Awkward. - Recap: Jerky and Red Hots
In a special hour-long episode of Awkward, Jenna Hamilton hoped that karma would work its way around. Jenna, do you remember how you've acted over the last half of Season 3? Brace yourself, Hamilton.
Episode 19 opened with Jenna, Matty, and newbie Bailey (McKaley Miller) hitting up the shadiest of bad-part-of-town liquor stores looking to put Matty’s new fake ID to good use. I realize I just used the phrase “hitting up.” There was no intended robbery, just a bit of illegal purchasing. Could Van Hutcherson (Matty’s new California-born alter ego) manage to pick up a twelve-pack? Not if Val would have anything to say about it. Val, drowning her feelings in the wake of her dead dreams with liquor, jerky, and a pound of Red Hots, had taken a job working as the cashier in this dump, forcing the team to abort the mission immediately. Jenna, seizing the opportunity to reconnect and make amends, only found herself on the receiving end of a good ol’ fashioned f-bomb.
https://twitter.com/mollytarlov/status/410660681378045952
MTV "Awkward."
Jenna spent most of her time during the hour attempting to win Val’s job back. First, an unnecessary attempt to verbally convince the school principal to give Val the option of speaking her side of the story served to inform Hamilton that a hearing had already been scheduled, but would Val choose to show up? Jenna’s own attempts to convince her former BFF to fight the good fight fell on deaf ears, so she’d need to call in backup. Jenna’s mom, Lacey (Nikki DeLoach), also found herself out a job this week. The former sexy school nurse position had sadly run its course, and, funny enough, Mrs. Hamilton missed work! Saving lives one Band-Aid at a time had given her life a purpose, and all the retail therapy in the world didn’t seem to be of any help.
https://twitter.com/nikkideloach/status/410610002848542721
You could have fooled me, DeLoach! Now I'm stuck being stone sober...
MTV "Awkward."
Jenna, killing two birds with one stone, managed to convince her mother to venture over to Val’s dwelling in an effort to convince their mutual bestie to show up to “court.” Needless to say, Val’s bachelorette pad was everything we ever dreamed of dumped in a pile of kitty litter. Even the lovable serial killer boarder fit right in! After a bit of moaning and groaning, Jenna, with a little help from her mother, managed to convince Valerie to give it a go. Of course, the unspoken issue that Matty had previously brought up still stood. Val was indeed guilty of everything Jenna had written about in her scathing piece. Would it matter whether Jenna’s tone was unflattering or not if Val was guilty of referring to a group of swim team members as “hotties” or reminding the quarter back of the “option” of cheating?
As all of this was transpiring, Ming was dealing with some issues of her own. The days of using and abusing the Asian Mafia had finally come to a screeching halt. The bloody severed head of the school mascot that had been mysteriously shoved into her locker marked the beginning of the end for Ming’s reign. For most of the girls, especially Tamara, prom dress shopping was a fun experience. Ming, drawn into the depths of the farthest and darkest dressing room by suspicious (and hilarious) Asian grandma, had an unscheduled rendezvous with a somewhat perverted middleman of the Mafia. Ming was to meet on school grounds later that evening… “in the dead of night.”I don’t know when that is, so I’m just gonna show up at midnight and hang out.The moment had finally arrived, everybody. Episode 19 marked the return of the infamous Becca (Jessika Van), and not a moment too soon. Becca, reclaiming her title as the head of the Asian Mafia, handed Ming the long list of terms to her usurping. Ming, refusing to give up without playing a bit of hardball, brought out her secret weapon in young Wayne, the littlest accountant with a soft spot for women and booze. Inevitably, she traded the secret math lover for Fred Wu’s (Kelly Sry) freedom, essentially trading the power of the Mafia for her love for Fred. The two closed out their arc during Episode 19 wondering what kind of terrifying adventures await in the great wide yonder following life in the world of the Asian Mafia. *screen fades to white*
MTV "Awkward."
Save VagL
Even taking into account the fact that Lacey was a surprisingly well-versed “lawyer” thanks to her hours spent watching Law and Order, (especially the sexy one, SVU) Val’s trial got off to a rocky start. In truth, Val has acted pretty inappropriately over the course of several seasons of Awkard. Thankfully, Jenna had thought up one last amazing card to play that came to the tune of a resounding “you’re welcome.” Remember, Val had introduced the lovely and drunk Aunt Ally to her new baby, Sadie (Molly Tarlov), and whether Saxton liked it or not, she owed the “lunatic” a little something in return for her current status as a Palos Hills High student. That was that. Val had her job back thanks to Sadie's testimony. In the end, she knew she had Jenna to thank for convincing Sadie to do the one good deed she’s ever done in her entire (amazing) life. The two hugged it out with just enough inappropriate awkwardness and moved on.
https://twitter.com/mollytarlov/status/410622728249831424
As previously stated, Jenna split her time during Episode 19 oscillating between feeling tremendous guilt over her part in Val’s departure and waiting for her new best buddy Matty to pop the question. Prom, that is. Though, by the end of this week’s hour Jenna had done so much fantasizing over her ex asking her to the dance that she was nearly ready for an actual engagement. The rest of us, however, have eyes and ears and had become privy to the chemistry between Matty and Bailey throughout the past two episodes. The thing about Bailey is that she’s a good friend to Jenna. She’s a lot like Jake (Brett Davern) was during Season 1. When Jenna was constantly torn between Matty and Jake, his best friend, Jake always came off pure and sweet compared to Matty’s bad boy edge. I don’t really know how or when, but Awkward. has completely revamped Matty’s character. I think the moment they decided to flush Collin down the tubes completely, they decided to make Matty into Jenna’s perfect white knight. I think the direction we’re heading in for Season 4 is Matty playing the role of Season 1 Jenna. I think he’s going to be torn between his feelings for newcomer freshman and adamant non-slut Bailey and the damaged goods that Jenna has become thanks to her days hitting the bong.
MTV "Awkward."
In any case, Jenna caught a glimpse of Matty’s purchased prom tickets, and a tipoff from Tamara led her to believe that it would be mere hours before her dream invite arrived. At home, Jenna even began to blog the story of Matty’s romantic gesture, just as McKibben text her to clue her in to the fact that he’d be on his way over later that evening. Excited beyond belief, Jenna had a very nice sentimental moment with her mom in the aftermath of her overeager behavior. Lacey, who’d saved the cash she’d earned as the nurse for a special occasion, handed the money over to Jenna for her dream prom dress. The two hustled to the store just before closing time to pick it up and headed home to try it on again. Matty arrived just as Jenna moved to unzip from her fashion show, only to realize that she’d accidentally jammed the zipper.
This is where we knew things were going to get truly awkward on Awkward. To close the recap, Matty met Jenna, donned in the prom dress yet covered in a giant red hoodie, in the living room of her house. There, he gave the most incredibly misleading windup I think anyone could have written for him to deliver. Good job, Awkward. writers. That was perfectly awful to watch go down. Jenna, finding his incredible nervousness to be endearing, was shattered to learn that he’d only journeyed over to the Hamilton house to ask permission to take Bailey, Jenna's new friend, to the prom.
What did you think of Awkward. Season 3 Episode 19, “Karmic Relief”? Are you happy that Val and Jenna are back to being besties? Are you glad Ming is done with the Mafia and that Becca is possibly back in action? Are you Team Jenna or Team Bailey in the quest for Matty’s heart?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Awkward. Season 3 Episode 19, “Karmic Relief”!