The Being Erica BS Detector: Season 3, Episode 3
In episode three, our favourite time traveller learns one of Gandhi’s most valuable lessons: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. (Or in the fist-pump worthy words of Edwin Starr: “War—ungh!—what is it good for?") Small aside here: sometimes the specific task of the BS detection can be frustrating. We’re dying to discuss Sam’s potential rock climbing rendezvous, the increasingly bizarre relationship of the Goblins coffee house owners and that Adamo Ruggiero (aka gay Marco from Degrassi: The Next Generation) is the fifth Next Gen cast member to earn a guest spot on BE. But them’s the breaks, so back to the time-copping task at hand.
The time period: It’s the fall of 1994 (pretty easy to suss out this time when Erica says, “it’s 1994”). Erica and Adam visit her brother Leo during his first year of university to learn about the dangers of vengeance.
• Erica doesn’t name the university in London, Ontario, but we’re guessing it’s Western. And if we know one thing about UWO it’s that the Greek system is huge there, which is why a guy like Leo would have been inclined to rush a frat. (+3)
• And when we say “a guy like Leo” we mean a relatively cool guy, so why is he all of a sudden dressed like Lewis from Revenge of the Nerds? Based on our post-secondary experience, Leo-types (guys who are popular, good looking, into cool bands) stay cool on campus. We’re not saying that’s a good thing, just that we don’t buy the tortured dork storyline. (-4)
• Stolen street signs as art—it doesn’t get more frat house than that. (+5)
• It makes sense that the leader of the frat boys doesn’t know who Radiohead is, given that this is 1994 and the band has yet to release anything mainstream. (+4) But would he really be so unabashedly into Hootie and the Blowfish? Based on our recollections, Hootie was always sort of a guilty pleasure, especially for guys. (-1) Also, the Hootie song in question—“Only Wanna Be With You” off the album Cracked Rear View—wasn’t released as a single until 1995. The album’s first hit, “Hold My Hand,” would have been a more era-accurate selection. (-2)
• A Hot Chip album appears in Leo’s room at the frat house, which is cool and all except that the band didn’t form until 2000 and their first album wasn’t released until 2004. (-4)
• Finally (and this is not so much an accuracy concern here as a general reality check), why didn’t Erica switch togas with Leo? The poor guy looked like Wilma Flintstone. (0)
Final score: + 1
NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY
Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
