Awkward., Ep 2.10: “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me” reopens the care-frontation letter wound

Awkward., Season 2, Episode 10: “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me”

Written by Lauren Iungerich

Directed by Joe Nussbaum

Airs Thursdays at 10:30 PM on MTV

The explosion in reality television programming in North America over the last decade is something that ostensibly hasn’t gone unnoticed by anyone.  There have been numerous theories that have attempted to explain the runaway success that such shows have garnered, the most popular of which seems to be the idea that people enjoy watching others go through the  trials and tribulations of life, both as a vicarious form of entertainment, and as a potential learning tool. The adverse effects of opening up one’s life to the public, however, is a subject that is often left unexplored. With Jenna’s unmasking of her blog last week, however, this episode explores the fallout of her decision amongst all affected parties, leading to a strong episode that gives the audience a good look at numerous facets of Jenna’s personality.

The two major storylines this week revolve around the exposure of the intimate details of Jenna’s life to the entire school, but the stronger one focuses on Lacey, and how she deals with the fallout of being declared the author of the care-frontation letter in the first season. The episode does a great job in not letting Lacey off the hook, while simultaneously making her a sympathetic character, as the impact of what she did is never diminished, no matter how much she gets verbally beaten down. The writers give Nikki DeLoach a lot of heavy lifting this episode, and she delivers admirably. Valerie’s unexpectedly stern reprimanding of Lacey, as well as Lacey’s explanation to Jenna of her rationale behind writing the letter were both highlights of the episode, and of the season, and helps push all three characters forward. It will be very interesting to see how far the writers choose to pursue this storyline, and what direction it goes in.

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