The love triangle of Eli Goldsworthy, Clare Edwards, and Jake Martin began when Jake and Clare started dating and Eli realized he still had feelings for her. Clare was in the center of the love triangle.
Love Triangle History[]
Overview[]
Eli and Clare's first relationship began in the episode All Falls Down and ended in the episode Drop the World (2) because Eli was too clingy; Clare felt as if he was manipulating and suffocating her. They reconciled their relationship in In The Cold, Cold Night (2) when they kiss at the frostival at the very end of Season 11. In Come As You Are (1) they officially get back together after winter break. Eli breaks up with Clare in Ray of Light (2) because Clare was listening but not hearing him always wanting to talk about Cam's death Eli tells her that Cam's not the problem you are," only for them to get back together in The Time of My Life and make love for the first time.
When Clare and Jake were children, Jake wasn't the nicest to her. Clare initially disliked him as he had a habit of throwing dead frogs at her. Jake offered Clare a way to move on, after she was upset with Eli in LoveGame, by kissing her. Clare seems to begin liking him, as she discusses the kiss with Alli later in the episode. Despite having feelings for Jake, Clare tries to hide them, worried about getting into another relationship. Things change, however, when Jake provides a way for them to have a relationship, without all the pain and hurt - being Friends With Benefits. Both decide to become official, after their feelings become to much to just be casual, although they hit a snag as their parents announce they are also dating. Clare and Jake continued dating in secret, with just a few small problems, but it all changes when Glen and Helen announce they are getting married. Glen already told Jake so he knew it. Jake congratulates them, while Clare is upset. Jake ends up breaking up with Clare at prom, wanting his dad to be happy. After seeing Clare again at his father's wedding, Jake confesses he still loves Clare, although she wants nothing to do with him after he hurt her. Only when she realizes she does, she catches him locking lips with Alli. Jake tells Clare, Alli kisses him, which leads Clare to cutting off ties with Alli and begin dating Jake again. After reuniting, believes she is ready to have sex with Jake, but after realizing her can't give her the forever she wants, Jake blows her off and leaves. Clare realizes they don't have a future together, with their parent's married, and breaks it off. When Jake starts hanging out with Jenna more Clare decides to move out. She ends up living with a girl named Summer. Jake gets worried and starts questioning her new home. Later it's revealed that Summer was a drug dealer and Jake goes after Clare before the police come and arrest Summer. Once they get home they decide being siblings could be great for the both of them. Throughout the end of season 11 they seem to be fine and are on good terms again. While Clare is dealing with the aftermath of Asher assulting her, Jake is seen comforting and trying to help Clare as best as he can, even by fighting the hockey team since they were bugging Clare.
Season 11[]
Adam and Eli talking to Jake.
In LoveGame, Clare can’t believe Eli is over her. She’s convinced his ‘normal’ behavior is a plot to win her back. At home her mother forces her to have dinner with family friends, Glen and Jake Martin. After an awkward conversation, Clare drags Jake to 'Above The Dot' to see her friends. She attempts to talk to Eli and fails, prompting her to scream the now famous line "Did three months mean nothing?! Did you flip a switch and erase me from your memory? It took you a year! A year to get over your ex! Did you ever love me at all?!" Jake stops her rant with "And... scene" and then drags her out of Above the Dot. She rants about Eli while walking home. Jake points out, quite bluntly, that she clearly needs the closure because he doesn't have feelings for her anymore and that it shouldn't be this intense drama. He helps her move on by initiating their first kiss. The next day, Clare is walking with Alli in the hallways and they talk about her kiss with Jake. She sees Eli at his locker and apologizes for her random outburst last night. Eli tells her he can't feel anything because he is now on anti-anxiety pills prescribed by his therapist. He then walks away leaving her shocked, ashamed, and upset with herself.
In Dirt Off Your Shoulder (1), due to his medication, Eli is able to talk to Clare without losing it. She tells him she needs to interview him as part of the drama section in the newspaper. He realizes he's out of time when Clare shows up for the interview. Eli considers resigning from the play, due to lack of inspiration, but the second Fiona asks Eli if Clare's a good writer, Eli rips the resignation out of Fiona's hands and tears it to shreds. Later, Eli still struggles to write. He looks over to the main lobby where Jake and Clare are talking. When he see Clare and Jake laughing and walking off together with their arms around each other, he tries to calm himself but freaks out and breaks a computer.
In U Don’t Know (1), Imogen is elated to find out she got the role of Clara in 'Love Roulette'. She thanks Eli and hugs him. Eli, shocked and confused by Imogen, says, "You can let go now." Imogen thinks that she and Eli are a couple, but he isn't emotionally ready to be in a relationship. So Imogen later sneaks up on Clare, surprising her. Imogen thanks Clare and gives her a coupon at Little Miss Steaks for her and her boyfriend, Jake. Clare thanks Imogen and leaves. Later, Imogen is seen at Little Miss Steaks spying on Clare with Jake. Eli enters the restaurant thinking Imogen invited him to talk about "Clara." Imogen compliments him, but he shrugs it off. Eli starts to sit down where she is sitting, but Imogen suggests they sit at another spot. Imogen then walks over where Clare and Jake are. They walk in on the couple kissing. Clare then awkwardly introduces Eli to Jake, whom he has met before. Imogen puts her arm around Eli as if they are a couple and calls him 'muffin' twice. He becomes angry, yells at Imogen to stop calling him 'muffin', and leaves. Clare tells Imogen that the real Clare wouldn't do that and Imogen replies saying, "The real Clare Edwards would do anything to get what she wants." The next morning Eli is talking to Fiona and then goes over and talks to Imogen. Eli tells Imogen that even though he saw Clare and Jake kiss, he is still completely in love with her and hasn't gotten over her in the least. Imogen is shocked to see that Jake is building the sets for the play. Eli says to Imogen that he's going to "...Keep his friends close and his enemies closer."
In Lose Yourself (1), Jake walks Clare to class, and when she tries to make a date for that night he replies that he can't make it as he's building sets for the play that evening. Afterwards, in class, Clare questions Adam about Eli's motives concerning Jake and the play. Adam brushes off this notion and teases Clare about it. Clare, shocked, messes up their chemical experiment. Clare interrupts Eli and Fiona's work on the play to convince Eli not to gossip about her around Jake. Eli puts Clare on edge by referring to Jake as "out of the picture soon enough", and walking away laughing in a very unstable way. Clare later goes through Eli's bag and almost gets caught by Jake. She gets worried when she sees Eli has Jake doing things such as hanging lights on an unsteady rafter.
In Lose Yourself (2), Clare is paranoid about Eli doing something to hurt Jake, so she decides to work with him on the play set. Clare tells Jake that she thinks that Eli will hurt him, but he tells her that Eli has been very nice and he even asked him to be Fritz for a table read. Later that night at the table read, since Clare has to cover the play for the Degrassi Daily, Clare has to also be at the table read to write about the play script. Jake, as Fritz, does his lines and then he looks at Clare to see her approval, laughing. Clare then questions the play, telling everyone it was a lie, and Fiona tells her she has to leave. Clare waits in Jake's car until the table read is finished. Clare tells Jake that she set off the stink bomb and other things, explaining herself because of the script. Jake, confused, asks her what she is talking about. Clare tells him that the play is Eli's fantasy of revenge, saying bad things about Clare, and that Eli will make Jake believe him over her. Jake tells Clare that he would never believe what Eli says over her, and says that Eli's a weird kid that wears eyeliner and writes plays. He tells Clare that the play is very good, and gives her the script to read, which she does. The next day, Clare comes to Eli and says that she read the play. He asks her how it was, and she tells him it was beautiful. Eli tells Clare that he made some changes. Clare tells him that he made Clara the hero, and Eli quickly says, "Because she is the hero." Clare and Eli stare at each other until other students walk into the theater for class.
In Extraordinary Machine (1), Bullfrog drives Eli to school and questions his mood when he sees Eli looking at Clare and Jake together. Eli pretends to take his pill, but actually spits it out of his mouth when he gets out of the car. Eli and Fiona discuss the fact that he changed the play way too much for the actors to pull it off. He decides to change "Fritz" to "Jack". Jake confronts Eli about the play and tells Eli to leave Clare alone. Eli kicks Jake off the play and asks Riley to take his place. Eli performs in class in an erratic way and yells at everyone for not preforming well enough. Fiona decides to go to Ms. Dawes. Imogen and Eli continue to rehearse in front of Mrs. Dawes. When questioned about the changes Eli's excuse is that he wanted a happy ending. Eli tells Fiona that she doesn't know art and she becomes angry with him. Ms. Dawes tells them to work out their differences. Imogen suggests that Eli goes back on his pills, but he tells her he's fine. Clare and Eli talk about the new play and firing Jake and they decide to talk at The Dot. Eli is under the impression that it's a date. At home, Eli is behaving erratically, dancing and jumping around in his room. Bullfrog comes in to give Eli his pills and tells him he's proud of him, but Eli spits out the pill when his father leaves the room. At The Dot Eli attempts to flirt with Clare which she shuts down. She asks him about Imogen and he gets upset. They start over but Eli becomes flustered when Jake shows up to take Clare to the movies after. After Clare asks if he's OK, he slams his fist hard into the table, causing Jake to come over and check on Clare. They end the interview and Eli calls Imogen to rehearse with him at his house. They are shown rehearsing when Eli calls Imogen 'Clare' instead of 'Clara'. Imogen becomes confused, but Eli begins to make out with her.
Eli and Imogen watch Jake and Clare as their lockers get searched for drugs.
In Extraordinary Machine (2), As Eli stretches the limits of sanity in a bid to get Clare back, someone else is just as willing to push the limits for Eli… Imogen. 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 do 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, 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. 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 for a couple days for some "family therapy." Eli leaves Degrassi smiling while Clare watches him go.
In Don't Panic (1), Eli is with his new therapist talking about his play Love Roulette. He learns that he has bipolar disorder and that if he takes his pills and stays calm, he'll be alright. He then goes to school, embarrassed of his disorder. Bullfrog walks in and gives Eli his medication, after which Eli sticks his tongue out so Bullfrog could make sure he swallowed it. He also sees Eli writing a list of people's names, Eli joking it's a revenge list, but it's really an apology list. He then walks up to Fiona and gives her a sorry present, which turns out to be an award for best supporting actress. She accepts it and they sit and talk about his bipolar disorder. Later, Eli and Jake are shown in class. When the bell rings, Eli tries to apologize to Jake, but he doesn't accept due to Eli trying to get Clare back and firing Jake from the play. Eli then calls up his therapist and tells her that Jake had not forgiven him. She says it's okay and that he should give Jake a little more time. Later on he is with Fiona again talking and he sees Clare fighting with Jake in the halls. Eli suggests that he should help Jake with understanding what Clare likes. Later on in class, Eli raises his hand and shares the same ideas Jake did, and thus he's partnered up with Jake. Eli feels this will be a good opportunity to get back on Jake and Clare's good side.
In Don't Panic (2), Eli has decided that he needs to help Jake win Clare back. So he comes up with a plan to get them together to talk it out. When the three of them are sitting there Eli reveals to them that he is bipolar. In the end Jake and Clare profess their love to one another while Eli watches the couple happily, now that he's in Clare and Jake's good books again. Near the end of this episode, he later apologizes to Imogen and later asks her out for coffee. At first she rebuffs his apology, but after some coaxing, she says that she can 'squeeze him in' and smiles.
In Dead and Gone (2), Eli and Clare give her a moment alone with Adam. Clare gets a text from Jake which is clearly upsetting and after saying her relationship with Jake has gotten complicated, she shows Eli the text. He says he's sorry that they have broken up and Clare says she guesses it wasn't meant to be. They smile at each other.
In Nowhere to Run, After the wedding between Glen Martin and Helen Edwards, Jake begins to believe his feelings for Clare are unrequited and escapes to his cabin with friends hoping one last summer bash will help him move on. Alli, one of the invited guests, is devastated when she discovers that Dave had sex with another girl while she was away at Science camp, although he states that he ended things with the other girl. Clare learns through Bianca of the party and they drive up to the cabin. She and Bianca crash the party, but Clare runs away when she catches Jake and Alli sharing a kiss. Jake and Drew leave the cabin in search of Clare but become increasingly scared after finding Clare's blood, although the blood was a result of Clare tripping and cutting her hand. Clare runs into Eli, who was invited but came late, and the two share a moment before Jake and Drew find them and bring both of them back to the cabin. Jake and Clare realize they both have feelings for each other even though their parents are married and Clare and Jake will now live in the same house, but finally accept those feelings the next day everyone is leaving the cabin and Clare offers Eli a ride with her and Jake which he accepts.
Season 12[]
Eli is upset after reading about what Clare has said about Jake in her diary.
In Bitter Sweet Symphony (1), Clare can't go in her locker because her locker is moved. Eli offers to share his locker with her and convinces Dave it will turn out fine, even though Dave doesn't think it will. When he is leaving for class, he notices that Clare's diary fell onto his books, but doesn't have time to return it. In class, he ends up reading it and sees her old entries about her love for Jake. He becomes jealous and when Clare asks him is he has her diary, he lies and says no. She becomes suspicious after he acts hostile towards Jake and he admits to stealing it. Clare gets upset with him for invading her privacy and storms off.
Rival Love Triangle[]
Trivia[]
- As of Extraordinary Machine (2) this love triangle is over.
- Clare’s relationships with both boys are named after pastries.
- Both Jake and Eli’s first lines were spoken to Clare. (“I think they’re dead”) and ("Hey Clare, who’s your friend?”)
- Clare admitted to Eli she never really loved Jake, but thought she did.
Timeline[]
- Love Triangle:
- Start Up: U Don’t Know (1) (1115)
- Ended: Extraordinary Machine (2)(1121)
- Reason: Eli realized he needed to get help and that he needed to take care of himself first.
