Screen: MTV
When last we left our hero, Jenna Hamilton (Ashley Rickards), on Awkward., she was pining after this new dude Collin (Nolan Gerard Funk) and neglecting her boyfriend Matty (Beau Mirchoff). Though she and Matty seemed to have ended the season still together, it was real dicey; although, to that point, Jenna and Collin had "only" kissed, kissing is a pretty big deal (especially in high school), besides which Jenna had obviously committed adultery in her heart, if not parts beyond. The hiatus has been a few months for us, but no time at all for the characters, so it may not shock you to learn that, in the show's midseason return, little has changed: Matty's still a prince, Jenna's still a snake, and Collin's still...hm. What is that guy's deal?
Look, I get that high-school relationships have a short sell-by date, on TV as in life (as long as no one gets pregnant, LADIES OF THE TEEN MOM FRANCHISE). I have certainly learned through bitter experience that investing in a TV teen couple's relationship just because you like both of them -- or even just one (which is more often the case, PACEY AND JOEY) -- will only end in heartache for everyone involved, including myself. But Matty is such a delight that I think resistance -- had I presented any -- would have been futile. I saw the eventual Jenna/Collin pairing coming down the pike, because I've seen TV before, and even though I didn't dare hope that Jenna would come to her senses on her own, I let myself imagine a scenario where Collin did something unforgivable, like trash her writing online or hook up with her mother or something.
But after the latest episode, I see how ridiculous that was. Collin doesn't have that kind of malice or recklessness. In order to do something that would hurt Jenna, he'd have to have will and motivation of his own, and he just doesn't. He's a blank screen onto which Jenna can project all the things she wants from Matty that she isn't getting, like...a chance to talk about books, or art? I guess? Like, Collin's not just a blank screen -- he's a blank, full stop. Either Funk is being directed to dial down the expressiveness so he comes across as mysterious and deep (and thus Matty's opposite), or else Funk is bringing nothing to the role.
The effect of Collin's silent smolder is to make it seem less like Jenna's rejecting Matty and more like she's just pursuing newness. So whereas the usual teen-show love triangle set-up is for viewers to invest in the chooser's finding love with one or the other of a pair of options, here the choice in front of Jenna is more like Matty vs. Not-Matty. And since she and Not-Matty end this episode by getting caught making out in front of everyone closest to her (Matty included), it almost seems like Collin has served his story purpose by prying Jenna and Matty apart, and now can just turn back into a pile of leather wristbands and Moleskine notebooks. And if that's not the plan, then producers need to work a little harder on turning him into a person.