Sean Cameron (Degrassi character)
Sean Cameron is a fictional high school student 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 guy at the school. His reputation in the first season is just that due to a tussle in Wasaga Beach where he deafened another kid in one ear. His bad guy status is confirmed again and again until the end of season three. However, he is sincere and loyal to his friends (for example, standing up for J.T. and Toby when Jay harasses them).
His characterization is criticized in the Season 3 episode "Take On Me." It is said to be totally different than the Sean before and after the episode, and was possibly transformed to make him act too much like John Bender, the character from the Breakfast Club.
Season 1
The New Kid
Sean was techinically the first character to not appear in the first three episodes. Sean had returned to Degrassi after a stunt in Wasaga Beach. He moved in with his brother, Tracker Cameron, and began reattending Degrassi Community School. However, he had been held back and faced unintended ridicule from Jimmy Brooks, an old friend. The two became fast enemies. Sean did meet someone he liked. Emma Nelson.
Injuries
Sean's social worker suggests he join the basketball team. Sean does so, and is envied by Jimmy. Jimmy grows afraid of being cut from the team over Sean, and takes drastic measures to look better than him. Jimmy, who does not have Attention Deficit Disorder, takes his friend Spinner's Ritalin which boosts his game. Jimmy purposefully fouls and hurts Sean to win the game. Tensions heighten between Sean and Jimmy.
Emma Loves Sean and Sean Shoves Emma
Sean and Emma are ready to share their first date together, but fate has its own plan -- to cover Emma in bird feces. Also, Emma talks without knowing she has ketchup on her lips. She is embarrassed even more in front of Sean. The date doesn't go as planned, but Sean proves to be a little deeper than dropping Emma for some bird poop, and other mishaps on the date.
And Sean has proven numerous times that he's in love with Emma. He sticks up for her humiliating dance at the cabaret, signs her petition for a tampon machine in the girls' washroom, and dances with her at the school dance. They are finally considered an item. But when exams near, Sean gets nervous for the media immersion exam. He begins to study with Emma who finds out why he left Wasaga Beach. Sean had deafened a kid in one ear in a fight. After the MI exam, Sean thinks he failed it and will fail at everything. Emma tries to convince him it would all be okay, but he tells her he fails everything anyway and storms off.
After an encounter with Jimmy, the two decide to fight after school. During the fight, Emma steps in to stop it. Sean, worked up from the fight, pushes her to the ground. The fight ends and so does his relationship with Emma -- for now.
Ecstasy Intervention
On the last day of school, Toby and Ashley's parents leave for the weekend and they are both allowed one friend over. J.T., who'd noticed Toby had been swooning over Emma the entire year, invites Sean to come over and hang out to teach Toby how to be bad. They only convince him to come when they lie that Emma will be there.
When Sean arrives, J.T. reveals that he has bought Ecstasy from his cousin. Sean instanly reconizes it (hint that he has done E before) tells them he will split it and goes downstairs. He switches the ecstasy with an aspirin pill, and gives the real ecstasy to Ashley to throw away. When he returns, J.T. finally calls Emma, Manny, and Liberty who show up later. When Emma sees Sean is there, she screams that she wouldn't have gone if she'd known he'd been there.
Sean, crying from his encounter, runs into Ashley (who has since taken the ecstasy he'd given her to throw away and been chastised by her boyfriend Jimmy for taking drugs) who pulls him into her room. She tells Sean that everyone expects her to be the good girl and him to be the bad guy. Their vulnerabilities catch up with them and they kiss. Sean, then leaves the house after his make out session with Ashley.
On the way out, he sees Emma who is crying. She leans on Toby as he sadly walks away.
During the original airing and many airings after, Daniel Clark acted as a commentator to this episode. During the commercials, he would tell viewers facts about ecstasy and explain why Ashley was acting the way she was.
Season 2
The Old New Kid and The New New Kid
Sean returns for another year at Degrassi with no friends. However, fate helps him on the first day when he runs into the new kid, Craig Manning. Craig and Sean begin to hang out together. However, Craig is being beaten by his father, and nobody knows. Craig, who has already tried to run off with his little sister, calls Sean up when he suspects his father will beat him again. When they meet at the train tracks outside of town, Craig asks Sean about his parents. Sean reveals they were both "dead beats." Craig askes if they used to hit him to which Sean replies, "No, they were too drunk to do anything. Total welfare cases."
Craig then askes Sean if he wanted to run away with him, to British Columbia. Sean askes Craig if he gets beaten by his father.
In the episode, When Doves Cry Part 2, a scene was cut in both Canada and United States until recently where Craig attempts to commit suicide via train. Sean quickly pushes him out of the way in the nick of time which prompts Craig to run away. Sean finds Emma, and she must put aside her indifference to him to help him find Craig.
Dialogue with Joey Jeremiah and Emma, and between Joey and Craig about the train was also cut. Craig soon moved in with Joey, and Sean and Craig began a long friendship. He appears in the episode "Drive," where he, Marco, Craig, and Spinner "borrow" a car from Joey's lot and win tickets to a concert, but are soon scolded for taking the car from an angry Joey, who later rips the tickets to shreds.
Sean and Ashley
Just when Ashley is finally recovering for her ecstasy mishap, Sean decides to call her and ask her out. Ashley quickly agrees. This doesn't go over well with Ashley's friends, however, who drop her for being a "slut," and breaking Jimmy's heart again, who thought they were going back out. She breaks off the date with Sean who is annoyed to discover she's choosing Paige, Hazel, and Terri over him. The two never had a connection again.
Spike & Snake and Emma & Sean
The wedding between Spike and Snake is nearing, and Sean is still in love with Emma. Emma's best friend Manny decides to take matters into her own hands and invites him to the wedding behind Emma's back. Emma doesn't feel the same way though. He is excited to go when Emma sends Manny to tell him it was a mistake to invite him.
Emma returns later to vent her problems. Since, she was angry at Manny and her mother was gone somewhere with Snake, she had nowhere else to turn to. In the end, she decides to reinvite Sean to the wedding.
After the co-union, Emma is looking for a dance partner. She soon spots Sean leaning sadly against a shady tree. The two dance and have their first kiss together. Emma and Sean begin dating again.
A Drunken Failure
When Sean's brother Tracker is fired from his work, he becomes discouraged. He becomes even more discouraged when he goes to eat dinner at Emma's house. He feels inferior to their financial situation, and decides that he will inevitably be a drunk. When he is getting water, he secretly pours vodka into his glass, and returns to the table.
With an angry buzz, he becomes defensive when Spike offers him the left overs. He takes it as an insult, and storms off. Emma, embarrassed by her parents, goes to find him at Jimmy's party. Sean betrays his renewed friendship with Jimmy by stealing his parents' booze. When Emma finds him, he's drunk. She tries to make him stop drinking, but he makes things worse by dropping the bottle on the floor. It shatters, and Jimmy kicks them out.
Emma calls on Spike to come and get them at Jimmy's. The next day, Sean thinks it's over between himself and Emma. Emma tells him that he isn't a failure, and he doesn't need to rely on alcohol. Sean, who was under the impression it was in his genes, finally promises not to drink.
Season 3
Goin' Gangsta
Things are slow between Sean and Emma, because she's been busy with Snake's cancer and the new baby. Sean witnesses Jay Hogart, Alex Nuñez, and Towerz, the bad kids in school, break into a vending machine. They give him a candy bar, and he meets up with Emma. However, his bad reputation hasn't made him look innocent in the vandalization of the vending machine, and Mr. Raditch interrogates him about it. Sean, angry that he'd been accused, attacks Jay in front of the school and the two fight.
In the principal's office, however, the two begin to bond and form a friendship.
When Sean goes to "Clean The Ravine" with Emma, he wants some time to kiss. They lay down in the ravine and begin to make out when Kendra Mason interrupts. She walks away, and Sean continues to kiss Emma who pushes him off. On the way back into school, Sean is sulky. Emma calls him pathetic for hanging out with Jay, and he calls her boring.
He, thinking it's over, hangs out with Jay that afternoon. Jay decides to break into the media immersion room and steal some stuff. When Jay wants to take the synthesizer, Sean encourages him to take Snake's new Alienware laptop instead.
The next day, Emma comes to make up with Sean in front of Jay. Sean informs her it's over and she leaves. Emma suspects he's behind the thefts at school.
After Sean begins to hang out with Jay and his crew, he and Craig aren't seen together again, and most likely, ended their friendship.
Liberty's Love
School marm Liberty Van Zandt isn't quite immune to love. She, who had just recovered from a long crush on J.T. Yorke, switches to Sean. Sean tells her bluntly that he doesn't like her, but she insists. Sean finally gives her the advice to go for Towerz, one of Sean's friends who is crushing on her. Liberty takes the advice.
This was one of the side stories to "Accidents Will Happen," the two part episode dealing with Manny Santos' and Craig Manning's pregnancy. The episodes were not shown in the United States. They were replaced by two "mini episodes" on The-N, one of which was Liberty's short lived crush on Sean.
Emma's Revenge
Emma, still hurt over the break up and jealous of Sean's new girlfriend Amy, begins to fall for the new guy, Chris Sharpe. But when Emma and Chris start to date, she convinces him to help her sabotage Sean. They go to Raditch, and lie to him, saying they saw Sean load equipment into Jay's car. When Raditch goes to search the car, Emma and Chris come to watch. Sean confronts her, asking if she was the anonymous source. Raditch overhears and askes if there's something Sean wants to say.
Sean: Yeah. Go to hell.
Sean is punished with a month's worth of Saturday detentions.
The Breakfast Club and The Different Sean?
"Take On Me" has been criticized for completely mischaracterizing Sean. His lines and actions are transformed to make him more like John Bender or The Criminal from The Breakfast Club. The episode was based on the forementioned movie. His character has been criticized to be too hyper active and offensive. After this episode (possibly even when he and Ellie meet on the roof) he goes back to being the Sean he was before and after the episode.
In this episode, he, Toby Isaacs, Hazel Aden, Ellie Nash, and Jimmy Brooks share a Saturday detention where they bond and become fast friends. Sean's turbulent relationship with Jimmy is even finally mended. When the group go on the roof, Sean and Ellie lay and look at the sky.
The two decide they like each other. They're both the subjects of many rumours, due to his criminal ways and her cutting tendencies. Sean changes his mind though when Ellie drops a tape recorder which she had been using to tape their conversations during detention in an attempt to solve the school thefts. Sean crushes the tape recorder and they leave, all angry with Ellie.
On Monday, Ellie apologizes to Sean. She tells him that she's sorry for recording the conversations. Sean accepts the apology and they begin dating.
Sean On His Own
When Tracker gets a new job far away, he tells Sean they will have to move. Sean, angry that he would be held back another year, pleads to stay. Ellie is gloomy due to his impending departure. However, when Sean finds out that he can live on his own on student welfare he takes the opportunity.
His house soon becomes a party house when Jay begins to invite people over for parties. Things are fine until Amy, who is jealous of Sean's new girlfriend, Ellie, drinks too much and gets alcohol poisoning. Sean and Ellie argue to Jay that they should call the police, but he disagrees. Against Jay's wishes, Sean calls the police temporarily breaking his friendship with Jay.
Sean's grades which have been faltering start to return to normal when he stops the parties.
Sean's Repentance
Sean, guilty of his old bad ways, admits that he stole Mr. Simpson's laptop to Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson is immediately angry and refuses to talk to Sean. Sean goes to the end of the year dance to try and patch things up, but Mr. Simpson is reluctant.
When Mr. Simpson leaves the dance, his car is broken. Sean tells him that he will fix his car for free, no matter how much labor it takes. Mr. Simpson quickly forgives Sean.
Season 4
Move In With Me
When things get more unbearable at Ellie's house with her mother perpetually drunk, Sean tries to convince her to move in with him. Ellie thinks it's a bad idea until her mother gets so drunk, she falls asleep as their house burns down. Ellie tells her mother she's going to stay with Ashley while the house is repaired, but goes to live with Sean. Things are fine until Ellie's mother calls Ashley's and finds that Ellie has been lying. Ellie's mother rushes over to Sean's in a drunken stupor and yells at Ellie. Sean intervenes, and is slapped in the face by her mother.
Her mother soon agrees to let Ellie live with Sean when Ellie reveals her cuts and tells her Mother that she's the one who made Ellie cut herself.
Sean Saves The Day But Loses Himself
When Rick Murray returns to Degrassi with a hand gun to get revenge on Jimmy and Emma, Sean and Toby intervene. As Rick advances on Emma, Toby and Sean try and convince him to stop. As Rick points the gun at Emma, Sean runs and tackles Rick. The two begin a scuffle and both fall to the floor when a gunshot is heard.
As a suspenseful element, the show goes immediately to commercial and doesn't reveal that Rick didn't survive the tussle until minutes later.
After the shooting, the students try and cope with "dealing" excercises set up by the teachers. Sean thinks it's all a joke though. He storms out of the school, and is met by a vindictive reporter for the local news. He, Emma, Jay, and Ellie enter a news van when the reporter tells Sean they interviewed his parents. When he sees his mother crying over him, he thinks it's a joke because he hasn't talked to them in years, and throws the monitor onto the ground.
He, Emma, Ellie, and Jay speed off in Jay's car to Wasaga Beach, so Sean can confront his past. He, first, yells at his parents for acting like they cared. They tell him they did care, and he tells them if they'd cared he would have been living with them. He angrily leaves and the four go to the beach to cool off.
They forget the shooting by playing around in the sand until Jay spots the kid Sean deafened, Tyler. He works at a jet ski rental booth, and they approach the booth. Jay insults Tyler by calling him retarded, and Tyler tells Sean that he heard he got into a fight at Degrassi. He asks Sean when it would stop, because a kid died this time. Sean tries to attack him, but Ellie and Emma break it up.
Sean rents a jet ski, and rides off into the waves at an alarming speed. He soon crashes and Tyler comes to the rescue. Sean, still feeling down, returns home. He tearfully admits that he was really scared when it happened. His mother hugs him, and his relationship with his parents is mended.
But when the time comes to leave, Sean tells the others he's not going. Sean decides to stay in Wasaga Beach with his parents. Ellie tells him it really hurts her, but she accepts it. Possibly, the saddest part, is his goodbye to Emma. As Jay's car leaves, she turns to get a last glance and they stare each other as the car drives away. Paying homeage to their relationship on the show in earlier seasons.
Jay and Emma's Sadness
Jay and Emma begin to bond near the end of season 4. Meeting through Sean, they both discuss how much they miss him.
Season 5
Sean remained in Wasaga Beach for the 5th season and is not at Degrassi.
Daniel Clark did return to host the "Degrassi Tells All" for the episode "White Wedding" with Jake Epstein (Craig) and Miriam McDonald (Emma).
Season 6
Sean and Emma
Sean returns to the show after being absent for a season. He returns back to Degrassi with the intentions of finishing high school there. Though he has other plans also. Emma and Peter run into Sean the day before school begins and find out that he's coming back to Degrassi. That day, he helps Peter customize his new car, getting Peter instantly hooked on street racing. After a race, Emma and Sean run away from the cops together and begin to kiss.
After Emma tells Peter that she wants to go on a break, Peter instantly realizes it's over Sean. Peter plants drugs in Sean's locker and Sean is later suspended, possibly expelled, from school. Sean decides to race Peter for revenge. During the race, a car pulls out ahead of Peter, and Peter swerves towards Sean's car, causing Sean to hit a near-by jogger. Jay tells Sean to run away, and Sean runs to Emma's house. Sean tells her that she's the only person left who'll help him. Emma replies back that she can't care for him anymore, as she is trying to get her life back on track. Sean turns himself into the police with tears in his eyes.
Prison Life
Sean is thrown in prison, and is completely miserable. He is jumped while in line to get food, and his face becomes extremely bruised. Emma comes to see him for his court case, which Sean's defense attorney doesn't show up for. Emma starts to raise money for a new lawyer, but doesn't succeed. Instead, Snake finds a public defense attorney that will show up. Once released, he wonders about Emma's life while he was in Wasaga. Upon finding out about Emma's time with Jay, he becomes angry with them both, quits his job, breaks up with Emmma and tries to hit Jay. Later he comes to terms with it and gets back together with Emma.
The Return
Sean soon makes it out of prison and returns once and for all to finally get his life straight. Shortly after his return he begins working with Jay as a mechanic. He also resumes his relationship with Emma. On the surface everything appears alright, but Sean senses something isn't right. Sean begins to notice that there is something wrong with Emma and Jay when they are near eachother, though they both tell him he's imagining things. Sean eventually gets Jay to confess about the incident at the ravine, much to his dismay. He proceeds to quit his job, break things off with Emma, and attempt to leave once again. This time, only to come to the conclusion that his relationship with Emma means more to him then her past mistakes. He returns to reconcile and once again move on with the next part of his life.