Mr. Daniel Raditch (-2): At some point, I want to research why the principal is always a regular. I don’t think it makes sense, and it makes the least sense for our first principal. He’s not a meaningful character, and he comes across badly in most of the episodes where he actually participates in the story. A flop!

Terri McGreggor (-8): The biggest drop on the list. Terri starts disappearing this season and it doesn’t get better next season. She still does an okay job pitch hitting in other character’s stories, but they pull on her less and I think she’s a big reason the finale fell flat. That’s what dropped her below two adults. Her episode was fine, but she’s becoming forgettable. Definitely used less than Marco, Hazel, and Ellie. A real shame and an unfortunate pattern in this show when it comes to the girls who are not pretty, thin, and white.

Joey Jeremiah (first season): Wow, adults over a kid. That really shows you how much I feel like Terri flopped, huh? I was kind of dreading Joey in the show off of the season one guest appearances, but I actually really enjoyed him. He’s charming and fun, but still very much playing a dad role. I like the way he functions in the Craig storylines, and I even enjoyed the flirting with Caitlyn at the wedding. I suspect this will be the last time I feel this way about him.

Archie “Snake” Simpson (=): Technically unchanged, but Mr. Simpson definitely had a better season than season one. I think the show did a good job making me a fan of his and Christine’s relationship, even though I don’t care about the olds, and I particularly enjoyed his attempts to be a step dad. I also think he had more of an identity when he was playing the teacher role for the other students. He’s a full on character, he commanded story, and he’s earned this spot.

Jimmy Brooks (=): Hey, he’s not the lowest ranked student! We can call that growth. Did Jimmy annoy me as much this season? Yeah! But I do think his stories were a smidge better. The dynamic with Ashley was played pretty well. He appeared more to support other characters. The Spinner stuff was dumb. I wish I cared, I really do!

Gavin “Spinner” Mason (-1): I continue to enjoy Spinner more than I thought I would. There’s an undeniable and very strange charm to this freak. I like that one of the teens is a stink boy, and I like that he’s broke. A few things hurt his position on this list. Firstly, the Jimmy/Spinner friendship arc did not work for me. Secondly, while I don’t dislike his dynamic with Paige, it really suffers in comparison with JT’s. And finally, he doesn’t actually get an A story episode this season at all. Better luck next year, Spin.

Toby Isaacs (-2): I suspect Toby will continue to fall on this list. We know how Degrassi feels about the characters who are not thin. But at this point, I don’t think Toby’s problem is his ability to anchor his own stories. The Kendra stuff is on the good side of fine, and Toby’s eating disorder episode was great. I think he’s starting to slip because he’s lost his ability to be a supporting player. Liberty has become JT’s most compelling scene partner, and while I’m glad he’s over his crush on Emma, it did make him less of a presence in her stories. It’s a good Toby season, but Toby’s ceiling is only so high and I think we hit it last year.

Manuela “Manny” Santos (=): I’m having such a weird time with Manny. She is such a force in my mind, but she really doesn’t stand out yet. I liked her episode with Craig, and I will always love Emma/Manny friendship and Paige/Manny rivalry. I’m just ready for all of this to get turned up. She’s still hovering in the shadows. But holding a steady position this high up the list with two new cast members is arguably growth. She has a big year next year, so anticipate her moving up the list for season three.

Liberty van Zandt (-2): I just love Liberty. I’m not sorry! I love her enough that even though her A story episode this season, the hockey team, is pretty bad, she still makes the midpoint of the list. She remains one of the easiest characters to drop in someone else’s story, and one of the few that can be supporter or antagonist. I think her dynamic with JT is one of the show’s best pairs right now. I can never predict where Liberty will hit on these lists, but I’m always excited to find out.

James Tiberius “JT” Yorke (+4): And here is our biggest climb. JT kind of does it all this season. A really solid A story ep with Hatzilakos, some great B stories with Toby and Liberty, and surprising supporting turns across both grades. His dynamic with Paige is an unexpected highlight. He’s becoming more three dimensional, while remaining just as strange. A very solid JT season.

Sean Cameron (-2): When I make these lists, the first thing I do is rank the characters off of gut, and when I did that, Sean was higher. It was only when I ran the numbers on storylines that he slipped. Every character ranked higher than him centers more than one A story. Sean is my recurring surprise and delight. I’m really vibing with him this watch through, and I think his A story episode this season was very strong. I like his dynamic with Emma, of course, but I also enjoy seeing him playing a friendship role for Craig. If this list was exclusively my favorites, he’d be playing for number 1.

Craig Manning (first season): I think Craig gets a huge benefit on this list by being the only new student this season. The show piles story on him, and he gets more A story episodes than anyone else (I’m counting White Wedding as Christine and Mr. Simpson’s but even without that, it’s a tie). The problem is they aren’t all great. I think his first two-parter is very good. I think the finale is uneven. I think Drive was broing. Craig is a little ill-defined right now. When he becomes the band guy and gets his bipolar diagnosis, he will sharpen. But hey, anyone who beats Sean should be proud of themselves.

Paige Michalchuk (+1): What a season for Paige. The story of her sexual assault was up there with the most emotional and impactful, even if it was dripping with some skewed 00s perspective. And a lot of that worked because she is such a fully realized character. Watching Paige play a supporting role in JT’s stories and vice versa was also fun. She also moved from the series’s favorite antagonist to a sharp truth teller, popping into other people’s stories to cut through the nonsense. I think she is a little less present this season than the two who beat her, but it’s really tight up here. What a great character

Emma Nelson (-1): Wow! Number Two?? I know. She is still the undeniable center of the ensemble, and she ties for either first or second most A stories, depending on how you count the wedding. She is a constant presence in any grade 8 story, and she remains one of the most fully realized characters in the cast. But she slips for me because of the strength of her personal arc. Fact of the matter is that Emma’s storyline this season is dominated by the Spike and Snake relationship. Sometimes she manages to assert herself in those stories, such as in the 80s dance episode or her free speech crusade. But other times, she feels like she’s just serving the olds. It’s hard to get more powerful than Emma, but she tripped just enough for someone to swoop into the top spot.

Ashley Kerwin (+1): Ashley is no longer the center of the grade 9s. That’s probably Paige. But Ashley has something that puts her above any other character on this list. A really great season long arc. Craig has one, but it stumbles. Paige has one, but it doesn’t play in episodes where she isn’t the lead. Emma has one but it’s about Mr. Simpson. Ashley’s journey away from queen bee good girl to goth artist, and more importantly from obsession about what other people think to prioritizing herself, is really compelling TV. And the episode that cements this change, when she ends things with Jimmy, is one of the season’s best A stories. She plays great supporting roles for Ellie, for Paige, for her brother, and certainly for Craig. It’s a tight race for number one, but our precious goth girl comes out on top.