Welcome to the 18th recap of the second season of Faking It, a show about shipwrecks transformed into luxury resorts inhabited by teenage wearwolves, from the network that brought you Is She Really Going Out With Him?
We open on the sun-speckled lawns of Blue Oasis High School For Kids Who Never Go To Class, where Karma and Shane are verbally sparring when they run smack-dab into Wade. He seems to have picked up on the fact that Karma and Shane would rather spend the afternoon knitting themselves into a straitjacket for Yarn Arts than spend time with each other.
Do y’all know of anybody on campus who could help me come out in the most uncomfortable and life-scarring way possible?
This is your lucky day!
Wade suggests that maybe the triple-date isn’t such a good idea but Shane and Karma, whose names sound way too much like Shane and Carmen for me to not mention that at least once, insist they’re just bickery-bantering all the time like little friendly birds on a tree who love each other’s company and think fondly of one another naked.
Wade: So you guys are, you’re cool with each other?
Karma: Uh, cooler than cool! We are really close!
Shane: So close in fact that we’ve kissed! Because… I’m attracted to girls sometimes too!
Karma: Me too! I have kissed girls.
Shane: One girl, singular.
Karma: But like, a bunch of times!
Yeah Wade should probably ditch these yahoos and go find himself a nice age-inappropriate date instead like all the other kids at this school. I hear Penelope Delia Fisher’s schedule is wide open!
We cut to Ye Old Dress Shoppe, where Karma and Amy are shopping for The Perfect Dress for The Perfect Evening. Amy’s not yet told her Mom she’s taking a boy to prom, lest she get as excited as I am despondent about the possibility of Amy sliding back down the Kinsey scale.
Ugggh can someone help me get this spider out of my butt?
Karma wants a dress with a V that goes down to her V so she can beat Shane at his A-Game but also really truly honestly because she likes Wade so much! He seems super great. Amy presses Karma on whether or not she’s actually okay with Wade being into girls and guys, and Karma surprisingly calls her out:
Karma: OMG Reagan I didn’t realize you were here.
Amy: Low blow. But okay, point taken.
Karma: Unlike your close-minded ex-girlfriend, I’m totally cool if Wade wants to swing both ways.
Amy: In the course of a single night?
Uh yeah, I’m pretty positive that I’ll be the prettiest princess at the ball
Meanwhile, Shane remains firmly in denial that Wade could actually be bisexual, forcing Liam to once again be The Good Guy and call Shane out for acting like guys can’t be bisexual, which’s a really sexist belief (as is the belief that girls can’t be 100% homosexual). But Liam’s not opposed to Shane bringing his A-Game to Lauren Junior Prom — anything to keep his precious Karma off the market.
Liam, I have to bring Wade his lunch.
Amy is.
Liam, I need to bring him his lunch.
Amy is.
I’M BRINGING WADE HIS LUNCH!
Sasha shows up for brief banter with Liam regarding whether or not she’s trying to sneak him into the sugar shack, and we all get buried alive, rise from our graves, and proceed to the next scene.
Lauren’s annoyed with Anthony for being annoyed about Tommy taking her to Lauren Junior Prom, and Anthony’s somewhere in the general neighborhood of getting her to consider forgiving him when he slips up and calls prom “a dance in the gym.”
Is that a nightstick in your pocket or are you just trying to annoy me
Lauren insists that Lauren Junior Prom is a crucial right-of-passage. I’d argue it’s world’s most overrated dance in the gym, but that’s neither here nor there, and besides, Lauren has stuff to get to, so she reminds her boyfriend that she REALLY wishes she could go to Lauren Junior Prom with him, but she can’t, because he’d lose his job, and then she exits the building.
Back at Chez Fawcett, Lauren tries her damndest to teach Tommy to dance while Amy tries her darndest to give herself a manicure, but he’s dumb as rocks and Amy’s hopeless with a bottle of polish, so Amy resigns to just-fucked-a-girl-on-her-period hands and Lauren and Tommy resign to spending the afternoon looking at poses on Pinterest.
I just can’t decide what looks better, Haute in the Heat, Jelly Apple or Tomboy No More
Then Felix shows up, much to Farrah’s surprise and delight, and Felix’s surprise about Farrah’s surprise, although nobody in Amy’s life should ever be surprised by Amy’s failure to disclose [thing] to [person who will eventually find out].
I was in the garden when I noticed this gorgeous young buck creeping behind a maple tree and I thought why not invite him right on in for some Buffalo Fried Pickles?
Amy: I tried really hard to get her to accept that I’m not straight and now she’s probably in there picking out our wedding china.
Felix: If you don’t mind me asking, if you’re not straight, then what are you?
Amy: Allergic to peanuts? And labels? I’m sorry.
Felix: Hey, don’t apologize. We’re teenagers, we’re not supposed to have all the answers, right?
Felix needs Amy’s crucial fashion input on his suit, and she picks the jokey powder-blue option, warning him that she’ll be adjusting her strapless dress all night long. So I guess she went with the strapless dress.
Welp, it’s already Lauren Junior Prom night! Lauren, cranky and insolent, takes photos with Tommy while Farrah and Bruce bicker about their new communication techniques learned in therapy.
Shhh. You promised not to tell anybody that Catwoman has hired me to be her new sidekick, Catgirl
Amy, it appears, hasn’t gone with the strapless gown after all. The last few dates I went on with guys, I dressed as “gay” as possible — baggy jeans, men’s shirts, etc — like I was daring them to notice that I wasn’t dressing for their appreciation, like yes, I am on this date with you, but I am NOT on a date with the patriarchy! I have no idea what I was thinking, really, it seems stupid and non-sensical in retrospect but, anyway, that’s what I thought about when Amy shows up in this:
Ahem
You couldn’t save the Portia De Rossi costume for Halloween, honey?
Felix is into it, though, because he’s a Good Guy and he Likes Amy, likes her enough to do jokey poses that’ll land somewhere between “what her Mom wishes she was taking pictures of” and “what her Mom is actually taking pictures of.” But it’s also so awkward, like when he points out that she’s still holding his hand and then she pulls away. This is, categorically, a bad idea, this date, but she has to go with somebody. AND APPARENTLY SHE IS THE ONLY NOT-STRAIGHT GIRL AT THIS ALLEGEDLY LIBERAL SCHOOL IN AUSTIN FREAKING TEXAS.
What do you mean “get closer”? I feel like we’re pretty close already.
Apparently Prom By Lauren Junior Lauren Prom’s decorations were not delivered and displayed in the Hester High gymnasium as requested. Instead the room’s been done over to look like the very overpriced Aquarium Restaurant we visited on a recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee. It was in a mall and a 14-year-old lesbian was singing Christian rock right outside and her mother was in the front row crying and it was very intense. Anyhow, Lauren seems to think this problem is still fixable.
Hm, maybe I’ll try Earlybird for this one
Shane and Karma are pissed that they both wore red, and Wade’s gotta piss, and Shane’s gotta go with, since the bathroom is the one location where he can monopolize Wade’s attention.
Karma stop staring at that tiny kitten on the floor and dance with us
Liam’s there with his skeleton, inspiring Karma to snark that apparently he’s “already screwed everything with a pulse,” and Turner to lament the fulfillment of his fantasies of a traditional prom experience: “Skeleton dates, thruple dates, heck there’s a pig and a ficus tree here on a date!” What’s next? A girl on a date with another girl? Stay tuned! (Spoiler alert: nope)
Now THAT, that over there? That’s what I call true love
Hey, don’t judge, we totally dominate at 4-H
Felix and Amy awkwardly make fun of everybody before Karma shows up asking for advice on winning World War Threesome. Amy thinks Felix’s Fonzie-level jokes are hilarious! Karma reminds Amy that Felix really wants this to be a real date and he has Real Feelings and maybe Amy shouldn’t lead him on. Y’all I have seen approximately ten thousand girls on prom dates with boys on television in my lifetime. Can’t a show that was supposed to be about girls who like girls throw me a wishbone?
Pages: 1 2See entire article on one page
Meanwhile, lord and savior Emily Fitch, hangs her head in disappointment. And rage. But like, adorable rage, since she’s a majestic red-haired squirrel pony.
Well, that was depressing just to read about. Think I need to unsubscribe from my Amazon tv pass now.
Seriously though, has MTV done okay with any scripted show it’s done in recent years? I know there was a big hubbub about their version of Skins, but I haven’t really seen any of their other shows (being old). Is there anything queer in Teen Wolf or was there anything in Awkward? Are all of their shows as shiny plastic-hued as Faking It?
US Skins was a travesty… i haven’t watched any of their other new shows honestly besides this one. i think i aged out?
LOL is it possible to age out of MTV without aging out of ABC Family? I mean whatever you crazy kids are calling it these days?
Freeheld? Formtree? Hashtag F something?
Finding Carter got off to a promising start but has already fallen apart completely (and was yet another show aimed at teens that portrays teen/adult authority figure sexual relationships as hot and fun).
“I know there was a big hubbub about their version of Skin”
Yeah, they turned gay guy from original UK Skins into confident out and proud gay girl, only to make her fall for a boy and have sex with him numerous times.
Is there any MTV show that treats lesbians with respect?
Teen wolf had gay boys, but they were very tertiary. I stopped watching a while ago though so idk how they’re doing. But the plot lines on that show were a tangled mess by the time I gave up.
lolololol this was great. I feel you really strongly on the idea that the actors are playing Amy and Karma as lesbian and bisexual respectively. I hope to hell that the plot reflects this, but fear in my heart of hearts that it won’t. In which case I will descend into a pit of rage and misery, but no doubt will appreciate these glorious recaps yet more. I maybe need to be a tiny bit less invested, haha.
How could it be any more evident that they “de-gayed” (I use the term because they promised Amy to be lesbian and as turns out, they lied) Amy officially for good already?
On AE Carter said in a podcast that we will find out this season whether Amy is Kinsey 2.5 or 5 and stressed out that “Sexual Hulk” moment from previous season and the fact her body reacts to men sexually. So she has sexual attraction to men, and therefore the only way she could (barely) count as Kinsey 5 would be if she had absolutely no emotional feelings for them.
And this episode confirmed that she has emotional feelings for men. The writers even said on Twitter that “they have unique connection”, and called their scene together as “Subversive & funny & romantic!”
WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO MAKE AMY AND FELIX HAPPEN
why
why
why
whyyyyy
why
I am not sure that subversive means what the writers think it means.
Or romantic.
Maybe these writers are writers who don’t know words.
Great recap. It’s always sad when the recaps of a show are more entertaining than the actual episodes but what can you do.
I honestly don’t know if Katie is playing Karma as bisexual or if Karma is simply so used to being the center of Amy’s universe that she’s having trouble with the idea of that changing.
Amy is 100% gay tho and having the writers insist that she isn’t is dragging the show. Half of everything to do with Amy’s character seems fake and awkward these days but according to the writers her and Felix were supposed to come off as romantic? Uh-huh…
The episode was uninspired all around. The bi guy is totally not a stereotype but just like last week, he’s gonna walk right into the stereotype just this once anyway.
The ladies everywhere are still all over Liam’s D. Lauren and her cop was probably supposed to be dramatic but given how they literally broke up so Theo wouldn’t go to jail because of their relationship that kinda fell flat.
Random observation #1:
This show was supposed to be about queer girls and there wasnt ONE lesbian couple at prom? Even on the devil show glee it was at east easy to spot Brittana background cuddles. On Faking It you don’t even get background moments from extras these days because the entire prom population was straight. Such a waste.
Observation #2:
The show about queer girls with a f/f relationship front and center did once again not pass the Bechdel test because the
leads were too busy talking about boys. Sad, sad days…
This show was supposed to be about queer girls and there wasnt ONE lesbian couple at prom?
YES THANK YOU EXACTLY YES. THANK YOU SO MUCH YES THIS.
this was the thought that kept going over and over in my head. like seriously? really?
i’ve also been confused about the lack of queer women at that school since last season, when no real lesbians expressed righteous outage about the fake lesbians. like fake lesbians were apparently the only kind of lesbians the school had ever seen?
also i agree with everything you said. amy’s gay, they need to just cut to it. i don’t know if karma is bisexual or if she’s doing that thing that straight girls have done to gay girls in high school for years where that possessive high school friendship thing just gets amped up by the fact that one of them has a crush on the other and the straight girl can play into it to win loyalty overall. but karma keeps claiming to be aware that she shouldn’t be messing with amy’s feelings, only to once again mess with amy’s feelings?
A year ago, I would have said, Karma is bisexual but at this point, I honestly don’t know anymore.
I guess I’m just disappointed and disillusioned overall because given the premise of the show and the reassurances from the writers I thought I’d see some positive lesbian representation or at least positive portrayals of relationships between girls.
Instead, the only lesbian character gets written off as intolerant and biphobic while the straight guy is deliberately shown to be super sweet and open-minded about the same issues.
Amy, who basically screams LESBIAN and who lots of lesbians heavily identified with in the beginning, is spending half this season reminding people she’s into guys before starting the most boring and cliché romance with the most boring straight, white guy.
Karma keeps teasing Amy and the viewers by acting as ambiguous as possible while constantly repeating how straight she is. Sometimes even getting whole episodes where she is being celebrated for it.
I tuned in to see queer girls and stories/characters that usually aren’t front and center but this episode alone featured around 5 or 6 hetero hook-ups while the last genuine, non-faked affection between girls was ages ago. So much for celebrating the “unique relationship between girls” as Carter once put it…
Signed in just to love this whole comment as a good articulation why I stopped watching.
Riese, you have exactly summed up my feelings about this show and its broken promises. So much RRRRGHH right now.
Reading these recaps makes me feel so much better about all the feelings I’m having tho! So that’s good.
I’ve just realized how extraordinarily meta it is that Faking It faked having a lesbian character to try to become popular. It’s almost impressive.
This is brilliant
Omg. I want to tweet that to the writers.
The writers room actually has an official twitter! I’m tweeting them these recaps from now on. https://twitter.com/FakingItWriters
This show would be so much better if Felix just replaced Liam as the only Straight Cis White Guy on this show (since we couldn’t possibly not have one), he dated Lauren, Wade leaves to date Duke and recover from their personal victimization by Shane Harvey, and then that leaves Karma and Amy as two single gal pals.
I… liked this episode. I don’t know, maybe because I know someone who is Felix. Or maybe because I’m a (very very very very) good audience. Or maybe because I’m so in love with Karma ? It’s one of my favorite characters on TV right now (with Callie Fosters Jacob), because she’s so… Teenager/realistic. Anyway, it was funny to watch, because I was “look, Karma is sexy. Look, Felix is cute. Look, this episode is cool” and my girlfriend was “Can’t you see that this is insulting/lazy/horrible writing ?” and she was really desperate of me at the end of the episode.
(and Karma is sexy)
As a bi teenage girl myself, it bothers me that you’re upset about Amy “sliding down the Kinsey scale.” Bi women are constantly told that we’re not queer enough, that we’re actually just straight girls who thought a celebrity was hot once or faking our attraction to women to attract straight guys. Most gay-positive media is just as biphobic and sapphobic as straight media, so being angry about bi women possibly gaining more representation – hell, maybe even decent representation eventually – is really hurtful to us.
Go watch Orange Is The New Black. Or The Fosters. Or any other lesbian show that erases the possibility of bisexuality or just outright hates bi women. Because I’m really tired of lesbians shitting on women like me, as Riese did in this article.