#Both of which Eli drew and both of which I love dearly

[strange-alchemy]

[purplerakath]

Zoe Rivas: Boy Crazy?

So this is a phrase that’s bandied about to describe Zoe Rivas in S13-14, but I don’t feel it fits as well as the use suggests. Zoe has a lot of plots about boys but just as easily the focus could be put elsewhere. And if you compare her to other characters her actions are a  lot easier to defend and explain.

Defend as in ‘explained by plot and character’ not defend as in ‘Zoe Rivas is a good person.’

Now I’m looking at the whole arc of Zoe, not just individual writing arcs of the show, so while she was written early on as straight with probably little idea she’d be gay... we’re keeping that later retcon in mind for this. 

Cut for length go!

Let’s look at someone really Boy Crazy.

So Clare Edwards, I love her dearly, but she’s kind of a mess when boys get involved. She and Alli both, but I like Clare more so she gets the focus here. A pretty boy comes into her life and she’s writing vampire fanfic about them in two minutes. Her entire world comes undone about boys, three times!

And even outside of Eli, Drew, and Jake, she wasn’t all there over K.C. and Declan either.

Now we’re using her as one extreme of the metric. Now let’s look at someone who is overall pretty by the book over boys.

I’m so Sorry Cardivas shippers.

So Grace has, overall, first response to boys being idiots has been... call them idiots. The only time she really has a crisis over any boy is once over Zig in Season 2. Which was all sorts of sketch but we can safely put all of that strictly on Grace and a boy with no other explanation.

If they wanted to focus more on ‘Grace has a crisis of not being normal’ they missed their shot as this was it.

So why these two examples? Because even compared to Grace I do not believe Zoe gets anywhere near boy crazy.

A Means to an End

Without exception, Zoe Rivas’s interactions with boys can be framed as a desire to belong. That each boy gets her an ‘in’ to something she wants, and that the boy is just a part of the package. And if she finds that belonging, the boy becomes expendable. And if she loses that belonging, the boy becomes suddenly more important. At the time we didn’t know the extent of why until we fully saw how unaccepting and controlling her mother is in NC3.

Miles Part 1: Zoe was a disgraced actress on the outs with the industry, and her gold digging mom would have likely suggested a high class hook-up would be cruise control for getting back into the game. Miles is well bred, well groomed, and a magnet for attention. Her endeavoring to keep him (and keep Maya away) can easily be put on Zoe being the dutiful daughter she was, following her mother’s wishes more closely than later on.

Drew Part 1: Drew was a tool to get herself up in power, big man on campus, popular, older. Even if it didn’t net her global notice it gained her social standing in the school.

Drew Part 2: More of the first, but with Drew going places he now was as much a foothold into a global stage. Being on Drew’s arm meant being seen in the Hollingsworth mayoral run as much as being with Miles would do.

Zig Part 1: This is where a shift happens. I’ll put some of this on Maya and Becky at the end of Unbelievable as well, people showed Zoe actual care and compassion and she accepted it was without ulterior motive. And Zig, as much as he barks, is a big dumb puppy dog of care when he isn’t an utter moron. There was no motive on Zoe’s part, she just liked being accepted by someone. Someone cares if she lives or dies just for the sake of her living or dying. This is the same shift that Holly J had with Spin giving her a second chance in S8.

Zig Part 2: So like immediately after that... Zoe tries to go for Zig, and the moment Zig did anything she dumped him like a bad penny. Because Zoe had already found a place to belong, one that didn’t need a boy. Because we’d started the Degrassi Nudes plot and she had the cheer squad on her side. Once that plot started to blow up, Zoe had to sacrifice Frankie to the masses over the nudes thing, she started looking for Zig again. However he was a distant second to the Cheer Squad, and that plot died in 14B.

Miles Part 2: So I haven’t mentioned Miles in a while, he and Zoe have been in and out since they dated in 13A, but there is a definite understanding between them. I’d say he and Zoe are in the same place as he and Lola in NC3. Understanding more than Love. Which is just more acceptance of each other. No seriously go rewatch Hollingvas scenes, their connection is pretty cool but it never really feels romantic.

Zig Part 3: So if you thought Zig had anything to do with this, you’re wrong.

Winston: So remember where Zoe is right now. She fell for a girl who dumped her, blew up all her friendships except Miles and (variably) Tristan. She’s feeling as wretched and unlovable as she ever has, but Winston loves her. Is it any surprise she tries to make that work? That she wanted to be with someone who obviously wants to be with her, regardless of everything she’s done and is?

These don’t track as boy crazy, not in the way Emma, Manny, Clare, or Clare have done insane or stupid things for the sake of any boy, or a specific boy. Conniving, underhanded, self serving, ambitious... sure. But Boy Crazy seems like a stretch.