Eric Osborne

The thirteenth season of Degrassi, a Canadian serial teen drama television series, premiered July 11, 2013, concluded on July 29, 2014 in Canada and the United States, and consists of 40 episodes. Although only four school years have passed in the story timeline since season six, season thirteen is set during the summer through the first term of the spring semester in the years it aired. Writers have been able to use a semi-floating timeline, so that the issues depicted are modern for their viewers. This season depicts the lives of a group of high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduates as they deal with some of the challenges and issues that teenagers face such as cancer, texting while driving, death, sexism, sleep disorders, cyber bullying, domestic violence, rape, racial profiling and relationships. The thirteenth season was announced November 30, 2012, however MuchMusic and TeenNick did not announce picking up the season until a month before the first episode was scheduled to air. The show moved to MTV Canada part way through the season. MuchMusic had aired the series in Canada since 2010, and TeenNick has aired the series in the United States since 2002. Production for the season began in April 2013 at Epitome Pictures' studios in Toronto, Ontario. This season departs from the telenovela/soap opera format used in the previous three seasons. When Adam Torres, the only transgender character in the show's history, was killed off during this season, controversy ensued, including a statement from GLAAD.When Degrassi introduced its large and loyal audience to Adam Torres, an authentic, multi-dimensional transgender character, the show not only made television history, but set a new standard industry standard for LGBT inclusion. With so few transgender characters on television, we are disappointed that Adam’s story had to end this way, and we hope other shows will follow Degrassi’s lead in bringing stories like his to viewers...Linda Schuyler, one of the show's creators, defended the choice to kill the character, saying in a statement:The combination of Adam being a favorite character, and Jordan being at the end of her contract, presented a unique opportunity to tell this story through such a beloved character. As saddened as we are to say goodbye to Adam, we feel this storyline will affect even more lives in an authentic way...