My buddy Donnie and I have been recording episodes of our podcast I Hope I Can Make It Through for some time. For those that don’t know, it focuses on the show Degrassi the Next Generation, which focuses on the kids from the earlier Degrassi iterations. If you look at it a certain way, the whole series is about Emma Nelson. Her mom, Spike, was a teen mom in the first series and we see her grow up in the Next Generation.

And that’s what brings me to one of my favorite moments. It comes from the episode, Coming of Age. You see, Emma Nelson is an opinionated environmentalist and activist. Her friend, Manny Santos, who deserves far better than she ever got, just kind of wants to have fun and chase boys.

In this episode, Emma starts experiencing mood swings and doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. At one moment, she finds herself sitting on a bench. She gets up to go to class and Manny yanks her back down. Emma has started her period for the first time and it’s stained her white skirt. They walk awkwardly to the restroom, Manny trailing behind her, holding a magazine against the back of her skirt.

They don’t have any spare clothes so Manny goes looking for her. Emma hears someone enter and it’s the queen bee, Paige. When Emma tells her it’s her first time, Paige’s tune changes immediately. She says that she has a spare pad and offers it to her. They discuss growing up and Emma laments no longer being a kid. Emma worries about becoming Paige and with a characteristic bit of wit Paige responds:

Paige: Please, you wish.

Manny returns with a giant pair of gym shorts. They go to class to give a book report in front of the room. Manny desperately holding up the giant pair of shorts. Two boys, Toby and JT who would get better when they get older joke that Emma might have wet her pants. Emma snaps back that she got her period for the first time and it’s perfectly natural. They proceed to give their book report.

I love these two scenes. Girl friendships! Girls supporting girls! Awkward high schoolers. It has everything. For me, that’s when this show really shines. Manny and Emma don’t interact as much as they get phased out for the next group of characters. However, I’ll always remember this as the peak.