Tuesday, October 25, 2011

QNBS: Awkward

As I get ready for Chuck's fifth and final season which has been moved to a mid-season opening by re-watching every episode starting Season 1, I also embark on my Quest for the Next Best Series. Many series have been recommended but today I will write about Awkward.

The plot: An awkward sophomore high school student has her hard candy shell broken by the campus jock on the same day she gets an anonymous hurtful letter telling her of the stuff she should do to make herself least unlikeable (Number 1: Stop being such a pussy). She's bummed out and blogs about it. She, then, figures in a bathroom accident which everyone mistook as a suicide attempt.

Since I'm watching (or at least, deciding if will follow) the show a season late, I had the liberty and luxury of choosing to fast-forward to the next three or four episodes. But I had the full season (12 episodes) with me, I went crazy and skipped to the last, back-to-back episode. For the fun of it, I skipped-watched it to see where everything will lead to.


PROS:

1. It reminds me a lot of good things I've watched before. For one, Ashley Rickards' (who plays the lead role, Jenna) acting reminds me of Ellen Page in Juno...and in just about everything she's been in. And I like Ellen Page. She also reminds me of Emma Stone in...well, in just about anything she's been in. And I like Emma Stone, too.

Barney to Jenna: "Jenna, up top!"

2. It has a music guide! It flashes the title and artist of the song that is currently playing in the background. The music list is also available on the network's website. It saves us the hassle of Google-ing right after we hear a song we like in the background. For all its good music, How I Met Your Mother should make life easier for me and just have a music guide like this.


3. The ending is just...wow. You have to watch it to be amazed by its surprise factor. On second thought, I may have been too surprised by it because I skipped 9 episodes.

4. With lines like, "Her parents' are starting to think she's not Chinese!" who would not love that show? The Chinese, maybe.


CONS:


1. Rickards is too stunningly pretty to be cast as an awkward sophomore. I find it preposterous that her prettiness seemed to escape almost every person around her. Like with Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls.

Ashley Rickards was too pretty to be awkward.

2. J-Town. Really?! This show should have the same douchebag jar as they have in New Girl.

3. Plot is too predictable...until the last moment in the ending.

4. I found Rickards' annoyingly too red lipstick by Episode 11 and 12 too distracting. Her make-up (or lack of it) in the first episode was better (Disclaimer: I am not an 'expert' on make-up so my judgment in this aspect should not be trusted.)

5. I realized that when you're in post-graduate studies you aren't as amused with teen-related films or TV shows as you were when you're in high school. What appeals to me now are shows about people with jobs. Just about any show, except Glee amd maybe Awkward, I watch now has featuries yuppies or the working class, in general.


Well, for a series produced by a 'music' network, what can one expect? I'm not undermining (maybe a little) the capacity of MTV to make great shows because I have yet to watch Jersey Shore or any TV series produced by MTV. But, for a TV network known for bringing great music and legitimizing veejay-ing as one of the coolest jobs ever, Awkward was a good enough effort.




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You may want to read other QNBS reviews:

QNBS: Outsourced
QNBS: New Girl


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