TV Recap: Awkward. 3×06-“That Girl Strikes Again”

Previously: Matty stays with Jenna’s family, causing a few problems. The reminder shot of Matty telling Jenna that everything is fine leads me to believe that everything is not, in fact, fine. That might just be my crazy good detective skills talking, who knows?

Confusingly enough, it’s Halloween. Jenna opens the episode with a bit of slut shaming, which isn’t the best way to kickstart the episode after last week’s disappointment. The slut shaming stops when shirtless lifeguard Matty shows up, two things I support. When he exits, some snotty girls in costumes tell Jenna that “You can take the girl out of the cast, but you can’t take the outcast out of the girl,” because people are wretched and can’t seem to mind their own business. Sadie shows up to drive the point home, but is interrupted when new boy Colin tells them about his girlfriend’s Halloween party. It turns out this Angelique was Sadie’s best friend turned nemesis, one that took some sort of horse riding prize from her in youth. Sadie wants vengeance and she wants it NOW.

Val sneaks up on Jenna in stealth gear to hide herself from egging—apparently as a guidance counselor she’s the prime target. She delivers what might have been the best line of the episode: “I’ve been so caught up with myself I haven’t even noticed your costume. Are you a cokehead?” Val is the one to tell Jenna about the existence of a “Hot List.” Jenna’s inclusion on the “Not List” sends her into a tearful tizzy, in which she cries to Jake that she’s not good enough for Matty.

Pause. Are we REALLY back here? I’m curious about how many times we’re going to rehash this particular issue. Also, we’re still talking to Jake about problems we should be discussing with either Tamara or Matty? Just checking.

Tamara’s breaking down how to have a successful relationship for Jenna. According to her, you have to SHARE—Sexual chemistry, Heart, Aroma, Remote control, and Excitement. She advises Jenna, “Put your hater shades on and block out the vibes,” once again claiming the title for sagest character on the show.

In order to avoid another party, Jenna suggests they crash a cooler party—this being Angelique’s. Jenna asks someone with a (horrifying) crow mask if they’ve seen Colin. They respond with “I haven’t seen that douche all night,” and coax Jenna to admit that she finds him douchey too. Come on, Jenna. Obviously it’s Colin. You should have seen that one coming from a mile away.

Sadie’s harassing people to find Angelique’s family’s safe, which is hilarious. In the study she comes across some dude that she asks, “Do you know where they keep the valuables in the house? Unless ‘you’ is ‘they,’ in which case forget I asked.” This upfront attitude is why I truly appreciate Sadie. She ends up facing off with Angelique and the two try to out-bitch one another.

Tamara’s sweater ends up stuck to a very pierced girl. When Tamara tries to figure out why Jake isn’t helping them get detached, Pierced Girl explains that he ate space cookies and is now as high as the proverbial kite. The two bond while Tamara gives her advice about her relationship with her mother. Once again, T proves to be the bearer of wisdom. That’s twice in this episode alone.

Meanwhile, Jenna, Matty, and the rest of the party are playing a game of Confession. The game: a player says, “Bless me father, for I have sinned.” In return, the rest of the group says, “Go on my child.” The player gives the confession. If the group assesses the statement correctly, the individual drinks. Kinda like Two Truths and a Lie, but less work. After everyone correctly guesses that Matty accidentally feeling up his special ed neighbor was true, Jenna drops the bomb that she was the girl that tried to kill herself the previous year. She spills the entire story, laughing about it along the way. Everyone thinks Jenna’s great. She and Angelique even bond over mocking Colin for being a tool. I’d feel bad for him, but he IS kind of a tool.

A random dance party makes the still high Jake crash into the coffee table—the exact coffee table housing the elusive golden horseshoe Sadie has been looking for. Sadie grabs it, but is stopped by Angelique’s brother (apparently the dude from the study) on the way out. He demands that she pony up seven digits for it. “A million dollars for a fucking horseshoe?” Sadie spits out. He meant her phone number. I applaud him, I was totally with Sadie on that one. He dials the number given and immediately calls her out on the fake, proving to me that he might be just the love interest for Sadie that we’ve been waiting for.

Jenna helps Angelique clean and reveals that the boyfriend in the story is Matty. Angelique is incredulous and asks, “Aren’t you bored?” which seems to be pretty rude considering these two have only just met and Ang knows that they are currently dating. More and more seeds of discontent seem to be sprouting for M and J here. Jenna finds Matty in the car, who didn’t want to hang out with the people at the party anymore but didn’t want to wreck it for Jenna. Jenna asks why he’s with her and he explains, “You’re a good person. Spending time with you makes me a better person.” This is absolutely adorable. When asked the same question of her, a list of Matty’s physical attributes runs through Jenna’s mind. I think I’m starting to like Jenna less. Considering she used to want a true, open relationship with Matty, I find it pretty terrible that now she seems to be only interested in him physically. At least she’s concerned about the shallow showing her mind just made. She tells him it’s pretty much the same for her, not mentioning her internal obsession with his abs.

In sum…

–        We unfortunately seem to be circling back on the whole Jenna doesn’t feel good enough to be with Matty thing. Considering their recent discussions about their relationships, I had hoped we were past this. Also, it seems that anything that makes her feel better tears down Matty a bit. This is what we call not good.

–        Colin’s still a tool, but seems to be developing a little bit of much needed humility. We’ll see how things go.

–        Jenna finally found a place that she fits in—with Colin’s highbrow friends. As of right now, I can’t tell if “highbrow” really means “pretentious,” but I’m sure we’ll find out in the ensuing weeks.

–        Sadie’s got a love interest! One that seems clever and bold enough to deal with her! LOVE IT.

Unfortunately I can’t find a trailer for next week’s “Guilt Trippin” that doesn’t feature a bunch of random scenes before it, but it’s Homecoming! More importantly, JAKE TEACHES MATTY TO DANCE.