Previously on Awkward.: Luke is a (supposedly) wonderful boyfriend. I still think that his gesture is generic and would have been time better spent talking to Jenna, but whatever. Tamara’s catfishing games are exposed!
Jenna, convinced that she’s completely moved on from our boy McKibben, gushes to the audience: “When I see Luke, all I saw was my present. And future. And Matty?!” Matty breaks up this mind-numbing tenderness to offer Luke his ticket to the BFGFBFF concert (obviously bought pre-Jakeara break up). Someone is feeling oddly mature and slightly guilty about last week’s spectacle! Luke declines and suggests Matty and Jenna go together, causing Jenna to marvel as his maturity. Methinks something is afoot with Luke.
While Tamara beats Jake’s harmonica against the table during their latest blow out, Jenna apologizes to Matty for publicly displaying affection for Luke. She’s flying high from her new relationship and declares her desire for Matty to love again to Tamara. Our girl T immediately calls bullshit: if Jenna’s so okay with Matty dating, she’d be fine if they set Matty up with Eva. Jenna, not knowing herself at all apparently, calls Eva over to set them up.
Concert-bound! Jenna turns around and creepily tells Matty and Eva they look cute together. Matty calls her out on her weirdness, then Tamara pulls her aside to discuss her journey from “Point A to Point Cray.” Jenna very condescendingly tells Tamara that she’ll understand once she’s over Jake. Ugh, J.
Sadie’s over it all—this trip, Eva, etc.—“If I have to sit in this gross oxygen tank with you losers, somebody better get me drunk.” Eva directs them to her fake ID connection, but Sadie is unimpressed. “You neglected to tell us that this place was on the corner of Hep C and Rape.” The rest of the gang goes into this sketchballs place while Eva pulls her blackmail photo (featuring Matty and Sadie sleeping next to each other in towels) on Sadie, telling her to be less bitchy if she wants it to stay hidden from Austin.
Surprise, surprise: Jenna still has feelings for Matty. I didn’t see this coming AT ALL. To make herself feel better, she talks about how Luke got her into rosé. I’m going to assume she means the Franzia version that comes out of a box, because HE IS IN COLLEGE. Eva’s favorite drink is PBR, so there’s no one here I want to hang out with anymore. Except Sadie.
Some dude tries to steal Tamara’s phone. Jenna’s response? “Tamara! Let your phone go! You have a problem!” While I understand that your person is more important than your possessions, Jenna telling Tamara to give up her phone is absolutely ridiculous. Next her car is towed. Jake comes to the rescue, informing them he only showed up for Matty. Combine that with Jenna being jealous and bitchy, and we can all agree that the mood has gone down.
Sadie, taking control of the blackmail situation, tells Austin about the picture herself. He completely trusts her, so she feels okay telling him that Matty kissed her. Austin very calmly responds to that with, “You’re a liar and I need to break up with you.” Sigh.
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Jenna apologizes to Matty for her bad attitude and condescendingly offers her blessing. “Are you joking?” Matty asks, clearly peeved. “Did you get my blessing before you cheated on me with Colin? Or before you started dating Luke? We broke up, we don’t need each other’s blessing.” BAM. All good points, McKibben.
Jake, Matty, and Eva ditch the concert to drink in a car. Eva gets out to call a car for Jake (responsible!) but the cops show up instead. WAIT. Does Eva’s furtive look at them mean that she’s actually an undercover cop?! I make this prediction like once during every tv show set in high school, but I’m rarely correct. Will this be my moment? To be determined. Matty and Jake are arrested.The jail motif continues—Jenna declares she felt trapped in the jail of her feelings for Matty, but now that she has Luke, the handcuffs are coming off. Eye roll.
“After Hours” had a lot of forward momentum and good points, specifically when looking at Eva’s relationship to the group. Minus points for Jenna’s jealous and condescending behavior—I was hoping that at some point we’d move past that, but here we still are.
Episode Rating: 7/10
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