A Helping Hand... is the second episode of Season 2 of Degrassi Junior High, and the fifteenth episode overall. It aired on January 11, 1988.
Plot
The 8th graders are waiting for class to start when Lucy comes in and says Mr. Raditch is in the hospital. Everyone gets quiet when Mr. Colby, their substitute teacher, walks in.
Lucy is excited when she gets an A+ from Mr. Colby. All of the girls think he is hot. Meanwhile, the Zits are practicing. Joey says that he doesn't trust Simon. Wheels leaves practice because he has a tutoring session with Ms. Avery. She makes sure he has set his eye appointment and schedules his tutoring session for after school. Ms. Avery suggests he quit the band until he gets his marks up.
L.D. wants to get more attention from boys, and Lucy invites her to come over for a makeover. As they leave Mr. Colby tells Lucy how great he thought her paper was. L.D. thinks Mr. Colby is too friendly. "There's no such thing as too friendly," Lucy says.
They're at Lucy's house and L.D. asks Lucy if she ever gets lonely. "I like to be alone. I'm independent," Lucy says. Lucy puts a lot of makeup on L.D., who wipes it off when she leaves. The 8th grade class is discussing the death penalty and L.D. sees Mr. Colby looking down Lucy's shirt. L.D. tells her about it, but Lucy thinks she's just jealous.
Wheels comes back to school with new glasses, and everyone likes them. Alexa returns the sexy clothes to Stephanie because she got in trouble. Joey and Snake hear somebody playing bass and they see it's Simon. They like it and ask him to join their band The Zit Remedy. Lucy stays after school to help Mr. Colby. He compliments by telling her how mature he thinks she is. He starts rubbing on her shoulder and the scarf around her neck. Wheels interrupts them when he sees what's going on.
Lucy runs home upset. L.D. comes by and she tells her what happened. Stephanie goes back to wearing her old clothes. She sees Simon in the hallway, but he doesn't notice her. Lucy runs into Mr. Colby in the hallway. He apologizes and wants Lucy to stay after school again. "No, Mr. Colby, not in a million years," says Lucy. Wheels asks Lucy if she's going to do anything about Mr. Colby. He tells her that he'll be a witness if she needs it.
- The character featured in the final freeze frame for this episode was Lucy.
- This episode marks the first depiction of harassment by an authority figure.
- This episode marks the start of Lucy and L.D.'s friendship after Voula Grivogiannis moves away.
(Ordered alphabetically)
- Dayo Ade as B.L.T. Thomas
- Stefan Brogren as Archie Simpson
- Marcus Bruce as Mr. Colby
- Michael Carry as Simon Dexter
- Amanda Cook as L.D. Delacorte
- Irene Courakos as Alexa Pappadopolos
- Angela Deiseach as Erica Farrell
- Maureen Deiseach as Heather Farrell
- Anais Granofsky as Lucy Fernandez
- Michelle Goodeve as Ms. Avery
- Neil Hope as Derek Wheeler
- Pat Mastroianni as Joey Jeremiah
- Bill Parrot as Shane McKay
- Nicole Stoffman as Stephanie Kaye
- Amanda Stepto as Christine Nelson
| v - e - d |
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| Eggbert • A Helping Hand... • Great Expectations • Dinner & a Show • Stage Fright • Fight! • Bottled Up • Sealed With a Kiss • Dog Days • Censored • Trust Me • ...He's Back • Pass Tense |