Warning! This review contains spoilers for season one and two of Awkward except for the 8/30/12 epsiode!

THE PLOT

First off, can I just say that I have a girl crush on Ashley Rickards? The messenger boards on IMDb said that she looked like Amber Tamblyn. Since IMDb wouldn't let me post there, I'm going to say here that I've seen pictures of Amber and have seen in her in the show "The Unusuals", and they look NOTHING alike. Am I the only one who thinks Ashley has an uncanny resemblence to Britt Robinson from "The Secret Circle", another amazing show that I will review later. They just look so similar and act so similar I thought it was Britt Robinson at first!

Watching just the first episode, I was drawn in by how real the show is. The writing is crisp and raw and I was also struck by how true to awkwardness they stuck. Like Ashley's character, Jenna, I felt so invisible in my high school as well. I had two of the greatest friends ever and a group of people around me but I still felt horrible alone. And I liked that Jenna's character was just as clueless as I was. It's like the creator stuck a bug in my brain and recorded every thought I ever had. This show came out my freshman year of college and the same thing applied. I still felt alone in a sea of people.

The pilot episode opened with us getting to know Jenna. That she liked to blog and she has a sarcastic and akward demeanor. She was at camp, explaining her situation, and we were introduced to one of her love interests, Matty McKibben played amazingly by Beau Mirchoff. Seriously how cute is that name? Both names actually! (Uusually I don't like voiced-over shows but this one is an exception.) And it goes on to show how they had sex and during the season, we see how they have this sexual relationship but that's all Matty's willing to give.

I'll admit, I was a little skeptical about MTV shows because they've all been mostly reality shows, namely game and dating shows. To hear of their foray into scripted shows left me a little doubtful. But seeing how MTV didn't sugarcoat anything, I was happy with it. They don't put teenagers in this ideallic bubble that other programs seem to love. These teens curse, have sex, talk about graphic subjects, and deal with their messy lives. If this isn't one of thee most accurate depictions of teenagers in a long time since the likes of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", then I don't know what is.

So to see that in the very first episode of Awkward, Jenna was having sex with Matty, it just made me all the more interested in the show. It's so unreal to have a show reflect my life and for me to so readily identify with the main character so fast was just a whole new experience for me. Usually I identify with the funny friend who pops up for comic relief and so to have a show cater to a niche I didn't know needed to be filled fills me with renewed hope in the future of television.

The first season also revolves around the presence of a letter written by "A Friend". It's called a "carefrontation" and it addresses Jenna and lets her know that she needs to step up in her life or otherwise disappear from her life and no one would notice. This prompts an assumed suicide attempt and there's the catalyst for the whole show. And also why the cast came into place. OH! But luckily, she didn't spend the whole show in a cast. It actually revolves around her stepping up and taking control of her life like playing in school activities like the wheel of pep, going to parties, and overall taking charge of her life. I also like that she's taking baby steps. It's not her waking up one day and just deciding to get a personality makeover. I also like that this show has so many interesting names for things that are so catchy like "skitch", a cross between skank and bitch. I never thought of it like that!

The one mystery element in the show is finding out who wrote the letter. It could be Tamara, pronounced To-Mar-Ah, Ming, Sadie, Matty, or anyone else and I liked how they carried that mystery until the very end of the season. It was something to discover and guess along wih Jenna and that was something I enjoyed because I honestly didn't know who it was and I was just as surprised as anyone else to find out that it was Jenna's mom. Of all people her own mom wrote the letter and set the ball rolling on this show. Who knew?



I also liked that the growing relationship between Jenna and Matty was gradual and real. It wasn't oh we had sex, we're together now, and it's all sunshine and rainbows. I liked that Matty was the personification of the complete assholes running around high schools that awkward outsiders like me, Jenna, or other unlucky girls have the misfortune of liking. I also liked that Jenna didn't bend over and take it, she constantly confronted armpit sniffing Matty about his lack of willingness to take things further. She was constantly in his face even though she was afraid to DTR because she thought that it would ruin what they had. But, I mean, who wouldn't want something more? Like obviously, you liked her enough to get into her panties, but an actual relationship is just too much to bear right? All because he wanted to keep his reputation. Boy, didn't that ring a bell? I went through something similar with a guy I had a huge crush on. We didn't have sex but I really liked him and he didn't want to ruin our friendship. (When he was still good friends with his two ex's right? Yeah, okay!)

Then while Jenna's popularity is on the rise, you always have hating skitches. (See what I did there??) Like Sadie played with flawlessness by Molly Tarlov and Lissa played by Greer Grammer. Sadie, a mean cheerleader, takes a photo of Jenna's boobs and sends it around the school. She openly mocks her and whatnot, and Lissa's just along for the ride. While this is going on, Matty openly flirts with other girls and constantly leaves Jenna very insecure and vulnerable and REFUSES to DTR. I'm just as frustrated as Jenna while watching because it doesn't make sense that he could be so sweet in private to her like when he hung out with her friends but then a total ass in public. Guys, who understands them really?

Jenna also gets a little ballsy. She steals Sadie's diary to hold as leverage, she gets the lead in the CRASH play, throws a party and gets hammered, tells Matty off and kisses Ricky Schwartz in front of Tamara. To say that Jenna is letting her Awk Flag fly is an understatement! All I can do is cheer her on! While this is going on, she captures the attention of Jake, played with sweet sincerity by Brett Davern. They kiss and now Jake is torn between Jenna and staying true to his girlfriend. But at least he acknowledges Jenna in public! And now comes the required love triangle. Stay with Matty and his mixed signals or go with Jake and his sincerity. Decisions, decisions. And it doesn't help that with the added threat of Jake, who broke up with his girlfriend, Matty all of a sudden wants to step up and be in Jenna's life.

By this point, it's about time for the winter formal and Jenna has already chosen to be with Jake. But Matty makes one last desperate plea at the dance for Jenna to choose him and she ended up choosing Jake. And at the very end, just when Jenna finally thought she was done with all the drama, she realizes that her mom wrote the letter. End of season, LOL. Talk about a cliffhanger to drool over. And be upset! But luckily I watched all of this like a week or two before season 2 so I didn't have to wait so long. Whew!



Now on to season 2. Jenna, with this wealth of information, shuts her mom out and her dad has no idea why. I like that they included Jenna's parents a little more this season. It kind of seemed like they were just backseat fodder that needed to be there to fill the minutes and lags in Jenna's story in season 1. But now they get their own little sub story. Finally, Lacey tells Kevin that she wrote the letter and he moves out. He could deal with her not fully being grown up, giving his daughter bad advice and everything else, but to his eyes, she caused their daughter to almost commit suicide. That's the ultimate no-no. So he moves out and takes a much needed break from Lacey.

Since Jenna chose Jake, Matty had constantly been in their way. When they eat, he does, when they play games, he does. Now, throughout the whole episode, I was seriously under the impression that Matty was trying to sabotage their relationship because he knew he messed up and he wanted a second chance. But then when Jenna confronted him about it, he told her that she was taking his best friend from him and I was like "AWWW!" I totally changed my tune because it was true. Instead of talking to him about it, she flaunted her relationship in his face knowing full well that his torch for her was in a full blaze. But then at the marathon when Sadie confronted him and told him that she knew his game, he denied it. But then looked back with a devillish smirk that made me want to scream with lust!

Okay, was I the only one who did a big fat WTF when Sadie and Ricky got together? Like of all people on this show to get together, it was those two? Yet somehow, it totally works. I was thrown a curveball but at least I rolled with it. They're cute together. He's completely devoted to her and though she digs him too, she hides it behind yelling at him. But it was completely rude that she flaunted it in Tamara's face. No one deserves that and I know exactly how she feels. When people get together and the girls know that you're feeling her man, she'll do all kinds of extra and unncessary things to make sure you know to stay away and that he's taken. Guys will never understand this or even notice it, but it's there. It's totally there.

Okay, I was on the fence about the whole "Tell Jake" thing. On one hand, Jenna and Matty shouldn't have kept it a secret. That's their best friend and boyfriend respectively and Jake had a right to know what he was getting into. But on the other hand, since Jenna and Matty had completely ended things and Matty was dating another girl, who were they hurting if they didn't say anything? It was their secret, free to do with as they please, and I'm a firm believer that guys tell their wives they cheated to assuage their own guilt. But then again, when Jake was blind sided with the truth from Sadie, I wanted to cry for him. He thought he was living the dream and then his best friend and girlfriend betrayed him. BUT Jenna had told him she loved him finally and he breaks up with her. Like if she said that, why would it be such a big deal that they didn't tell him? Just saying. I didn't think it was right for Jenna and Matty to kiss on the night Jake broke up with her. I'm sure they didn't mean to, but come on, how messed up is that? And poor Jake for witnessing it! But then again, he broke up with her, technically, he didn't have claim on her for those few hours and her heart will always belong to Matty no matter how much she protests.

Now Jake is acting like a little female and wants to ignore Jenna and Matty and call them on their betrayal in front of the whole school. Though he got some good shots in with Matty, Matty took him down in one punch. Here's my reaction: "DDDDDAAAAAAAYYYYUUUUUMMMMMMNNN!!!" LOL. I can understand Jake's hurt and pain but come on, that was dirty to air their laundry in front of the whole school and then have the nerve to get upset when Jenna did it with her blog. Do they not understand the courage it took to do something like that? And then Matty wants to get upset. Like WTF, she was helping him out with his friend. But whatever. I also like that the running mystery has been the person commenting on her blog. I'm dying to know who it is. I wanna say it's Matty but I just don't know!

Whew! There is everything to the best of my knowledge and to the best of my caring up to this point in season 2. I can't even wait until season 3 because there's going to be more episodes. Yippee!! Now time for the characters minus Jenna, Lacey, Lissa, Ricky, and Kevin!

So let's start with Tamara. At first, I could not stand her character. And Jillian Reed played her so well, that I just couldn't get over how annoying Tamara is. She's so upbeat, so bouncy, so loud that if she were my friend I would have slapped her a long time ago. But as we get into season 2, she actually calmed down just a tad to where she's bearable. And her funny obsession with Ricky left me in stitches and beneath all that upbeat-ness, there's someone who hurts too since she just couldn't see why Ricky wouldn't stay true to her like she was to him. I feel your pain girl, I really do.




Valerie is a freakin' riot. If anything, she's more awkward than Jenna but she let's her Awk Flag fly as well and does not care. Played with squeamish delight by Desi Lydic, Valerie is everything I would have wanted in my guidance counselor. I only met mines once, and she was just worried that I missed school on account of walking ammonia. Valerie tries so hard to be cool and fails so horribly but keeps trying which makes her an awesome character, I think that if anyone else had tried to play this role, it would have been super annoying and I would have hated the character. It would have been overrdone and shotty and I'm so glad that Desi plays it like she does.



Sadie, Sadie, Sadie. What to say about her? How about how freakin' awesome she is! They could have easily made her a cliche and made her a skinny little white girl who makes others feel bad to hide her own insecurities. I really like the twist they put on her character. That her character is overweight with serious insecurities but still finds time to insult other people. Like you just wouldn't think that a big girl would slam other people. And I love her little catch phrase, the way she says you're welcome is just so awesome and original. I think she'll be forever remembered for it whether she likes it or not. I know that she hates to say it now to people, she has to find alternate ways of replying to someone who says thank you. That's just one of the casualties of a hit show. There could be worse things!



Now, Jake Rosoti, (awesome last name BTW). I don't know why, I cannot for the life of me put my finger on it, but he's just a little too sweet. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome, it's just that he's just too sugary for my tastes. He always has a cheesy line for Jenna and though they're sweet, I just can't like it. Which is a bummer because I'm a sucker for cheesy lines. But then why am I having such a hard time getting past his overly niceness? Maybe I'm spoiled on the whole Stefan going bad thing that it worked for him, Bill going cuckoo as well, and now nice guys are just blah to me. But I don't know, I want to like Jake, I really do, but he's just too nice, too complacent, too okay with everything that it makes me feel like I've eaten too much candy. It's good going down but afterwards you just really regret it. And it sucks, because I really want to like Jake for Jenna but I just don't. I just can't see them together in the long run. Even Jake getting upset is a joke, because he's sitting here near tears over Jenna and Matty but then changes his tune when he listens to her voicemail. Like come on, get real. Ugh, it makes me mad because Jake is too cute but I just cannot like his character for Jenna.



And I saved the best for last. Given my history, is it completely WRONG that I'm in love with Matty and want him to be with Jenna? Is it really? And it's a shocker coming from me of all people. I seem to only like assholes yet go out with the gooey ones who just don't do it for me. I can't stand when guys send mixed signals or are assholes for no reason, and it irritates me that they really don't care. So why am I on the Matty bandwagon? I have no friggin' clue but that's where I'm sticking. Beau is just too hot for words. Honestly, how could you stay mad at him for so long? With a face and body like that, how? And I'm so glad they stopped that arm-pit thing. It was gross. No matter how cute he is, even I couldn't get passed that. Don't get me wrong, I hate what he did to Jenna. I felt the same way in high school when so many douchy guys treated me bad but expected second chances. It should turn me off of Matty with him doing the exact same thing but I just can't! Jenna and Matty are too cute together. Everytime they're next to each other, I want to scream that they quit playing around and get together. So when Jenna kissed him in her room, I was clapping my hands off even though I didn't agree with the timing. But who cares? It's Beau Mirchoff! LOL. I want to kick myself for condoning what Matty did, but I can't help it! He knows he messed up, why can't Jenna give him a second chance? I know I'm bad for saying it, but oh well.. I guess it's just always going to be ingrained in me that I like bad boys. Haha.



Well that's it. And as promised, it was done today. Although I wish it could have been earlier, so much goes on in Awkward, it's hard to get it all out. LOL. Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!




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This is in no way to talk bad about, or discredit, or slam Lee Tergensen.

 

 

My history with Lee Tergensen is a long and troubled one. Just kidding! But I did feel like an idiot when watching his shows and movies. Perhaps best known for his role on Oz as Tobias Beeker, Lee Tergensen is a phenomenal actor. Gifted, talented, and completely believable, it's a shame he's only as famous as that one role, however AWESOME it was!

 

I first watched his performance in The Forgotten starring Julianne Moore and Dominic West. Though I didn't know it at the time, Lee was the one in the chair who got yanked out of the cabin. I remember I was in my teens by the time I watched it, (I'm a huge scardey cat!) and even then I remember thinking that he was really attractive.

 

I didn't again notice him until I began to watch Army Wives where he came in close to the fifth season as a love interest for Pamela Moran. I remember watching the first episode he appeared in and knowing I've seen his face or something. I could not put my finger on it, but I just knew he looked familiar but the movie or show never came. So I continuted to watch the amazing show, hoping it would come but it never did.

 

Then my interests moved on to watching Law and Order: SVU because I always saw my mom watching it, but I never really knew the attraction. Then over my dad's house, he only gets select channels so it was between that and other boring, highly uninteresting shows. For obvious reasons, I chose SVU and after one episode, I was hooked! The actors are amazing, I loved seeing the random stars I could name by face that I've seen in other movies and shows. There was even a cameo from Lee! And of course, Christopher Meloni is big slice of beefcake that was too good to pass up. So from there, I kept hearing things about Oz and how Christopher Meloni was on it with Lee, so then I decided to buckle down and watch it myself, just to see what all the fuss had been about back then.

 

Boy was I hooked! From the very first episode, they kept it real, they kept it interesting, they kept me hooked. It was honestly one of the best shows I've ever seen and I was literally yelling at people to leave me alone so I could watch them all. I'm a little strapped for cash, but even I went to iTunes and bought some of the episodes because YouTube was acting up. And I'm so glad I did. The characters just seemed so real, it was a real eye opener. But I will have a full Oz review later. Back to Lee.

 

 

 

So he was present in the first episode and at first it didn't register that this was the same man from The Forgotten and from Army Wives. As I watched and watched, and the story lines continued, Lee's hair grew longer and longer, but still it didn't click. BUT I do remember thinking, WTH? Lee Tergensen could be extremely attractive if it weren't for his freakin' hair! It's almost like he doesn't know what to do with it. Sometimes it's cut and looks nice, and other times it's long and wild and extremely gross. I don't know, maybe I'm just not used to him having long hair? Or something. Or maybe his face just isn't framed for long hair? Either freakin way, it was gross as hell and I wanted to yell at the screen.