TV Review: Awkward. (5×08-5×09) “An Indecent Promposal” and “Say No to the Dress”

“An Indecent Promposal”

It’s prom time on Awkward., so Jenna is currently obsessing about–you guessed it–Matty. She thinks they should go together, but Tamara is convinced that it will undo her “mature” act and lead them down the road of too many feelings. Jenna takes this advice and pretends not to care about prom, convincing Matty that she doesn’t want to go with him. She regrets this later, in a twist that surprises no one.

Tamara quits as head of the prom committee, throwing her responsibilities on Lissa instead. She decides to post a DO NOT ASK list for prom, attempting to take down the high school institution. Jenna’s with her, until she gets nominated for prom queen. Tamara is peeved, but decides that she’ll support her if she uses her speech as an opportunity to take down prom.

Jake decides to take a gap year between high school and college, giving him the chance to save some money and help his family. Gabby finds him not going to college immediately embarrassing, and they break up.

Sergio tries to discuss his plan to buy a food truck with Sadie, but she blows him off, too preoccupied with her mom issues. When he buys it, Sadie freaks out, as that means Sergio is committed to staying there instead of moving to New York with her. Angry that she didn’t listen in the first place, Sergio breaks up with her. Sadie attempts to apologize, citing her mother as the reason for her most recent neglect. Sergio won’t budge–he says it’s always something with her, his life can never come first.

In the end, Jenna takes advice to go to prom with someone you love and promposes to Tamara. When Sadie goes to Matty’s house in tears, Matty asks her to accompany him.

Not too bad, Awkward. They did a good job of showing the kind of drama that prom causes without going too over-the-top with it. I appreciate that they’re still bringing out elements like Matty and Sadie’s friendship, which they seem to have forgotten about in the more recent episodes.

Episode Rating: 7/10.

“Say No to the Dress”

As part of prom court, Jenna has been instructed to wear a floor-length white gown by Lissa. To celebrate Jenna and Tamara going to prom, Kevin brings them giant glasses of red wine, which is the weirdest celebratory drink I’ve seen in awhile. What about champagne? Have these people never seen prom night on Beverly Hills, 90210? Even though he puts the wine in a sippy cup, it spills all over Jenna’s white dress. Listen, I blame her, she never should have even touched the wine.

Over at Lissa’s, Sadie is snarking about her mother in front of Ted, When Darlene asks to speak with her, Sadie calls her out on using her as a means to convince Ted she was a good mother. She breaks down crying, but says she won’t rat Darlene out to Ted–after all, having to pretend will be punishment enough.

Tamara’s bridal shop guy managed to save the night, but it means that Jenna is wearing a wedding dress. Personally, I think it also looks like a prom dress, but whatever. Jenna’s annoyed when she sees that the Julies are in short white dresses for court, but is really upset when Tamara’s attempted dress fix looks like she got into a fight with a chainsaw. The girls cry in a bathroom, lamenting the death of their perfect night. However, it looks like all’s not lost, since Adam shows up in dress uniform and asks Tamara to date him again. Satisfied with Tamara’s happiness, Jenna leaves in search of pajamas, rocky road, and her bed.

Jake, who is flying solo for prom, notices that all of Gabby’s friends are trying to dance and flirt with him. Lissa explains how competitive Intimidation Nation is–since Gabby is their leader, whoever gets with Jake will best her.

Sadie and Matty made a pact to try to have a good time, but were turned off by Lissa’s cotton candy, unicorned prom. They leave and get drunk in the limo instead. Sadie tries to get Matty to go back to the prom, citing his guaranteed Prom King title and the opportunity to impregnate six girls. He’s not into it, which makes her realize that he’s in love with Jenna again. As disgusted as that makes her, Sadie convinces Matty that he has to go after Jenna if he has feelings for her.

TO BE CONTINUED.

It looks like all Awkward. needed to get back on track was some guaranteed high school drama where Jenna’s obsession with Matty isn’t completely out of place! I love the Matty/Sadie friendship stuff again, and loved that Sadie chose to take the (mostly) high road with her mother. I’m actually interested to see where Jenna and Matty go from here.

Episode Rating: 8/10.