting Manny asks Emma to remember the time she had her period in class (season one) that Manny feels that way now with everyone laughing at her behind her back. Manny has a consult and tells the doctor she wants to get liposuction in her butt and thighs and he suggests that a breast job will balance out her other curves. She agrees and ends up scheduling the surgery and paying for a down payment with her card.

Ellie’s at the Dot with a bag of party supplies getting a coffee from Spinner. She brings up how its Craig’s Birthday and Ashley dumped him and is staying in England and she wants to do something special and so he offers up the diner to her to use.

Peter asks Manny if she talked to the agent and she admits it didn’t go that well. He then invites her to a party at his house. She declines saying that Emma likes him so he should ask her. He nods and gives her his address just in case.

Jimmy, Hazel, Paige, Ellie, and Marco are at the Dot complaining about what Ashley did as Craig show up to his party.

Manny comes home and her parents are waiting. They tell her they got a call from the doctor about her wanting a boob job and that why would she do that to herself. She says she wants to be an actress and they tell her no. Her dad even goes as far to say that he didn’t sacrifice everything so his daughter could be a slut.

Craig goes to the counter to get a refill and Spinner tells him he’s sorry for what Ashley did to him causing Craig to be confused not knowing about the break up yet. He confronts Ellie who explains they were waiting to tell him after his birthday. He’s upset he was blindsided and walks out.

At the Party at Peters Manny shows up. Emma asks if Manny is crying and she denies it and soon starts to drink.

Ellie tells Marco she feels bad about how she lied to Craig and Marco teases that maybe she has a crush on him.

Time is ticking by at the party and Manny is getting drunker and drunker on vodka and soon her and Peter slip into the bathroom and decide to make a movie. I’M GOING TO BE FAMOUS AND YOU CAN SELL THIS FOR A MILLION DOLLARS CAUSE I’M GOING TO BE A STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! …..to be continued….

Emma is woken up in the middle of the night as a drunken Manny comes into her window. Emma asks her what happened at the party after she left and Manny promises nothing did scouts honor. A slightly sobered yet hung over Manny shows up to breakfast and Simpson is totally cool and instead of chewing her out simply said that he got off the phone with her parents and they are glad she’s safe.

I KNOW I CAN MAKE IT THROUGH

Manny asks Peter if he remembers what happened the night before. He tells her she showed him her breasts and when asked why he didn’t stop her he replied well your request to make a movie made it seem you didn’t want to be stopped. He tells her he’ll give her the tape if she dates him however she says no telling him her best friend likes him. He tells her if she changes her mind he promises to erase it.

Marco and Ellie are talking about Craig. Ellie wants an apology from him for being rude to her (um he wouldn’t be rude if you didn’t withhold truth in the first place) and Marco suggests that she join the band as Downtown Sasquatch needs a drummer to replace Spinner.

Manny is telling Emma about how she put in a good word with Peter however soon her mom shows up. She tells Manny that if she can’t give up on acting appeasing her dad then she should just stay at Emma’s.

In English, Craig tells Ellie he’s humiliated that he had to find out how Ashley broke up with him via email and second hand at that. Ellie says be made at Ash not her.

Manny again tells Peter she won’t date him but really wants the tape. He says he’ll give her the tape for three thousand dollars if not he’ll show it.

Ellie asks Hazel and Paige to revive Hell Hath No Fury as they need more extracurricular then just spirit squad on their transcripts for university.

Manny tries to beg the plastic surgeon for her deposit back in cash however it already was put back on her card….a card she has no access to. At night she tells Emma that whatever happens at school the next day to not think of her any less.

Manny tells Peter she doesn’t have money but will consider the date. He tells her that offer went cold and since she doesn’t have the cash….CLICK….he sends the movie through the schools email as he calls her an attention whore and soon the video goes viral….mind you this is pre-YouTube or at a point where the video share site was just starting out.

At Spirit Squad practice Chantay tells Paige about the video of Manny and how she did some things causing Manny to get picked off the squad.

Emma approaches Manny confronting that she knew when and where the video was taken and how could she lie that nothing happened with her and Peter at the party. She hates Manny.

Paige and Hazel tell Ellie that they signed up for other activities like Yearbook and Prom Committee and aren’t up for rebranding the band….perhaps Ellie could join Craig’s.

Manny comes home telling her parents how she loves acting and doesn’t want to give it up. Her dad kicks her out of the house.

Ellie shows up at the garage telling Craig she’s sorry again that she didn’t tell Craig about the Ashley break up right away and he tells her he accepts it. She then asks if she can sit in on drums and soon is part of the band.

Manny apologizes to Emma about everything that happened and the following day at school Emma is there holding Manny’s hand through the backlash. It’s found out how Peter is Miss H’s son and he’s being read the riot act.  As they react to this new information Emma and Manny vow no more lies between one another.