Redemption Song is the tenth episode of Season 5 of Degrassi: The Next Generation. It aired on November 21, 2005 in Canada and on December 16, 2005 in the United States.
Summary[]
Darcy invites Spinner to the Friendship Club's annual camp out—but a surprise guest, Jay, makes things go awry.
Main Plot[]
As Darcy prepares to leave for Friendship Club's annual campout, she tries to persuade Spinner to come with her.
Nearly accepting Jay's offer to party in the ravine after being shunned by Jimmy & Marco and mocked by Craig when he tries to help with the mural, Spinner decides to head out with Friendship Club on their retreat, which makes Darcy happy.
Spinner seems to question Christianity a lot with Linus in a debate and asks, "if Jesus didn't want us to have sex he'd have made every woman look like Quasimodo's sister".
Everyone appears to be having fun until another member of Friendship Club confronts Spinner about asking God for forgiveness about Jimmy.
Feeling betrayed by Darcy for telling his secret to the Friendship Club, Spinner walks off and calls Jay to pick him up.
He tells Darcy that their relationship was a mistake, but his plans to leave are cancelled when Jay decides he wants to hit on some of the Christian girls at the retreat.
Spinner and Darcy make up, and Darcy reveals she bends the rules sometimes, proving this by drinking some of the beer from Jay's car.
When Jay offers the idea to privately talk with one of the girls, Spinner tells him to take a hike and go home.
While Spinner is busy with something, Jay gets the idea into Darcy's head that Darcy will lose Spinner to Manny if she doesn't have sex with him.
Unaware of what Jay had told Darcy, Spinner is surprised and happy that Darcy would let him go this far. He continues kissing her neck until he realizes she is crying.
After Darcy tells him everything, Spinner heads off, finds Jay and fights with him, thus ending their friendship.
After Jay has left, Spinner sits with Darcy, wondering how someone like Jesus or God could forgive him for everything he has done wrong in his life: his friendship with Jimmy, how he mistreated Marco for his sexuality & cheating on Paige. But Darcy will assure him, he'll find Jesus to set things right & be better.
Sub Plot[]
Hazel surprises Jimmy with plans for a summer road trip through the Southern United States. After an entire year since last year's shooting, Jimmy wins the opportunity to paint a mural for the school.
As Hazel starts to notice how close Ellie and Jimmy have become, she becomes jealous of their relationship.
Ellie surprises Jimmy by saying that she got a website design contract and wants Jimmy to do the artwork.
When Hazel finds a girl that looks exactly like Ellie in Jimmy's mural, she throws a bucket of orange paint at him.
Hazel breaks up with Jimmy as he admits he likes Ellie.
- The episode is named after the song "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley.
- This episode marks the end of Hazel and Jimmy's relationship, the longest running teenage relationship in DTNG history at almost two years.
- The scene where Darcy almost had sex with Spinner in the woods and the scene where Jay was playing volleyball, were used in Shenae Grimes and Mike Lobel's montage in the opening credits of Seasons 6 and 7.
- The episode takes place exactly a year after Time Stands Still (1).
Regular Cast (Ordered Alphabetically)
- Lauren Collins as Paige Michalchuk
- Melissa DiMarco as Daphne Hatzilakos
- Jake Epstein as Craig Manning
- Stacey Farber as Ellie Nash
- Aubrey Graham as Jimmy Brooks
- Shane Kippel as Spinner Mason
- Andrea Lewis as Hazel Aden
- Mike Lobel as Jay Hogart
- Adamo Ruggiero as Marco Del Rossi
Supporting Cast
- Ishan Dave as Linus
- Shenae Grimes as Darcy Edwards
- Ashley Newbrough as Melinda
- Caroline Park as Kim
Absences
- Sarah Barrable-Tishauer as Liberty Van Zandt
- Stefan Brogren as Archie Simpson
- Deanna Casaluce as Alex Nuñez
- Ryan Cooley as J.T. Yorke
- Jake Goldsbie as Toby Isaacs
- Jamie Johnston as Peter Stone
- Pat Mastroianni as Joey Jeremiah
- Miriam McDonald as Emma Nelson
- Stacie Mistysyn as Caitlin Ryan
- Cassie Steele as Manny Santos
- Amanda Stepto as Christine Nelson
Spinner: "Ms. Kwan?"
Paige: "And someone has got to wash these brushes."
Marco & Paige in unison: "Ew!"
Melinda: "And your mom, is she okay?"
Jay: "Well, I helped her through her painkiller addiction, but, once she was in drug rehab, it was like, I was addicted, addicted to helping people."
Melinda: "Really?"
Jay: "Yeah."
Melinda: "So, that's why you left school?"
Jay: "And headed down to South America, yes. To the mountains of Ecuador. I built a church, and a one room school, and a well. It just, it felt so good, you know?"