A Man. And His Blog.

A solid season finale. A little bit of drama, a lot of heartbreaking stuff, the winter formal, a possible happy end, and even some sort of cliffhanger. Not all of it was exciting, but it closed the season in a positive way. But for the second season to entertain, it needs to develop some new storylines. Because I sure as hell don’t need the love triangle anymore.

First a few words to the cliffhanger: Lacey (Nikki Deloach) wrote the letter? Somehow it feels like an ending pushed through, so that there is a shocking scene in this little comedy soap opera. But it felt too forced and too much of a drama. Not fitting at all into the tone of the show, and probably not even a worthy cliffhanger. I predict that the conclusion will be a bust in the season premiere, because I don’t believe at all that Jenna’s mom wrote the letter (I’m still believing it was the stalker creep).

Other than that, the rest was good. Except Sadie (Molly Tarlov), who is annoying me more and more. Fortunately the season is over for now, and I don’t have to listen to her crap anymore. Otherwise I would have suicided myself. So, I was pretty much on Valerie’s (Desi Lydic) side, when she decided to metaphorically suckerpunch Sadie, when no one’s watching. Great scene, and I was cheering.

The rest of the winter formal was okay as well. Good, everybody had fun and Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) and Ricky Schwartz (Matthew Fahey) found each other (finally!). The “confrontation” between Jenna (Ashley Rickards) and Matty (Beau Mirchoff) was nice as well – the only emotional scene in this episode I actually liked. And another fortunately, this story seems to be over for now too. I hope the writers don’t hop back on that train again, because it’s enough for now. The back and forth between Jake (Brett Davern) and Matty was so tiring in the last couple of episodes, I was thinking about trashwriting this storyline. Anyway, now that Jenna is Jake’s girl, I hope it stays like that for a while. Really don’t need another change in the season premiere

What’s more to say? Well, I hope Lissa (Greer Grammer) is coming back. Finally she stood up against Sadie, but then she was missing from the rest of the episode. It wouldn’t hurt to have her as the third best friend for Jenna. Or as the new BFF, who replaces Ming (because she had absolutely nothing to do). 7/10

Something's wrong with Jenna's hair

Sadie finally gets suckerpunched

It was an okay-ish episode as the penultimate to the season finale. Seems like the finale will all be about the winter formal, coupling, some little dramas, and no pay-off. I can live with that, but who knows if I’m gonna be in for a surprise.

Why not having the last two episodes produced as a real double? There is clearly a break at the end with “I am Jenna Hamilton”, though the winter formal was perfect to not just stick it in two episodes, but in a hour-long special without a break in the middle. Comedy shows need to be more versatile again, like FRIENDS was back in the good old 90s, where the show was shitting out some real nice season ending double episodes. Well, not that I’m complaining here, but I need to nitpick a completely random topic at this point of the series.

The way how Jenna (Ashley Rickards) “broke up” with Matty (Beau Mirchoff) (well, didn’t I expect that to happen) was lame. She seriously was accepting his no-nonsense behavior in the first half of the episode, just to blew him off because of it in the second half? There was absolutely no consistency here, and I cannot understand why Jenna decided to break up with him. If it was an actual break-up, but since Jenna was never really Matty’s girl, this story could be history for now. Okay, I can somewhat understand why Jenna broke up with Matty (because of the whole Matty’s girl thing), but nonetheless that came from nowhere. In addition, the friendship between Matty and Jake (Brett Davern) could have been more shown here. Matty didn’t tell Jake, which is understandable, but why was there such negativity in their friendship near the end. It was basically because of nothing. Matty being annoyed about Jake’s bitching was only one thing: annoying.

And who would have thought that Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) and Ricky Schwartz (Matthew Fahey) was a continuing storyline? I thought this was over two episodes ago, but here we are again, the topic warmed-up again, just for Tamara to have her moment and “break up” with Ricky. Or at least blow him off as a date to the formal. I hope that story doesn’t come back in the finale, because I was tired of it in this episode already.

By the way, what I totally forgot to mention: The letter is in the open. Surprising twist. But somehow not dramatic enough. Great, now the whole school knows about the letter, but do they know the background of it? Well, it was interesting anyway, and there could be at least some repercussions for it in the finale… 6/10

Lacey screams the shit out of her voice

Those two girls don't really hate each other. Until now

A solid episode. Not much happened, except a date and the revelation of Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) not being the author of the letter, which was to be expected. In addition, my repeated question about Lissa was answered in this episode, which was nice. The rest was uninteresting though, because I couldn’t do much with it.

Well, Lissa (Greer Grammer) and Jake (Brett Davern)… I hope it’s really over, because the story is leading to Neverland. I have the feeling the writers needed that whole episode for Jake to break up with Lissa, so that the road is clear for a Jake/Jenna hook-up. Which also means that the currently developing relationship between Jenna (Ashley Rickards) and Matty (Beau Mirchoff) would be ending in the next episodes. Seriously, that’s totally predictable. It’s how TV writers work nowadays: Prepare all the shit you need for the finale, and blow it up into the viewers’ faces. So, in this case it’s nice that the writers think of that, but it’s all predictable, and nothing is surprising. I think I’ve watched too many high school comedies in my life, because I see all the stories of this show coming from the horizon.

The date was okay. But it was another thing that I was expecting, when Jenna realized why Matty took her an hour away into a seemingly random restaurant. I was so expecting that some of Matty’s family would be (working) there, so there was no tension at all. But the following “games” with Ming (Jessica Lu) and Tamara were hilarious. Of course Matty would be revealed as clueless, when it comes to the letter, so I had fun with how the girls were behaving in front of him. And yeah, it was quite touching that the girls fell for Matty, and that even Ming took something from him.

At the end, the episode wasn’t much exciting. I hope the last two episodes are not as predictable as this one. Because I’m smelling a Matty/Jenna break-up. 6.5/10

Besties hug!

Matty still tries to be a cool guy

Another good episode. Seems like the middle part of the season was a bit of a weak phase for the show. The writers needed to find a way for some new storytelling, and they did. Besides caring more about the characters, I actually start to get interested in the storylines as well.

So, it was Jenna’s (Ashley Rickards) sixteenth birthday. I seriously expected that somehow SIXTEEN CANDLES would be quoted in here, since both the TV show and the movie share a lot of similarities. This episode literally screamed for references with the movie, and there they were. Other than that, the story was really cool. Awkward for Jenna’s life (hence the show’s title), awkward the whole situation in the dining hall with Valerie (Desi Lydic) and the cake (hilarious moment, when all the hands were going in), and pretty poetic the whole day being a farce and a bad moment for Jenna. There was some good drama in the story, some good emotions as well, and nothing was actually over the top. At least from Jenna’s point of view. Valerie’s over-the-topness, as well as Sadie’s (Molly Tarlov) next round of being a total bitch. Unfortunately, all the characters beside Jenna didn’t really get some “seriousness” into their storylines. The whole thing between Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) and Ricky Schwartz (Matthew Fahey) is kinda annoyingly ridiculous (though it’s great for Tamara to have her own storyline, a.k.a. romance), and Sadie could be more than just the high school tormentor. Even more, even Valerie could be moe than just a (for the job’s standards) horrible counselor.

But yeah, the love triangle was alright again. Finally Matty (Beau Mirchoff) goes full frontal with his feelings for Jenna, and Jake (Brett Davern) is still standing behind all of this. A question I have to ask again: What’s with Lissa? She seems to be gone completely? Not even Sadie had a scene with her, instead another random girl posed for Lissa. Is she still part of the show, or completely written out by now? At least some form of mention would be nice, otherwise I can’t take Jake serious here.

Jenna’s real birthday present was cool by the way. I wanted to have a room like that (well, not that girly, but an “adult” room), and it was funny to see that Jenna’s stuff was all fitting in a little box. The mirror, of course, was hilarious at first, but then seriously lame. And if the producers decided to use a mirror sequence, they should have thought not to mirror the actual scene in post. Before the kiss happened, Jenna should have been on the left side of the picture, not the right. That’s how you notice directing mistakes… 7/10

Have this screencap as your wallpaper, when it's your birthday

High school teens wear awkward costumes

Wow, a game-changing episode. Pretty much. I didn’t suspect that Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) is the writer of the letter, and I didn’t expect for this secret to come out now. That’s why I think Tamara just said that to express her hatred for Jenna (Ashley Rickards), and to lead to the “You’re dead to me”. Because the ending was just way too convenient for my taste.

Anyway, great episode. An episode, which the Parents Television Council can stick in their asses, which all the drugging and alcohol for minors during a party supervised by a mother, who doesn’t know how to raise her daughter, and her best friend, who is nothing but a teen stuck in an adult’s body. At least the introduction of Ally (Barret Swatek) had a reason at the end, with Tamara turning her back, and the friendship being broken. Nice that it doesn’t need a deus ex machina to do it, and that the whole episode basically served as a backdrop for that last scene, which also means that the writers are about to bring some real drama into the show. Remember Sadie’s crying scene in front of her mother, when I said it wasn’t believable? Well, this was, and here I believed the writers want to tell dramatic storylines as well as comic storylines. After eight episodes I can say: mission accomplished, even though there are still some teething problems. But minor ones, because I’m back to caring for the characters, especially Jenna.

The party was okay. Of course the story was being used for some blackouts and for Jenna to “remember” what happened and whom she kissed. It was not really exciting, and it was predictable she hadn’t kissed neither Jake nor Matty. So, I was waiting for the “twist” and was prepared to roll my eyes, but it was a good twist. Hopefully the writers know what they were doing after this episode and pull off the story between Jenna and Tamara a bit longer, and don’t conclude it at the end of the next episode. Instead Ming could be taken from the background, and the story could serve a nice conflict between Jenna, Ming and Tamara. Since the writers were not able to bring Lissa properly into the game (is she still Jake’s girlfriend? I mean, officially?), it wouldn’t hurt when Jenna has to deal with another girl than just Sadie. 8/10

Party preparations: duct tape included

The besties are broken now

There you go. Great episode. Like I said in last episode’s review, the show gets automatically better, when you don’t focus on the only arc you’ve got and instead focus on the little things. The CRASH’D storyline was hilarious, especially with Valerie’s (Desi Lydic) craziness to have the best CRASH’D ever, and with Tamara’s (Jillian Rose Reed) involvement. And even I would have wildly applauded at the end of the performance.

Like I said: Bring the love triangle to the background, and the episodic storyline to the foreground. And with CRASH’D, there was even a message within the episode, which should even appeal to the fanatics over at the Parents Television Council. But how hilarious was this message hidden in the context? After all, Valerie was drinking while “celebrating” the good news with Jenna (Ashley Rickards) in her office, which made the situation more awkward. Consider that: A school counselor leads a drunk driving awareness day, but drinks herself in the office. Besides being crazy. Besides playing the grim reaper on campus (I’d wish that would have been more hilarious, since it was not). Besides going nuts during the performance, when Tamara went into acting mode.

So, the love triangle (I think I have to mention it in every review now, which is kinda lame): It was played out good. Jenna knows now that Jake (Brett Davern) has feelings for her, Matty (Beau Mirchoff) is still awkward around her in public, and Jenna doesn’t know what to feel or to do. And I somewhat miss the story of Lissa (Greer Grammer) and her efforts of keeping Jake for herself. She can’t just offer her behind to Jake during a party and think that’s it, she should do more to keep Jenna away from her boyfriend. Unfortunately that’s not a story to be seen at the moment, even though it would be good to have one. Figuring Sadie (Molly Tarlov) has interests for Matty, and Jake already has a girlfriend: That means the writers not just have to deal with a love triangle, but with the girls on the other end as well.

And thanks for putting Tamara into the spotlight. I loved her this time, and I was totally cheering during the “homo erotic” kiss on stage. That’s how you pull of drunk drive awareness, and that’s how you end an episode. I was actually pretty happy for Jenna and her new-found, more healthy popularity. 8/10

Val is pretty open in her ... "behavior"

The walking dead are jealous today

The episode was good, but I would wish for less love triangle and more story within the episode. This time it worked well, because the feud between Sadie (Molly Tarlov) and Jenna (Ashley Rickards) is interesting, and because the writers finally managed to bring Lacey (Nikki Deloach) into a story in a proper way, and not just as Jenna’s mom.

But at the end, the story wasn’t really mine. A charity auction, Jenna’s mom forcing her daughter to take part, the forcing of having Sadie involved as well. Though it was cool that it led to another little fight between Jenna and Sadie, I find it somehow boring how these stories come together and how they play out at the very end. It’s not that exciting anymore, and the comedy vanished as well. Not that the show is bad and all, but it is not like the pilot anymore. Maybe having a wannabe-satirical high school comedy in TV was not such a good idea at all.

Okay, the whole thing with the food diary was actually good. It was a little twist, with was executed well, and it brought Jenna to think about Sadie as well, and how she lives her days. The unfortunate thing about the story is Sadie’s drama scene in front of her mother Darlene (Heather Mazur): That did not work AT ALL. I mean, I was laughing, when she started to cry, because it did SO not fit into the show. All of a sudden Sadie goes all emotional and cries, spilling out her life to her mother – am I supposed to believe that the writers were trying to write a real drama in this scene? Especially when Sadie was still able to crack a joke in the middle, followed by her mother cracking a “joke” at the end? I could not take this scene seriously, and despite all the efforts to give Sadie some characteristics here… It didn’t work for me.

At least the love triangle somehow works. Nice that Matty (Beau Mirchoff) knows about the kiss so fast, and doesn’t react as the jealous guy. Instead, the fight is on between Jake (Brett Davern) and Matty to get Jenna, and there could be an interesting story hidden for the rest of the season. Thanks to the guys being likable and the story not being a total waste, I’m kinda excited now. Nonetheless, there could be less of it, and the writers really should try to get the characters more, and maybe try to get back to the satirical part of living high school. 6.5/10

The fat cheerleader gives you some wisdom on the way

Oversexed mother and undersexed daughter team up

Well, this was a good episode for one good reason. The writers finally delivered an episodic arc, which had a beginning and an end. This is how you can perfectly mix up the serialized storyline of a comedy with an episodic arc, and this is how the series should work from now on. And should have worked from the beginning.

Of course there would be a story following like this, after Matty (Beau Mirchoff) told Jenna (Ashley Rickards) he wasn’t interested in a relationship. The whole thing with Jenna Plus, aka Olivia (Jillian Murray), was interesting, and it showed how versatile Jenna actually is as a character. Besides hating, she can be caring too, she can question her actions, and she can even question her own expectations. Which was nicely done in this episode. Detention, Jenna Plus and Jenna going out, having a little talk, and all of this with Jenna thinking about Jenna plus being Matty’s boyfriend. And boy, did I wish she would have been Jenna’s boyfriend. Because the twist of Matty’s girlfriend … in-law was totally lame. That doesn’t explain why Matty would be so flirty around her, or why the two should be hanging around all the time. Or why Jenna saw her for the first time here, even though she obviously goes to the same high school like Jenna. So, in things regarding continuity and believability, this episode completely failed. But the message was nice.

I just didn’t like the stalker story very much. First Kyle (Wesam Keesh) seemed to be a stalker with his band, as it seems. But then Jenna “finds out” that Kyle is not the stalker she thinks he was, just because his so-not-Facebook page was full of non-saying pictures and all? Jenna must obviously be believing in everything, though she had no reason to believe that Kyle might not be a pervert stalker. Hopefully it’s going to be an ongoing storyline. Who knows, maybe Kyle is secretly in love with Jenna, and he was the one who send her the letter.

Jenna’s parents were cool again. Their way of trying to punish Jenna for detention (or thinking about it) was hilarious. I was especially laughing about the fisting. That shows again that Jenna’s parents are still stuck in their teen ages. 7.5/10

The stalker lives and creeps out Jenna

Jenna lives and starts smoking

I think I arrived at a stage of the show, where AWKWARD has lost all steam from the pilot and doesn’t become more than just being totally alright. There are moments I can laugh about, and I like the drama parts of the comedy, but four episodes in, and I’m starting to care less about the characters. What’s the reason?

Well, I can’t answer that, because I don’t know. Jenna (Ashley Rickards) is still likable, and in this episode her BFFs Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) and Ming (Jessica Lu) got some screentime and some sort of story, which was totally great. More characters, more screentime for them, and the series doesn’t feel like a Jenna show. And meanwhile Sadie (Molly Tarlov) had less screentime, which was also good. After a while, the whole bitchiness from that fat cheerleader is too much. So, what is the reason for the “alright” note at the end? Answer: It is nothing about but Jenna’s crush on Matty (Beau Mirchoff). Their relationship, their non-relationship, the question if the two are together, or if Jenna should think about more than just kissing and fucking Matty. And then we have Jake (Brett Davern) in the background. But AWKWARD doesn’t even focus on Jake and Lissa, completely forgot Lissa in this episode. Even more, Tamara and Ming had their own little storylines, but they were not enough for me. If this show would be less Jenna and more supporting characters, I might be wowed by it. But for now…

The bonfire story was actually okay. I liked the connection between how Jenna’s parents hooked up for the first time, and how she saw the bonfire as the chance to finally step forward in her life. But somehow I see the DTR (defining the relationship – another thing I’ve learned. And I just got out of the teen age) plot as a cop-out at the end. So, Matty and Jenna are not together, which either brings Jake the momentum, or the storyline just got to a halt, because there are still eight episodes left this season.

But I loved the question of whether Jenna tells her girlfriends everything. Since Ming didn’t have her own storyline, it was a good choice to give her one while asking about the fact that she is kept in the background. That’s why I loved the first act, when Ming learned about Jenna and Matty, and that’s why I loved the last scene, the phone call between the two. I wouldn’t mind if Ming gets the focus during the next couple of episodes, after Tamara was in the spotlight during the last two.

Other than that. I really hope this show gets seriously better in the meantime. Otherwise I have to say that EASY A is a much better comedy and AMERICAN PIE a much better movie about teenagers in high school; with SHE’S ALL THAT being the one with the most romantic plot. But I don’t want to. I still have high hopes in AWKWARD. 6.5/10

Teenagers are getting pinkeye from a pool orgy

Parents are getting stoned in the car

Something new I have learned from this episode: the definition of the blood violin, plus a demonstration from Sadie (Molly Tarlov). Wow, and the Parents Television Council is demonizing THE PLAYBOY CLUB, because it’s pornography. Since SKINS, the watchdogs don’t seem to have watched any more MTV. Otherwise AWKWARD would have received the first death letter with this episode.

It was completely alright though. Somehow there isn’t much comedy left anymore, which isn’t really that bad. In those high school comedies I was talking about, the story went from satirical comedy to drama in the middle of the story, and it seems like AWKWARD is doing the same here. Which is great, because it makes the show look more like a long stretched movie than a TV show, just with a few more chapters. And while the comedy was being cut back, I’m starting to like the story more. The Matty/Jenna romantic arc really is miserable, and I can feel for her, while Sadie is becoming more and more a seriously annoying bitch. If the writers manage to merge the two storylines a bit better, or make Sadie a stand-alone character, who doesn’t always have to deal with Jenna (Ashley Rickards), the story could be better and more thought through. And even though I like this story at this time of the season, I can imagine it could be much better, and with that cut-back comedy, even much dramatic than the sad moments of Jenna were showing.

Finally the writers fired up the Jake/Jenna story. I was already waiting for it after last episode’s scene in the car. Maybe it’s going a bit too fast for me, but I better not complain. At least the story is developing. I just find it a bit ridiculous that Jake (Brett Davern) seems to fall for Jenna, and Lissa (Greer Grammer) is noticing, but not doing anything (except wildly kissing Jake in front of Jenna). Especially Lissa could be part of a bigger story, when she takes action and not stay that passive like Jenna was last episode.

The comedy pieces: I love Lacey (Nikki Deloach). She behaves like a teen. She wants her daughter to drink beer and vodka, and stay up late to party, even though she’s 15 years old (where is the PTC?). Please more of her. Though she is a totally ridiculous character, TV shows like AWKWARD need characters like Jenna’s mom. Then: Lissa. What did she call her butthole to Jake? I couldn’t understand it properly, but I was laughing anyway. If she would have been more drunk, the scene could have been funnier though. 6/10

What's worse here: Sadie's weight or a bellybutton showing Lissa?

It's cry-time!