Staying In

The next episode of Being Erica‘s second season, which is currently airing in Canada on CBC, will feature a familiar face known to Degrassi: The Next Generation fans as Craig Manning.

Yes, Jake Epstein guest stars in Tuesday’s episode. Epstein was Degrassi‘s bad news heartthrob for quite a while, juggling girls, a budding music career, bipolar disorder and a drug addiction. But as the recent Degrassi Goes Hollywood movie displayed, Craig seems to have made a turn for the better.

It’s nice to see the actor back on TV — he’s been keeping busy as Melchior in the national tour of the musical Spring Awakening — and as someone who seems pretty pivotal in Erica’s journey. You can check out a promo here. The official episode description for the installment, titled “Battle Royale,” follows:

A lover’s quarrel between Erica and Ethan sends Erica back to camp, where discovering the truth about a broken teenage romance teaches her that the only sure path through conflict is communication.

Skimming over the lover’s quarrel part — it was bound to happen; they’ve been too happy — Epstein is hardly the first Degrassi alum to guest on the series. Being Erica creator Jana Sinyor and executive producer Aaron Martin both worked as executive producers/writers on Degrassi for several years. They seemed to have called in some favors with their old actors.

Paula Brancati

On Degrassi: Jane, a takes-no-BS goth (punk? I don’t know. Kids and their terms these days…) chick who starts a relationship with Spinner when Lakehurst High School merges with Degrassi. How hardcore is Jane? She joins the boys’ football team. She’s also an aunt, thanks to the loser brother who knocked up Mia (Nina Debrov).

On Being Erica: Has a recurring role as Erica’s high school friend Jenny. Fun, flirty and girly, Jenny is so completely different from Brancati’s Degrassi character, it took me several episodes just to place her. Also, she gets Erica to do karaoke. Awesome.

John Bregar

On Degrassi: Dylan, Marco’s hockey-loving boyfriend for several seasons and brother of Paige. He eventually the left series when Dylan went off to play professional hockey in Switzerland.

On Being Erica: Episode 1×02, “What I Am Is What I Am.” Breaking away from his good guy image on Degrassi, Bregar played the not so nice head of a secret society, Literati. He leads Erica to betray Ethan’s girlfriend for some scoop, which is published in the Literati slampaper newspaper.

Aubrey Drake Graham

On Degrassi: Jimmy Brooks, the school’s star basketball player until a school shooting leaves him paralyzed below the waist. He later becomes the coach for the girls’ basketball team. Jimmy also dabbled in music, composing a rap for girlfriend Ashley’s song, which caused quite a rift when she deleted it from the demo. Hopefully, life doesn’t imitate art for the emerging rap artist.

On Being Erica: Episode 1×02, “What I Am Is What I Am.” A member of the Literati secret society. He doesn’t really say much, but does get buried alive temporarily as part of an initiation ritual.

Lauren Collins

On Degrassi: Paige, the girl you hated in high school. You know the one. Cheerleader. Perfect student. Popular boyfriend. Affair with the hot, young teacher. Accepted into a Ivy League school. Oh yeah, and a foray into lesbianism. Okay, maybe it wasn’t all perfect. Paige was raped, her relationship with Alex crashed and burned twice and she had a panic attack during an exam, eventually leading her to drop out of university. She’s currently living in Hollywood. Naturally.

On Being Erica: Episode 1×08, “This Be the Verse.” Dr. Tom sends Erica back in time to the ’60s to witness her parents as young, hippie lovers. Okay, maybe the younger version of Erica’s mom Barbara, played by Collins, isn’t so much of a hippie and more of a camp-loving pretender. Still, it’s fun to see Collins play in such a different time period, even if her character is not quite as free-spirited as the time.

Can I put in a vote for Stacey Farber, Adamo Ruggiero and Cassie Steele to guest?