Awkward. - Recap: She Keeps Dancing On Her Own

Episode 20 of Season 3 of Awkward, “Who I Want to Be,” had Jenna Hamilton (Ashley Rickards) asking herself all the right questions to meander her way from the pits of high school despair to a place of self-acceptance, self-respect, and decent dance moves. By the end of the finale, Jenna was taking a cue from pop icon Robyn. She keeps dancing on her own! Well, she was awkwardly close to a group of extras we don’t know, but still, at least Jenna has learned to own it. Here is the Recap and Review of Awkward. Season 3 Episode 20, the finale, “Who I Want to Be”!

MTV "Awkward."

Episode 20 opened with Jenna Hamilton sufficiently handling the bomb that Matty McKibbin (Beau Mirchoff) had dropped during the close of last week’s episode. Ugh, Jenna got snubbed in a pair of Uggs. Before we knew it, Hamilton was busy shredding off her dress with a massive pair of scissors before lying down for her signature sulk. Only, it seemed the finale had seen that last of Jenna’s whining and wallowing. It was time for Jenna to take a crack at Unraveled by Russell Jonathan, the book Mr. Hart (Anthony Michael Hall) had passed off to her during her days as a Collin (Nolan Funk) addict. Funny enough, Hamilton found herself so engrossed in the work that she used it as a means of escaping the world around her for days, reading and re-reading the pages over and over. In fact, Hamilton was nearly in love with the man behind the words! Thanks to a tip from her father, Kevin (Mike Faiola), who’d had enough of Jenna’s hiding behind the same tow-up cover of Unraveled, Hamilton made the attempt to research more works by the same author. Unfortunately, she did a little too much digging and drudged up some information she most certainly wasn’t ready to find. Russell Jonathan is… Mr. Hart!

Had Jenna fallen inappropriately in love with her creative writing teacher? While word seemed to spread like wildfire regarding Matty’s decision to ask Bailey (McKaley Miller) to prom, Jenna was primarily concerned with the revelation she’d uncovered regarding Mr. Hart. Val (Desi Lydic) was, needless to say, of little use in the whole guidance department, but it was certainly nice to see the two besties back in business. By the way, one of my favorite moments during this finale was when Jenna slipped and inappropriately referred to Hart as “Russ” to clue him in on her little discovery. The time had come for the students who’d survived the warzone that is Mr. Hart’s class to come full circle. If you remember, Hart had opened the school year by prompting the class to think about who they want they want to be. Thus, they were instructed to write their final opus on the subject. Jenna, who’d spent a good chunk of her year destroying her entire life and baking the memories out of her brain, seemed to have nothing left to give but a sigh.

Most of Episode 20 focused on the looming disaster that was to be Jenna Hamilton’s prom, yet breaking news in the Palos Hills High halls shook up her expectations. Matty and Bailey were a no-go. Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) seized control of the situation, steamrolling Jake (Brett Davern) as per usual, and assessed that Matty had never truly intended to ask Bailey. Instead, he was simply looking to feel out Jenna’s feelings, and she’d quite obviously misconstrued the meaning of his visit to the Hamilton home. Of course, this would all subsequently blow up in Jenna’s face. Jenna allowed herself to fill up with false hope. In reality, Bailey declined the invitation of the Matty McKibbin, but why? After dodging her friend’s calls for days, Jenna decided to woman-up and talk to Bailey face to face. Bailey, welling up with tears, admitted to having feelings for Matty, but her loyalty to Jenna as her only friend trumped silly boy butterflies any day.

MTV "Awkward."

Jenna, recognizing this as a true act of selfless kindness, decided to return the favor by setting up her ex and her new buddy as prom dates. Yes, it was awkward, but this set Jenna on the true path of self-discovery that would prove to be an invaluable journey over the course of about thirty more minutes of T.V. Boy, with this show’s record, I keep waiting for Bailey to royally screw something up, but did Awkward. really just write in a character who’s simply… nice?

Enough with nice, saps! Sadie Saxton (Molly Tarlov) is in love, everybody. Lissa (Greer Grammer) was sufficiently freaked out by Sadie’s showing of a positive emotion, much to Saxton’s chagrin. More importantly, Sadie had a great scene during the finale with Aunt Ally (Barret Swatek) in which the two threw on some intense sweat suits and hit up a scorching sauna. Orgasm lessons from Aunt Ally? Not quite Sadie’s cup of venom, but pure joy for us to witness.

Once her final paper was due, Jenna found herself in quite the sticky situation. As everyone else handed in their work, Hamilton hurried to scribble down some gibberish that she inevitably tore up in a fit of frustration. At this point, Mr. Hart finally shared his own story. Hart was a cocky young author who garnered a ton of acclaim very quickly. By the time he got through alienating everyone he cared about in the wake of his fame and glory, he’d lost touch with himself and bombed in his subsequent work as a novelist. He was even forced to change his name as an author. Admit to yourself that you googled “Russell Jonathan author” before seeing this episode. No, Unraveled isn’t actually an enthralling tale of a destroyed human being as Awkward led us to believe, but at least the fictional version worked wonders on our Jenna! I was also happy that the self-proclaimed “d*ck” gave Hamilton an extension.

With prom approaching, all of our favorite Awkward. couples seemed to have their fair share of problems. Jake, upset with Tamara for continuing to attempt to control his very existence, insisted on his right to wear a flamboyant tuxedo to prom, forcing Tamara into a black dress out of fear of a clash. Ming (Jessica Lu), meanwhile, stressed frantically over the concept of absolutely needing to swipe her v-card after the dance. One of the best scenes during the finale had to be Ming’s attempt to win a curfew from her parents by insisting that Fred Wu (Kelly Sry) join them for a pre-prom dinner. Needless to say, hilarity would ensue as Ming purposely threw her boyfriend under the bus, stressing his failure to uphold conventional standards in the Asian community. Fred might even *shudder* study something creative in college. In the end, though, Ming’s parents proved to be sufficiently awesome and refused to give their daughter a curfew for her prom night. She could return home… “whenever.” Ming’s parents are my new idols.

MTV "Awkward."

The most heartfelt moment this week came between Jenna and her mother, Lacey (Nikki DeLoach), after Jenna yanked out the dusty old “letter” that had plagued her during Season 1 to jog her brain while writing her assignment. The scathing notes from her mom had once rocked her world, yet her newfound closeness with Lacey shows just how far forgiveness can take a relationship. Lacey recognized that the intention behind her words was terrible, and Jenna, in a sense, realized that the entire situation had made her a stronger human being. “Stop being such a pussy.” Words to live and die by. Jenna, in a moment of inspiration, wrote her piece and emailed the document to Mr. Hart before heading off to prom alone. Her mother previously had her tailor seamlessly stitch the dress of her dreams back together, and Jenna headed to the prom stag save for her newfound confidence.

MTV "Awkward."

MTV "Awkward."

Please tell me Awkward. is giving us more Austin (Shane Harper) during Season 4. I loved that he managed to deduce Sadie’s hidden love for him with a makeshift medical diagnosis of her nerves. In return, he admitted his own scientifically proven feelings, and the couple closed out their arc for Season 3 with a kiss. Meanwhile, props to Rosati for rocking a leopard print tuxedo that even Tamara seemed to adore. Suddenly, I truly regret my own neon blue-on-black senior prom situation. Also, any situation that allows Jake to rip up the dance floor has my approval.

Jenna arrived to a very receptive Bailey and Matty. Bailey, recognizing the bit of unfinished business between the exes, pushed them out to the dance floor with a smile. There, the two vented their true feelings and regrets. Jenna now realized that she couldn’t allow Matty to love her because she didn’t love herself. He’d assumed their relationship was totally closed, and she’d presumed it was still wide open. Thus, we had the answer to the unfortunate prom-snub debacle. At this point, Mr. Hart read Jenna’s paper from afar, and we became privy to the person Jenna truly wants to be. Each and every one of her friends (even Sadie!) contributed something to that future person. This included compassion, forgiveness, self-assurance, growth, etc. Most importantly, Jenna wants to be the girl who’s okay dancing on her own. Can you guess what Jenna Hamilton did to close out the Season 3 finale?
https://twitter.com/AshleyRickards/status/413212426251665408

What did you think of the Awkward. Season 3 finale, Episode 20, “Who I Want to Be”? Are you happy that the newly reformed Jenna seems kind of awesome as a proud single girl? Are you loving Sadie and Austin as well? Did you google “Unraveled by Russell Jonathan” looking to have Amazon rush-deliver it immediately too? Will Matty and Jenna work out, or is he going to give Bailey her shot?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of the Awkward. Season 3 finale, Episode 20, “Who I Want to Be”!