Faking It 2.14: Relationship Postmortems

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for the Hester High kids lately, so you’d think an all-expenses-paid weekend trip involving wrestling matches and shopping sprees would be just the thing to take everyone’s minds off their troubles, right? Right? Anyone?

…Yeah, good point, none of us thought that. What’s more, the gang followed in Amy’s footsteps from last week, so we saw tearful, angry breakups flying around left and right. If the rest of the season keeps this up, we’ll need a flowchart once the finale rolls around. On that note, some reflections regarding these currently-sunken ships:

• I cannot tell a lie – it is a bit of a relief to see Shane and Duke come to an end. I’ve said it before, but Shane’s character really needed to go through this for the sake of some growth. It remains to be seen what actual lessons he’ll take away from this, but it’s pretty hard to deny that he did a major wrong by Duke in outing him. Also, Duke’s reveal that he disagreed with his publicist about playing down their relationship further proves Shane’s got issues with presuming he knows all the facts and laying into people unfairly as a result. It’s not that I want him to lose all the flaws that make him fun and well-rounded; I just hope we see him get a dose of self-awareness before he gets too static.
• At this point, Kiam have split so many times that it’s enough to give a person whiplash. And, while Faking It a show fundamentally based in the conflicts that stem from dishonesty, this particular situation is more gray-shaded than usual. Karma and Liam’s problems right now aren’t because of secrets, but a basic lack of communication: Liam isn’t sure what the expectations of their sorta-casual-sorta-not relationship are, and Karma’s so anxious she takes him not confiding in her as a sign that they don’t work. They’re both afraid of setting each other off after already being on thin ice, which leads to their current fight. At this point, it feels like the couple is just too fractured and incompatible to succeed. They could work if both characters were collected and mature enough to not let their insecurities overwhelm them, but, being high schoolers, neither of them are there yet. With three breakups accomplished in a very short period of time, it’s probably a good idea that they’re stepping back for now.
• Farrah, how could you?! Amy and Lauren’s amateur investigation into their parents’ hypothetical infidelities seemed doomed to end in some kind of public embarrassment (what did we just learn about jumping to conclusions from Shane?), but then they discovered Amy’s mom was meeting up with another man — and that he happened to be Amy’s father. The full story remains to be seen, but things look pretty bad from here. Can we at least trust that the Raudenfeld-Cooper family won’t be split up? The alliance between Lauren and Amy is one of the best parts of the show. I’d mourn that stepsister bond pretty hard.

The preview for Boiling Point shows the gang being sent to detention for some as-of-yet unknown transgression, so all this angst and distress will doubtlessly come to a head Breakfast Club-style. And, hey — that movie ended with everyone being cool with each other, so maybe the Faking It crew will be able to figure things out and bond via dance-off? We can only hope.