Cut to the locker room, where Karma wants to talk about how Liam’s lips are like mattresses and he’s friends with gays and feminists and drives an eco-friendly vehicle and Amy wants to talk about how she doesn’t want to be girlfriends anymore.
Amy: “I’m done pretending I’m a lesbian and I’m not gonna do it anymore.”
Karma: “But being gay is the best thing that ever happened to us!”
Amy: “No, it’s the best thing that ever happened to YOU. You got your popularity and your photo spread and your kiss with Liam. I never wanted any of this.”
No, I’m not turning around, I know this is a thing you ALWAYS do because you think you can’t lose an argument with me if you’re almost naked
Karma: “Then why did you go along with it?”
Amy: “Because you’re my best friend and I wanted you to be happy.”
Karma: “Well it worked, I’m happy.”
Amy: “Well, I’m not. Can’t we just forget the past few days ever happened and just go back to the way things were, just the two of us?”
Obvs Lauren has overheard.
Damn all those sensual massages I’ve been giving Amy on Sundae Night are doing wonders for my biceps
Cut to the next day at Blue Oasis High School For The Gay and Douchey, where Liam finds Karma sitting alone staring wistfully at the sky thinking about her life and her choices.
I fucking hate quinoa
Karma tells Liam that she and Amy broke up and he’s like it was ’cause I sucked your face off next to my shitty art project? And she’s like, no, it’s ’cause we grew apart, we’re not actually going to address the impact of me kissing another human on my relationship with my girlfriend for reasons beyond my comprehension.
BUT as soon as Karma launches into a monologue about all the things she loves about Amy — like that she makes scavenger hunts for Karma’s birthday, only talks during the commercials and made Karma laugh when her gam-gam died, she realizes that she must return to her lesbian notgirlfriend ASAP because their love is tried and true like the earth and the moon and the stars above.
And she does this thing where she puts her ring finger inside me and then like hooks around to hit my g-spot?
Karma is afraid of heights, so she figures Amy’s hiding out on the roof, and heads up there to track her down.
It’s always been you
Whoops wrong show. HERE:
Who wants to go to second base???!!!!!
Karma admits that she’s been selfish and that Amy was right.
Karma: “I’m not as strong as you are, Amy. I care too much about what those people down there think, and in this school you have to stand out to fit in and I’m so fucking ordinary.”
Amy: “You are not.”
Karma: “Please. Being gay finally made me interesting. But if the price of that is losing you then it’s not worth it. You’re the Fey to my Poehler. The Rihanna to my Katy Perry. The Lucy to my Ethel.”
Yes, it’s true, these two are just the latest in a long line of female friends with homoerotic tension that people who like that sort of thing get really invested in.
C’mon you know you love it when I call you pookie
Amy says that it’s okay, she’ll do whatever for Karma. “Let’s be lesbians!” she says. If only more women could adopt that same attitude, you know?
Cut to the Big Assembly, where some ambitious student has built a beautiful balloon arch for Principal Penelope Deliah Fisher to stand beneath while Fake Quinn Junior gives a speech about the values of traditions while her boyfriend stands there thinking about blow jobs.
Okay now everybody raise your hand if you want to see me do an interpretive dance to my favorite Nickelback songs
Principal Penelope Delia Fisher can barely contain her excitement regarding their very first same-gender candidates for homecoming royalty!
We did it! We went to second base!
Wait hang on. I feel like… I don’t know. That doesn’t feel right to me. I feel like I’m here to help them make an impression.
THE GIRLSS ON FIREEEEE!!!!
PERFECT.
Anyhow, before they can speak, Lauren seizes the microphone!
Lauren: “I know that you think you’re being all “open-minded” by electing these two homecoming queens, but I think you all should know they’re not really lesbians. They’re just pretending to be so that all of you will like them, I heard them talking about it in the locker room this morning! They’re MOCKING the gay rights movement.”
Well, um. She has a point. Principal Penelope Delia Fisher is like, IS THAT TRUE? And before Karma can finish the sentence opening with “we can explain—”, Amy’s like, “if we’re faking it, would I do this?” and then lays a big wet smacker right on her face.
For the record, this kiss lasts for 40 seconds. FORTY SECONDS. Do you know how long Santana and Brittany have kissed on Glee? I don’t, but I’m guessing it’s in the neighborhood of six seconds. That being said, how did they kiss for 40 seconds without moving ANY OTHER BODY PARTS besides their mouths?? Why wasn’t Susie Bright brought in to consult. Well, I guess they were in front of the entire school, that’s probs not the best time for second base. Especially if you JUST went to second base on the roof.
Some lesbian in the audience right now is about to commit second degree manslaughter. If I were in that auditorium, I would be tweeting up a fucking thunderstorm. #notblessed
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!
WHOA, says Karma.
I know, says Amy, all caught up in the whiplash with confetti in her hair and her heart in her stomach.
Way to sell it, says Karma.
WHOA, says Amy again, but not out loud.
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“You know this reminds me of a really moving piece of art created by Jodi Lerner? Are you familiar with her work?”
I HEART YOU RIESE!!!
RIGHT BACK ATCHA KIDDO!!
“it’s all fun and games until they make a demeaning joke about butch lesbians and you have to point out that you wake up next to one every morning.”
So good.
this show sounds amazing, also cheer up charlie’s reference aha
More Austin references please. Although honestly this is so not what high school in Austin is like. Trust me, I teach in one. There are way more butches. I swear I see more butches in Austin than I do in New York.
I agree about wanting more Austin references.
Why did this this whole glamorisation of the homos not exist in 2004 when I was at the paroxysm of my acne vurgaris, and so very unsure of why I kept having fantasies of being stranded alone on a desert island with a certain female classmate…
I mean I’m 25 now. I pay a mortgage. I feel really horrible fantasising about high school girls kissing under a balloon arch.
Seriously, where was this in 2003/4 when I would wake up going “wait, what was that I just dreamed?” then threw on my sweatshirt and headed to my all!girlsschool! Oh the things I could’ve done! How worse could I have made my grades?
And I have some sort of cognitive dissonance when watching all these teenagers on tv shows, who are played by adults.
This but in 1999.
Spencer Carlin, is that you?
^^ omg i wish
spashley forever
SPASHLEY SPASHLEY FOREVER
no srsly spashley changed my life though
OMIGOD SPENCER.
I definitely have a thing for the blonde TV lesbians…
All I could think about during their kiss was that Amy might die because Karma ate peanut butter after mentioning that Amy had always been allergic. I thought the show was going to take a sharp dark turn.
I had the same thought when she was eating the peanut butter sandwich, because I already knew that the episode would end with a kissing scene and I was like, omg, YOU ARE GOING TO KILL HER
Right?! As soon as she accepted that sandwich I was internally yelling AMY DON’T DO IT
WHY DID THEY EVEN HAVE THAT SCENE WITH THE PEANUT BUTTER IF THEY WEREN’T LEADING UP TO THAT. I cannot not focus on it.
HOW DID SHE SURVIVE? WHY MENTION THE ALLERGY IF NO REACTION????
“Promise me right now that you didn’t tell him that you scooped my shit into a paper bag during Hurricane Wanda.”
BROAD CITY REFERENCE?!
Also, I read that they had to tone down the kiss scene because the first time they went at it, it looked a little too “R-rated” (their words, not mine), because that’s just what happens when you film a kiss from certain angles?
I about died when I read that caption. Broad City is hilarious. Something seriously needs to happen between Abbi and Illana in season 2.
I would enjoy these recaps 100% more if the trend of “accidentally” placing in screencaps of other TV lesbians were to continue.
Just saying.
(Great job on the recap as always, Riese!)
So is this show worth checking out?
i’m honestly not sure yet!
Can someone please explain to me how I’m supposed to feel about this show. It feels really fucked up but maybe it’s not totally fucked up but maybe it is totally fucked up. TELL ME WHAT TO FEEL
Check out the other autostraddle articles about the show! We’re being hesitant but based on the first episode I personally feel okay with it. The producer (or director?) already altered the original premise of the show from two straight girls pretending to having at least one actual lesbian. So that’s already a positive step.
yes i wrote this thing about it:
http://www.autostraddle.com/mtvs-faking-it-is-pretty-good-for-real-234211/
i think i’m holding out hope? i mean… the show seems okay so far! but also if i was a lesbian who went to school with these girls i would be LOSING MY SHIT.
I mean, I watched the first episode and I didn’t totally hate it, but I also think it’s doing terrible things for the representation of gay ladies in the media. Everyone has already pointed out that a high school where being gay gives you popularity points is virtually inconceivable. I was willing to take that leap of faith because I was told there would be gay-kissing in the episode. I persevered. So let’s assume that there is such a high school in existence – these girls are white, able-bodied, feminine, and stereotypically attractive, since that is the only conceivable way that being gay could make them cooler. So we’re basically celebrating them as the model for homosexuals everywhere. Problematic? Obvs. And I’m not even going to cover what’s problematic with the guy who apparently sees lesbianism as a challenge to his sexual prowess, and will, according to the promos, be hooking up with one of the main characters throughout the season.
God I love Autostraddle recaps! Also, I want Amy’s outfit from Shane’s party.
Gah, I didn’t want to like this, I really didn’t. At first, I wasn’t quite sold on it. Then the rooftop scene happened. And THEN, you had to go and sneak in a screencap of Naomi Campbell, and now I don’t know what’s what anymore. But, damn, I liked it. I really did.
And now, it’s going to kill me, isn’t it.
This exactly. I wanted so badly to hate it but I just can’t.
Not unlike the super straight karma to my confused baby queer amy from high school times (who is to this day my best friend)
Had exactly the same feels. I have told some queer friends about it whose response was “wow, that sounds horrific” and I can’t explain it in a way that doesn’t justify that response. Ack.
Oh, this recap makes me want to check out the show now…
okay, but be careful because I thought the exact same thing right before I watched an episode of TRLW for the first time
When i was watching the show I thought there was an air of skins Naomi Campbell in Amy and thought that I must have been the clothes in particular that sweater she was wearing and then I saw your screencap of Naomi Campbell in the recap and I died.
omg Lily Loveless forever and ever amen.
I wouldn’t have watched this if it wasn’t recapped, it was intriguing. I think this could go in interesting directions. I’m gonna watch it.
Did anyone else notice an Emily cheering in the gym
audience in the last sequence..?
Skins was great
I really wanted to dislike this show, and there are certain aspects that are annoying (gross straight dude chasing after an out lesbian), but the character of Amy is so adorable and relatable. I’m hooked already and developing a serious crush on Rita Volk.
P.S I love Naomi, but seeing her face gives me serious PTSD. Too many sads.
I like this show already. I had a hunch Amy was the queer one, but maybe Karma will be bi? Who knows. This is the first TV show I’ve ever actively followed. And yes, that’s because it’s about queer teen girls.
Also, the captions are hilarious.
I did have a problem with the “I guess I’m the butch one” tidbit from Amy, but that was my main complaint with the show I guess.
I can’t say I loved the episode, but it wasn’t as awful as I’d expected. These recaps are a lot more entertaining though, as always!!
. . . And in that moment, I WAS Amy Raudenfeld.
Yeah I was like “I hate this I hate this I hate this” and then bam – I didn’t hate it anymore. In that one second, I felt it down to my toes. I don’t wanna get attached to this thing, but that was well played.
Yep!! I spent the first fifteen minutes (give or take) cringing from the sheer force of the exposition, and then the last two minutes happened and I felt all the feelings and now I kind of love it.
Three things we know to be true about this show:
1. There is going to be some problematic shit
2. I am going to watch the whole thing anyways
3. The recaps will all be perfect all of them
As someone with a “I fell in love with my straight best friend in high school and despite a relatively accepting environment with other out LGBT folks I proceeded to beat myself up about it well into my college years” type coming out narrative, I am actually optimistic that this show might tell a story that rings true and that we haven’t seen before on mainstream tv.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’m so happy this show was as good as I hoped it would be! Amy is absolutely hilarious with her deadpan, and I died at all the random lesbian-insider jokes like the gluten-free muffins and “I guess I’m the butch one”. I am so on-board with this show and I can’t wait for next week.
It’s also interesting seeing Shane be the antithesis of Tanner from GBF which makes me #instahate him. Hopefully he’ll be redeemable, especially with those sneak peak scenes after the episode.
I want to see Amy hook up with Ivy. More Ivy in general please!
okay, you guys, i finally got my hands on the second episode (for some reason they’d only sent me the first and the third originally), and… idk, i still want to hate it but i don’t! i think — and i got into this a bit in my review of the show — the thing that you absolutely cannot undervalue is the fact that one of the TWO protagonists on this show is a lesbian in high school. Yeah, there have been lesbian characters in high school in several other shows, but rarely are they the central story. Their storyline was not addressed in in every scene. I think I just love the feeling of being shocked by a show that doesn’t hold back (e.g., Orange is the New Black), because shows like Glee and PLL do hold back! They hold back so hard. I mean, if the lesbians of the show about high school were ever the central story i would keep up better with Degrassi, instead of watching YouTube videos of the Fiona/Imogene parts. We had South of Nowhere… and Sugar Rush, in the UK, which I liked quite a bit actually… And like SON, I’m sure that after this main coming out storyline is over with, which could be weeks or months from now, the other characters will probably start emerging more and having their own stories, and that will be what it is. But so far we’ve kept a pretty tight focus. And the second most prominent character after the two lead girls is a gay guy, which’s cool too. It’s just unusual to have a show where a lesbian is dead center. Plus it’s cloaked in this “liberal school” device that makes it acceptable to condone things that tv shows usually stay away from for fear of conservative backlash, because you’ve already established the location as outrageous in some way.
So I think that’s the problem maybe we’re all having psychologically… you want to hate it because of the premise, but it’s hard to say no to a show where the lez storyline is front & center
Is it certain that the character is lesbian? Because judging from how it looks right for now, she can be bisexual, which wouldn’t be a problem if only she was portrayed as such from the get go and there weren’t many more bisexual female characters in TV than lesbian ones, which means that if she’s suddenly going to realize that she actually likes guys too, it will be like kick in the guts.
Also, from what I’ve heard, the douche who wants to turn lesbian is actually going to be portrayed in positive light, what’s more, there’s going to be a threesome involving supposed lesbian. Of course we can assume that nothing will happen, but don’t forget that how lesbians are generally treated in TV reality.
For example, in case if you’re not familiar with NBC Dracula, know that Lucy has been made a lesbian in that adaptation. And, of course, she had to have sex with a man (including shot of her orgasmic face, at least in British version of the show which was showed few weeks ahead of American airing). What’s interesting is a fact that show’s creator apologized on Twitter and said that it was portrayed this way against his and writers’ intentions, as on script she was written to look traumatized by sex with a man.
This case shows that TPTB of television are actively working against writers just to push de-gaying portrayals of lesbians, most likely to pander to homophobic, sexist fantasies about “turning” lesbians.
And that means that even if that threesome was originally supposed to be one thing, during execution of the episode, due to one telephone from some MTV big guy with “suggestion” that audience actually would prefer to see it portrayed “a bit” differently, it could end up as usual.
Therefore, I will wait with praising the show until it ends.
yeah, based on future episodes i’ve seen, i’m 95% sure that they’re setting amy up to be a lesbian, yes, not bisexual. also the context of the threesome situation, which i know about from reading little bits of that episode’s script, is VERY different then what i think you’d expect just from hearing about it.
Thanks for clarifying few things. Regarding that threesome situation, I guess that probably nothing will happen, but I’m still worried that it will be portrayed in usual way – that the lesbian wouldn’t have any problem with having sex with a man, that it’s only her “teh feelings” for Karma that will cause some trouble, probably become evident, and prevent threesome from taking place.
I’m kind of expecting the threesome to happen because this is the only way Amy would get a chance to actually be with Karma without making it obvious. It’s not clear that Liam is the centre of the threesome, so that would negate Amy having to do anything with Liam. (Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised if at this point Liam is already aware that they’re lying about being lesbians together since that was suggested in the promos)
tbh im very excited for season 2 where they get to ditch this premise and amy gets a real girlfriend
Does Ivy have selective memory or something? I mean she SAW the kiss. She kinda knows that Lauren was telling the truth. Like that has been bothering me since Sunday (cuz why wait for tv lol)
Well, I mean, Liam did say he liked the challenge of a lesbian with Ivy around, so him kissing Karma could be more like “he succeeded” rather than “oh she kissed a guy she can’t be gay”?
NO JUST NO. What the hell is happening to Autostraddle and some people in the LGBTQ+ community? Are we seriously just going to ignore the HUGE issues surrounding this show in order to quench our thirst for some half-ass representation of high school white girls objectifying lesbians. REALLY!?
I wish I could go on a rant about the lack of POC representation or the horrible writing, yet I am going to keep myself within the boundaries of objectification. First of all, this is ridiculous, this pretend fairy tale world where “the gays” and the “weird kids” rule the school ignores pressing issues and objectifies sexuality in on of the most shocking ways I have ever seen in a pilot. The Austin high school presented in the show is a fantasy of an unequal world, where gay white cis boys have won their freedom to rule a school in a partnership with “socially conscious” straight men. In a not so shocking turn due to the creation of the show, young white women are pushed into stereotypes due to their presumed (written) vapidness in order to gain social standing. As all of this does not amaze me, I still hoped that lesbians would reach a point in representation where being gay would only be a part of our characters, and we would be able to make our own decisions instead of being nudged here and there by white men who objectifies in and out of paper for their own left or right wing delight.
You should check out Riese’s review and the comments. Racially segregated fauxgressiveness is apparently an accurate representation of certain parts of Austin. (And schools like this exist, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same problematic dynamics you notice on the show cropped up in them, since they crop up in adult supposedly-progressive/artsy spaces.)
Yes!I still think it is necessary to digest and talk about these racial and representational dynamics, instead of delivering them in a Glee-esque satirical manner that does not really address the issues and furthers some stereotypes and tropes instead of dis-mystifying them. I mean how many gay girls who came out during high-school were accused of “Faking it” for attention? Teenage girls who watch this show should not be passively told that their identity is either fashionable (as seen in the show) or wrong, but normal. It is so problematic in regards to objectification, and I feel like if the person who created this show wanted to be satirical regarding oppression they should have thought it through, instead of making coming out such a fashionable accessory.. Being an accessory is still not cool guys..
amen.
I read recently somewhere that Chuck Lorre is continuously trying to start his lesbian comedy series on CBS, with no success. While I hope he will succeed eventually, and also this is NOT one, I’m afraid this is the closest one we get to see for a long time.
Shoutout to Euchre! Although in my experience, no one in Texas knows how to play, or has even ever heard of it. I think your Ohio is showing, Riese. :D
OMG that look on Amy’s face after the kiss…
I watch whole movies waiting for that realization!
It seems to be very cute, can’t wait until Karma get to know how Amy feels!
Anyway, maybe a bit weak on the writing, I would expect more punch from a pilot, but worth to follow. I was waiting for a series like this for a long time. It’s not really a lesbian series, and it’s only on MTV, not on one of the big channels, like CBS, NBC, or ABC, but it’s really cute.
There. After a year of weekly check-ups on this site, I finally made an account just because of this episode. This mere twenty minute episode. I don’t know why but I’m picky with lesbian couples on TV, and this couple managed to keep me through a whole episode, and wanting more of it. A lot more. In fact, I think I have a crush on Amy now……….
ANYWAY, I love the idea of the show!! I like the whole “pretend to be a couple thing”. I sense some good angst ahead! And I look forward to everything (except for the hetero parts ahem)!
Okay. First of all this is one of the best recaps of a TV show I have ever read. Some of your best Riese. I actually like this better than the show… Second of all. I seriously don’t want this to get screwed up by MTV because it is excellent. Third of all. Go Texas!
That is all.
I can’t take anything MTV does seriously.
Oh man. I forgot until I saw this post how much I shipped Amy/Ivy for this entire half hour of television.
Also — THE DONUT SHIRT.
Wasn’t sure given descriptions i’d read, gave it a chance. Love it. Possibly favorite new show. I’m enjoying being able to link things I like having shared actresses or actors from Gossip Girl or PLL. I’ll keep an eyebrow raised for potentially socially damaging messages, but overall it’s like an anti-Glee. Which is good (gfor me {esp since I still have feels about really loving Glee despite it’s 110% camp the first 2 seasons and then being really really sad about it forever]). Also I want to go to that school. And for some other also thought streaming, this made me think of people giving Ani Difranco static about not being some dictionary definition Queer woman of the modern era, and then marrying a man, etc etc. But regardless of her personal choices, she brought a whole hell of a lot of attention (and still does) to Women’s & Queer related topics and so I’m on board with anything that does that, as long as it doesn’t veer off into delicate territories with a bulldozer (and also would be on a board with Ani if you like sexy times in public, surfing — in oceans…yeah I lost that one).
I rate the first few episodes highly, AND I laughed. I enjoy laughing and queer things and pretty girls, gays, things in general. They are REALLY strong on the modern name drop thing though, which as a writer myself – is a bit risky, bc who is gonna know what all these social media things and mentioned fads are in 10 years? I guess it’ll keep it in a time capsule, which is fine and cool, I myself just prefer when things that are great (which I think this may be) are a little more timeless (ie: making generic references instead of specifics).
=D
I second the hello girl in flannel