Considering the events that closed out last week's ep, it's no surprise that we begin this week's at the courthouse, where Emma sits patiently in the hallway until Peter walks out with his dad and Hazilakos. As he reunites with Emma, we learn two valuable lessons:

1) Having a dad who is a social-climbing douche - because remember, no self-respecting father buys his son a Saab - will get you a slap on the wrist for illegal street racing and being an accessory to what might be manslaughter;
And 2) Emma has a new "Zero Tolerance on Shawn Cameron Talk" policy...which, judging by her borderline "ew, gross" expression when Peter kisses her, will die out in about 30 minutes.

Naturally, Peter is charged with starting the morning video announcements with a mea culpa. "I'm sorry for tarnishing Degrassi's reputation," he says solemnly. Which makes me laugh, considering his turn as a junior pornographer didn't merit any public apology to Manny last year.

Speaking of Manny, as she and Emma walk the halls they run down Peter's wrist-slap, Manny makes mention of how hard this must be on Shawn. Apparently she wasn't present during last week's ep when she spent most of her scenes telling Shawn to stay away from Emma - you'd think she'd be all over his jail time.

Peter appears and bitches about being under house arrest, which means he can't take Emma to the dance. OMG, who's she gonna dance "Stairway To Heaven" with?!? In typical Emma fashion, she comes up with a solution during the student council meeting - a masquerade ball that will ensure Peter can jump bond, so to speak, without getting publicly busted.

Time for subplot two! Ellie is pissed that her article on the tuition rally was deleted by her ball-breaking editor. That's pretty much it.

Enough of that, though, 'cause Jay is back at Degrassi, which means Emma has to go butt her nose into his business. Naturally they start sparring - he's all, "You totally love Shawn!" and she's all "Nu uh!" - until Jay tells her Shawn's hearing is tomorrow and he can't make it, so she should 'cause Shawn really needs a friend. Obviously Emma is going to go, 'cause not only does she totally have the Shawn Hots, but she loves a cause. And I'm gonna use the word "cause" in this paragraph one more time. Just 'cause.

Subplot two: Ellie begs for another shot at writing for the newspaper, and hard-ass editor asks her out. Specifically, he asks her out "for a beer." How Canadian! The blind can see where this is going.

Peter skips out on his mom and finds the keys to his car, and Emma meets him on a street corner pointing out he can get in serious trouble for driving without a license. He can also get in serious trouble for street racing and planting pot in someone's locker, but he's avoided any repercussions there, so what the hell!

When they start to kiss, Peter complains about how Emma's hair smells - honey vanilla, for those of you keeping score at home, and believe it or not, this will be of significance later. They get into a discussion about Shawn being in jail - turns out the dude that got hit is fine - and Emma splits, leaving Peter in the car looking pissy.

Subplot two: jerk editor drops Ellie off at home and kisses her at the door on the way out. Scandal!

Meanwhile, Emma is trying to choose a "respectful not funerial" outfit for Shawn's hearing when Manny appears to lecture her about playing both sides, although I wish she'd have used a Sean Connery voice when doing so. The next day Emma shows up in court and sees Shawn all battered, and rather than tell her the truth - he got jumped in jail - he gives her the battered wife line: "I fell." Into someone's fist? She hugs him, and he coos, "Vanilla. I miss that smell." Foreshadow much? Unfortunately Shawn's public defender didn't show, so he's in serious danger of spending the rest of his teen years ensuring he doesn't drop soap...

...which means it's time for Emma to jump into Cause Mode! She attempts to collect money during the dance to help aid in getting Shawn a better lawyer - because the average Canadian teenager carries enough cash around to really make a dent in that cost - when Manny plays devil's advocate once again and points something out that Emma didn't think of before.

See, Peter bought her a mask for the dance. How'd she find it? In her locker. Now, how did it get there when she's never told Peter her combo? That's exactly what she asks Peter when she pulls him into the hall and shoves him against the lockers, and he finally cops to planting the pot. "When you see me in the hall, don't look at me," Emma says as menacingly as she can. "When you see me in class, don't talk to me. Because you and me are done!" With that, she shoves him into the lockers again, which brings Hazilakos out into the hall, which ensures that Peter will be under mommy's watch until the age of 35.

Naturally, Emma winds up visiting Shawn in jail to tell him that she raised enough money to maybe pay off a guard to keep from beating him for half a day, and Snake is arranging to get him a better public defender. Then she gives him a bottle of her vanilla shampoo in hopes that it's close enough to the real thing for him. It's all very heart wrenching and touching, which means it can only end in disaster down the road when Shawn gets out of jail and he gives it a real go with Emma again. C'mon, like you don't know that's gonna happen.

As for subplot two, Ellie's fellow journalists at the paper start snickering about her sudden shift in responsibility at the paper, making damn sure to let her know that she's one in a long line of froshes to take the interest of demon editor. So rather than take a music week assignment, she downgrades and reads the riot act to Mr. Editor, who tells her no, really, he honestly likes her, and they'll just keep their little fling a secret. Yeah, that's going to end well.

Last but not least, I figure I should give an award for the most obvious quote of the episode, which goes to Manny for this gem: "Look, I know my advice isn't always Dr. Phil solid." Good lord, next thing you know she'll be telling us the sky is blue!