The friendship between Archie Simpson and Eli Goldsworthy began in Season 10, when Eli made his mark at Degrassi with his academics, mischief, and charming personality.
Friendship History[]
Overview[]
The men met because Archie was the principal of Eli's high school, and had the goth in his office for many reasons: good and bad.
They got off to a rough start when Eli's rivalry with Mark Fitzgerald resulted in extremes like police visits, knives, disrupted exams, stink bombs, and lockdowns. Once Archie realized it was mostly caused by Fitz, the boy was expelled and arrested. Eli then became a star pupil, having outstanding grades and taking over as the head director of the drama department with Archie's permission. Archie also helped handle Eli's bipolar issues since the teen was diagnosed by keeping an eye out for him at school for his father and dealt with his problems right away.
When Eli found the body of Campbell Saunders on campus, he was traumatized and Archie helped by trying to relate to him since he found the body of Claude Tanner when he was attending Degrassi.
Season 10[]
Between Try Honesty (2) and Purple Pills (2), security and local police had to deal with Eli and Fitz's rivalry on or near campus, which caused stress for Archie.
In All Falls Down (1), Mr. Simpson is walking past the library and he is confronted by Eli and Clare. They tell him that they know who threw the stink bomb. Eli tells him that it's Fitz who did it. Mr. Simpson asks Clare if it's true, and she tells him that she thinks so. He thanks them and leaves, apparently he gets Fitz in trouble. Fitz confronts Eli about Simpson questioning him about the stink bomb. Fitz puts him in a headlock, only letting go when he notices a teacher watching them. Eli contemplates getting back at him, but Clare, worried, distracts him. After Clare tells Eli that she's going to the dance with Fitz so that he would leave Eli alone, Eli is upset, but seems to go along with the idea after she persuades him not to fight it. After she leaves, Eli confronts Fitz and tries to threaten him if he hurts her. Fitz makes a joke about sleeping with her, enraging him. Later, while Clare, Alli, and Jenna are getting ready at her house, Eli arrives and tries to convince Clare to put ipecac in Fitz's drink during the dance, which would induce vomiting and make him sick. She refuses, saying it wouldn't stop the violence, which upsets him.
In All Falls Down (2), Clare finds Fitz with a corsage near his locker. She asks him if he had brought it for her, and he replies that it was his mother who suggested he bring one. Their conversation quickly moves to the on-going feud that is happening between Fitz and Eli, and she asks him if he would be willing to end the feud should Eli apologize. Fitz decides he would, but only if that condition is met. At the dance, Clare gets them to talk to each other and, much to her relief, succeeds in convincing Eli to apologize. Eli then proposes a toast, but Clare gets suspicious and asks Eli and Fitz to switch cups. Fitz takes a drink and starts vomiting violently. Eli finds this extremely funny, but Clare is furious with him and tells him that whatever happens next, he deserves it. After Clare finds Fitz and attempts to apologize for Eli's actions, she realizes Fitz has a knife in his possession. She runs to Adam, informing him of the situation and telling him to tell Principal Simpson and find Eli. The school is put on lockdown and Mr. Simpson calls the police, who are on their way. Clare finally finds Eli in the hallway and warns him that Fitz has a knife, but Eli refuses to leave, saying he won't allow Fitz to scare him. Fitz appears, holding the knife, and Eli pushes Clare to the side telling her to stay away from him. Fitz then backs Eli up into a corner and Eli begs him not to do it, but Fitz's replies, "Someone has to shut you up." He jerks the knife forward, making Clare cry out in terror, but has actually stabbed the wall next to Eli. Clare runs to Eli who had sunk to his knees, paralyzed with fear. The cops arrive and arrest Fitz. As Eli and Clare are walking out, Eli explains to Clare that he was bullied relentlessly as a child, which is the reason he couldn't stand backing down to Fitz. Clare insists that it still wasn't the right thing to do, and that if he is going to be acting like this all the time, she can't be with him. Adam reports to Mr. Simpson that Fitz brought a knife to the Night In Vegas dance. He gets on the microphone and shuts the music off, and tells the school it is in lockdown. He calls the police and everyone evacuated, especially when Fitz was found and the knife was in the wall. Mr. Simpson had Fitz arrested, and they took him in the police car. He confronts Clare and Eli outside, and tells them that he doesn't know what happened, Clare and Eli told him the truth and about blaming Fitz and the stink bomb and everything. Mr. Simpson is upset that they lied to him and is extremely mad at them. He then goes to Holly J. and Sav and he tells them that they broke their promises. He isn't tolerating their explanation, and he tells everyone that after break they won't even recognize the school anymore.
in When Love Takes Over, Eli is given permission by Ms. Dawes and Archie to direct his first play at the school since he has gotten his grades even further up, along with his behavior.
In Drop the World (1), Archie congratulates Eli for being published for Stalker/Angel.
Season 11[]
In Cry Me A River (2), Archie and Mrs. Dawes put Eli and Fiona in charge of the school play.
In Extraordinary Machine (2), Eli talks to Imogen before the play's dress rehearsal, and she thinks they are together. Eli says "The only thing keeping me from Clare is Jake," and Imogen looks upset, realizing that they aren't together. Later, Eli comes up with an idea to plant his pills into Jake's bag. Imogen blurts out "But what about us?!" and Eli responds with "You can't be with someone with someone between you." Imogen twists his words and thinks that if she gets rid of Clare, she will be able to have Eli, and Imogen volunteers to plant the drugs, actually putting them in Clare's bag, not Jake's. Eli becomes enraged, and yells at Imogen, saying she's nothing to him. Eli devises a plan to get Clare off the hook, and tells Mr. Simpson that the pills were his, and that Clare was just holding them for him. Mr. Simpson asks Clare if it's true, and she agrees, even though she was still mad. Mr. Simpson then tells Eli that he has to tell his parents about the incident since he made a deal with Bullfrog to keep an eye on him so this can't go unlooked, and Eli agrees. Before the play, he admits to Fiona that he's a mess and can't do it, but she makes him act anyway, since Imogen didn't show up. In the middle of the play, he looks out to Clare, who is staring at him, and he forgets his lines. Eli decides to tell the audience that although he changed the ending many times, it still won't be a happy ending. He goes on about how your mind will trick you, and that he was the one who was wrong and he was the one who hurt people, implying he was talking about his relationship with Clare and jerking around Imogen. He starts to burn his script on stage while he cries, and everyone gives him a standing ovation, including Clare, who is also crying. Archie and Bullfrog are seen in the audience looking shocked but still manage to stand and clap. After the play, Bullfrog and Eli have a talk about why he isn't taking his pills and that Bullfrog is afraid that he might lose Eli if he doesn't stop what he's doing. Eli comes to the conclusion that he wants to get better for himself, not Clare. Bullfrog pulls Eli out of Degrassi after talking to Archie for a couple days for some "family therapy." Eli leaves Degrassi smiling while Clare watches him go.
In Dead and Gone (2), Archie doesn't attend prom to supervise the dance himself. He takes a break and gives the supervision to Winnie Oh, who left the dance unattended. As a result, Vince Bell intruded the dance and shot Eli's friend Adam Torres in the shoulder.
Season 12[]
In Come As You Are (1), Eli listens to Simpson's assembly introducing the Ice Hounds and eliminating the school uniforms.
In Gives You Hell (1), Eli goes to Archie to ask to produce another play for his NYU portfolio, but Snake tells him that Becky already asked, and that they should work together. Eli meets Becky at The Dot, and she tells him that she worked on many plays and ran the drama club at her old school. She agrees on a partnership and asks him to help her hang up cast/crew volunteering posters, but he tells her he already has a crew and that she should just bring refreshments. The next day, at lunch, Eli walks up to Clare, steals her bag lunch and throws it out. He tells her that he's taking her out for lunch, and they begin talking about Becky. Eli is annoyed by her and wants to work on the play by himself, but Clare wants him to be civil with her and try to cooperate. Later at the first meeting, Eli thanks Imogen for coming and then begins to pitch his idea for "Death of a Salesman" play to the crew. Becky then tells him that she already got an okay from Mr. Simpson to do "Romeo and Juliet. The Musical." He is upset, and says he doesn't know anything about musicals, but Archie tells him to improvise.
In Gives You Hell (2), Eli approaches Simpson after auditions to ask if the theme can be "Romeo & Jules" with a gay couple, after liking Tristan's performance and noticing Becky's homophobic behavior. Archie okays the idea, and Eli goes to tell Becky. She is upset, and breaks into tears, saying that she can't be apart of something that condones alternative lifestyle choices outside of what she was raised to believe was right. Eli is shocked at her reaction, and tells her that Simpson has no problem with it when she threatens to involve him. She gasps, and ask how the principal of the school could support homosexuality (not knowing that Archie was once homophobic, but got used to it with a homosexual older brother). She then storms off in anger.
In Sabotage (1), Simpson talks to Clare and Dallas in his office about the incident with the article and the beer and giving them 3 weeks of detention each. Eli is waiting for Clare with Katie and Jake outside of the office. Clare explains to Eli what happened with Asher and he promises to help her plot something.
In Scream (1), Clare comes to Eli and asks if he thought about ways to get back at Asher, but Eli is too busy. He said he would work on it. Later, Eli is going to help Clare, but Fiona tells him Simpson made them stop selling tickets and needs him in his office. In his office, Archie says that a group of students and parents have complained against the play and wants Eli to walk through the subject matter to the concerned parties, still having hope in the play. Eli, Fiona, and Simpson then walk over to the crew and Eli talks to them about the rumors but tells them the play will go on.
Dave meets with Eli and gives him some advice on how to win them over. When presenting his case, Eli is dressed as a religious figure while quoting scripture about love and acceptance. Archie is seen smiling and believing the crowd is starting to warm up. But as it turns out, homosexuality is not the only issue. Dallas proposes that its irresponsible to glorify suicide at a time when so many teenagers are taking their own lives. Eli offers to show them the last scene, but the group are still not impressed and Archie tells him they will tell him the outcome after talking.
He then decides to rush and change the end after making a deal with the group, while at the same time Clare comes again to ask about Asher, but Eli still hasn't given it any thought but will work on it. He talks with Imogen and gets an idea on the issue then receives the news of the approval for the play. Eli tells Clare he has done some unhealthy and insane 'plans' in the past so they shouldn't do anything to Asher. He tells her to talk to Ms. Oh. She declines, but he feels so strongly about this that he has already told Ms. Oh and Helen about Asher's abuse and is waiting to talk to Clare about it.
In Scream (2), Archie tells Eli that the play is still on and he believes in him. He is later seen attending Romeo & Jules' opening night.
In Bitter Sweet Symphony (2) , Eli is running after Clare with breakfast sandwiches and coffee, hoping that Clare will forgive him. Clare is reluctant at first, but he then says how he loves her so much that he can't think straight. She says that she feels the same way, which is why when they were talking about taking the next step, she may have been serious. Eli agrees to talk about it after they eat, but he sees something that turned out to be Cam Saunder's body and drops the food. He quickly spins Clare towards him and tells her to find a teacher and call 911, she tries to look but he screams at her to run and she gets Archie, who calls the police and then breaks the news to Cam's loved ones that he is dead.
In Ray of Light (2), Clare finds out Eli took ecstasy at the secret party with Talia instead of doing homework like he said. Talia then comes up to them and gives Eli his shirt, with more pills hidden in it. Clare is angry and runs off after telling Eli that he needs to find a healthy way to cope with discovering Cam's body.
Later, Fiona is helping Eli with his interview for NYU when she mentions to Eli that he shouldn't work on the video yearbook. Eli asks why and Fiona says that he should talk to Clare about it. He then gets up and goes to take Clare's chili. Clare says that he can't dictate what she can and cannot eat and Eli says that she can't dictate what he can or cannot do. Clare then says that he took drugs and that they should talk about it and says that he probably should postpone his NYU interview. Eli then mentions that the interview is in 15 minutes and angrily leaves the cafeteria. When Eli finishes his interview, he is excited and sees Clare. She walks up to him and congratulates him. Eli suggests that they celebrate but Clare thinks it is better if they talk about the drugs. They sit down and talk then Eli remembers the scene from when he found Cam's body. He then leaves her and runs to the auditorium and sits in the back of the dark stage, then he starts to take drugs again.
Later, he is seen in the girl's change room taking a shower with his clothes on. Clare and Alli come in and question him on it, and he says that he may be taking drugs right now. Clare asks what the hell he's thinking and he says that for once nothing. Eli takes off all his clothes in front of the girls and makes a comment that Clare said that she wouldn't have sex with him because he was damaged, then gestures to his penis saying he doesn't look damaged.
And with that, Eli starts to streak through the Degrassi halls. Clare and Alli follow him until he bumps into Archie, who was stunned at what he was seeing. Simpson calmly says, "Eli...", and Eli smiles and says, "Mr. Simpson" then gives Snake a hug. Snake looks uncomfortable and then dismisses the girls, taking Eli to his office and calling Bullfrog. While Eli is in Simpson's office with Bullfrog, they make a call to his therapist and say that he has an appointment set for tomorrow. Simpson says that his actions could've gotten him suspended or even expelled but he says that he needs to finish his last year in order to get accepted into NYU. Simpson then says that they have a lot in common. He brings up the fact that he also found another student who committed suicide during his senior year and that all those emotions just don't go away overnight, but get better over time. Eli says that people keep pressuring him to talk when talking isn't what he wants to do right now. He says that it could've been him who was in the greenhouse last year and that he could've died. He starts to cry and him and Bullfrog embrace while Simpson watches with an understanding expression.
Trivia[]
- Both caused trouble in high school.
- Both have discovered the body of a student who had committed suicide on campus at Degrassi.
- Archie found Claude Tanner in the bathroom in Showtime (1).
- Eli found Campbell Saunders in the greenhouse in Bitter Sweet Symphony (2).
- Archie made an agreement with Bullfrog Goldsworthy to watch out for Eli in season 11.
- Archie has helped Eli many times; With his conflict with Fitz, when he was almost stabbed, when he has bipolar outburst, when his drugs were planted in Clare's backpack, when he was traumatized by Cam's body, and more.
- Eli seemed to be the "next Emma Nelson" in this case, since Archie aided her numerous times during her time at Degrassi.
- They both were rivals with a Torres: Archie was rivals with Audra and Eli was rivals with Drew.
- They both support the LGBT.
- They both graduated from Degrassi: Archie in 1992 and Eli in 2013.
- Both have dated a girl who was in a different grade.
- Archie dated Melanie Brodie who was in the 8th grade.
- Eli dated Clare Edwards who was a junior.
- Both had cheated on their love interests.
- Both were bullied by bad boys.
- Archie with Dwayne Myers and Eli with Mark Fitzgerald.
- Eli has a lot in common with Archie's best friend Joey Jeremiah.
- Both were naked at school.
- Both had gotten into fights with the school bully.
- Joey with Dwayne Myers and Eli with Fitz.
- Both had a love interest named Julia who passed away.
- Joey's wife Julia Manning-Jeremiah.
- Eli's ex-girlfriend Julia.
- Both dated a "Good Girl."
- Joey dated Caitlin Ryan and Eli dated Clare Edwards.
- Both had cheated on their girlfriends.
- Joey cheated on Caitlin with Tessa Campanelli, Tessa with Caitlin, and Sydney with Caitlin and Eli cheated on Clare with Lenore Mantino.
- Both had on and off relationships with their girlfriends.
- Joey with Caitlin and Eli with Clare.
- Both were broken up by their girlfriends for someone else.
- Caitlin broke up with Joey for Claude Tanner and Clare broke up with Eli for Drew Torres.
- They are both friends with Archie.
- They both appeared in 100 or more episodes: Archie (194) and Eli (113).
Quotes[]
- Archie: "When I was your age I found the body of a classmate who committed suicide. It doesn't get better over night."
Eli: "Everyone is, pressuring me to talk.. and I don't want to." - Eli: "I have reason to believe it was Mark Fitzgerald who set off the stink bomb."
- Archie: "Eli, are these yours?" (Archie recognizing Eli's pills in Clare's backpack)
