With Jenna hitting the reset button on her life and trying to move past her bad girl phase, it seems her friends also are going through transitions in their life. Be it Tamara achieving higher levels of popularity than she may have ever imagined having; Jake becoming nothing more than the best friend/ sidekick/ boyfriend we have seen him as since post-Jenna; or even Ming possibly reverting back to a less boisterous character, a change is on the horizon. The question is though, can things go back to the way they used to be before or, as Marie Laveau said, "Too late for tears, damage is done."
And though you think that maybe solely aimed at Jenna, it actually is aimed at the aforementioned characters and her. Let me explain, first with Ming, as noted earlier, since Ming has become head of the Asian mafia, things haven't been the same. Becca ran a tight ship, kept everyone's grades up and the mafia moved in silence and was a secret organization. Under Ming's leadership though, she has abused her privileges as the head, as we have seen, and has done little for the organization. In fact, she has quite hurt it by being so open about its existence and now, with grades slipping, it is hard to say whether there will be a revolution, maybe a return of Becca, or even just a dissolution of the Asian mafia all together.
Moving on to Matty, then Tamara, both are having relationship issues due to them acting against their partners. Matty, for example, during his swooping in to save Jenna from the threesome left Devon to get her. Now, though Devon has been a sweet girl, from what we have seen, she isn't a fool who can't see something is up so she has been blowing up Matty's phone over the incident. And Jenna, despite possibly wanting him back, or at least his company, seems to be on Devon's side and just tells him to take his licks and stick with her.
But then there is Tamara. After her becoming too involved in Jake's campaign, as we saw, she has now become his main competition. Then, to make matters worse, during their presidential speech saying what they are going to do during their term, Jake slings mud at Tamara without being provoked. This mudslinging goes back and forth to the point you think the 3rd kid may win just because the drama, you would think, would surely alienate the voters. Instead though, Tamara snatches the last bit of dignity from Jake's character who has devolved so much since we first met him, and now has simply become the best friend/ boyfriend. But, as of the end of the episode, he drops the boyfriend adjective leading Tamara to run to the bathroom and find Jenna.
Throughout the episode, Jenna gives a very phony performance to try to quickly win people over. She makes breakfast for her parents, tries to be smiles and giggles with Tamara & Ming, and then when she tries to ease her way back in Tamara's life when she is vulnerable, even embrace her with a hug, she gets rejected. Seemingly, like in Mother, though Tamara still may care for Jenna in some way, the wounds are still to fresh and considering the things Jenna said to Tamara, the last thing she wants to do right now is give her new ammunition. So, Tamara pushes her away and asks Jenna to send her real friend Ming her way if she sees her. But, though Jenna has failed with Tamara, that isn't the worst bit.
Valerie, everyone's favorite nut case, is exposed by Jenna through that article she wrote for Mr. Hart's assignment. Which, per a man who is either the principal or vice-principal, seemed to be the evidence he needed to suspend her. Making you wonder if Valerie is going to be gone for a while, perhaps will show her darker side, or just be a crying mess. Either way, Jenna has hit rock bottom with seemingly all her former friends and allies now having reasons to hate her. But, with Matty seemingly able to be at least friends with her, and Lacey beginning the process of forgiving when Jenna gives her a genuine apology, she seems like she is in the first stages of recovery.
Thus making an episode, overall, feel like the writers are quickly trying to undo an arc that perhaps didn't get the type of development and support it should have had. The reason I say that is, the whole relationship with Colin thing, at this point, seems like filler. Admittedly, we didn't know much about Colin in the 1st half of the season, but the alternative he presented to Matty seemed like where Jenna was heading and when the 2nd half began, it seemed these changes were positive. She looked more mature, had a more mature boyfriend, but then the arc became an after school special. Basically the one Sadie and Valerie came up with. So, I guess the lesson here is: the grass always seems greener on the other side, as well as Matty being end game whether you like it or not. Personally though, I think Jenna should stay single for the rest of this season and hopefully for most, if not all, of season 4. Her serial dating is doing her no favors.
And though you think that maybe solely aimed at Jenna, it actually is aimed at the aforementioned characters and her. Let me explain, first with Ming, as noted earlier, since Ming has become head of the Asian mafia, things haven't been the same. Becca ran a tight ship, kept everyone's grades up and the mafia moved in silence and was a secret organization. Under Ming's leadership though, she has abused her privileges as the head, as we have seen, and has done little for the organization. In fact, she has quite hurt it by being so open about its existence and now, with grades slipping, it is hard to say whether there will be a revolution, maybe a return of Becca, or even just a dissolution of the Asian mafia all together.
Moving on to Matty, then Tamara, both are having relationship issues due to them acting against their partners. Matty, for example, during his swooping in to save Jenna from the threesome left Devon to get her. Now, though Devon has been a sweet girl, from what we have seen, she isn't a fool who can't see something is up so she has been blowing up Matty's phone over the incident. And Jenna, despite possibly wanting him back, or at least his company, seems to be on Devon's side and just tells him to take his licks and stick with her.
But then there is Tamara. After her becoming too involved in Jake's campaign, as we saw, she has now become his main competition. Then, to make matters worse, during their presidential speech saying what they are going to do during their term, Jake slings mud at Tamara without being provoked. This mudslinging goes back and forth to the point you think the 3rd kid may win just because the drama, you would think, would surely alienate the voters. Instead though, Tamara snatches the last bit of dignity from Jake's character who has devolved so much since we first met him, and now has simply become the best friend/ boyfriend. But, as of the end of the episode, he drops the boyfriend adjective leading Tamara to run to the bathroom and find Jenna.
Throughout the episode, Jenna gives a very phony performance to try to quickly win people over. She makes breakfast for her parents, tries to be smiles and giggles with Tamara & Ming, and then when she tries to ease her way back in Tamara's life when she is vulnerable, even embrace her with a hug, she gets rejected. Seemingly, like in Mother, though Tamara still may care for Jenna in some way, the wounds are still to fresh and considering the things Jenna said to Tamara, the last thing she wants to do right now is give her new ammunition. So, Tamara pushes her away and asks Jenna to send her real friend Ming her way if she sees her. But, though Jenna has failed with Tamara, that isn't the worst bit.
Valerie, everyone's favorite nut case, is exposed by Jenna through that article she wrote for Mr. Hart's assignment. Which, per a man who is either the principal or vice-principal, seemed to be the evidence he needed to suspend her. Making you wonder if Valerie is going to be gone for a while, perhaps will show her darker side, or just be a crying mess. Either way, Jenna has hit rock bottom with seemingly all her former friends and allies now having reasons to hate her. But, with Matty seemingly able to be at least friends with her, and Lacey beginning the process of forgiving when Jenna gives her a genuine apology, she seems like she is in the first stages of recovery.
Thus making an episode, overall, feel like the writers are quickly trying to undo an arc that perhaps didn't get the type of development and support it should have had. The reason I say that is, the whole relationship with Colin thing, at this point, seems like filler. Admittedly, we didn't know much about Colin in the 1st half of the season, but the alternative he presented to Matty seemed like where Jenna was heading and when the 2nd half began, it seemed these changes were positive. She looked more mature, had a more mature boyfriend, but then the arc became an after school special. Basically the one Sadie and Valerie came up with. So, I guess the lesson here is: the grass always seems greener on the other side, as well as Matty being end game whether you like it or not. Personally though, I think Jenna should stay single for the rest of this season and hopefully for most, if not all, of season 4. Her serial dating is doing her no favors.
