Emma Nelson
Encyclopedia
Emma Nelson is a fictional student on the Degrassi: The Next Generation
television series, having originated in the series' precursor, Degrassi Junior High
. She is portrayed as an adolescent and adult by Miriam McDonald
.
Emma was born June 1989 (episode aired 28 March 1988 but Emma is in the same grade as Manny and she was 12 when school started in 2001. The fact is also that although the episode aired in 1988 the timeline is in 1989). Emma is the daughter of original Degrassi characters Christine "Spike" Nelson and Shane McKay, and is the only student at Degrassi in The Next Generation to have been depicted as a child in the earlier series. She is known as the school's "cause girl" because she has arranged many protests and boycotts for various causes. She has evolved from a good, simple character to a complex one over the course of the series; since season 1, she was a fairly undramatic character, having only a few dramatic experiences, until in season 4 when she was held at gunpoint by classmate Rick Murray. She has an on-off relationship with Sean Cameron
. Breaking the Nelson women's multi-generational cycle of unplanned teen-age motherhood and beautician careers, Emma graduates from high school having never been pregnant (despite a momentary scare) and is bound for university. Emma is considered the protagonist
of the show's first seven seasons, her appearances became less frequent as she left Degrassi, and a new group of students became the focus.
, Spike was impregnated by her boyfriend Shane McKay at a junior high school party in Lucy Fernandez
's house ("It's Late", Degrassi Junior High ep. 111). Spike eventually went into labour at the grade 8 graduation dance ("Pass Tense", DJH ep. 213). Emma's first on-screen appearance was at the school's Christmas party ("Season's Greetings", DJH ep. 304). With Spike a teen mother, Emma was a semi-regular on the series with various on-and-off appearances as an infant and toddler. She is spoken of twice by Spike in the made-for-television film, School's Out
; and, in the film's closing shot, Spike is seen dancing with a young blonde girl consistent with Emma's then age of four years.
and James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke in elementary school. ("Mother and Child Reunion", D:TNG ep. 1.1)
Spike takes Emma to the wedding of Spike's old friend Joey Jeremiah
to Julia Manning, and Emma dances with the bride's son, Craig Manning. ("When Doves Cry", D:TNG ep. 2.1) Although the best man is Emma's future teacher and step-father, Archie "Snake" Simpson
, the two will not have seen each other for quite some time prior to the start of her grade 7 enrollment, as neither recognises the other at sight. ("Mother and Child Reunion", D:TNG ep. 1.1)
Degrassi: The Next Generation When the writers came up with the idea for a reunion special, they realized Emma would be starting middle school
, and made the planned reunion special into a pilot for a new series. Emma is, therefore, literally the title character of The Next Generation and one of the two title characters of the show's pilot episode, "Mother and Child Reunion".
In addition to serving as a tie-in to Degrassi Jr. High/Degrassi High, teenage Emma was initially written as The Next Generations counterpart to the earlier series' character Caitlin Ryan
(played by Stacie Mistysyn
). Both rabidly pursue various environmental and social causes, and Emma's first boyfriend, Sean Cameron
began as a near-duplicate of Caitlin's first, Rick Munro (very similar back-story, abusive parents, nearly identical wardrobe, interest in motorcycles, interest in the girl's causes only insofar as it let him be close to her, inter alia). Moreover, Caitlin's father was a teacher, as would be Emma's stepfather, beginning in the second season. Emma's interaction with Rick Murray and his demise
strikingly parallel Claude Tanner's reaction to Caitlin's rejection. As is normal for television series characters, however, Emma soon grew into a wholly unique individual who actually did a lot of more mature and deeper things within the story , a collaboration of McDonald and the series' writers.
Emma receives far more screen time in Degrassi: The Next Generation than Spike had in the original series.
Emma, who is rescued by Spike and Snake
thanks to Manny
, J.T., and Toby (who will later develop a crush on her).
In Rumors and Reputation, Emma witnesses Coach Armstrong's arm around Liberty. Emma begins to suspect Armstrong is sleeping with Liberty when she sees Armstrong pass the girl a note outside of school. Emma tells Manny who is overheard by Terri, and rumor is spread through the school. Just after a student council meeting, Ashley lets Liberty know why everybody is talking behind her back. The next day, Liberty hears Emma and the gang talking about her and she runs into the bathroom. Emma promises her to track down the source and thus, finish the rumor. Emma tracks the sources down to Terri, who tells Emma she was the one who started it by talking to Manny. Emma, ashamed and embarrassed, tries to tell Liberty but math class has started. Everybody begins to snicker and laugh when Armstrong asks Liberty a question. Principal Raditch demands Armstrong and Liberty see him outside when Emma tells them it was she who started the rumor. Once again in the bathroom, a humiliated Liberty tells Emma she has a learning disability that Armstrong was helping her with.
In Coming of Age, Emma had her first period
embarrassingly at school. Manny, who noticed the leak, helped her friend by locating a pair of gym shorts to wear for the rest of the day. After being teased by J.T. and Toby, Emma announces her dilemma and starts a petition for the school to install a tampon
dispenser in the girls' washroom.
Throughout season 1, Emma and Sean
were interested in each other. Their first date ends horribly when Emma has Sean dig through the trash for her missing wallet (which turns out to be in her pocket). Embarrassed, Emma runs home, and they do not get to see their movie. However, the next day, Sean talks to Emma, and they begin a relationship. This ends when Sean accidentally pushes Emma to the ground when she attempts to intervene during a fight between Sean and Jimmy.
Emma became the main feminist character at Degrassi. She accused the Spirit Squad of being "sexist," and chided Manny for wanting to try out, although her true motive was that she was afraid that Manny would become popular, and effectively ditch her. Eventually, she supported Manny. Emma also started to favor the animal rights organization, PETA
.
Emma found out that Manny had invited Sean, and told her to uninvite him. When Emma thought she had ruined the wedding, she goes to the only person that she can trust. Sean tells her that no one will hate her, and he's right. The wedding does happen, and Sean shows up. "Just Jane" (a slow song) is playing, and Sean asks her to dance. Just like their first dance together, in Eye of the Beholder; they share a kiss and get back together.
Emma continued her use of protests with a boycott of genetically modified food in the cafeteria, handing out fliers and information on why it was wrong. After being told by Mr. Raditch why she was wrong about the cafeteria, Emma decided to use the morning announcements for her own extremist agenda. Her ploy to "boycott the caf" backfired when she initiated the students to start a food fight. For causing the fight, Emma was suspended for a day. Instead of backing down, however, Emma continued her tirade, getting her suspended for a week.
, and he was placed in a home by his parents. After Emma and Shane's emotional reunion is cut short by a nurse, Emma gives him her address so he can write to her. Forced to call Joey
for a ride home after missing the last train, Emma faces her irate mother. While Emma was angry at her mother for lying to her, she eventually came to see that Spike was just trying to protect her.
While a pregnant Spike was at home, Shane unexpectedly arrived at the house and upon realizing that he was not part of Spike and Emma's lives anymore, he went into a violent rage that sent Spike into labour. Emma eventually discovers her labouring mother, calms Shane down, and calls Snake for help. Emma's half-brother, Jack, was born without complications.
Later in season 3, Emma, dealing with the revelation that Snake had recently been diagnosed with leukemia
, as well as being an active member of the environmental club and having the pressures of having to watch the baby, had little time for Sean. Feeling neglected, Sean began taking up with Jay, his girlfriend Alex
, and Towerz. Emma was less than pleased with Sean's affiliation with this group of thugs, but wrote it off long enough to make out with Sean in the ravine while they were supposed to be clearing it of trash. The romantic moment was cut short by fellow volunteer Kendra, who quickly ran off after discovering the two. Emma, however, was embarrassed, and got back to work, leaving Sean annoyed. Afterward, Sean confronted Emma about being too uptight, upon which Emma called Sean "pathetic" for hanging with people like Jay. After a heated argument, Sean walked away furious. Trying to reconcile the relationship , Emma came back to Sean. He then rejected her giving up on their relationship, which left Emma crushed. To add insult to injury, Sean helped his new friends steal Snake's brand new laptop so that Jay could get an intake
for his car.
While Emma was rebounding from her relationship with Sean, a new student named Chris Sharpe caught Emma's eye. With the help of Manny, she dressed up to see him at a rave
that Chris was DJing at. The two flirted, but were interrupted by Chris's furious girlfriend, Melanda. After arguing with his girlfriend, Chris returned to Emma, where they talked and eventually kissed. However, Emma quickly decided that it was wrong to date a guy who was already taken, so she apologized and ran off home.
Episodes later, it was learned that Chris and Melanda had broken up, so he began to date Emma. The relationship went well, however Emma was still upset over her breakup with Sean, who now had a new girlfriend. To seek revenge on Sean, she gave Mr. Raditch an anonymous tip that Sean and Jay were stealing various things from school property. Although Emma only suspected them of stealing these things, she over exaggerated the story, which then lead to a search of Jay's car for stolen goods. After nothing was found by police, it became obvious to Sean that the "anonymous tipster" was Emma, and he shouted at her, which landed him in detention. The idea of getting Sean into trouble delighted Emma, so she went to tell Chris of the news. However, when she did, he became upset that she was still seeking revenge on her ex. The two later reconciled and they continued their relationship for the remainder of the school year.
Manny's new look and personality put Emma off; she thought Manny was cheapening herself for popularity and told her as much. Manny was appalled that Emma would refuse to support her the way Manny had always done for Emma. The two continued to be friends, however, until Emma walked in on Manny making out with Craig, who was dating Ashley
, on Emma's bed. Manny later called Emma a "prude princess" and Emma retorted that she did not want to be friends with "the school slut". When Manny becomes pregnant, Emma tries to support her. But when Manny decides to get an abortion
, it sickens her.
Snake's cancer took a toll on everyone in Emma's family. Then, while doing some work on the computers after school with J.T., Emma discovered Snake's will
. Convinced Snake's chemotherapy
had failed, Emma buckled under the overwhelming stress. Alex, who had been tormenting Emma since her breakup with Sean, offended her, causing the typically mild-mannered Emma to engage her tormentor in a violent cat-fight in the halls of Degrassi. Later, Emma discovers Snake's chemo had put his cancer in remission.
As Emma entered grade 10, she became friends with Paige and her friends. When Rick returned to Degrassi, she and Paige thought up ideas to make Rick's life hell and force him to leave Degrassi. After protesting for "Students Against Violence", Emma and Paige were able to make the school body despise Rick. In an attempt to buy forgiveness, Rick approached Emma with a check for $500 for the cause. This caused Emma to pity Rick, although she denied it in the public eye. To prove to her new friends—and specifically Paige—that she was not softening towards Rick, Emma purposely tripped Rick at The Dot, causing him to spill coffee over himself. Rick then became hostile, so Jay began to beat him up. A guilt-ridden Emma then intervened and stopped the fight, and her actions caused her to lose her new friends.
After saving Rick from bullying, Emma, along with Toby, became Rick's only friends in the school. Rick eventually developed a crush on Emma, however she struck his advances down brutally. After being tarred and feathered on television during a 'Whack Your Brain' contest Degrassi had against a rival school, Rick came to Degrassi with a handgun. After shooting Jimmy, he attempted to shoot Emma for not accepting his crush on her, but Sean stopped him and, in the struggle, Rick was shot and killed with his own weapon.
On a particularly rough day after the shooting, Emma ditched class with Sean, Sean's new girlfriend Ellie and Jay to drive up to Wasaga Beach, where Sean's parents lived. Emma seemed to be reconnecting with Sean when he announced he was moving back home with his parents, effectively ending his relationship with Ellie. Jay and Emma had some sparks fly between them in some clips.
In the aftermath of the shooting and Sean's departure, Emma became melancholy and isolate, distancing herself from everything in her life. Jay though was still dating Alex, took a liking to Emma, who had recently discovered that girls could "earn" coloured bracelets for performing various sexual acts down at the ravine, particularly with Jay. Emma eventually gave into Jay's advances and performed oral sex
on him one night. Once Alex confronts her friend for giving Jay oral sex at the Ravine as well, Emma finds out that she has contracted gonorrhea
and is humiliated by the news. She later tells her parents and some friends of her disease, and is comforted by Manny and her new friends, Darcy Edwards
and Chantay Black. Jay, on the other hand, gets dumped and ridiculed.
Later, Peter began flirting with Emma, Emma rejects his advances because of what he did to Manny. Confused about her feelings toward Peter, she plans a revenge with Manny that would involve Emma seducing Peter at a party, stripping him, and taking embarrassing photos of him with her camera phone. However, the plan backfired when they made out in his room, and she realized that they had more in common than she once thought. The couple begin dating afterwards.
After the premiere of movie, Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh, Peter and Emma sneaked into the empty theater to be alone. There, they discovered Snake and Ms. Hatzilakos (Peter's mother) kissing. At home, Emma confronted Snake, telling him that she did not know if she would tell Spike or not. Emma later forced Snake to confess of his actions, which inevitably led to Spike kicking Snake out of the house. Emma was upset by this, and so both herself and Manny attempted to move Snake back into the house. After several unsuccessful attempts, Snake wooed his wife (by singing to her in front of a crowd in a mall), promised to never cheat again, and moved back in.
When Snake left, Spike and Manny became more dependent on Emma to help around the house. After Manny begged Emma to help her lose weight so she could fit in her jeans again and so she could get an agent, Emma put both of them on a strict diet. They successfully restrained themselves for two days, then gorged themselves on moussaka
after Emma invited Snake over in an unsuccessful attempt to reunite him with her mother. Emma was upset that they had undone all their dieting so quickly, and convinced herself and Manny to get rid of it by vomiting.
One day, after catching Manny in the school hallway eating pizza, Emma tries to get Manny to purge it up in the bathroom, but Manny explains that she reached her goal weight and thus no longer needs to diet. An exasperated Emma left the bathroom, but soon became disoriented and fainted. After waking up and having an unpleasant encounter with Ms. Hatzilakos, Emma was found by Manny, cutting out pictures of thin models from magazines as a form of thinspo. Manny then voiced her concerns of Emma's eating habits (or lack thereof), so Emma promised to eat more often in the future. However, she then began secretly purging herself after each meal and keeping up with her food diary. Manny later finds this diary and threatens to tell Spike about it, so in an attempt to shut her up, Emma reveals her relationship with Peter to Manny, who then discontinues her concern for Emma who responds with an equal amount of distaste for her former friend. However, soon Peter begins to notice Emma's odd behaviour and soon talks to Manny about his concerns. The two then inform Spike and Snake, who stage an intervention to help Emma. Unprepared by the sudden questions, Emma undergoes a starvation-induced panic attack
, which leaves her unconscious. She later wakes in a hospital, she is diagnosed as being anorexic.
Emma and Sean later become close once again, and finally decide to have sex while Emma's parents are away for the weekend. The same weekend, however, Manny plans a party at Emma's house, so Sean and Emma's plans are halted. Emma becomes intoxicated at the event and spends the night throwing up. Sean is understanding about the situation and even finds it comical. That same night a Lakehurst student stabbed J.T. in the back. At the hospital, a nurse tells Toby that his aorta
was punctured and that he died.
Manny's parents also want her to return back home, so she moves out of Emma's house. Emma became angry at Manny, who acted as if J.T.'s murder had never happened. Emma is later confronted by Snake and admits that she's upset that J.T. is dead and angry because everyone is moving on. Snake points out that everyone is angry but that she cannot turn that anger towards Manny. Emma and Manny later reconcile.
Sean and Emma's relationship has been going well and they begin to have sex. However, trouble comes when Snake runs into Emma and Sean buying birth control at a drug store. Emma tells her stepfather that she and her mother had "the talk" already, but Snake gets angry because he is never included in these types of discussions. Emma attempts to talk to her stepfather, but he refuses to listen.
A few days later, Emma delivers a presentation in Snake's class about women and sex and how men, when confronted with sex, cannot handle it at all. After seeing her presentation, Snake tells her that he was just trying to look out for her and was worried about her getting pregnant while still in high school like her mom did, or catching another STD.
Soon, Emma suspects that she's pregnant from Sean. When she learns that Sean had different plans after high school, she becomes really angry and after him asking her what's up several times, she confesses to him that she might be pregnant. Before she takes a pregnancy test with Manny and her mom's support, Emma has her period and learns that she's not pregnant. Sean leaves for basic training soon after. The scare was nothing new for Emma's mother, Spike; Emma's grandmother had been an unwed mother with Spike at the age of 17, and Spike fell pregnant with Emma at 14.
In season seven Emma also had to deal with Snake's false accusation of sexual harassment. In Live to Tell she is very angry at Darcy for falsely accusing her stepfather. Later, in Got My Mind Set On You, Emma is upset because the accusations affected her at school, and she turned to Damien. They began a relationship in this episode. She puts the Canadian flag on top of Degrassi's roof.
Later, however, in Another Brick in the Wall, Emma seemed to have a change of heart on the whole situation. She actually asked Darcy to help her to get Mr. Simpson to come back to school, and was very supportive of him. This was most apparent at the end of the episode when her mother leaves for a little while, and Emma chooses to stay with her stepfather because she felt he needed her.
Emma and Manny are both accepted into their respective programmes of study at Smithdale University and submit the forms to room together in the dormitories.
Mr. Simpson finally returns to school for good in the episode Everything She Wants. However, Sean also came back for a visit in this episode before being shipped off to Afghanistan for war.
In the season finale, Emma finds out from Toby that Liberty kissed her boyfriend Damien during their Senior Prom. Liberty is left distraught after everyone finds out, and it wasn't until she delivered her valedictorian speech that Emma, Manny, and Toby forgive her. Emma tells Liberty that she isn't ready to throw away six years of friendship.
After they received their diplomas, the four of them visit J.T.'s memorial, whereupon Toby places a graduation cap next to J.T.'s portrait and Liberty moves the tassel to the (wearer's) right to symbolically include their late classmate with their graduating class.
Emma assumes that Kelly and Gwyneth reconnected and in disappointment, goes home for the weekend. Manny tells Kelly why Emma went home and he appears in front of Emma's house playing and singing "My Bonnie" to make amends. Emma lets him in, and they talk over the disagreement and they make up and kiss.
In Touch Of Grey, Emma starts smoking pot to get rid of her "plain girl" image. Becca goes into a diabetic coma and ends up in the hospital. The cause of the coma was her forgetting to take her insulin after ingesting pot brownies. While in class, Emma learns that the campus cops are doing room searches. She calls Kelly to get rid of the pot brownies. When Kelly is leaving the room, he runs into campus cops and they find the pot brownies. He gets kicked out residence but is still allowed to go to school.
Emma and Kelly have a fight, Kelly tells Emma that he feels like the Re-Cycle project is work without getting paid and he doesn't want to do it. Kelly decided that he had the last straw, he breaks up with Emma and his dad finds him an engineering job for the summer. Emma tells him she never wants to see him again. At Degrassi where she has her presentation on the Re-cycle project without Kelly, she is bombarded with questions about Smithdale.
Emma gets annoyed and reveals that she is failing due to her skipping class to make friends. Snake is shocked. Emma decides she wants to drop out of college or at least take a year off. Emma is upset because everyone is moving on with their lives except for her; Manny goes back to Hollywood, Liberty joined a sorority. Spike and Snake try to calm her down.
Emma talks to Spinner and asks if he ever regrets staying here when all of his friends moved on. His response was that he loves where he is. She says she envies him. Emma eventually decides to go on the Re-Cycle project for the summer, but university is on hold because she feels that Smithdale is not right for her.
, Emma returns to Toronto for the summer before she begins schooling at Toronto University for Environmental Studies in the fall, and gets a job at The Dot as a waitress for Spinner Mason
. While Spinner is at a pool party thrown by Declan Coyne, he overhears long-time girlfriend Jane Vaughn talking to Holly J about how she successfully cheated on him with Declan and they were now happily past it without him ever having to know. Enraged and hurt, Spinner breaks up with Jane and punches Declan before leaving the party. However, upon returning to The Dot he finds a fire in progress. Thanks to encouragement from Jay Hogart
and best friend Manny Santos
Emma tried to use the sandwich grill, unfortunately starting a fire that soon escalated, causing The Dot to blow up.
Set on making it up to Spinner, Emma works to regain his friendship and make up for the mistake, playing a basketball game with him and offering to listen about his problems with Jane. In the process of trying to cheer him up with Jay and Manny, they take Spinner to a Niagara Falls
casino for some fun. Teaching him blackjack, the two win over $2,000 thanks to her 'take chances' view on the game and share their first kiss after Spinner declares that the night can't get any better.
The following morning, via a drunken night of spontaneity, Emma and Spinner wake to find they married at a casino chapel and that it's all completely legal. Confused and not sure what to do, they consider divorce, even going so far as to meet with a lawyer with the papers needing only their signatures, but decide that some good could come from their accident, admitting that they love each other, and agree to throw a beach wedding with friends and family.
After some confusion on whether or not Spinner really wants to marry her, Emma's convinced he doesn't love her, like she does him, and the second wedding is cancelled. However, while 'remodeling' The Dot with a sledgehammer, hurt that what he and Emma had is already over, he finds out that not only will The Dot be repaired thanks to insurance but realizes just what he could lose by not fighting for Emma. Running all the way to her house, Spinner tells her, in front of Manny and Emma's parents, that he wants their forever to start now, giving a heartfelt speech and finally asks her to marry him. Asking both her mother and step-father to walk her down the aisle, Emma receives their blessing to marry Spinner.
Finding out about their nuptials through Spinner, Jane decides to come back from New York to stop him, believing he's making a huge mistake. Driving back from New York with Holly J. and Declan, she races back to Toronto, only to have her cohorts second-guess crashing the wedding
. When they try and talk her out of it, she even lets them believe she's changed her mind, but then steals Declan's car to continue her wedding-crashing. However, when she enters Spinner's tent as he gets ready for his wedding, she stops herself, realizing that he's happy and instead of ruining his wedding and asking him to return to New York with her, she asks for forgiveness and tells him to be happy with Emma, kissing him goodbye.
Happily, Emma and Spinner recommit to each other, celebrating their nuptials amongst supportive friends and family. This is Emma's last appearance on the show, as well as the last time Spinner Mason
, Liberty Van Zandt, Jane Vaughn
, Jay Hogart
, and Manny Santos
appear in the series.
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...
television series, having originated in the series' precursor, Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school...
. She is portrayed as an adolescent and adult by Miriam McDonald
Miriam McDonald
Miriam Katherine McDonald is a Canadian actress and occasional dancer. She is best known for playing Emma Nelson on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Career:...
.
Emma was born June 1989 (episode aired 28 March 1988 but Emma is in the same grade as Manny and she was 12 when school started in 2001. The fact is also that although the episode aired in 1988 the timeline is in 1989). Emma is the daughter of original Degrassi characters Christine "Spike" Nelson and Shane McKay, and is the only student at Degrassi in The Next Generation to have been depicted as a child in the earlier series. She is known as the school's "cause girl" because she has arranged many protests and boycotts for various causes. She has evolved from a good, simple character to a complex one over the course of the series; since season 1, she was a fairly undramatic character, having only a few dramatic experiences, until in season 4 when she was held at gunpoint by classmate Rick Murray. She has an on-off relationship with Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron is a fictional high schooler on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is portrayed by Daniel Clark. He left the show in season four, but returned for season six..-Personality:Sean is the token bad boy at the school...
. Breaking the Nelson women's multi-generational cycle of unplanned teen-age motherhood and beautician careers, Emma graduates from high school having never been pregnant (despite a momentary scare) and is bound for university. Emma is considered the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the show's first seven seasons, her appearances became less frequent as she left Degrassi, and a new group of students became the focus.
Degrassi Junior High & Degrassi High
Near the end of the first season of Degrassi Junior HighDegrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school...
, Spike was impregnated by her boyfriend Shane McKay at a junior high school party in Lucy Fernandez
Lucy Fernandez
Lucy Fernandez is a fictional character in "Degrassi Junior High;" "Degrassi High;" the Degrassi High follow-up movie, "School's Out;" and "Degrassi: The Next Generation." She is portrayed by the actress, Anais Granofsky in all of the Degrassi series....
's house ("It's Late", Degrassi Junior High ep. 111). Spike eventually went into labour at the grade 8 graduation dance ("Pass Tense", DJH ep. 213). Emma's first on-screen appearance was at the school's Christmas party ("Season's Greetings", DJH ep. 304). With Spike a teen mother, Emma was a semi-regular on the series with various on-and-off appearances as an infant and toddler. She is spoken of twice by Spike in the made-for-television film, School's Out
School's Out (film)
School's Out is a 1992 Canadian television movie featuring the characters of the popular Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High series. The show's longtime team of writers scripted this feature-length movie and shot it during the summer of 1991 to be shown on CBC Television during the new year...
; and, in the film's closing shot, Spike is seen dancing with a young blonde girl consistent with Emma's then age of four years.
Interim
Emma befriends Manuella "Manny" SantosManny Santos
Manuella "Manny" Santos is a fictional character portrayed by Cassie Steele on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Season 1:...
and James Tiberius "J.T." Yorke in elementary school. ("Mother and Child Reunion", D:TNG ep. 1.1)
Spike takes Emma to the wedding of Spike's old friend Joey Jeremiah
Joey Jeremiah
Joseph "Joey" Jeremiah is a fictional character from the Degrassi series portrayed by Pat Mastroianni. His first appearance in the series was as a grade 8 student on Degrassi Junior High. Since his first appearance up to Degrassi High, he has been the main focus character and arguably the most...
to Julia Manning, and Emma dances with the bride's son, Craig Manning. ("When Doves Cry", D:TNG ep. 2.1) Although the best man is Emma's future teacher and step-father, Archie "Snake" Simpson
Archie Simpson
Archibald Rupert "Snake” Simpson is a fictional character on the Degrassi series portrayed by Stefan Brogren. His first appearance in the series was as an eighth grade student on Degrassi Junior High ...
, the two will not have seen each other for quite some time prior to the start of her grade 7 enrollment, as neither recognises the other at sight. ("Mother and Child Reunion", D:TNG ep. 1.1)
Degrassi: The Next Generation When the writers came up with the idea for a reunion special, they realized Emma would be starting middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
, and made the planned reunion special into a pilot for a new series. Emma is, therefore, literally the title character of The Next Generation and one of the two title characters of the show's pilot episode, "Mother and Child Reunion".
In addition to serving as a tie-in to Degrassi Jr. High/Degrassi High, teenage Emma was initially written as The Next Generations counterpart to the earlier series' character Caitlin Ryan
Caitlin Ryan
Caitlin Ryan is a fictional character from the Degrassi series portrayed by Stacie Mistysyn. Caitlin is a main character on both Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, which chronicle her maturation from a seventh grader to a high school graduate...
(played by Stacie Mistysyn
Stacie Mistysyn
Stacie Mo'ana Mistysyn is an American-born Canadian actress best known for her work as Caitlin Ryan on Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High, which ran from 1987 to 1991, and for reprising her role as Caitlin on Degrassi: The Next Generation, which has been on the air since 2001 and which she joined...
). Both rabidly pursue various environmental and social causes, and Emma's first boyfriend, Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron is a fictional high schooler on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is portrayed by Daniel Clark. He left the show in season four, but returned for season six..-Personality:Sean is the token bad boy at the school...
began as a near-duplicate of Caitlin's first, Rick Munro (very similar back-story, abusive parents, nearly identical wardrobe, interest in motorcycles, interest in the girl's causes only insofar as it let him be close to her, inter alia). Moreover, Caitlin's father was a teacher, as would be Emma's stepfather, beginning in the second season. Emma's interaction with Rick Murray and his demise
Time Stands Still (Degrassi: The Next Generation)
"Time Stands Still" is a two part episode of the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. It aired near the beginning of the fourth season, and originally aired on the 5 & 12 October 2004 in Canada, on the CTV Television Network. Despite being a two-part episode, many events were still...
strikingly parallel Claude Tanner's reaction to Caitlin's rejection. As is normal for television series characters, however, Emma soon grew into a wholly unique individual who actually did a lot of more mature and deeper things within the story , a collaboration of McDonald and the series' writers.
Emma receives far more screen time in Degrassi: The Next Generation than Spike had in the original series.
Season 1
Emma was one of the few characters of the new series to appear in the two-part pilot, Mother and Child Reunion. Serving both as a reunion special for the old Degrassi cast and a new spin-off beginning, the plot in these two episodes alternated between the old cast's issues and Emma's meeting with her supposedly young online crush, Jordan. Jordan turns out to be a man in his 40s attempting to film and rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
Emma, who is rescued by Spike and Snake
Archie Simpson
Archibald Rupert "Snake” Simpson is a fictional character on the Degrassi series portrayed by Stefan Brogren. His first appearance in the series was as an eighth grade student on Degrassi Junior High ...
thanks to Manny
Manny Santos
Manuella "Manny" Santos is a fictional character portrayed by Cassie Steele on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Season 1:...
, J.T., and Toby (who will later develop a crush on her).
In Rumors and Reputation, Emma witnesses Coach Armstrong's arm around Liberty. Emma begins to suspect Armstrong is sleeping with Liberty when she sees Armstrong pass the girl a note outside of school. Emma tells Manny who is overheard by Terri, and rumor is spread through the school. Just after a student council meeting, Ashley lets Liberty know why everybody is talking behind her back. The next day, Liberty hears Emma and the gang talking about her and she runs into the bathroom. Emma promises her to track down the source and thus, finish the rumor. Emma tracks the sources down to Terri, who tells Emma she was the one who started it by talking to Manny. Emma, ashamed and embarrassed, tries to tell Liberty but math class has started. Everybody begins to snicker and laugh when Armstrong asks Liberty a question. Principal Raditch demands Armstrong and Liberty see him outside when Emma tells them it was she who started the rumor. Once again in the bathroom, a humiliated Liberty tells Emma she has a learning disability that Armstrong was helping her with.
In Coming of Age, Emma had her first period
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
embarrassingly at school. Manny, who noticed the leak, helped her friend by locating a pair of gym shorts to wear for the rest of the day. After being teased by J.T. and Toby, Emma announces her dilemma and starts a petition for the school to install a tampon
Tampon
A tampon is a mass of cotton or rayon or a mixture of the two inserted into a body cavity or wound to absorb bodilyfluid. The most common type in daily use is designed to be inserted into the vagina during menstruation to absorb the flow of menstrual fluid...
dispenser in the girls' washroom.
Throughout season 1, Emma and Sean
Sean Cameron
Sean Cameron is a fictional high schooler on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is portrayed by Daniel Clark. He left the show in season four, but returned for season six..-Personality:Sean is the token bad boy at the school...
were interested in each other. Their first date ends horribly when Emma has Sean dig through the trash for her missing wallet (which turns out to be in her pocket). Embarrassed, Emma runs home, and they do not get to see their movie. However, the next day, Sean talks to Emma, and they begin a relationship. This ends when Sean accidentally pushes Emma to the ground when she attempts to intervene during a fight between Sean and Jimmy.
Emma became the main feminist character at Degrassi. She accused the Spirit Squad of being "sexist," and chided Manny for wanting to try out, although her true motive was that she was afraid that Manny would become popular, and effectively ditch her. Eventually, she supported Manny. Emma also started to favor the animal rights organization, PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
.
Season 2
In Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, when Emma learned her mom and her teacher were dating she was annoyed but learned to deal with it. Then her mom and Snake decide to marry. As the wedding came closer, trouble showed up when Spike found out she was pregnant. Spike knew Snake didn't want children right away and considered abortion. Emma, upset, told Snake which almost ruined the relationship but it all worked out and Snake and Spike got married.Emma found out that Manny had invited Sean, and told her to uninvite him. When Emma thought she had ruined the wedding, she goes to the only person that she can trust. Sean tells her that no one will hate her, and he's right. The wedding does happen, and Sean shows up. "Just Jane" (a slow song) is playing, and Sean asks her to dance. Just like their first dance together, in Eye of the Beholder; they share a kiss and get back together.
Emma continued her use of protests with a boycott of genetically modified food in the cafeteria, handing out fliers and information on why it was wrong. After being told by Mr. Raditch why she was wrong about the cafeteria, Emma decided to use the morning announcements for her own extremist agenda. Her ploy to "boycott the caf" backfired when she initiated the students to start a food fight. For causing the fight, Emma was suspended for a day. Instead of backing down, however, Emma continued her tirade, getting her suspended for a week.
Season 3
After Emma was mistaken for Snake's biological daughter at school, she developed a desire to meet her biological father, Shane McKay. After asking Spike about him and getting nowhere, Emma decided to find him herself by using the Internet. She then skipped school along with Craig to search for him. After a series of missteps, Emma and Craig finally found him at a home for the mentally disabled, and it is later revealed that after dropping acid and either falling or jumping off a bridge during the original Degrassi Junior High series, Shane landed on his head, causing permanent brain damageBrain damage
"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
, and he was placed in a home by his parents. After Emma and Shane's emotional reunion is cut short by a nurse, Emma gives him her address so he can write to her. Forced to call Joey
Joey Jeremiah
Joseph "Joey" Jeremiah is a fictional character from the Degrassi series portrayed by Pat Mastroianni. His first appearance in the series was as a grade 8 student on Degrassi Junior High. Since his first appearance up to Degrassi High, he has been the main focus character and arguably the most...
for a ride home after missing the last train, Emma faces her irate mother. While Emma was angry at her mother for lying to her, she eventually came to see that Spike was just trying to protect her.
While a pregnant Spike was at home, Shane unexpectedly arrived at the house and upon realizing that he was not part of Spike and Emma's lives anymore, he went into a violent rage that sent Spike into labour. Emma eventually discovers her labouring mother, calms Shane down, and calls Snake for help. Emma's half-brother, Jack, was born without complications.
Later in season 3, Emma, dealing with the revelation that Snake had recently been diagnosed with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, as well as being an active member of the environmental club and having the pressures of having to watch the baby, had little time for Sean. Feeling neglected, Sean began taking up with Jay, his girlfriend Alex
Alex Nuñez
Alexandra "Alex" Nuñez is a fictional character on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She is portrayed by Deanna Casaluce....
, and Towerz. Emma was less than pleased with Sean's affiliation with this group of thugs, but wrote it off long enough to make out with Sean in the ravine while they were supposed to be clearing it of trash. The romantic moment was cut short by fellow volunteer Kendra, who quickly ran off after discovering the two. Emma, however, was embarrassed, and got back to work, leaving Sean annoyed. Afterward, Sean confronted Emma about being too uptight, upon which Emma called Sean "pathetic" for hanging with people like Jay. After a heated argument, Sean walked away furious. Trying to reconcile the relationship , Emma came back to Sean. He then rejected her giving up on their relationship, which left Emma crushed. To add insult to injury, Sean helped his new friends steal Snake's brand new laptop so that Jay could get an intake
Intake
An intake , or especially for aircraft inlet, is an air intake for an engine. Because the modern internal combustion engine is in essence a powerful air pump, like the exhaust system on an engine, the intake must be carefully engineered and tuned to provide the greatest efficiency and power...
for his car.
While Emma was rebounding from her relationship with Sean, a new student named Chris Sharpe caught Emma's eye. With the help of Manny, she dressed up to see him at a rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
that Chris was DJing at. The two flirted, but were interrupted by Chris's furious girlfriend, Melanda. After arguing with his girlfriend, Chris returned to Emma, where they talked and eventually kissed. However, Emma quickly decided that it was wrong to date a guy who was already taken, so she apologized and ran off home.
Episodes later, it was learned that Chris and Melanda had broken up, so he began to date Emma. The relationship went well, however Emma was still upset over her breakup with Sean, who now had a new girlfriend. To seek revenge on Sean, she gave Mr. Raditch an anonymous tip that Sean and Jay were stealing various things from school property. Although Emma only suspected them of stealing these things, she over exaggerated the story, which then lead to a search of Jay's car for stolen goods. After nothing was found by police, it became obvious to Sean that the "anonymous tipster" was Emma, and he shouted at her, which landed him in detention. The idea of getting Sean into trouble delighted Emma, so she went to tell Chris of the news. However, when she did, he became upset that she was still seeking revenge on her ex. The two later reconciled and they continued their relationship for the remainder of the school year.
Manny's new look and personality put Emma off; she thought Manny was cheapening herself for popularity and told her as much. Manny was appalled that Emma would refuse to support her the way Manny had always done for Emma. The two continued to be friends, however, until Emma walked in on Manny making out with Craig, who was dating Ashley
Ashley Kerwin
Ashley Kerwin is a fictional character at high school in the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation and is portrayed by Melissa McIntyre.-Season 1:...
, on Emma's bed. Manny later called Emma a "prude princess" and Emma retorted that she did not want to be friends with "the school slut". When Manny becomes pregnant, Emma tries to support her. But when Manny decides to get an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, it sickens her.
Snake's cancer took a toll on everyone in Emma's family. Then, while doing some work on the computers after school with J.T., Emma discovered Snake's will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
. Convinced Snake's chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
had failed, Emma buckled under the overwhelming stress. Alex, who had been tormenting Emma since her breakup with Sean, offended her, causing the typically mild-mannered Emma to engage her tormentor in a violent cat-fight in the halls of Degrassi. Later, Emma discovers Snake's chemo had put his cancer in remission.
Season 4
Emma and Chris broke up over the summer, but he wanted to work things out with her and get back together. Liberty suddenly developed a crush on Chris, which Emma soon found out about. Because she was unsure of what people would think, Emma prevented Chris from dating Liberty, who later found out of her scheme and confronted her about it.As Emma entered grade 10, she became friends with Paige and her friends. When Rick returned to Degrassi, she and Paige thought up ideas to make Rick's life hell and force him to leave Degrassi. After protesting for "Students Against Violence", Emma and Paige were able to make the school body despise Rick. In an attempt to buy forgiveness, Rick approached Emma with a check for $500 for the cause. This caused Emma to pity Rick, although she denied it in the public eye. To prove to her new friends—and specifically Paige—that she was not softening towards Rick, Emma purposely tripped Rick at The Dot, causing him to spill coffee over himself. Rick then became hostile, so Jay began to beat him up. A guilt-ridden Emma then intervened and stopped the fight, and her actions caused her to lose her new friends.
After saving Rick from bullying, Emma, along with Toby, became Rick's only friends in the school. Rick eventually developed a crush on Emma, however she struck his advances down brutally. After being tarred and feathered on television during a 'Whack Your Brain' contest Degrassi had against a rival school, Rick came to Degrassi with a handgun. After shooting Jimmy, he attempted to shoot Emma for not accepting his crush on her, but Sean stopped him and, in the struggle, Rick was shot and killed with his own weapon.
On a particularly rough day after the shooting, Emma ditched class with Sean, Sean's new girlfriend Ellie and Jay to drive up to Wasaga Beach, where Sean's parents lived. Emma seemed to be reconnecting with Sean when he announced he was moving back home with his parents, effectively ending his relationship with Ellie. Jay and Emma had some sparks fly between them in some clips.
In the aftermath of the shooting and Sean's departure, Emma became melancholy and isolate, distancing herself from everything in her life. Jay though was still dating Alex, took a liking to Emma, who had recently discovered that girls could "earn" coloured bracelets for performing various sexual acts down at the ravine, particularly with Jay. Emma eventually gave into Jay's advances and performed oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on him one night. Once Alex confronts her friend for giving Jay oral sex at the Ravine as well, Emma finds out that she has contracted gonorrhea
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain...
and is humiliated by the news. She later tells her parents and some friends of her disease, and is comforted by Manny and her new friends, Darcy Edwards
Darcy Edwards
Darcy Edwards is a fictional character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. She is portrayed by Shenae Grimes. As of 2010, she is one of two Degrassi characters whose actor independently exists within the Degrassi fictional universe, Grimes having been spoken of in Degrassi Goes Hollywood, and Drake...
and Chantay Black. Jay, on the other hand, gets dumped and ridiculed.
Season 5
At the beginning of season 5, Emma develops a crush on a new boy, Peter. However, he seemed more attracted to Manny than Emma. At a party, Manny got drunk and flashed her breasts to Peter, who filmed them and later emailed the video to the entire school after she rejected him. When she discovers this video, she immediately knew Manny had made the video with Peter and was furious at her. After Manny's father kicks her out for not obeying his orders to quit acting, Manny comes to Emma. Once hearing her explanation, she forgives Manny and allows her to move in.Later, Peter began flirting with Emma, Emma rejects his advances because of what he did to Manny. Confused about her feelings toward Peter, she plans a revenge with Manny that would involve Emma seducing Peter at a party, stripping him, and taking embarrassing photos of him with her camera phone. However, the plan backfired when they made out in his room, and she realized that they had more in common than she once thought. The couple begin dating afterwards.
After the premiere of movie, Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh, Peter and Emma sneaked into the empty theater to be alone. There, they discovered Snake and Ms. Hatzilakos (Peter's mother) kissing. At home, Emma confronted Snake, telling him that she did not know if she would tell Spike or not. Emma later forced Snake to confess of his actions, which inevitably led to Spike kicking Snake out of the house. Emma was upset by this, and so both herself and Manny attempted to move Snake back into the house. After several unsuccessful attempts, Snake wooed his wife (by singing to her in front of a crowd in a mall), promised to never cheat again, and moved back in.
When Snake left, Spike and Manny became more dependent on Emma to help around the house. After Manny begged Emma to help her lose weight so she could fit in her jeans again and so she could get an agent, Emma put both of them on a strict diet. They successfully restrained themselves for two days, then gorged themselves on moussaka
Moussaka
Moussaka is an eggplant based dish of the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. The best known variation outside the region is the Greek one.-Names and etymology:...
after Emma invited Snake over in an unsuccessful attempt to reunite him with her mother. Emma was upset that they had undone all their dieting so quickly, and convinced herself and Manny to get rid of it by vomiting.
One day, after catching Manny in the school hallway eating pizza, Emma tries to get Manny to purge it up in the bathroom, but Manny explains that she reached her goal weight and thus no longer needs to diet. An exasperated Emma left the bathroom, but soon became disoriented and fainted. After waking up and having an unpleasant encounter with Ms. Hatzilakos, Emma was found by Manny, cutting out pictures of thin models from magazines as a form of thinspo. Manny then voiced her concerns of Emma's eating habits (or lack thereof), so Emma promised to eat more often in the future. However, she then began secretly purging herself after each meal and keeping up with her food diary. Manny later finds this diary and threatens to tell Spike about it, so in an attempt to shut her up, Emma reveals her relationship with Peter to Manny, who then discontinues her concern for Emma who responds with an equal amount of distaste for her former friend. However, soon Peter begins to notice Emma's odd behaviour and soon talks to Manny about his concerns. The two then inform Spike and Snake, who stage an intervention to help Emma. Unprepared by the sudden questions, Emma undergoes a starvation-induced panic attack
Panic attack
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours...
, which leaves her unconscious. She later wakes in a hospital, she is diagnosed as being anorexic.
Season 6
After the school shooting, Sean left Degrassi for the rest of his sophomore year and junior year but returned for his senior year. After an illegal street race, Emma and Sean managed to escape the cops and then made out, he tells her he still has feelings for her and despite Emma's relationship with Peter. At school, drugs were found in Sean's locker. He accused Peter, but Emma denied Peter's role in the crime. Sean was later involved in a hit-and-run, which occurred during a race between himself and Peter. When Sean went to Emma for help, she told him that she did not care about him. As a result, Sean turned himself in to the cops. Emma is later informed by Jay about Sean's troubles, and that he is going to court. Emma then sees Sean with a black eye and takes pity on him. Emma then attempts to raise money for a proper lawyer for Sean's case by selling raffle tickets at the school's costume dance without permission, but she fails to raise enough and finds a public defender instead. After discovering that it was Peter who planted the drugs in Sean's locker, she breaks up with him.Emma and Sean later become close once again, and finally decide to have sex while Emma's parents are away for the weekend. The same weekend, however, Manny plans a party at Emma's house, so Sean and Emma's plans are halted. Emma becomes intoxicated at the event and spends the night throwing up. Sean is understanding about the situation and even finds it comical. That same night a Lakehurst student stabbed J.T. in the back. At the hospital, a nurse tells Toby that his aorta
Aorta
The aorta is the largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it branches off into two smaller arteries...
was punctured and that he died.
Manny's parents also want her to return back home, so she moves out of Emma's house. Emma became angry at Manny, who acted as if J.T.'s murder had never happened. Emma is later confronted by Snake and admits that she's upset that J.T. is dead and angry because everyone is moving on. Snake points out that everyone is angry but that she cannot turn that anger towards Manny. Emma and Manny later reconcile.
Sean and Emma's relationship has been going well and they begin to have sex. However, trouble comes when Snake runs into Emma and Sean buying birth control at a drug store. Emma tells her stepfather that she and her mother had "the talk" already, but Snake gets angry because he is never included in these types of discussions. Emma attempts to talk to her stepfather, but he refuses to listen.
A few days later, Emma delivers a presentation in Snake's class about women and sex and how men, when confronted with sex, cannot handle it at all. After seeing her presentation, Snake tells her that he was just trying to look out for her and was worried about her getting pregnant while still in high school like her mom did, or catching another STD.
Soon, Emma suspects that she's pregnant from Sean. When she learns that Sean had different plans after high school, she becomes really angry and after him asking her what's up several times, she confesses to him that she might be pregnant. Before she takes a pregnancy test with Manny and her mom's support, Emma has her period and learns that she's not pregnant. Sean leaves for basic training soon after. The scare was nothing new for Emma's mother, Spike; Emma's grandmother had been an unwed mother with Spike at the age of 17, and Spike fell pregnant with Emma at 14.
Season 7
Emma shows anxiety when she had not heard from Sean or the university she had applied to, and she only worries more when Manny implies that Emma is rather predictable. After learning of energy drink Purple Dragon's model search for their product, Emma shocks everyone when she tries out, and furthermore is accepted. She enjoys the attention of being one of the sexy spokeswomen for the product at Degrassi, but is disgusted after receiving several inappropriate and sexist comments from several men. After attempting to fight back against the men's behavior, she's told that it's part of the job and that she must get used to it by Natasha, Emma's superior at Purple Dragon. When she tries to drink it, Natasha tells her of the risk of weight gain and that her job is to sell the product and keep her mouth shut. After furthermore being insulted of her weight by Natasha, Emma later takes a stand against the energy drink at a sports rally. When Natasha tries to quiet her, Emma strips off the dress in protest. As a result, Emma is penalized with several detentions for violating the dress code. Purple Dragon continues its sponsorship deal with Degrassi, however their marketing policies change after the incident.In season seven Emma also had to deal with Snake's false accusation of sexual harassment. In Live to Tell she is very angry at Darcy for falsely accusing her stepfather. Later, in Got My Mind Set On You, Emma is upset because the accusations affected her at school, and she turned to Damien. They began a relationship in this episode. She puts the Canadian flag on top of Degrassi's roof.
Later, however, in Another Brick in the Wall, Emma seemed to have a change of heart on the whole situation. She actually asked Darcy to help her to get Mr. Simpson to come back to school, and was very supportive of him. This was most apparent at the end of the episode when her mother leaves for a little while, and Emma chooses to stay with her stepfather because she felt he needed her.
Emma and Manny are both accepted into their respective programmes of study at Smithdale University and submit the forms to room together in the dormitories.
Mr. Simpson finally returns to school for good in the episode Everything She Wants. However, Sean also came back for a visit in this episode before being shipped off to Afghanistan for war.
In the season finale, Emma finds out from Toby that Liberty kissed her boyfriend Damien during their Senior Prom. Liberty is left distraught after everyone finds out, and it wasn't until she delivered her valedictorian speech that Emma, Manny, and Toby forgive her. Emma tells Liberty that she isn't ready to throw away six years of friendship.
After they received their diplomas, the four of them visit J.T.'s memorial, whereupon Toby places a graduation cap next to J.T.'s portrait and Liberty moves the tassel to the (wearer's) right to symbolically include their late classmate with their graduating class.
Season 8
Emma is now in Smithdale University with her two best friends Manny and Liberty, with a new guy, Kelly Ashoona as their new dorm mate. She is surprised the length Liberty went to join the Pi Gamma Pi Sorority. Emma and Manny stood beside Liberty when she had to have her stomach pumped from excessive drinking at the sorority party. Emma stood beside her when she decided to not join the sorority. Emma and Manny both have a crush on Kelly, although he hints to the fact that he likes one of them. Emma and Manny argue over him; even bringing up the past issues of how they always seemed to date or like the same guys: Craig when they were both twelve years old, Jay Hogart even though Manny says what Jay and Emma did was barely dating, and Damian which Manny also says that relationship of her and Emma lasted a few minutes anyway. In the Lost in Love episodes, Emma feels that she and her roommate Kelly Ashoona might be a match after he teaches her the chords of the lullaby "My Bonnie." She is determined to go on a proper date with him after he breaks up with his girlfriend, Gwyneth. Kelly takes Emma to the movies and upon returning to the dormitory, nearly kissing, Gwyneth interrupts them, still upset about their breakup, she and Kelly go for coffee to talk.Emma assumes that Kelly and Gwyneth reconnected and in disappointment, goes home for the weekend. Manny tells Kelly why Emma went home and he appears in front of Emma's house playing and singing "My Bonnie" to make amends. Emma lets him in, and they talk over the disagreement and they make up and kiss.
In Touch Of Grey, Emma starts smoking pot to get rid of her "plain girl" image. Becca goes into a diabetic coma and ends up in the hospital. The cause of the coma was her forgetting to take her insulin after ingesting pot brownies. While in class, Emma learns that the campus cops are doing room searches. She calls Kelly to get rid of the pot brownies. When Kelly is leaving the room, he runs into campus cops and they find the pot brownies. He gets kicked out residence but is still allowed to go to school.
Season 9
In Holiday Road, Kelly and Emma stop at Degrassi to raise awareness for their Re-Cycle project. Emma and Kelly stay over the Simpson-Nelson residence and sleep on the couch together. Kelly is seen playing video games with Connor and Jack. Kelly is annoyed how he can never do things he wants, it's always Emma's way. After a chat with Spinner, Kelly gives into temptation and eats meat. Emma is upset to find out that Kelly cheated on being a vegan.Emma and Kelly have a fight, Kelly tells Emma that he feels like the Re-Cycle project is work without getting paid and he doesn't want to do it. Kelly decided that he had the last straw, he breaks up with Emma and his dad finds him an engineering job for the summer. Emma tells him she never wants to see him again. At Degrassi where she has her presentation on the Re-cycle project without Kelly, she is bombarded with questions about Smithdale.
Emma gets annoyed and reveals that she is failing due to her skipping class to make friends. Snake is shocked. Emma decides she wants to drop out of college or at least take a year off. Emma is upset because everyone is moving on with their lives except for her; Manny goes back to Hollywood, Liberty joined a sorority. Spike and Snake try to calm her down.
Emma talks to Spinner and asks if he ever regrets staying here when all of his friends moved on. His response was that he loves where he is. She says she envies him. Emma eventually decides to go on the Re-Cycle project for the summer, but university is on hold because she feels that Smithdale is not right for her.
Degrassi Takes Manhattan
During the Degrassi season 9 finale movie, Degrassi Takes ManhattanDegrassi Takes Manhattan
The Rest of My Life: Degrassi Takes Manhattan is a 2010 Canadian film adaptation of the popular, long-running teenage drama Degrassi, which was known as Degrassi: The Next Generation prior to this film. The movie premiered in Canada on MuchMusic on 16 July 2010, and in the United States on TeenNick...
, Emma returns to Toronto for the summer before she begins schooling at Toronto University for Environmental Studies in the fall, and gets a job at The Dot as a waitress for Spinner Mason
Spinner Mason
Gavin Reginald "Spinner" Mason, is a fictional high-school graduate in Degrassi: The Next Generation, portrayed by Shane Kippel.-Characterization:...
. While Spinner is at a pool party thrown by Declan Coyne, he overhears long-time girlfriend Jane Vaughn talking to Holly J about how she successfully cheated on him with Declan and they were now happily past it without him ever having to know. Enraged and hurt, Spinner breaks up with Jane and punches Declan before leaving the party. However, upon returning to The Dot he finds a fire in progress. Thanks to encouragement from Jay Hogart
Jay Hogart
Jason "Jay" Hogart, played by Mike Lobel, is a fictional character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is usually portrayed as the school bully and bad boy, but later throughout the series he displays instances of conscience that make him more of an anti-hero...
and best friend Manny Santos
Manny Santos
Manuella "Manny" Santos is a fictional character portrayed by Cassie Steele on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Season 1:...
Emma tried to use the sandwich grill, unfortunately starting a fire that soon escalated, causing The Dot to blow up.
Set on making it up to Spinner, Emma works to regain his friendship and make up for the mistake, playing a basketball game with him and offering to listen about his problems with Jane. In the process of trying to cheer him up with Jay and Manny, they take Spinner to a Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
casino for some fun. Teaching him blackjack, the two win over $2,000 thanks to her 'take chances' view on the game and share their first kiss after Spinner declares that the night can't get any better.
The following morning, via a drunken night of spontaneity, Emma and Spinner wake to find they married at a casino chapel and that it's all completely legal. Confused and not sure what to do, they consider divorce, even going so far as to meet with a lawyer with the papers needing only their signatures, but decide that some good could come from their accident, admitting that they love each other, and agree to throw a beach wedding with friends and family.
After some confusion on whether or not Spinner really wants to marry her, Emma's convinced he doesn't love her, like she does him, and the second wedding is cancelled. However, while 'remodeling' The Dot with a sledgehammer, hurt that what he and Emma had is already over, he finds out that not only will The Dot be repaired thanks to insurance but realizes just what he could lose by not fighting for Emma. Running all the way to her house, Spinner tells her, in front of Manny and Emma's parents, that he wants their forever to start now, giving a heartfelt speech and finally asks her to marry him. Asking both her mother and step-father to walk her down the aisle, Emma receives their blessing to marry Spinner.
Finding out about their nuptials through Spinner, Jane decides to come back from New York to stop him, believing he's making a huge mistake. Driving back from New York with Holly J. and Declan, she races back to Toronto, only to have her cohorts second-guess crashing the wedding
Wedding crashing
Wedding crashing is the act of coming to a wedding without an invitation.-In real life:Some of the most common reasons for crashing a wedding in real life are:...
. When they try and talk her out of it, she even lets them believe she's changed her mind, but then steals Declan's car to continue her wedding-crashing. However, when she enters Spinner's tent as he gets ready for his wedding, she stops herself, realizing that he's happy and instead of ruining his wedding and asking him to return to New York with her, she asks for forgiveness and tells him to be happy with Emma, kissing him goodbye.
Happily, Emma and Spinner recommit to each other, celebrating their nuptials amongst supportive friends and family. This is Emma's last appearance on the show, as well as the last time Spinner Mason
Spinner Mason
Gavin Reginald "Spinner" Mason, is a fictional high-school graduate in Degrassi: The Next Generation, portrayed by Shane Kippel.-Characterization:...
, Liberty Van Zandt, Jane Vaughn
Jane Vaughn
Jane Vaughn was an American figure skater. She won the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1940 and 1941....
, Jay Hogart
Jay Hogart
Jason "Jay" Hogart, played by Mike Lobel, is a fictional character on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is usually portrayed as the school bully and bad boy, but later throughout the series he displays instances of conscience that make him more of an anti-hero...
, and Manny Santos
Manny Santos
Manuella "Manny" Santos is a fictional character portrayed by Cassie Steele on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Season 1:...
appear in the series.
Relationships
- Sean CameronSean CameronSean Cameron is a fictional high schooler on the television show Degrassi: The Next Generation. He is portrayed by Daniel Clark. He left the show in season four, but returned for season six..-Personality:Sean is the token bad boy at the school...
- First Relationship
- Start Up: Friday Night (1.11)
- Broke Up: Under Pressure (1.14)
- Reason: Sean hurt Emma during a fight with Jimmy Brooks.
- Second Relationship
- Start Up: White Wedding (Part Two) (2.13)
- Broke Up: Gangsta, Gangsta (3.06)
- Reason: Sean steals Snake's laptop and Emma calls him pathetic.
- Third Relationship
- Start Up: Crazy Little Thing Called Love (6.08)
- Broke Up: Got My Mind Set on You (7.15)
- Reason: Emma has a crush on Damian but Emma and Sean remain friends still.
- First Relationship
- Chris Sharpe
- Start Up: This Charming Man (3.13)
- Broke Up: before "Ghost in the Machine (Part One) (4.01)
- Reason: They break up over the holidays. The reason is not revealed.
- Peter Stone
- Start Up: Tell It To My Heart (5.09)
- Broke Up: True Colours (6.03)
- Reason: Peter Stone framed Sean over drugs.
- Damian Hayes
- Start Up: Got My Mind Set On You (7.15)
- Broke Up: "We Built This City (7.24)
- Reason: Damian fools around with Liberty.
- Kelly Ashoona
- Start Up: Lost in Love (Part Two) (8.09)
- Broke Up: Holiday Road (9.13)
- Reason: Kelly got a new job with his father and for not supporting Emma during her Re-Cycling tour.
- Spinner MasonSpinner MasonGavin Reginald "Spinner" Mason, is a fictional high-school graduate in Degrassi: The Next Generation, portrayed by Shane Kippel.-Characterization:...
- Start Up: The Rest of My Life (Part Two)Degrassi Takes ManhattanThe Rest of My Life: Degrassi Takes Manhattan is a 2010 Canadian film adaptation of the popular, long-running teenage drama Degrassi, which was known as Degrassi: The Next Generation prior to this film. The movie premiered in Canada on MuchMusic on 16 July 2010, and in the United States on TeenNick...
(9.21)
- Start Up: The Rest of My Life (Part Two)