Last week I turned on Pretty Little Liars and my Mom was like, “So, all I know about this show is that there’s two girls who pretended to be lesbians but they aren’t really lesbians?” and I was like, nope, wrong show. But after watching the first two episodes of Season 2B of Faking It, it’s not a stretch to imagine calling this show Pretty Little Liars. Although several lies, like the “lesbian couple” lie, have been exposed throughout the show’s brief run, lies and deception remain the show’s most prominent conceit. This makes sense for a show called Faking It, but is somewhat unfortunate for me personally as a recapper due to the fact that “people taking action based on things they think are true that aren’t really true” is my #1 Most Hated Plot Device, which’s why I hate Shakespeare. Anyhow! Onward ho! It’s still a smart show with LGBTQ characters and shiny-haired girls.
Oh right, first I should give you a SPOILER ALERT for this entire post, although I promise I’m not revealing anything SUPER-spoilery, these are still, in their way, spoilers.
1. There’s a new principal at Hester High.
I think my underwear is too small
Apparently last season’s drug bust has inspired the school to crack down on its hippie attitude and get serious, like with metal detectors and a white man in a sweater vest. Principal Penelope Delia Fisher’s been demoted, because patriarchy.
2. There’s a new straight white boy in town
Now ladies, let me tell you why civil disobedience is always a bad idea
Don’t worry lesbians, all your dreams have come true: another non-descript white boy is joining our cast of characters. I listened to him talk for about 20 seconds and then looked at a piece of toast and felt the same about both items.
3. There’s a new girl on “Faking It” who I’m 99% sure was also in “Pretty Little Liars”
Oh don’t mind that creepy figure in the hoodie and a mask, we’ll get the story on that later tonight
After giving up art in order to get Karma’s family out of jail, Liam’s been cornered into an internship with Swerkel, where he’ll be working alongside a brand new female character with nice facial structure and edgy fashion choices. Her name is Intern Baked Ziti or something like that.
4. Lauren’s not gonna be Hester High’s intersex poster girl
Look, I’m sorry but it’s Berenstain Bears, not Berenstein Bears, and it always has been
Although Lauren managed to win the student council election after being outed as intersex, she has no interest in representing the outsiders and marginalized peoples of Hester, much to the chagrin of her campaign team. In fact, she’s on board with the New Hester High.
5. But she is gonna be mad at Theo… maybe forever
How about when I make this face, do you like me now
I really want somebody to update Faking It‘s IMDB page so I can figure out if they’re gonna get back together or not. So far it’s not looking good — she’s blocking his calls, plotting extravagant revenge fantasies, and shutting him down when he tries to apologize.
6. Reagan and Amy are still together!
And then for our 86-day anniversary, I was thinking we could go back to that spot where we shared our first burrito and this time, each of us will bring our own burritos
Amy and Reagan are still girlfriends, but Amy’s starting to feel a wee bit suffocated.
7. Amy is still attracted to guys sometimes
But as far as Reagan knows, Amy is totally a lesbian who is never ever attracted to guys, not even Johnny Depp, and Amy is also a lesbian who never ever had drunken sad sex with Liam Booker. See, Reagan’s ex left her for a guy so now she’s afraid of girls who have any unanswered questions about their sexuality… and, I guess, girls who have ever slept with a guy? (Fun fact: sometimes 100% total absolute lesbians who don’t like guys have still, in the past, due to an array of circumstances such as “cultural norms,” hooked up with, slept with and/or dated men!) I hate just about every element of this characterization / development and I hate this conflict with the fury of a thousand suns, which I will most certainly unleash upon you as recaps progress this season.
8. Karma might still be attracted to Amy sometimes?
Watching the trailer for “Stonewall”
I wouldn’t rule it out.
9. Karma is very unpopular again, but also has very nice hair
OMG I just threw out an apple core instead of composting it
She’d barely recovered from being the Fake Lesbian when her parents’ pot brownie truck got busted and led to a school-wide crackdown on fun. Oops.
10. This
DOES ANYBODY HAVE A SPARE JUNIOR MINT
“Faking It” returns to MTV on August 31st at 9:30 P.M. ET/PT. These are the episode descriptions for the first two of the season:
- 211, “Stripped” (August 31 at 9:30 P.M. ET/PT): When a new Principal cracks down on Hester, Shane leads a revolt. Amy suspects Karma is hiding something.
- 212, “The Revengers: The Age of the Monocle” (September 7 at 9:30 P.M. ET/PT): Shane and Amy help Lauren get revenge on Theo. Karma and Reagan have to work together.
Oh, whoa! That girl in #3 is Chloe from PLL, who was a swimmer and Jenna’s girlfriend and one time Emily was like, “I’m going to watch you drown!” to her. And the guy in that photo is Wesley Fitzgerald, Ezra’s younger brother who one time threw a pizza!
Anyway, I can’t wait for your recaps.
Sydney, not Chloe – I think it says something about PLL that even our recapper extraordinaire can’t remember the names of all the girls Emily has flirted with :D
Lauren has quickly become the only character I really care about anymore. And if you had told me that while watching the pilot I would have said you were crazy. I have never been a big fan of Karma, which I know is a very UO, but she has her moments where I gain sympathy for her. Liam could probably die in a fire and I wouldn’t notice. Shane, I can handle in small doses. They just had to go and make Theo a narc but I still want him back with Lauren. And the writers seem determined for me to loose interest in Amy with each passing episode. I really hope they turn things around in 2B because I don’t want to dislike Amy. If things go south with Reagan I hope they find a way to keep her on the show because besides Lauren she is one of the few characters that I still really like and want good things for.
I’m not a huge fan of karma either tbh… But I do love amy! I love Lauren I think she gets more and more complicated and more and more interesting every minute. Also the actress who plays her is fantastic.
Yes. Bailey De Young, or as I like to call her Baby Megan Hilty, truly is fantastic in this role. I like Rita Volk too. Amy just makes me want to smack her on the hands with a ruler sometimes.
So much with the baby Megan Hilty vibes!
I was a little disappointed to find out that Amy would still be struggling with her identity this season, but I’m WAAAAY more upset that Reagan is going to be so unsupportive! I really hope it’s just Reagan, and not Karma or Liam as well. If Reagan is going to be so biphobic, I really, REALLY hope the show goes out of it’s way to portray that attitude as wrong.
Okay, I clearly put this comment in the wrong place, and now I can’t seem to remove it. Sorry guys.
I’m not ready to call Reagan biphobic yet. It depends. Is Reagan upset that Amy is attracted to men in general? Or is Reagan upset that Amy, her girlfriend that she assumes is monogamous, may be hooking up with a specific guy? Does Amy actually go so far as to cheat on Reagan? We will see. For what it’s worth, I see Reagan flipping her shit just as much over the possibility of Karma moving in on her territory just as much as this new guy and Karma really would be the bigger threat if we are being completely honest. I think she has a right to be upset about either happening depending on how Amy handles the situation and Amy owes it to her to be honest about where their relationship is going. Whether or not Reagan actually says something biphobic remains to be seen though.
But…. Principal Penelope Delia Fisher was so attractive. Was I the only one who was way into her? Real talk: I think I legit blushed every time she came on screen.
Now I am sad she won’t be there.
Also, Amy has the best hair no question. Such weight it has, flapping around like a wave straight out of the ocean.
…. Back to PLL marathon, I’ve clearly had too much wine. No more words in public for me.
She will be there! Just… not as principal. I believe she is “vice principal.” I think she’s the greatest because she is always Delia Fisher to me.
Embarrassed to admit that this is one of the only shows I pay attention to but also so excited it’s back soon.
and most important:
#11. Faking It recaps are (will be) back! I’m glad you’ll still write them Riese :)
aw thank you! i’m looking forward to experiencing all of this together as a family.
1) Say what?
2) I’m so excited, except I’m not.
3) I like Chloe Bridges. I wish she would return to “Pretty Little Liars”, but now she’s just another girl for Liam to bag to prove how studly he is. Seriously, the other plot lines at least tangentially connect to/affect Amy & Karma, but I don’t see how this one will. It seems that Carter Covington is just once more shoving his love for Gregg Sulkin in our face.
4) Actually, I like this. It seems to be keeping in character for Lauren.
5) Please, when a guy screws over a girl, let her kick him to the curb instead of forgiving him and falling in love with him. Yay to Emma from “Scream”.
6) I love Karmy, but I’m glad that Amy is in a nice relationship. I expect Carter Covington to **** all over this.
7) NO. COMMENT.
8) KARMY!
9) I wonder what Karma will do to get popular again?
10) Um…okay.
Re: 3, I can say that so far they’ve resisted making Liam and Intern Zita more than just friends, even though I’d also assumed they’d go down that road. But you know… I wouldn’t rule it out.
I say this:
The girl in #3 also played Donna in “The Carrie Diaries” which is an interesting show if only because it makes me think about how HIV/AIDS is now treated as an “issue” dealt with in PERIOD DRAMA. But that doesn’t make it worth watching. don’t watch it guys.
Wow no mention of Paige McCullers?
Can I just say how much I love this site and everyone here? If this article was posted on *that other site* the comments would be loaded with biphobia and hatred of the site for even posting about this show. I personally relate so strongly to Amy’s story and it’s so frustrating to see so many people belittle it because the actress made a comment about it before the character was really developed. What I’m saying is this is the only place on the whole wide web where I’m not afraid to look at the comments.
What other site? *curious*
AfterEllen
I’m okay with Amy sleeping with Liam. People get drunk and do emo things they wouldn’t normally do, that don’t have anything to do with their sexual orientation, but why must she actually be attracted to guys?
Can the TV people give us an actual lesbian? Is it such a miracle for a girl/woman’s sexuality to not be fluid. I feel like I only watch this show for Shane sometimes. Endlessly entertaining that one.
As a bisexual woman, I want more bisexual women on TV. But I don’t want Amy to be. I want more lesbians too! And there’s a greater lack of bisexual male characters on TV (I can’t even think of one).
yup, i feel the same way! i know amy’s story is relatable to a lot of people, but it’s been done to death. mostly, it just irks me to no end that they’re assigning any meaning at all to her hooking up with Liam. Like you, I see no issue with the fact that it happened — it happens, life happens, we get drunk and sad and do stupid shit. But is anybody gonna tell Amy that the fact that she hooked up with Liam doesn’t necessarily mean anything w/r/t her own sexuality?
Excited this is coming back. With all kinds of recycled PLL actors to boot!
I’m coming into season 2B with an open mind, and I’m hopeful. I’ve read many comments in various places where people are complaining that Amy is once again questioning her sexuality this season. But, people forget a crucial fact – this is not a new season but rather a continuation of one. In season 2A episode 3 Amy was attracted to two people of opposite sex, and she never fully labeled her sexuality to anyone, but just told Reagan that she wanted to be with her. However, with that being said I hope the second half of season 2 will finally nail down Amy’s sexuality so that her journey can continue whether its in one direction or two. But, this back and forth makes everyone restless.
I wonder if Karma is hiding the fact that she slept with Liam after Amy’s confession, or she had a sexy dream about Amy?
But Carter said that there would be a time jump. So it’s not a direct continuation.
So excited for these recaps! This brings joy to my life
I am so excited for the recaps, too. Already laughing out loud at this preview. Intern Baked Ziti Bwahahaha!
I’ve said this time and time again. But I think this show should have revolved around Amy figuring her sexuality. From the moment she kissed Karma it should have been a documentation of her journey. I wish she wasn’t in love with Karma, I would have preferred that she felt ‘something’ during the kiss that made everything fall into place, but that’s it. From there the show should have been about Amy dealing with her family and friends while navigating her sexuality. But instead we have Carter dangling several carrots.
Regarding #2. I read spoilers somewhere that the new guy is actually bisexual and that Karma and Shane are going to fight over him this season. So I wouldn’t call him straight exactlt, boring maybe.
Ugh.
Look, I’m bi, and I wouldn’t have minded a bisexual Amy if the showrunner hadn’t promised she was a lesbian, and if I felt like they were treating bisexuality well, instead of as a lazy justification to keep boring straight guys involved.
The show needs to make a decision and do it well.
For all the bullshit Glee did, at least they committed to Santana being a lesbian, and Brittany being bi. When you’re handling something worse than Glee, that’s alarming.