‘Faking It’ Review/Recap: "You Can't Handle the Truth or Dare"
Alexis Rodriguez ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Many fans would definitely agree that this has been one of Faking It‘s more emotional episodes to date, if not the most. To start things off, Shane (Michael Willett) and Liam’s (Gregg Sulkin) friendship is on rocky terms because Liam feels that Shane is keeping more secrets from him. After a night out at a dive bar with the new guy at school, Theo (Keith Powers), Shane and Liam get into a heated argument over why Shane kept Amy’s (Rita Volk) secret at Liam’s expense. While Liam is definitely not happy with Shane at the moment and feels that he comes second to Amy, their friendship doesn’t appear to be in danger of falling apart anytime soon. However, this show is full of surprises and there is always the chance that hard feelings between the two could escalate until they get better, especially with Theo in the picture.
The most emotional scenario of the episode revolves around a girls’ night that Amy and Karma (Katie Stevens) plan in order to act “normal” again. Unfortunately, girls’ night is doomed from the start. The first red flag is Karma trying a little too hard to act “normal” by freely taking off her shirt in front of Amy. Amy panics, and promptly invites Lauren (Bailey De Young) to join them, another bad sign. When Lauren realizes that the sole purpose of her inclusion in girls’ night is to act as a third wheel, she takes it upon herself to make the night as uncomfortable as possible. After all, what’s an episode of Faking It without Lauren stirring up some drama? She invites her two loyal followers to show up in matching “Karmy” shirts, and then decides to start a game of Truth or Dare. The game soon takes a turn for the worst when Lauren dares Amy and Karma to kiss and they fire back questions about Lauren being intersex.
Amy and Karma’s girls’ night is particularly heartbreaking because it is the moment when they both realize their perfect friendship may be in danger after all. Although they make up at the end of the night, too much has happened between them, and their friendship will most likely continue to go downhill before they can pick it back up again. Karma loves Amy and hates to make her feel insecure, but she is having trouble hiding the fact that she is nervous about Amy’s attraction to her. Amy wants so badly to see Karma as just a friend, but her attraction towards her is getting stronger and much harder to deal with. Although this entire situation is devastating, Faking It continues to depict these types of situations with complete honesty. As hard as it is to accept, a situation like Amy and Karma’s will change the dynamic of a once entirely platonic friendship. It is important that the show addresses these issues because they can help viewers who relate to Amy and Karma’s struggle.
The most uplifting moment of the episode is when Lauren decides to tell her friends that she was born intersex. Each character continues to grow episode by episode, and viewers are elated to see Lauren taking steps towards accepting herself. Her friends’ responses are heartwarming, and it is comforting to see that Lauren really does have friends that she can count on, even if she can be a bit overbearing.