Welcome to the eighth recap of the first season of Faking It, a police procedural from the network that brought you Trailer Fabulous and Hilary Duff: This Is Now. This is the first season finale, but never fear, there will be a season two!
We open in The House of Jars of Clay, where Karma has reduced Liam to his most essential elements: hydrous aluminum phyllosilicates, iron, magnesium, alkai metals, alkaline earths and vanilla pudding.
Hey baby why dontcha stop molding that replica of Amy’s vagina and come snuggle with my manhood
“It’s harder than it looks,” Karma says regarding today’s art project.
“Here, lemme show you,” says Liam. “First, you get a little wet, and then you get a little dirty.”
Then they stick their tongues down each other’s throats and the truth begins to settle in to our tiny, sad guts: this is not a dream sequence, y’all. This is real life.
Did you know that a rat can last longer without water than a camel?
Then, to top off this magical moment, Karma mishandles the pottery wheel and a bunch of clay splurges in her face.
Smashing a tub full of lemons with our feet is the worst!
Liam tells Karma that she makes him happy, and Karma tells Liam that he makes her happy, and I tell Karma and Liam that neither of them make me happy, so SUCK IT. Liam wants to know when they can move this affair out of the dungeon and into the light, and Karma promises their moment of glory is quickly approaching — just as soon as Karma and Amy quietly tell everybody they’ve broken up and then observe a respectful mourning period. Like sitting shiva but for lesbians.
Well, I do have this weird Twilight fantasy where you’re a lesbian human and I’m this sort of creepy British guy?
Karma: “Six months, tops!”
Liam: “Six months? That’s forever!”
Karma: “I know, I’m sorry, but if people at school think I left Amy for you, they’ll hate us more than oil companies.”
Liam: “And Amy is okay with this?”
Karma: “A hundred percent!”
Liam: “I just I really don’t like lying.”
Karma: “Me neither, I hate it!”
Liam: “It’s a good thing you’re so damn sexy.”
BARF. Liam wants to hang out this weekend but Karma can’t ’cause Amy’s Mom is going to the chapel and she’s gonna get married. Liam doesn’t know if he can handle the withdrawal. I’d like to suggest methadone.
Cut to Amy’s Bedroom of Fun and Laughs, where Amy’s practicing her toast in the mirror and Karma says it sucks and she needs to learn how to speak from her heart.
Amy: “What if my heart says something really stupid that it could never take back?”
Karma: “That’s not possible.”
You know, like if Amy said “I’ve got a big fat lesbian crush on you!” to Karma. What then?
Now at 11:59 exactly, you will take the magic comb out of your hair and whisper the lyrics to “Where Did The Good Go” into its fingers and then Lesbian Jesus will appear and make all our dreams come true
Karma hugs Amy from around the back just as Farrah busts in:
Farrah: “Amy, we talked about this! Nanna is downstairs.”
Amy: “Thank G-d she didn’t bust in five minutes ago when we were 69’ing.”
Farrah needs Karma and Amy to nanasit Nana so that she doesn’t get trashed and start rambling about Obamacare and ABC Family.
Promise you can’t tell that I’m hiding a steak hoagie in my left breast?
While Amy and Farrah gab, Karma fields sexts from Liam about how much he misses her. Farrah departs, and Amy laments:
Amy: “I really hope i’m better at relationships than my mother.”
Karma: “Think of it this way, it couldn’t be worse.”
Amy asks who Karma’s texting and she lies and says it’s her Mom and that her Mom wants her to give Amy a hug. I wish Karma’s Mom wanted Karma to give Amy cunnilingus, but whatever.
Who’s your No.1 Pookie?
“I’m so glad we’re back to good, just the two of us,” Amy says, tenderly resting her head on Karma’s nubile shoulder. “Me too,” says Karma, while obviously fantasizing about alkai metals.
Damn I really wish you were naked right now though
Liam’s sitting in his car probs listening to Sirius On Broadway when Karma texts to inquire about the status of his Karma withdrawal and he says it’s torture.
Definitely going better than my first experience coming down off a cocaine binge, that’s for sure
Shane hops into Liam’s sweet ride, announcing that Pablo’s totes passive-aggressively seducing Shane by posting photos on facebook in yellow spandex, which’s Shane’s favorite color, and with a poodle of some sort, which’s Shane’s favorite sort. “I feel so terrible for this guy, pining away, hoping I’ll see these and come running,” Shane laments.
Liam grabs his phone to scroll all over Shane’s pic of Pablo and Lauren at the wedding until he finds Karma in the background.
No it’s MY iPhone and YOU can’t have it!
Liam, being the stand-up guy that he is, thinks the best course of action is for Liam and Shane to crash the wedding so Shane can tell Pablo to back off, which is actually a terrible idea!
Cut to the wedding, where Farrah’s freaking out during her first dance that Nana suspects Amy is a muff-diver. Bruce says Nana couldn’t pick out a lesbian at a Melissa Etheridge concert, which’s true, because everybody at a Melissa Etheridge concert is a lesbian so how could you pick just one! HEY-O!
Is that a steak hoagie between your breasts or are you just happy to see me
Meanwhile, Amy and Karma are nanasitting Nana, who says Farrah’s first wedding was the best one and also that she needs her flask STAT.
And then I was like “that is WAYYYYY too much tonic.”
Nana asks “Carmen” if she can run and grab her a ginger-ale chaser and Karma abides while the rest of us pour one out for Carmen De La Pica Morales.
Nana: “Oh she’s darling. Now why doesn’t she have a boyfriend? She got an extra toe or something?”
Amy: “It’s complicated.”
I mean, it’s not like scissoring involves the actual serration of a solid, it’s more like a naked limb-tangle kind of thing and yeah, sometimes it gets in the way of adorable girls having boyfriends
At the bar, Karma asks a server for some ginger ale and OMG IT’S NOT A SERVER IT’S LIAM BOOKER WHAT A NICE SURPRISE
Hello there! My name is Liam and a bunch of straight people sent me here to ruin your lesbian show
Karma: “Liam! What are you doing here?”
Liam: “I just needed a fix.”
[they kiss]
Karma: “You’re not supposed to be here!”
Liam: “Yeah, that’s what makes it hot.”
Mmk whatever you say dude.
Did you know that banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour?
Elsewhere in this small venue, Lauren’s dancing with her gay best friend Pablo and saying this is the most perfect night of all of the nights of Hannukah! In fact, Lauren says she’s never been happier than she is RIGHT NOW, which means she probably doesn’t know that Ellen Page came out on Valentine’s Day this year.
Give me the sharp weapon, I wanna put it up his butt!
Then, as Shane eavesdrops, Pablo and Lauren talk about how she dumped her sockless boyfriend, probs after she caught him doing body shots off Liam’s toes. Pablo asks what happened to tear them apart and Lauren says she can’t get into it but it was all Shane’s fault.
He will be mine. Oh yes, he will be mine.
Meanwhile between two ferns, Karma and Liam are getting in some super-secret Suck Some FaceTime when Karma hears the tender chords of Hey Paula’s “Straight Up Now Tell Me” and exclaims “this is our song!” By “our” she means “mine and Amy’s,” obviously, and thus she must leave Liam in the lurch to go lip sync for her life partner.
You ready for a fisting?
I WAS BORN READY, BITCH!
It’s very Romy & Michelle, and they easily clear the dance floor because lesbians.
This is how lesbians have sex
Amy even pulls off a full lift but then, as Lauren looks on maliciously and Liam looks on bewildered, the girls collapse to the floor.
Let’s never go to a wedding without taking LSD first again
Farrah, however, is PISSED, and interrupts their little love bundle to request a chat… outside.
Hey girls, you wouldn’t have happened to see the Kegelcisor we had shipped to the house yesterday afternoon?
Haha um ah what no the only thing that came yesterday was a silver steel dil—
OH FUCK.
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I loved this episode for its authenticity around Amy’s character–the scene where Karma breaks her heart, the scene where she and Lauren have a brief truce, and even the ending scene. I agree, I don’t think the writers are copping out on her story line; it was a very realistic next step for a 15-year-old who is drunk, heart-broken, and angry. I’m looking forward to the next season!
I fully agree with this. I was angsty when the scene came up, but not in a “AHHH FAKE LESBIAN STORYLINE, WHAT A LET DOWN” kinda angsty.
I was angsty because it’s the truth, it’s something that just happens when you are sexually and romantically frustrated and loosing control over yourself. You make bad decisions, or you go for rebounds, or you self-destruct.
Amy is 15 and confused and barely discovering who she is. We can’t expect her to be portrayed like a mature bi / lesbian woman who always knows what she wants.
I just hope she gains a bit of maturity in season 2. Karma too.
Does that mean showing lesbian who never slept with a man is not realistic? Because for some reason, it almost never happens in TV, especially when it comes to teenagers…
Sorry, but I think it could encourage damaging belief that ‘you must try men to be sure’ in its viewers, who probably are in large part lesbian teenagers.
I don’t think she’s really “trying” a guy at this point. She’s too drunk and heartbroken to just be fully aware in that moment. Now, if she were sober and tried dating a guy, then that would be damaging.
haven’t watched the episode yet but had to find out what happened, and ugh that ending ughhhhhh whyyyyyyyyyyyy
I know this would actually mean this show is magic, but I just would have loved Amy dealing with rejection by devouring a bunch of queer-centric media. Couldn’t you just picture her marathoning (your-preferred-queer-show-of-choice) in bed with some cake+champagne? It may not be MTV-worthy, but that is how some of us deal with stuff, whether 15 or older.
And it definitely doesn’t leave me rolling my eyes/barfing my heart out.
There’s still time for her to do just that! This is only the first night. We might see her in season two listening to old riot grrrl music and reading queer comics while giving herself an ALH.
Lesbian media: the healthier choice. :P
So what are the chances that the last minute of this episode was a dream and it didn’t happen? Slim? Nonexistent? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Thanks for the recaps! The photo comments are so funny.
Also, believe it or not, I didn’t catch the play on words in “Well, Karma’s a bitch” until you pointed it out, and then I laughed about it for like three minutes. So thanks for that :)
While I don’t mind the finale, it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. I want to believe in the writers, but it still bugs me that so much of this show revolves around Liam.
This episode had me on edge from start to end!! If season 2 doesn’t start with a “WTF did we just do?!?! Nooo~” I’m gonna be madder than when I witnessed that Amy/Liam scene.
I feel really sad about how angry everyone (elsewhere on the internet) is about Amy sleeping with Liam.
I sure don’t love it but it’s been made explicit that Amy is not straight. Liam’s wand is not going to be magic, it’s just a wand (what).
Not all queer women are lesbians, and not all lesbians are (ugh hate this term) “gold star”.
Plus it’s pretty much a fuck-Karma fuck, we are drunk and angry. Also as gross as Liam can be, a part of me sees it as Amy trying to escape her feelings. Karma isn’t in love with her and her reasoning was that she slept with Liam, so maybe Amy wants to try it too. (Why am I still thinking about this?)
I think a lot of people (outside of AS ’cause this place is a safe haven for all identities) are forgetting what it’s like to be fifteen or just plain figuring shit out. It’s sad to see the lack of acceptance for what is a pretty legitimate story, because the outrage tells young queer women that you pick a role dammit. It’s hard enough accepting queerness and being held to another set of rules is unfair.
Again I don’t know why I’m still thinking about it, I guess I have to wait a week for my best friend to come home before I’m allowed to watch the new Pretty Little Liars so I have to invest myself in something…
Personally I was felling the pain with Amy and Liam’s actions. Those two were both crushed by Karma in their own way and indeed were looking for an escape, and both in their own way had their sexuality and attraction get pretty complicated with new and confusing things. It hurts to watch for me because I see that all three – Karma, Amy, and Liam – will be further hurt and confused by the impulsive (and drunk) hookup. It seems to me that their shared love, Karma, gave them a commonality only they could understand, and that their decision was probably out of a gigantic burden frustration and self-doubt.
I suppose my first comment was a little too short, but it was a scene that had me telling my TV “No don’t do it! for many reasons. I remember myself at that age, and I was just as much complicated and confused if not more, so I get that, and truthfully I think the show is done quite well and unpredictable, much like life and love can be.
My rage is less towards the characters and more towards the writers, because I would like there to be an instance (it seems like there’s very few) where the questioning girl doesn’t sleep with the guy first. I feel like I’ve seen this happen so many times that sometimes it seems like to be (or think that you might be) gay, you must get with a guy first. I know they’re are plenty that do, but I still can’t help but wish for fictional story where a character realizes who she is without screwing a guy first.
I know it makes good drama but I can’t help but hope for a character who will realize who she is without said drama.
My hope for this show was that, by getting the coming out drama out of the way quickly, and Amy starting to figure things out by episode 4, that this show would focus a little more on “girl in love with best friend” and a little less on “straight boy who wants to screw almost every girl”.
To me, it’s less about Amy sleeping with Liam and more to with this story line being to common to media in general. Because, in my opinion, it sometimes feels like the target audience for this show is straight men, and that’s why it goes “look, lesbians” then proceeds to spend most of the show focusing on Liam making out and getting laid.
Long story short, there’s nothing wrong with Amy figuring things out, but I’m personally sick of the questioning girl must get with guy story line.
A-fucking-men.
I think people are upset because it’s a really familiar storyline — we’ve seen the “15-year-old still figuring out her shit who has to try boys first ” storyline before, like Spencer on South of Nowhere, Emily on Skins, etc., and it’s something we actually usually don’t see with teenage male gay character? I don’t think people are opposed to it because it’s not realistic, but because it’s also realistic for someone to go full-lez from the get go and we don’t see that very much.
No, not all lesbians are gold stars, but it would be refreshing to see a character who doesn’t have to sleep with random guys to figure out her sexuality. Everyone always says, “They’re young and they need time to explore! It’s common and totally okay to experiment!” but what about all the young women who do know who they are and what they want without being with men?
Why is their experience always ignored – is it because it doesn’t make for a good plot or because people think young lesbians have to sleep with guys in order to fully accept their sexuality? Our experience is just as valid as theirs, but it’s always pushed aside for storylines like this one and ones from nearly every other movie/TV show.
And by “our experience,” I mean our experience as lesbians who were certain of our sexuality when we were 15. I’m glad this show wasn’t around when I was a teen. I can’t imagine how crushed I’d feel watching Amy’s character, identifying with her, then seeing her have hate-sex/I-feel-sorry-for-myself-sex with a guy who doesn’t even respect gay women and their sexuality! I know some people identify with this show, but I can’t help but feel it could hurt some younger lesbians.
I don’t think people are only upset because Amy slept with a guy. I think a fair number of upset people are like me, upset not at the fact the Amy slept with a guy but that the guy she did it with was Liam, the guy who as far as she knows is her best friend’s boyfriend. Amy might have lashed out impulsively at times in the past but I think many more of her actions support the view that her character up to that point had been molded as someone who would never betray her best friend like that. Not to mention the fact that Liam, the guy who wanted to turn lesbians, has not really gotten any repercussions from his actions. Instead, he got two girls to lose their virginity to him. So right now I am pissed and hurt and thinking FTS. And I have very little desire to watch season 2.
The problem is that Amy is lesbian, the writers have explicity said so: http://community.ew.com/2014/06/09/faking-it-stars-talk-real-life-faking-it/
Yes, not all lesbians are gold stars, but there is a problem with media representation where lesbian-identified characters often sleep with men, when gay-identified males rarely do.
Although I do agree with Elaine that too many guys think lesbians can “turn”, but we should keep in mind that she’s a teenager, not an out, proud adult lesbian.
I hate the term gold star too. It’s as if your sexuality is more legitimate than mine because you never had to explore that side. Ugh. I’m a lesbian too, regardless of if I slept with guys in the past.
One last thing – yes, we don’t see gay males sleeping with women on TV as much. But that’s pretty representative of society, is it not? Women have a lot more leeway of what they can do with another woman before it’s considered “gay.” A girl could fuck several girls and be with a guy and everyone will accuse her of being a straight girl experimenting. A guy could fuck several girls, and if he so much as touched another guy’s piece, he’d be instantly labeled gay. There are more hard and fast lines for gay men than lesbians, so it’s harder to figure out if your feelings are gay or not. Also, it takes a lot more for people to see you as legitimate (which is bullshit that it’s the case, but true) when you are a lesbian. I think that’s why you don’t see depictions of gay men “trying it out” with women – they aren’t as likely in real life, either. I know tons of gay men who have never had sex with a woman, but hardly any lesbians who have had sex with a man. Granted, there are tons that haven’t, but I’m just saying – it’s harder for lesbians to realize than gay men.
lesbians who have never had sex*
You bring up good points I haven’t thought about before. I’m pretty young and don’t know many gay men well, so thanks for the insight.
All good points and I’m really stoked that I posted a comment that generated discussion. Like giddy??
Anyway I guess I was largely on the same page as Silvana, but Sonotstraight I really like your point about it being out of character, not just going against her sexuality.
So yeah it is totally overdone, but I was somehow angrier when Emily kissed (spoiler for pll) Nate/Lyndon because she was so sure of herself.
I guess I saw this as Amy lashing out Against Karma but also against her feelings for Karma/girls in general/a desperation to not have those feelings and just want Liam like everyone else.
Unknown pleasures, you also make a good point that it can be crushing for some, like oh god do I have to do that?? I don’t know, when I was young I latched the hell on to Lucy (DEBS) because, like me, there was no guy ever, and it would be awesome to see more of that.
tl:dr; why can’t I stop thinking about this show, I’m supposed to be at work; my concern was that, while they can do better, and such a character would be amazing, I don’t want a confused queer reading that her experience is overdone or less legit because she slept with a guy.
SO let’s bring back Jasmine because she was cool as hell and can rep the non-confused queers?
LSD before weddings is the BEST idea!
All I know is that if Amy and Karma have their own song, complete with an elaborately choreographed dance routine…
I also love everything yellow and cute little doggies! Shane, will you please be my Gay Scout bestie?
I think that Amy and Liam either won’t go through with the hookup or they will really wish they hadn’t hooked up after they do it. Since part of the formula of Faking It seems to be about deconstructing the clichés found in many popular TV shows and movies, I figured they were just putting a (slightly queer) twist on the rom-com scenario where two people who are heartbroken, after one is rejected and the other is lied to, both get really drunk and then hook up with each other to help them forget and get revenge on the person who hurt them, an action that both people usually deeply regret the next morning and brings both of them lots of guilt.
I’m was really glad that Karma’s initial reaction was positive and when said that Amy would never lose her. Much better than a get-out-of-my-life, we-can’t-even-be-friends-anymore type reaction. Which can happen too when you tell your best friend that you have feelings and I miiiight have been there! Oh girl. : / Ah, teenage memories…
Love this quote, so so true: “And Amy’s somewhere is beautiful and hopeful but it isn’t real, and maybe she isn’t realizing how invested she was in that sliver of possibility until it starts dissolving before her very eyes.”
I don’t recall giving a television the evil eye before last night.
I agree that it was very realistic. My problem is that 1) I don’t know if I was looking for that from this show and 2) I’m not interested in watching to see how the friendship evolves, so idk if I’ll continue watching.
It would be kinda cool if the show continued the tone from the last episode and catapulted into something unapologetically dark.
Amy: “Karma, step off the ledge with me!” **collapse into a puddle of tears on my floor**
Lauren: “Welp, Karma’s a bitch.” **find the strength to laugh once again**
Amy & Liam fall into bed together. **sigh, because heartbreak sucks and figuring shit out sucks and mistakes are inevitable**
Season 2, please?
The ending made me so uncomfortable. Even if it hadn’t been hinted at all season that Amy isn’t attracted to men, this is a drunk 16 year old ? to me, in itself, that means this situation can’t fully consensual? I think people are taking it in stride because the actress is in her 20s so it doesn’t look that disturbing, but I feel like this is another example of male writers normalizing violence against women by using it as an unnecessary plot-twist. I highly doubt that this will be dealt with properly in the next season.
Isn’t Liam the same age, though? And he was equally drunk.
The fact that Liam was equally unable to consent doesn’t automatically mean Amy is consenting. It doesn’t make the situation any better.
I get what you mean but they were both very drunk. Neither one of them could have given consent. To me, it looks like one of those grey areas where it’s no one’s fault.
As a bi / sexually fluid woman who is femme-presenting and who went exactly through this shit at age 14-15 (omg feelings for my best friend!), I am SO EXCITED that my experience is getting represented in this TV show.
While I understand that lesbian-identified and other LGBT women are dreaming of more girl-girl relationships on TV and in the medias, and so do I , but I feel excited that a complex teenager who is discovering her sexual orientation is the protagonist of her own show. I think that since season 2 has been signed, we WILL eventually get to see Amy grow up into a bi or lesbian woman, or whatever she wants to call herself. But for now she is a teenager, bless her, with all the complicated shit that comes with it. The last scene isn’t a let down as much as it is a low for Amy, but that low might be necessary for her to find out who she is.
I can relate so much to that storyline, and it is rare, because usually, I find that “bi women” characters on TV tend to be very bold and seductive, and manipulative or mysterious… and I usually can’t relate.
I say, looking forward to season 2. :)
Rita Volk, Amy’s actress, said in interview for Entertainment Weekly that Amy is lesbian:
“I don’t know about Karma’s path, but for Amy, she is a lesbian, and Carter and I talked about that.”
I can’t stop laughing about this caption, it’s the best: “Now at 11:59 exactly, you will take the magic comb out of your hair and whisper the lyrics to “Where Did The Good Go” into its fingers and then Lesbian Jesus will appear and make all our dreams come true.”
I generally agree with Trish Bendix take on the finale (though she made a mistake praising Naomily in this matter, as Emily from Skins had to sleep with a man too of course):
“Throughout history it has often been the case that writers do not know how to create stories for lesbian and bisexual-themed women on television and film, and the default plot falls prey to the unrealistic “she sleeps with a man” situation. Now besides that this is overdone and lazy, Faking It furthers the insult by having the forlorn Amy sleep with a man who not only does not respect lesbian relationships and sexuality (nor women, really), but whom she detests for having taken Karma away from her.
(…)
While it’s true that Amy has yet to label herself as a lesbian, it feels completely false that she would explore sexually with Liam — of all people — especially when it is her first time. It’s also sexist and hypocritical as writers would never put a gay male character like Faking It’s Shane (Michael J. Willett) in a similar situation. Because men do not question their sexuality, apparently. Only confused women do, and that is not only harmful to television lesbians, but the real-life women who are told “they haven’t met the right man yet” or “won’t know until they’ve tried it.” Legitimacy is called into question, and that makes being an out woman dangerous, especially in parts of the world where corrective rape of lesbians is an acceptable practice.”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/faking-finale-proves-mtv-does-710958
I agree. If tv shows were as progressive as they think they are, especially MTV, they would do this with a male character instead of constantly doing it with the women. Hell, this show might be infinitely more entertaining if it actually revolved around Shane having feelings for Liam and Liam being confused about his feelings for Shane with one or both of them sleeping with girls to try to “figure things out” and “explore their sexuality”.
BTW, I don’t know what they are playing, because Rita Volk said that Amy is lesbian in numerous interviews recently:
“I don’t know about Karma’s path, but for Amy, she is a lesbian, and Carter and I talked about that. (…)
… she is, at the end of the day, a lesbian. She’s into girls. And that’s what she’s gonna discover.”
http://community.ew.com/2014/06/09/faking-it-stars-talk-real-life-faking-it/
“… I know that Amy is really a vessel for a lot of these fans because of the fact that she is a lesbian character that’s why we have this amazing fandom around her.”
http://www.thetvaddict.com/2014/06/10/we-shine-the-spotlight-on-faking-it-star-rita-volk/
“The other, bigger part of it is that if I put myself into her situation, she’s thinking that, “I’m liking girls but that’s not working out so well for me. I have all these feelings but I wind up getting hurt.” Her sleeping with Liam is just a way to bury that because he’s a guy. It doesn’t even matter that it’s Liam to her, it’s just that she wanted a guy. It’s her effort to not be a lesbian. She’s trying to deny her feelings which won’t work, because that’s not who she is. Considering that she’s LGBT, it’s not going to turn out very well.”
http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/faking_it_season_1_finale_katie_stevens_rita_volk_burnt_toast_post_mortem-2014-06
But at the same time, Covington in that Buzzfeed interview has no idea why people think Amy is lesbian, he just says she’s not straight, and basically announced that next season will be about Amy exploring boys (so apparently sex with Liam won’t be negative experience for her, it will encourage her for more) and bonding with Liam in hiding from Karma the fact they slept together.
I feel like Amy is a lesbian for real. I think being rejected by Karma just pushed her over the edge for a night and Covington is just being coy
Well, who didn’t see that ending coming? *she said sarcastically while rolling her eyes*
That was so predictable that I called it when I read the press release about the premise for this show before it even aired. So cliched and it’s not like this is the first questioning or full-blown lesbian/bisexual character we have seen on television do this. We have seen quite a few so I guess I just don’t understand all the “finally, somebody like me!!!” excitement about it all. Didn’t MTV just do this with Tea on Skins a few years ago? And that is only one example.
The only thing I enjoyed about that finale was Karma being left by her damn self crying in her mother’s lap. Even if it was over ridiculous Liam. She is a character that I have just never warmed to regardless of who she is involved with. Can’t say I have any interest in slogging through Season 2 at this point? I’m sure it will likely revolve around Amy/Liam keeping this secret from and Liam possibly being in love with the both of them. Then Season 3 can be all about Karma finding out about Amy/Liam and being pissed at the both of them. The common denominator being more storylines revolving around Liam, Liam, Liam. I just don’t fucking care about the dude. Sorry, Carter Covington.
Speaking of Carter Covington, I’m just going say that the thing I have learned the most over my many years of watching television is that you can’t trust anything showrunners say. They just want you to watch their show. Their are two types of showrunners—–the ones who try to keep their fans optimistic without revealing too much even though they know they are about to dissappoint them and the ones who don’t give a shit and make it clear that this is their show and they don’t care what fans think about it. Covington is in the “PLEASE KEEP WATCHING MY SHOW!” category. I don’t know who is worse. I think I prefer Ryan Murphy’s fuck you brand of honesty.
I don’t think the upset people are upset only because Amy slept with a guy. I think a fair number of upset people are like me, upset not at the fact the Amy slept with a guy but that the guy she did it with was Liam, the guy who as far as she knows is her best friend’s boyfriend. Amy might have lashed out impulsively at times in the past but I think many more of her actions support the view that her character up to that point had been molded as someone who would never betray her best friend like that. Not to mention the fact that Liam, the guy who wanted to turn lesbians, has not really gotten any repercussions from his actions. Instead, he got two girls to lose their virginity to him. So right now I am pissed and hurt and thinking FTS. And I have very little desire to watch season 2.
I read the entire Buzzfeed article with Covington and I have to say that I really believe that the “Karmy” relationship is actually going to happen in one way or another. It could mean a relationship or just them having sex to “figure things out”. But something is going to happen between them, he mentioned it several times. I’m giving this show a chance. It’s not perfect, but even with the finale it is not half as offensive as most mainstream representations of gay people that I have seen in movies and television.
Especially after reading that interview, I trust Covington way more than I trust Ryan Murphy. Covington seems to really care about these characters and the audience and knows full well about the LGBT community’s expectations for this story. In the future, I could see this show being everything that “Britanna” fans wish that “Brittana” was and I really look forward to it.
I can already tell that this show is going to be a bumpy ride, but at least it won’t be worse and as offensive as Glee and many others. Come on guys, if we can recap/watch Glee and Queer baiting shows like Rizzoli and Isles for so long, I’m sure we can try and give this show a chance.
Here’s the Buzzfeed interview: http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/whats-next-for-karma-and-amy-after-the-shocking-season-final
Yeah I agree. I think Karmy is endgame. And I think right now is a really interesting time in culture in general to explore that. I think Amy is a lesbian and Karma might turn out to be sexually fluid.
I actually kind of hope that Karmy doesn’t happen. I just don’t think Karma is actually there, and I’m more interested in seeing how Amy moves forward with that and figuring out herself, rather than playing will it happen with Amy and Karma or not for another season or more.
And I mean, as frustrating as this last episode was, I thought that moment when Amy finally tells Karma how she feels, and Karma says that she loves her but not like that was really honest and beautiful, and yes, heartbreaking because we all want Amy be happy. But I thought it was really beautiful to see a moment of “I know you have these feelings, and I don’t feel the same way, but I still really love you and care about you and don’t think you’re gross or weird.”
Okay, as a 15 year old lesbian (well, newly 16 technically, but same difference), I disagree that this show manages to achieve any verisimilitude regarding “the teenage lesbian and/or queer experience.” First of all, claiming any sort of universal experience is grossly reductionist (Case in point: I highly doubt the struggle of a wealthy, white, conventionally attractive young queer woman represents the narratives of young queer women without these myriad privileges). Secondly, this show is probably one of the least realistic TV depictions of teenage life I’ve ever seen, after “Glee” and “Teen Wolf.” Schools this accepting might exist somewhere (maybe? I’m still not convinced), but even if they do they constitute an infinitesimal minority.
And while we’re on the subject, how many 15 year old girls have you ever seen who look like Amy?? Or 15 year old boys who look like Liam, for that matter?? The problem with hiring developed 20 somethings (who conform completely to definitions of traditional beauty) to play teenagers is that they only serve to implicitly reinforce the pervasive insecurities and body dysmorphia plaguing young adults.
As for the final scene? I agree that it was one of the more realistic things we’ve seen this season. I don’t think doing stuff like that should be viewed as an inherent part of being 15, nor as something that will appeal to everyone’s experience (because it certainly doesn’t concide with mine)- but I don’t see how it’s that problematic. The “figuring it all out” part is totally valid. I wasn’t happy with the end, of course, cause boo Liam, but it was actually one of the few scenes that didn’t have me cringing at how absurd, idealized or mawkish it was.
The main thing that baffles me, though, is how in every teenage TV show ever (this one included) when two teens want to have sex, they instantly find a place where they can proceed without the constant fear of being walked in on. Like, how?
As a fellow teen (well newly 18 so technically an adult, what ew) I agree SO VERY MUCH. I mean, I get that media is created by adults, sometimes even queer or female or (gasp!) minority adults, but have they seriously never lived as teenagers? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this show, but I think that its only realism is in the emotions rather than the actual action. There was more I was going to say here, but I can’t make it sound like anything other than “eh fake teenagers, get off my lawn,” so.
This is exactly why I started writing while I was still young. That way all of the experiences are fresh in my mind. It makes it more realistic that way.
Ok so I was reading through this comment when you made the point that teenagers watching shows where the “teenagers” are all fully grown humans might reinforce their insecurities about their bodies, and I literally pushed my screen away and said, and I quote: “Holy fuck.”
That is such an excellent point and I’m just stunned that it never occurred to me before. Thank you so much for making it!
My jaw dropped but as soon as I saw the bus move, I knew they was gonna fuuuuuck.
Got damn.
“And Amy’s somewhere is beautiful and hopeful but it isn’t real, and maybe she isn’t realizing how invested she was in that sliver of possibility until it starts dissolving before her very eyes.”
AHHHHH RIESE WHY i want a hug.
“Karma cry-whisper-pleads, “please don’t,” but Amy is finally speaking her truth and once you get started there’s no looking back, you know?”
Yes, yes, yes!
Disclaimer: Rant ahead
“people will see. They’ll get it from the trailers. And then they didn’t really.” Get what!? Get that Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer identified women are forever treated unfairly? Get that there won’t ever be an equal chance towards the lesbian storylines? Get that the closeted girls are in desperate need of men to solidify their sexual orientation? Get that girls in general are the weaker species who will get drunk and have meaningless sex with her bestfriend’s dreamboy?
I’m bisexual and i value sex. I don’t pursue boys when i’m mad at my girlfriend and say it’s revenge. I don’t agree with how amy’s character was played out. Faking it writers has made her this deceitful hoodrat little whore devil at the last episode.
Stop with the sweet freaking love making background music! If only i can slap somebody through my lcd monitor, I would’ve had a good amount of stitches in my hands!
Few thoughts I presented already under AE recap (quotation from there):
“Part of that is the mixed message of having Liam and Amy make a huge mistake and then shooting it like it’s supposed to be hot. If you’re going to have two drunk, angry high schoolers have sex, don’t give it soft lighting and a sexy soundtrack. Even under the best circumstances, high school sex is a lot more awkward that that.”
That’s exactly my concern about that sex scene. I would have much lesser problem with it if only they made it look like clearly unenjoyable experience for her, because, after all, Amy isn’t out lesbian.
But if they decided Amy to be lesbian, why would they make it look this way, like she’s really into it and just drowing her sorrows in passionate anger sex? It doesn’t look like respectful take on the issue (unless, some ignorant person thinks that lesbians don’t mind having sex with men). There wasn’t even buildup that she should sleep with a man to figure things out, so this justification doesn’t work too well, especially together with the notion that nothing about this scene implies it’s unenjoyable experience for Amy, so I really doubt it would make some typical viewers think about it the way lesbians who slept with men before figuring it out want it to be.
Personally, I was thinking that first season is about treading waters. There were many hints that could lead in either direction, and the final decision would depend on viewer’s response. It’s what I was ‘nitpicking’ through the season – like reaction to kiss with Liam being compared to spotting butterfly during sunny day, as opposed to complete nothing during kiss with Oliver. So, it would explain why that sex scene looked ‘sexy’. Because they didn’t exactly intend it to be a scene of a lesbian having sex with a man.
But I’m not sure anymore, because Covington suddenly insists that he doesn’t know where she is on spectrum, despite Rita Volk’s words that Amy is lesbian. I guess it all depends on Covington’s response to question about this dissonance. If he’s going to deny what Rita said, then I think we can assume that Amy’s journey through the next season is going to be just queerbaiting. Carter even admitted that she’s going to explore guys more, because the sex with Liam wasn’t apparently enough to figure things out, it’s just the beginning of her journey to men’s town. Oliver’s waiting. To make things worse, it seems 2nd season will try to promote Liam even more.
And like I said before, I would be all for Amy being bisexual, if only the premise of the show wasn’t about lesbianism, faking it for popularity, which was offensive on its own, but without actual lesbian character, would be just extreme exploitation without bothering to provide any representation. And if only we weren’t so viciously gay-baited to watch and promote the show, and then treated like that.
I’m disappointed because I want a show with a self-identified lesbian character that reflects just a little bit of my life experiences–and this just isn’t that show. I get desperate for lesbian tv characters so I suffer through shows like this, but I think I’m done.
*NEWS FLASH* I sadly own the same bridesmaid dress as Lauren Cooper. Does this make me a cake-giving bitch? Let’s hope not.
if you give cake, it cancels out the bitchiness, so
Check out interview on AE with Covington:
http://www.afterellen.com/interview-with-faking-it-creator-carter-covington/06/2014/2/
TBH, last reasons I still hoped they could make it right have been crushed. As for interviewer’s considerations that sex scene looked too sexy:
“when we shot that the director wanted to make it very sexy, and I was like “it has to be fast and I want it to end on the picture of Karma and Amy.” Because to me, the importance of Amy and Liam sleeping together isn’t Amy and Liam, it’s what happens to Amy and Karma now that this betrayal has happened. And so we will start the next morning with Amy hungover in bed, waking up and realizing what she did.”
So what does it say about people working behind the show if they wanted to make the sex scene of potential lesbian virgin with a man look “very sexy”, even more sexy than what we got – which is a lot, with all that soft lighting, sexy music, passionate kissing and digging her nails into Liam’s back (which is generally considered to be a sign of giving woman a great pleasure)?
It shows that those people don’t respect lesbian sexuality, because otherwise they wouldn’t want to make sex scene of potential lesbian with a man look even like that, not to mention “very sexy”. And it shows that they didn’t put into consideration damaging implications of that scene at all, or rather, they didn’t care.
In addition to that, Atwell was going to ask Covington about Rita’s statements that Amy is lesbian. But she backtracked from it, suddenly claiming that Rita used “lesbian” as a “catch-all term for a variety of identities we might distinguish between as bisexual or queer”.
Which smells like BS, as Julie noted in comment:
“Rita Volk is 23 years old, an actress, and a graduate of Duke University in Psychology, of all things. There is NO chance she doesn’t know the difference between lesbian, bi, and other identities.
And as a reminder, her quote made it clear that she knew exactly what she as talking about: “And I can’t speak for Karma, but for Amy, it’s good that Katie brought this up, because I spoke to Carter, and one of the things that’s been out there in the fan feedback is that people are concerned it’s just going to be a tease. You know, [that] Amy’s sexuality is gonna be a tease, because I guess on other shows, girls thought that they were into girls and thought that they were lesbians and then they changed their minds and then decided that they wanted to be with boys. I don’t know about Karma’s path, but for Amy, she is a lesbian, and Carter and I talked about that. We don’t want it to be a tease, we don’t want people to feel like they can relate to this vulnerable process that she’s going through, and they can relate to this girl because she’s a lesbian and then have that taken away, like, “Oh, never mind, you know, I’m into guys now.” It won’t be like that.”
Obviously, if she’s going to end up bi she’ll be “into guys now”.”
Ok, I get the whole ‘lets get together cow we both fancy the same person’ trope and I also get the ‘explorative straight sex’ thing but putting them both together it a little weird. Like, I think it is very not Amy to shag the guy who also shagged Karma. Maybe she could have tried making out with Oliver? I dunno. I just thought she was past the experimentation phase and it seemed pretty clear she was Kinsey 6. I hope season 2 goes in a gayer direction because although this has been fun to watch/read, there has been far too much naked Liam and far too little girl on girl. Also, someone should put out a memo to teenage boys that this doesn’t mean that they get to sleep with lesbians. Regardless of the storyline, the recaps are always priceless jewels.
I am very conflicted over this conclusion.
One one side, I am very angry that once again another lesbian story has had to end with the girl ending up with the guy (although this is not the end). I disliked they way that they treated the sex scene itself (is anyone that drunk ever that smooth?), I disliked the way the series has had few moments of her having insight and thoughts about what she feels or wants so as to justify her sleeping with Liam. And in the end, the only happy ending went the male gay couple! Heck, we’re all angry: http://silverbluemoon.tumblr.com/post/88455799936/evilqueenapologist-silverbluemoon
But on the other side, I understand how fucking hard it is to truly understand and accept what you want and who you desire. The process to identifying yourself as ANYTHING is very very complicated and delicate process. We do so many stupid things im the process, we try so hard to convince oursleves of one thing or another, we try so hard to fit in anywhere, to please what people might think and to satisfy what you think of yourself.
There IS a possibility that she may be curious, confused, desperate, lonely… Heck, she could be BI but is still unsure of what she wants! I just wish they could have given us a better way to end there. I think that script-wise it was very sloppy.
Amy’s description of Liam as a butterfly makes me think she’s bi. Although I think the show’s creator said she’s a lesbian?
Also I really want someone to do that adorable dance scene with me. Choreographed routines like this are my favorite and I don’t care what anyone else says.
Ok I dunno about most people, but the Amy-Liam drunken escapade didn’t strike me as indicative on Amy’s part of any interest in guys generally, or Liam in particular. I mean, she just called him a cockroach like thirty minutes beforehand. Instead, I saw her acting out of hurt and emotional vulnerability and doing the one thing she knew would hurt Karma back. And I have no idea how universal that experience is, but I will say that I, as embarrassing as it is to admit, have done similar things in my waywa
. . . rd youth. And I say that as a young gay woman myself. I dunno. I totally “got” what Amy was doing in that moment and I don’t think it negates her lesbian identity in any way.
I totally get and respect why a lot of people wouldn’t feel that way, though, and I also think that the show could easily run with this moment in the wrong direction. But I’m hoping they don’t. This show already has a history of playing into some gross stereotypes abd then subverting them, and I really hope that they’ll pull it off again.
!http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/AlexPiperDance.gif!
I meant to post the gif, not the link. Now it might seem as if I’m trolling this post. I’m not. Time to delve into the abyss of WordPress forums, to determine why this faux-pas occurred. *Note: the intended gif was in response to the Amy/Karma dance sequence, which was somewhat reminiscent of Romy and Michelle, and very reminiscent of Piper and Alex.
I’m pretty late in the day because living in England means we get all the good TV late. I took them sleeping together as a rage thing and also kind of revenge on Amy’s part. Karma likes Liam not Amy so it’s her way of drunkenly trying to wreck things between Karma and Liam (obviously not knowing that it’s already kinda happened with Shane’s revelations) in the vain hope that if Liam doesn’t want Karma maybe Karma will decide she wants to be with Amy after all – unlikely though.