Beau Mirchoff, Molly Tarlov
Awkward., Season 4, Episode 5: “Overnight”
Written by Leila Cohan-Miccio
Directed by Nell Scovell
Airs Tuesdays at 10 PM on MTV
One of the looming aspects of senior year has been the imminent arrival of college, a prospect that has affected Jenna and Tamara in different ways. with the latter’s carefully laid out senior year plan going awry and the former struggling to figure out who she is in the absence of an unwanted limelight. This week’s episode sees the duo take their first foray into college, an enjoyable outing that sees Matty finally find solace with an old friend.
Jenna’s experience at college this week points to a potentially fascinating path for the character. Despite finally getting a level of anonymity in her senior year, it’s been clear that Jenna’s time at high school is not stellar. Furthermore, particularly with the sophomores in last week’s episode, it has been clear that it’s unlikely to become anything memorable on a sustained basis. However college represents a new opportunity for Jenna, and her actions this week, from her interview to her time with Luke, point to a promising beginning. It will be worth keeping an eye on Jenna to see how her overnight college experience affects her time at high school. With the first indications of a rift between Jenna and Tamara already evident, whether Jenna fights for her high school friendships or decides on a clean break will be very telling.
Matty’s inability to open up to anyone this week is also an intriguing turn for the character. Matty’s behaviour over the course of senior year has been a clear cry for help, and one that nobody has questioned him on. With the reveal to Jenna coming via a misunderstanding on her part, it was only a matter of time before Matty tried to open up to someone else who was willing to be more understanding to his situation. Sadie is going through her own issues, and how she helps Matty in the ensuing weeks will be very telling. While she has been focused on herself, her friendship with Matty has been something that has sustained both of them through many hardships. Whether or not Sadie is willing to give up her fight for cheer captain to help Matty recover emotionally will determine how well the latter copes, as well as what the former deems truly important.
Overall, this is an interesting episode. It’s good to see Lacey’s continuing frustration over her lost youth come up to the surface again. One of the show’s strengths has been letting the character mature and become a better parent without losing her lament. It will be worth watching Lacey to see whether this weekend has a long-term effect on her. With Jenna now mature and somewhat independent, Lacey has an opportunity to experience everything she missed out on, and whether she decides to pursue it or not will be promising to watch. Tamara’s inability to handle the college party is also intriguing, and how it affects her enthusiasm for college will be worth tuning in to see over the course of the season.
– Deepayan Sengupta