‘Degrassi: Next Class’ Season 3, Episode 2 Spoilers: "#IWokeUpLikeThis" – Maya Discovers “Tragedy Porn,” Others Try to Recover from Crash; EP Teases “Darker” Season

‘Degrassi: Next Class’ season 3’s episode 2, titled "#IWokeUpLikeThis," is set to feature Maya as she becomes interested in “tragedy porn” while others try to recover from the traumatic crash in their own way. Meanwhile, executive producer Sarah Glinski teased a “darker” season ahead.

The brief synopsis for episode 2 posted on TV Buzer reads, “The Gamers are determined to make their vlog a success. Maya (Olivia Scriven) discovers an interest in "tragedy porn." Esme (Chelsea Clark) tests Zig's (Ricardo Hoyos) limits on how far is too far to go at school.”

The new season follows Maya, Jonah, Grace, Zig, Tiny, and Tristan as they struggle to recover from their traumatic bus crash experience. Although everyone attempts to move on and regain normalcy in their daily lives, Tristan is revealed to be badly injured and in critical condition.

In the next episode, Maya in particular will become interested in “tragedy porn”. It would be interesting if the show would put more focus on the series’ newer characters including Rasha and Saad, two Syrian refugees who are transferred to Degrassi Community School.

During an interview with TV, eh? executive producer Sarah Glinski promised a “darker” season for the series. When asked about how different season 3 is to previous seasons she’s worked on, she replied, “Oh, they’re all so different. I would have trouble picking my favourite. There are some seasons when we did 45 episodes and there are some seasons when we did 28, some when we did movies of the week; they all have different personalities.”

Glinski continued, “But Season 3 of Next Class is a little bit darker than we have done for awhile. We have the combination of great stories and incredible actors performing in those stories that makes this season pretty special.”

When asked about other storylines in addition to the bus crash event, Syrian refugees, abortion, and mental health topics, Glinski stressed that the issue of gender will also be tackled. She said, “We’ve gone into it a little bit before, but we look at gender fluidity and what’s a girl or a boy and when you don’t feel like what society defines them as.”

She explained, “We look at that from a couple of different perspectives. What if you don’t want to wear a dress and makeup? What does that mean to you as a girl? Also, one of our characters is a lesbian and more feminine. What does that mean? Is it harder to come out when you wear lipstick, have long hair and wear dresses?”

Despite the season being a “darker” one in comparison to its predecessors, Glinski reassured viewers that there will be “hope and optimism” as well.

‘Degrassi: Next Class’ season 3’s episode 2, titled "#IWokeUpLikeThis," is scheduled to air on January 10, 2017 on Family Channel in Canada. It will be followed by episode 3, titled "#WorstGiftEver," scheduled for January 11. All 10 episodes aired on Netflix in the US last January 6, 2017.