Awkward. - Recap: My Mother's Greatest Humiliation… Me
Awkward. threw Jenna Hamilton (Ashley Rickards) for a loop this week during “Let’s Talk About Sex,” an episode that saw Jenna’s father, Kevin (Mike Faiola), discovering that our plucky high school heroine had been having sex. That’s correct; the man who’d gifted his daughter a tub of condoms for Christmas had yet to discover that she had swiped her v-card via Matty McKibbin (Beau Mirchoff).
The episode opened with Kevin’s discovery of Jenna’s birth control situation when she accidentally left her pill supply in the guest bathroom. Jenna’s mother, Lacey (Nikki DeLoach), did her best to take the fall for Jenna, but the writing was on the wall. Jenna Hamilton was a virgin no more. Confused? We all were. Jenna, the mom, myself… Who gifts his teenage daughter a lifetime supply of condoms expecting her to put them to good use in her mid-twenties? In a rash move, her father took it upon himself to leave a voicemail on the McKibbin’s landline alerting them to their children’s boinking. Jenna, needless to say, was flabbergasted.
Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) would do her best to offer Jenna sage advice on spilling to Matty. Basically, it’s best to simply blurt and bolt. Tamara, meanwhile, had love on the brain. Jake’s (Brett Davern) “je t'aimes” were getting old as the summer in Paris was a thing of the past. It was time to exchange “I love yous” and to do the nasty. Jenna took Tamara’s advice, dropping the sex bomb on Matty before scurrying off to Mr. Hart’s (Michael Anthony Hall) creative writing class.
MTV "Awkward."
Sadie Saxton (Molly Tarlov) found herself at odds with her fellow cheerleaders. Sadie realized that her signature sass was falling on deaf ears, but why? Knowing that Lissa (Greer Grammer) would be the one to spill the beans as to why the other girls were ignoring her commands, like skipping lunch for extra practice time with smiles painted on their faces, Sadie made sure to hoist her onto her own shoulders, locking her exactly where she needed her to milk the info out of her. Beware of low hanging branches, Lissa. In the end, Lissa informed Sadie that the other cheerleaders were too busy gossiping about Sadie's family situation to care about her, and *CRASH* Lissa ate dirt hard, laying her out of commission for the rest of the season, much to Sadie’s chagrin. The other girls were quick to sweep Lissa under the rug if it meant calling in a replacement. Val (Desi Lydic) was, of course, there to divulge her pearls of wisdom. Later, she even offered to replace Lissa herself. Cheerleading rules are stupid, anyway. A show of hands saw Sadie Saxton losing a vote to keep Lissa, but why was she so dead set on keeping the alternative off of the team?
MTV "Awkward."
https://twitter.com/mollytarlov/status/329426406624854017
Jenna’s creative writing teacher had come to the decision that letter grades weren’t nearly strong enough to describe the failures his students had turned in. “Cancerous” would surely trump a plain old “F.” Jenna, on the other hand, discovered that her essay was “illuminating,” in that it shined a little light on just how awful she could write. In the end, Hart pleaded with Jenna to dig deep and avoid emoticons, like Collin (Nolan Gerard Funk), who’d told the tale of that one time when he was seduced by a friend of his mother’s in a hotel room. Jenna found herself seething following Collin’s lauding. She was so disgusted by how obvious the boy was, that a flag was sent up for me, personally. Collin will eventually be a new kind of love interest for Jenna, won’t he?
MTV "Awkward."
Matty’s attempts to thwart Jenna’s parents’ scheme to inform his own parents by intercepting the voicemail failed. In the end, the McKibbins found themselves at the Hamilton’s front door to face the situation head on. Matty’s parents were super conservative, or, at least, his mother had imposed her own stiff manner on Matty and his father, who seemed perfectly fine
Matty: “I apologize for taking your daughter’s virginity.”
Jenna: “I apologize for letting him take it?”
The awkward drama seemed to be dead and buried, until the takeout deliveryman arrived with Chinese food. Inevitably, the McKibbin’s ended up staying for an incredibly mortifying dinner. Much of Jenna and Matty’s sex life was exposed over fried rice, but I think what made me most uncomfortable was watching Matty’s mother shuffle yummy food around her dish without tasting any of it.
Jenna’s Fortune Cookie: “Something private will become public.”
And that was that, Jenna and Matty had seemingly survived. That is, until Lacey let it slip that she put Jenna on birth control as the McKibbins were about to leave. Suddenly, the conversation switched from cordial yet incredibly uncomfortable to an embarrassing argument over abstinence versus safe sex. What good could come from teens have sex? Jenna. Jenna was born to teen parents, remember? When all was said and done, Matty’s mother dragged her family home in a huff.
Tamara, in the meantime, got the call to fill in as Lissa’s alternate. Now we came to realize why Sadie was so adamantly opposed. In her haste to celebrate, Tamara called Jake for an immediate virginity nix. He hadn’t said his “I love you” yet, but that was put on the backburner. Unfortunately, Jake completely blew it by setting up an exact replica of the van scenario he’d drummed up for his first time with Jenna. Suddenly, Tamara wasn’t just feeling like an alternate cheerleader, she was feeling like an alternate girlfriend.
MTV "Awkward."
Jake, of course, played the “boy card.” He’d always just had a “cool” vision of having his first time happen in the back of a swagged out van. It didn’t have anything to do with Jenna at all. Tamara wiped away her tears and the two devised their own ideal first-time experience. A hotel room, champagne, soft rock blaring out of on the T.V… it was all very Jakara. Boom, the two couldn’t wait any longer. They had the worst first sex ever in Tamara’s bedroom. Well, okay, not the worst. Still, there was something very nice about the way they described just how bad it was that made it seem, well, good? Good in its own way, at least, in that they’re two teenagers discovering sex together, and they’re comfortable with one another. Jake was aching for a sandwich, but another kiss form Tamara sent him straight into round two. Okay, Rosati!
In the wake of the devastating feud with Matty’s parents, Jenna and her mother had a heart to heart where Lacey recalled a similar experience. The night she sat down to dinner with Kevin’s parents, she revealed that she was pregnant with Jenna and found herself bombarded with mean comments and the accusation that she’d ruined Kevin’s life. It was humiliating, obviously, but Jenna is her life’s work. She loves Jenna for who she is, and Jenna loves her mother just the same. I’m glad the show is letting Lacey redeem herself this season after the big reveal that she’d written that awful scathing letter to Jenna at the series’ start. I think she’s much funnier, and generally more enjoyable, when she’s not entirely superficial.
Jenna had something to write about dropped in her lap. Mr. Hart would learn of her mother’s greatest humiliation… her. The episode closed with Matty showing up at the Hamilton front door yet again. His mother was right, the Hamilton’s are different, and he’s one of them.
What did you think of Awkward. Season 3 Episode 4, “Let’s Talk About Sex”? Is Collin shaping up to be a love interest for Jenna or a writing rival? Are you enjoying Jenna’s mother more this season? Are Sadie and Tamara on course to become friends now that Sadie is on her own? Did you like how the show handled the Jakara sex story line?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Awkward. Season 3 Episode 4, “Let’s Talk About Sex”!