Mr. Daniel Raditch - Look, I don’t have much to say on this one. Mr. Raditch is deeply functional. He seems like a good principal, for now. He has no other personality traits. I did not like the way he shamed Spinner for his struggles with his ADHD. I like the way he supported Mrs. Kwan. I struggle to understand why he is a regular over Kwan or Coach Armstrong, but I don’t make the rules, I just make the rankings. Congrats on the bottom spot!

Mr. Archie “Snake” Simpson - Our carry over from Degrassi: The Old Generation, Mr. Simpson is the one classroom teacher who gets series regular status and I suppose he earns it. He has a bit of a storyline in our opening episode, a personal connection to Emma, and teaches computers, the most important class at Degrassi. I can’t say I’m excited for him to have more story in coming seasons, but I’m never quite mad he’s there. I like that he thinks he’s a cool teacher and is not.

Jimmy Brooks - Okay let’s get into it for real. Is anyone surprised that Jimmy takes the bottom student spot? I wrote a whole essay on why Jimmy doesn’t work for me. I find him very dull and very simple and won’t rehash all of that. Some new thoughts. First of all, I think his high horse with both Ashley and Sean is very weird! Second of all, and what cemented his place in the rankings, he’s so useless when he’s not a main character in the story. Proof? He appears in the fewest episodes of any regular. The only character he effectively plays support to is Spinner. I’m hoping he becomes more interesting next season but my hopes are not high

James Tiberius “JT” Yorke - I’m sort of surprised that JT ended up this low. I love JT, I think he’s fun. I like that he’s a huge idiot. My problem is he’s so one note. Sometimes, that note really works, like in the student election episode. Other times, it falls flat, like when he pretended to be gay. He kind of fizzled this season, but if my memory can be trusted, he will rise. I will give him credit for somehow getting his hands on ecstasy.

Gavin “Spinner” Mason - Credit where credit is due, I remember hating Spinner more. He’s an archetype I don’t care for, the bully. And early in the season, Spinner’s constant mean boy shit was making me crazy. Why did everyone give him a pass? But as we went along, Spinner grew on me. I like the way the show handles and explores his ADD and how it does and doesn’t explain his academic performance. I like that the other characters get annoyed with him over time. Sitting here at the end of the season, I am surprised by how textured I find Spinner, and you can always drop him into a scene and get something from him. I think I’ll be on a roller coaster with him, and it’s not like he cracked the top half, but I’m surprisingly pleased.

Manuela “Manny” Santos - Please don’t hate me for putting Degrassi great Manny in the bottom half of the rankings this season. It’s not her fault. It’s how they used her in these episodes. For the vast majority of this season, Manny is nothing but a sounding board for the other Grade 7s. She doesn’t have much of a personality beyond “nice” and “strict parents.” She soars in her featured episode, but even that sees her caught between two characters with far more gravitas and presence. I like when she fake cries so that Spinner leaves her alone. I look forward to Manny becoming the incredible character I know her to be.

Toby Isaacs - A few episodes into the season, when I decided to do power rankings, I made a scratch list of where I thought everyone would end up. Manny fell from her original placement, but Toby rose. I simply can’t deny how much story this little annoying nerd was able to hold. His parents and his dynamic with Ashley power multiple episodes, including the finale, but even his one-sided crush with Emma is the fuel for three or four B stories. I find him annoying. I think he needs to get over Emma and be less woe-is-me. But I cannot deny that he is a narrative force this season. Perfectly middle of the pack feels right for that balance.

Terri McGreggor - Terri is a character who I think is ultimately underserved by the show. But in this first season, I think she is used very well. Her storylines about her body explore her self-esteem challenges but don’t fall into either of the common traps - obsessive attempts to change her body or denial that being fat causes someone any trouble at all. She is a great pawn for Paige and Ashley to fight over, while also being enough of a character to have her own perspective. She doesn’t hit quite as hard as those ranked above her, but she hits. I love that she’s psychic.

Liberty van Zandt - Liberty is not a character who can carry her own story. She is centered only in B stories, and her most prominent A story appearance is really a story about Emma. But two things land Liberty her place in the top five. First, she is the go-to character when you need someone to say something functional in a scene or to slot into a side role. She edits the paper, she hosts the announcements, she’s everywhere! And that’s because of reason two, Liberty is so well realized. She has one of the clearest voices of any character in the show. She is so herself from jump, and I can’t wait until they support her with more story.

Paige Michalchuk - Paige has not quite come into her full power, but even operating beneath her potential, Paige is a force. She is so bold and so messy. She has three friends this season - Terri, Ashley and Hazel - and at some point she fucks over all of them. Yet she’s so charming and so in control, it’s only when Ashley is mean to her that any of these friendships end. She personifies a trait that is so core to the eighth grader. She is selfish. Her selfishness is insecure and unrelenting and she wraps it up with perfect early 00s fashion and a cruel wit. She falls to number 4 mostly because she is rarely the center of a storyline. But as Degrassi’s most prolific antagonist, she cannot be denied.

Sean Cameron - When I first watched this show, I didn’t care for Sean. It felt like the show wanted me to think he was so great, and I resisted any boy that any television show wanted me to like. But watching now, Sean is, in fact, great. He’s layered and textured. He’s as creative and curious as he is angry and surly. He is more than just Emma’s crush, and centers his own season long arc highlighting his attempts to overcome the narratives surrounding him. I feel for the kid, and I like when he’s on my screen. I no longer feel the need to root against Emma and Sean because they’re the “main” couple. I am on the ship because I want Sean to be happy.

Ashley Kerwin - I went back and forward on who should be number 2 and who should be number 1, and that fact alone speaks to the presence of Ashley in this season. When we first met Ashley, I found her a little annoying, but even that single episode shows how much Ashley has bought into the narrative around herself. She’s perfect. She’s good at everything. We watch her all season struggle to make that true when it really isn’t. She doesn’t like her boyfriend, but tries to keep the relationship going. She is extremely supportive of her friends, but will slap them down if they try to outshine her. She craves attention and praise, clearly dealing with the abandonment she feels from her dad. And all of this culminates in a really stellar finale. Under the misguided influence of drugs, Ashley finds her voice and truly connects with unexpected people, and loses everything for it. It’s such a cohesive arc, one that made me more and more fond of Ashley as we went. I am so excited to ride along with former Queen Bee Ashley where she goes next. The Queen is dead, long live the Queen.

Emma Nelson - At the end of the day, it had to be Emma. How could it not be? She is simply the sun around which this season of Degrassi rotates, and she’s very good at it. Like Liberty, Emma is such a fully realized character from jump. She’s weird and intense. She cares about the environment and social justice. She is outspoken to an unsettling level. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. But she’s also so teenaged. She has a tender heart that yearns for love. She cares very deeply about her friends, and is critical of them and jealous of them. The season starts with Emma making a very dumb mistake and putting herself in harms’ way. It ends with Emma unwilling to give a good guy a second chance because he crossed the line. And both of those decisions are ultimately motivated by her stubbornness and unwillingness to let anyone tell her what she should do or think. Emma is a rock solid foundation with a crystal clear strengths and flaws. I am glad this is the kind of girl this show wanted to focus on.