Why, Me? - Season 17

A seventeenth season of ***Why, Me?*** was announced by *Tanzania* as part of a 40-episode order split into two seasons. Beginning on May 7, 2039 and concluded on February 18, 2040, after a total of 19 episodes. Due to a weather storm abruptly ending production, the twentieth episode wasn’t produced. The series averaged 4.02 million viewers.

Andrew and Jared Jackson both departed the series. However, Andrew returned during the first episode to finish the arc of the cliffhanger from the previous season. After starring as a recurring castmate in the previous season, Phoenix Whitby starred in a main capacity this season. Former protagonist, Jax Garcia, returned to fill the recurring capacity this season.

## Plot

Things are hotting up in Northdale with a new stunner, Aarav, moving in next door! New adventures occur, new goals are reached and new relationships are formed but with big secrets come big sorrows! Can the group keep a united front with everything that is forever thrown their way?

The series opens with Andrew returning to Northdale after previously fleeing in the last season. Packing up his belongings and selling his home, he explains himself to the bewildered gang. Handing over the keys, Jo is keen to see who she has moving in next door. However, she soon finds herself up against competition with Lila, Mandy and Phoenix over Aarav. In the following episode, Phoenix, Ryan and Mandy sit down together separated from the rest of the group to discuss their issues in order for them to live together. They ultimately come to the conclusion be civilized towards one another. Jo asks Max to come along her first supervised visit with her children which he gladly accepts. Jax finally returns this season as him and Max attempt to rebuild their relationship after some devastating news makes them feel even further apart. Ryan helps motivate Max to continue setting up the dance which sees Lila, Mandy, Phoenix and Jo battle against Aarav after he plays them and accepts all of their offers to the dance. Phoenix officially joins the YouTube channel this season yet this is first largely rejected by the group when Ryan and Mandy threaten to leave the group following their past experience but decide to bury the hatchet the best they can. Aarav is discovered to be sneaking off at the same time every day by Max but when he discovers he is a movie star, Aarav pleads with him to keep it their secret which Max accepts. Jax reunites with the gang this season after not seeing them for more than two years - which is emotional for all. He forms a tight bond with Phoenix but when this leaves her missing work commitments, Jo prepares to fire her from the YouTube channel yet fearing awkwardness and realising that she is just starting out in the channel, Jo holds back on her decision. Yet again, the gang are shown to be tight-knit as they help prove Ryan’s innocence when he is accused of damaging a shop when a past childhood friend starts an altercation with him and they are understanding when Jax, Phoenix and Lila come clean over their debts. Hurricane Maria lashes over Northdale and when an unexpected civilian relies on the gang for help, they land themselves in deep trouble when he turns weapons on them in an attempt to take their things. Jo starts managing other YouTubers, which risks her friendships with the group when they discover she has been lying to them and betrayed them. The fight for Aarav continues between Mandy and Phoenix as Lila loses interest. Max grows closer to Aarav too when searching for the YouTubers, who are lost after their 350-points checklist leads them aloof. The gang all take their driving tests this season as Max grows tired of always driving. Relationships are tested but also grow stronger with Aarav as he takes charge when Max calls in the camera crew for a staged gruelling horror three-day challenge in Provence, France. Max feels awkward when he invites Jax and Jaxon to Northdale but things turn awry between them due to past history. Aarav and Ryan further bond over their passion for music but when this gets in the way of Lila and Phoenix’s babysitting and they lose a child, they all try seeking for her. Max also tasks Jo and Mandy to bring in some more money but things turn awry at their new temporary job when they bleach a customer’s hair. They take it upon Jax to save the day by distracting the customer with his poetry skills. The fight for Aarav’s romance continues when he asks Lila to go on a date with him and the other girls try to sabotage her. Yet, when Aarav gives them a firm word they all apologise to Lila and decide maybe it’s best to forget Aarav. Lila and Aarav see if their relationship is compatible in a second date yet Lila storms out in tears when he reveals he is hiding a big secret. Jo and Mandy are there to pick up the pieces after they dolled her up and guess as to what he could be hiding. Phoenix weighs up whether to leave Northdale after a segment on CNN news leads her to eye up new opportunities yet ultimately decides against it as she realises she would have to leave the YouTube channel. Ryan and Mandy’s relationship is once again tested as their sister, Fiona, is imprisoned and a visit to her turns awry and they are left divided. They soon realise that no one can break their bond and must stick it out together and offer Fiona support. In the first part of the two-episode season finale, Lila bumps into Charlie and Ariel, both of whom she recognises and when she spots a Diamond ring on Ariel’s finger, she asks them the big question and they announce that they are officially a couple and are engaged. Shocked and given Charlie’s convict history, she is unsure whether this is the right thing. Just before she turns to leave, they tell her they met through a mutual connection: Aarav’s girlfriend. Lila rushes home to the gang and filled with sadness and anger, she informs the gang of the latest gossip and breaks down after feeling strong feelings for Aarav. The gang help Lila piece the puzzle together and therefore, they ask Charlie and Ariel back to the mansion to expose Aarav. While it is hard news for Lila to expose, Jax five-year long relationship with Ariel comes flooding back, leaving his mental capacity deteriorating. With relationships severed, the gang are left in limbo and await Aarav’s arrival. The episode is left on a cliffhanger as Aarav knocks on the door and is met with a raft angry faces. The second part of the season finale see the group patching up messy business. Charlie and Ariel have a sit down with Jax, as the latter comes to terms with the new relationship. When Max makes a remark alluding to the fact that he knew Aarav was a superstar and by knowing that, being aware of his double relationship, Max comes under the firing line. Max feels terrible and agrees he has a lot of making up to do towards Lila. Aarav, shocked and furious at his exposure, flees the house and the gang look out the window when they hear his car rev. The series ends with Max apologising to Lila once again and telling her that he doesn’t believe this is the last they’ll see of Aarav.

## Cast and Production

On March 8, 2038, a 40-episode order was placed for a seventeenth and eighteenth season. Production begun on September 1, 2038 and wrapped on the day before the first episode would air: on May 6, 2039. Only nineteen episodes were produced due to an abrupt halting to production because of a weather storm earlier in 2039; with producers not being able to grab anymore time to film in the studio.

Andrew and Jared Jackson were both confirmed not to be returning to the show at LinkMe’s press conference. They stated that they “wished them well” and that they had all come to a mutual agreement because they believed their storylines had “come to a natural end”. Expressing intentions for them to wrap up the cliffhanger, Andrew appeared in the first episode but Jared Jackson didn’t due to other commitments. The following week, on July 25, 2038, Phoenix Whitby was announced to be making a full capacity return to the show. The next day, the full line-up unveiled with everyone returning, with the addition of Whitby as a main cast member and new castmate, Aarav Bail: “the new hottie in town”.

Former protagonist, Jax Garcia, was announced to have been in talks with producers on November 14, 2038: eventually, he returned to the show in a recurring capacity for the first time since the fifteenth season despite vowing not to ever affiliate himself with the show again due to late Dan’s death. Fans of the show mocked him while others were ecstatic for his return. Ariel Dungres and Charlie Crewe also made guest appearances this season following their announcement that they had become a couple - which the producers announced that they would “tie in” to the season’s plot. This was Max Black’s sixteenth, Ryan Alexander’s eighth, Mandy Alexander’s fifth, Lila Miller’s fourth, Jo Lott’s fourth, and Phoenix Whitby and Aarav Bail’s first seasons as main cast members.

## Trivia

* Four main characters are absent this season:
	+ Aarav Bail is absent during four episodes this season. He is absent during the episodes, *Distracting Garcia*, *Store Breaker*, *Driving Disaster,* and *On The Trend*.
	+ Lila Miller is absent during three episodes this season. She is absent during the episodes, *Supervised,* *Pine For You,* and *On The Trend*.
	+ Phoenix Whitby is absent during two episodes this season. She is absent during the episodes, *On The Trend,* and *She, Her and I*.
	+ Mandy Alexander is absent during one episode this season. She is absent during the episode, *On The Trend*.
* Jax Garcia was the third recurring character in the show’s history.
	+ He appears in nine episodes this season. He appears during the episodes, *Playable*, *Distracting Garcia*, *Store Breaker*, *Horror House*, *On The Trend*, *Party in Max’s Mansion*, *She, Her and I, Superstar, Part 1, and Superstar, Part 2*.
* This series encompassed the final episode of 2039 and the first episode of 2040.
* For the first time in history of the show, an episode of this season aired on Sunday: namely, the second part finale.