AWKWARD. Recap: ‘Sex, Lies, and The Sanctuary’

Hey AWKWARD. fans!  How did you like this second episode of the season? There are quite a few secrets floating around in Jenna’s world, and by the end of the episode, some were revealed and some appear to be even more hidden. Let’s discuss!

The episode begins with Jenna’s voiceover declaring how happy she is in her public relationship with Jake. But soon, they notice a crowd at “The Sanctuary” — a dark, hidden place below the school bleachers known for dirty deeds. The crowd has formed because a hidden camera has been revealed. Jenna worries that her time spent making out with Matty there will be caught on tape and that Jake will find out.  She eventually enlists Ming’s help, convincing her friend to speak with “The Asians” for a little intel.

Matty is also a little nervous about the footage, and he seems surprised when Jake confides in him that Jenna is not a virgin. He tells Jake it’s not a reflection on him, but I think he was secretly pleased to hear this information about Jenna. We talked last week a little bit about how Matty and Jake’s friendship is also being put to the test and how Matty is possibly not being the best friend at the moment. It is interesting to see him encourage Jake while also keeping tabs on Jenna.

The season 2 premiere didn’t take place at the school, so it was nice to see this episode focus more on that. It gave a little more credibility to Val’s actions — though really, are her actions ever credible? This time, the principal puts it on her to get the camera’s secret footage. Jenna realizes she needs to get to it first.

Ming has relative success with The Asians, who are led by Becca. She wants to know if Ming is a cool Asian or a school Asian. Turns out, she’s neither — she’s white. Ming is shocked, but she also asks about the tape. Becca agrees to assist and also gives Ming some test answers for the next day’s history test. “You’ve been making us look bad,” she tells Ming. Ha!

Becca gets the footage and tells Ming that Jenna isn’t on it. She’s relieved, but the tape is swiped by Val, who takes the credit and gets the principal to promote her to vice principal. This of course was Becca’s plan all along, since the previous VP was not allowing them to park in the guest parking spots. Ming is grateful, but Becca makes it clear that Ming now owes her a future favor. I think this is awesome, because it means more Becca in the future.  What do you think? Did you like Becca? Could she give Sadie a run for her money in evil characters for this season?

Jake once again confides in Matty and says that what is bothering him the most is that Jenna told him she was in love with the guy she’d slept with before. Matty immediately goes to talk to Jenna, asking if she’d slept with anyone but him before. She tells him no, and he confesses that he loves her. What did you think about that scene? Is Matty genuine, or does he just want what he currently doesn’t have? I have mixed feelings about it, but I’m leaning toward genuine, as I really thought he looked hurt later when Jenna admitted that she liked Jake because he isn’t embarrassed by her and doesn’t make her feel bad about herself. “I’m so sorry, Jenna,” Matty tells her, and I believed him. I also believed him when he pleaded with Jenna not to tell Jake –he doesn’t want to lose both of them.

Jenna invites Jake over later, and his line “Before I sweat through another shirt, can you tell me what was so important that you had to tell me in person?” made me laugh. Jake is seriously the cutest. Jenna tells him that if he really wants to know, she’ll tell him, and he tells her that what he REALLY wants is just for her to feel comfortable telling him anything. Jake is the best. We can see Jenna waffling a bit, and in the end she just tells him that she’s not in love with the other guy anymore, and she’s completely invested in her relationship with Jake. Hmmm…Jake likes that information. I’m not sure how I would feel about the word invested, and I also sort of think Jenna got off a little easy. But I’m also guessing we haven’t seen the end of this three-way secret.

On the home front, Jenna is annoyed with Lacey, who, in a misguided (but totally in character) way is trying to make up for the letter by cooking Jenna all of her favorite foods. It’s great writing there, because it shows a clear delineation between what Jenna values and what Lacey values. Jenna values the truth (or at least, she says she does — we’ll see what happens with Jake) while Lacey just wants to be liked and popular. It was an awesome scene where Lacey tries to get Jenna’s sympathy, asking if she knows what it feels like to have to do something that will break someone’s heart. “You broke my heart when you wrote that letter,” Jenna tells her. “And I still have no idea why you wrote it.” Speaking of breaking hearts, Jenna was breaking mine in that scene. Well done, Ashley Rickards!  By the end of the episode, Jenna has released Lacey from the threat of telling Kevin if Lacey doesn’t, but we see Lacey tell him herself. He’s less than pleased, and I’m sure that issue will carry over into future episodes.

Enough from me — what did you like about this episode? Is there anything you didn’t like? Did Jenna get off easy when Jake said he would rather not know about her past? Do you think Matty was being sincere? And could Jake seriously be completely clueless about Matty and Jenna? What do you think about Becca and The Asians?

The comments are open, so let’s discuss!