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Fixing Faking It Season 4

Faking It has a Romance Problem. Plain and simple. Ordinarily it may sound hyper-critical to state that a Romantic comedy has a Romance problem, but I feel there’s a clear enough argument as to why myself and many of the loyal Faking It viewers would arrive at this conclusion given season 3

One of the major flaws with the recent run of Faking It was that all of the characters seemed to only have purely romantically driven storylines.This reduced a majority of the supporting cast,(Duke, Reagan, Theo, Zita, Felix, Sasha, Dylan, Noah, Sabrina), to one-off guest stars inevitably replaced once their relationship with a principal cast member fizzled out.

Making the characters so disposable and interchangeable really hurt the audience investment with these pairings. Recurring characters were swapped for less interesting caricatures of the originals or dropped completely out of rotation once they served their usefulness in a romantic sense, and it had a reducing effect on the show as a whole. The fix here is to give each character some other function on the show beyond merely being a love interest,

My Solution: Build Non-Romantic Subplots for Guest stars.

The showrunner’s desire for vast inclusivity of perspectives had the unintended consequence of sacrificing the type of stories that got told.

Most of the character interactions from the series got rather rote:

meet cute

go steady

huge betrayal

tearful breakup

Rinse, repeat…

While great as a jumping off point for maximum drama in Season 1, The subsequent excessive use of this overly formulaic and predictable arc of tragic crash-and-burn romance wore down the hopefulness of Faking It for some viewers & really imbued the show with a bleak outlook on love & dating to be honest. Not to mention it reduced all of the characters listed above to mere plot devices.

Why not re-purpose Duke in a cameo role on some cheesy energy drink commercial that airs between “Just Joan” ad breaks?

Why couldn’t Theo be the cop who showed up to shut down the Raudenfeld-Cooper house party and have a bittersweet interaction with Lauren on the heels of their prom breakup & following her rejection at the hands of Tommy Ortega?

Or why not have Reagan deejay the house party from the pool kiss episode? or the Hester Halloween? or Prom by Lauren? I mean seriously this is a show about highschool kids on MTV, when is there EVER not a reason to add a DJ?- She needs the gigs.

Abandoning Character for the sake of Romance hurts the “HEART”

Not even Amy’s mother, Farrah was safe from this cycle, as her and Bruce were split up out of left field with yet another ‘classic Faking It story crutch’ of an infidelity scandal in order to introduce Amy’s father Hank Raudenfeld. This is in no way a dig at the character though, Hank was a great addition and he served as another mirror of Karma and Amy’s perfect soulmate/bad-timing dynamic that helped further the show in that moment. All I’m saying is that he could’ve been brought into the mix without destroying the RaudenCooper nuptials & without making Farrah’s character into a serial cheater out of the blue.

If Faking It spent half as much time building upon its foundation as it did tearing itself down, much of the tone and accomplishments this program made wouldn’t be as bogged down with defeatism and character casualties.

Some of the series’ best moments were when it sidelined destructive romance drama for building character work:

Amy and Farrah’s mother daughter moments and Amy’s larger insecurity as the forgotten daughter in Remember the Croquembouche

Karma and Zen’s sibling rivalry from Zen & The Art of Pageantry

Liam and Shane’s inspired friendship throughout

Lauren’s continued struggle to accept herself

Theo’s cop reveal in Busted and the resulting fallout to the larger world of Hester High

The glimpses of Felix and Principal Turner’s wonderful father-son dynamic during Season 2B

Every-time the Ashcrofts appeared onscreen and their zany, unconditional love for their daughter Karma

If the show steers more towards including the cast members in non-romantic roles and stories, it’ll better flesh out the show and improve the level of world building this story so richly deserves.

Not that the classic TV Romance Formula is inherently wrong or unsuccessful. The formula itself is a great tool and essential to this narrative, all I’m saying is the fact that the show constantly drew from this well in repeated succession for all of its characters and ran all of these relationships into the ground… its not hard to see that a certain amount of bitterness and negativity sprang up as a result.

I’m convinced that if Faking It is to continue it needs to Rediscover its Heart in more character-based stories with romantic subtext on side, before plunging these beloved characters headlong into yet another doomed romance plot.

I don’t trust this show with portraying a true blue positive love story anymore, when its proven itself best suited to and most prone towards demolishing them instead. For all the accolades Faking It has gotten for not succumbing to the “Bury your Gays” trope of killing off its characters & there being no casualties on this show, Carter Covington has been absolutely brutal in regard to killing off their respective relationships

Switch it Up A Little, Make It Last

We could counter this formula of constantly making new love connections and having them bluntly severed by having a Lasting and Sustained romantic relationship that under-girds the entire series; It bears repeating that for any unfamiliar with the central premise of the show, this should be the Karmy relationship by the way, apparently 3 seasons of subtlety isn’t enough of a hint for Covington.

You can write television storylines for young demographics beyond the auspices of newly falling in love and breaking up.

Having a pairing last and endure on a show is not the end-all be-all for compelling plotlines and drama. In this day and age, just the opposite is now true; Considering how the recent slate of TV output has fallen under the misbelief that stable=bland, actually showing a couple that manages to overcome the mountains and molehills of life together and being made stronger for it would subvert the trope and serve as a fresh new take on the romance formula than what we’ve been largely given by the medium in recent years.

(I’m looking at you here Supergirl... Kara and James JUST got together in the season 1 finale... why the hell would they break up in the season 2 premiere? Because they like each other too much and in the canonical 12 hours between seasons they have a tiny scheduling conflict for their VERY FIRST, [that’s right folks], FIRST date? I guess the option that makes the most sense is to break up forever. Yup. Gee that sure makes sense... where is the logic here?)

Carter Covington spoke about the difficulty he had with the will-they-won’t-they dynamic while working on Faking It earlier this year at the ATX Festival:

How do we throw up an obstacle that feels real to the characters and not just like stalling?

While his comments make sense in the abstract, his entire career is based upon navigating a solution that becomes entertaining to watch, so I have little sympathy for his plight considering there were less contrived ways to execute the Karma/Amy story than what his team settled on.

His argument that finding the right balance is hard when your show is based on romance falls on deaf ears as well, since the over-reliance of insta-fail relationships took all of the stakes and investment out of the show.

The notions that Karma and Amy would go from loser virgins to social butterfly hipsters that hook up with anything with a pulse so long as its not each other, despite their clear attraction was too much of a stretch of our collective disbelief..

Karma and Amy DESERVED a Cory & Topanga style-follow through.

There was no difference in their circumstances:

best friends since early childhood

confusing new feelings develop

whirlwind romance ensues

marriage, kids, Disney Channel spinoff a decade later…

This was the development that I expected from the show and came to rely on no matter how hairy things got onscreen.

But the writer’s ABSOLUTE refusal to go there with their relationship lost all of their credibility with both casual and diehard members of this fan-base over the course of its run. The fact that Karma and Amy’s progress was stalled almost as a guiding principle by the writer’s room shows a lack of faith & confidence in the capacity for additional storylines that this team had once that inevitable domino was toppled. So they played it safe.

As a result, the show suffered in its largest most foundational area, the Amy/Karma storyline. The reasons for Karma’s reverse- development became flimsier and flimsier at every turn and all logic was thrown out the window in terms of basic narrative, with Karma’s feelings being reset to zero every new season eventually landing on an out-of-left-field attraction to curly-haired “Oliver Walsh Rewrite“, Felix because he’s “just like Amy” except for the 15 year dearth in Karma’s familiarity with him, his substance abuse issues, the glaring lack of a peanut allergy, and being a whole entire other person who is NOT Amy Raudenfeld no matter how hard one squints...

While Amy on the other hand fell into fascination after fascination with Portland, Harper & other random girl of the week types that held no candle to her feelings for her best friend nor that of her very first (2nd if you count season 1 Karma, which I Do), real girlfriend, Reagan ‘No-Last-Name’. And the sudden appearance of long lost Third Amiga who’s been here all the time despite never being mentioned before this very moment and a clear Reagan rewrite -Sabrina ‘No-Last-Name’ from camp.

Season 3 Finale: A Happy Ending... Really?

Its those end pairings that really grinds my gears, if Amy was going to end up with somebody who isn’t Karma, because that’s a necessity for the showrunner’s larger series-wide Vision, why couldn’t it have been Reagan? Having the girls pair up with relative strangers in the end just completely defeated all of the epic love proclamation talk from the series’ entire run. I’m letdown because they BOTH settled. Had it just been Amy that settled for Sabrina I would have been far more pleased than having Karma and Felix get together in the end as well.

With neither of the girls left standing in wait for the other, it just seemed like they both abandoned ship on the SS Karmy and admitted defeat. A quick un-earned surrender that both Karma and Amy were all too happy to agree to that felt like another betrayal of the core audience by way of contrived trope.

How Did We Get Here?

It’s important to note that there was no reason in the world for Season 3 to turn out the way it did. Given that cliffhanger from 2B, with the cast all scattered to the four winds, the writers set up the perfect chance for some interesting dynamics. The unique dilemma of the 2B finale felt like a built-in guarantee that there would be a huge surge forward when the show returned, but alas... such was not the case. It was 2 steps forward and 4 steps back for Karma and Amy. The enormous potential of the Season 2B finale completely wasted, as even once they were reunited in Austin, the show was intent on driving Karmy apart with direct conflict, bitter resentment, and random roadblock guest stars pulled out of the woodwork for Karma or Amy to date, accidentally kiss, or suddenly pine over, in lieu of directing those feelings towards their obvious attraction for one another.

Amy & Karma were shafted at every turn and had so much catastrophe flung at them by the show-runners in an attempt to derail the undeniable chemistry that the two lead actresses had cultivated since the “Pilot” and a poorly woven attempt to stave off the next logical conclusion for the Karmy relationship based on the progression of the show.

In the final analysis, the third season of Faking It and its subsequent farewell letter by Carter Covington was an elaborate and deliberate act of self-sabotage. His post-mortem to the fans an unnecessary footnote that informed everyone who ever watched the show of the colossal fool’s errand they undertook, as Amy & Karma, (regardless of the steady, unyielding evidence to the contrary), were NEVER intended to be an endgame couple. PERIOD.

That means anyone who ever caught a glimpse of any of Faking It’s 3 season run, or the few promotional materials, series trailers, many after-show breakdowns, red carpet teases, or cast interviews were essentially wasting their time investing in the central premise of the show itself. Way to shore up that fan-base.

How Does Being Single Improve a Rom-Com’s “HEART”?

Okay I get it there’s plenty of problems here, but where are my solutions? As Carter said, the constant need to write Character Romances on a Romantic comedy is taking its toll on the production team, so how about we take a break from that and just focus on the characters being noticeably, demonstratively and deliberately single for more than an episode and having their friendship become the focus?

Romantic subtext can become the pesky, ever-present conflict that blurs the boundary between characters, instead of these full tilt: “I hate you drama-shifts” from last season, let’s remind viewers why any of these people would ever hang out with one another by making them single and emphasizing cute moments over cringe-worthy ones.

Single-dom DOES Exist!!

Having the characters take a break and be single for once would have been a welcome change from the constant revolving door of heart-breakers that this show has reduced itself to in its weaker moments.

Let’s be clear, I’m not against obstacles in a narrative, they’re a key tool in the entire construction of the thing, but the fact that Faking It never once seemed to relent with putting Karma and Amy through the wringer felt a bit masochistic, especially when there was no payoff for all that suffering in the long run.

There was never any breathing room for the two leads to just be together onscreen as people, once the starting pistol was fired in the pilot, Karma & Amy ran full stop in separate & opposing directions, where they were then each flung into their respective love blenders and had their emotions pulsed to fine powder. Part of the appeal in the earlier seasons was that interaction between the female leads portrayed with emotional depth, humor and gravitas by Volk and Stevens, underscored a deep chemistry as of yet unresolved that had potential to bloom.

To travel with them through the pain and drama of the season 1 Finale Rejection, the Liamy hookup, the infidelity reveal, dating other people, the pool kiss, the summer breakup, the false reunion, the third breakup, Karmygeddon, the true reunion, Harper, Sabrina, only to arrive at the finish line with a pile of empty unfulfilled promises… and that damn Felix yet again… what was the point?

Not everyone needs to be dating someone to be a full person, heck, the writers themselves stated this with Felix’s dialogue in Spooking It. (Why does that guy keep coming up he’s friggin’ everywhere...)

Was Karma ever single? Like, EVER??

If the show truly wants to move forward with any of its storylines all of the cast members need to take a second to themselves and assess why they’re surrounded by so much wreckage. None of them are more deserving of a break from the carnage than Karma Ashcroft. As an added bonus, her being unattached at this point in the story can actually breed more drama and romantic tension with Amy than ever before. Let me explain...

Having single Karma forego a relationship of her own and instead glom onto a happily rekindled Amy/Sabrina romance, reiterating her clingy 3rd Amiga status from their Camp Kichi-Wawa past would be a great way forward.

Much better than what appears to be the route the show had planned with the dual jealousy created by the tandem Karma/Felix + Amy/Sabrina pairings, since in my scenario Karma is single and thus able to reflect on her own personal issues to greater avail.

Initially frustrated with the coupling at the end of season 3 we’ve all had plenty of time to deny, ignore and somewhat accept the pairings set up at the end of the finale and there’s been more than enough time to parse out where they intended to go from there.

KarLix and SabrAmy are great fuel for jealousy as every member of both pairings has some jealousy directed at either one or both members of the other pairings. But at this point in the story, I feel like relying on the pure unmitigated criss-crossing of person to person jealousy is a bit overdone and uninspired. We can do better, here’s how

Best Case Scenario for Fixing Faking It given the Finale

Karma and Felix’s Kiss was nothing more than that… just a Kiss

Season 4 begins with Karma and Felix pulling out of their New Year’s kiss with Felix all starry-eyed while the redhead however is noticeably nowhere near as smitten as he is. There’s the rub; Oliver’s spiritual stand-in, Felix was used by Karma similarly to how Amy used the original Oliver at the end of the Occupy Hester protests- He was a Hail Mary pass:

An impulsive, presumptuous kiss initiated by the girl in order to quell her larger feelings for her best friend.

With Karma realizing instantly what a mistake it was to kiss this boy, our central conflict is reestablished, Karma’s heterosexual coping mechanism fails, and it only further reinforces her larger romantic realization about Amy. Now we can really get the ball rolling and leave Karma unattached to Felix in any romantic sense, rather he can stick around and be better served as a sounding board & confidant to voice her larger Amy related insecurities and feelings to.

Sabrina/Amy + Karma : A Winning Formula Given that Karma is now single and pining away for Amy as odd woman out with a front row seat to the Amy/Sabrina show, there’s still plenty of drama left without resorting to the most obvious route of jealousy and vitriol.

Instead, I suggest having the Sabramy + Karma dynamic be subverted with Amy now being the one who is unconsciously initiating more contact with Karma (out of gratitude for her selfless act in the s3 finale & sympathy for her plight as newly single 3rd amiga) much to the dismay of Sabrina.

This is the natural evolution for Amy’s journey. She’s got her girlfriend AND her best friend all is good in the world, Sabrina and her couldn’t be more in love. Karma is making an enthusiastic effort NOT to sabotage them by intentionally making herself scarce.

For once everything in Miss Raudenfeld’s orbit seems to be right on track, but something’s still not quite sitting right. Sure Karma being weirdly okay with her and Sabrina is a much welcomed development but she’s also been spending far less time with Amy at home and she really does miss her a little… From that tiny detail Amy begins to sow the seed of her and Sabrina’s destruction,as in a show of pure hubris and content with her love-life at the moment, the blonde decides to begin including Karma in her and Sabrina’s previously reserved “couples-only-time” oblivious to how it affects a grudgingly silent Sabrina (who is slow to criticize any problems with her & Amy due to the whole self-imposed probationary status she finds herself in after being exposed as a liar and cheater shortly after her arrival in season 3)

With Sabrina keeping her resentments to herself, Karma barely containing her true feelings for Amy, and Amy unwittingly torturing her bestie both with the cavity-inducing cuteness of Sabramy and the ambiguous Karmy subtext she now has on full display now that her and Karma are on better terms than ever, the Sabrina/Amy/Karma love triangle becomes a Cold War of sorts rather than the all out Nuclear Holocausts this show tended to inundate us with during its run.

Faking It with Romantic Cold War Tensions = More Nuanced Drama

This Gives Way to a much needed Role Reversal and a Re-Shuffling of the Character Deck

Karma becomes season 1 Amy: pining away with unspoken feelings one errant touch away from spilling her guts and confessing her barely concealed love to her BFF, completely opposed to acting on them out of kindness & deference to Sabrina.Driven to help the Sabrina with securing Amy’s affections as a means of overcompensating to reassure herself and Sabrina that she is in no way an obstacle to them.

Sabrina becomes a more palatable Liam/Reagan hybrid, jealous of Karmy all the same but this time her ire directed at her girlfriend Amy for unwittingly stringing the redhead along, yet paralyzed to mention this because she’s not a douche, and doesn’t wish to disrupt her recently repaired union with Amy. Also Karma has reassured her she is in no way trying to sabotage this time, in fact she’s been actively seeking the redhead’s counsel & advice since she’s the heretofore self ascribed “Amy Whisperer” and knows all of her likes dislikes and how to best sustain the blonde’s affections long-term and is more than happy to share tips with an insecure Sabrina, completely unfamiliar with dating a girl.

Amy becomes season 1 Karma, completely irresistible to her best friend, oblivious to the myriad of words and actions that could be construed by most onlookers and said best friend as subconscious encouragement & unknowingly slipping herself deeper and deeper towards rekindling romantic interest for said best friend as each day passes

In a Sabrina/Amy/Karma Love triangle, Sabrina and Karma aren’t the heart of the problem

How great would it be to see that Amy is the one with boundary issues now that she and Karma are living together?

Sabrina still envious of Amy’s bond with Karma but now she witnesses how much of that issue is separate from any of Karma’s input but instead generated by Amy’s words and actions, and her girlfriend’s subconscious unwavering commitment to Karma above all others that she’ll never quite be able to measure up to...

With Karma relegating herself to sad tragic lovelorn advocate, doing her best to wing-woman romantic gestures on Sabrina’s behalf as a means of Self-Imposed Karmic Punishment and Amy seeing right through them to Karma’s direct input. Or Karma pulling away from socializing with Amy out of respect for her BFF’s new relationship but Amy not catching on and steamrolling her efforts at giving Sabramy the proper alone time to grow

This all comes to a head when a snide under-her-breath Karmy related comment from Sabrina blows up into a cathartic topping of the levies as Sabrina launches into an argument over the presence of Karma in their relationship and the impact its having on them. Amy as always is quick to defend her bestie citing that she’s just possessive over her like always

Amy is thrown for a loop when Sabrina reveals that she’s not angry at Karma, that Karma in fact has been going above and beyond to cede any and all 1-on1 Karmy-time to the brunette, that she’s also been there to help Sabrina with much needed date prep & gift-ideas and overall doing her damnedest to make sure that the Sabramy relationship endures.

Fixing Amy Raudenfeld with this notion that she’s been the main obstacle in Sabramy 2.0. And that it is Amy herself who has been subconsciously pulling away from Sabrina ever since they reconciled on New Years, and having her girlfriend Sabrina bluntly and directly announce that Karma is CLEARLY in love with you. brings us full circle to Faking It’s central dilemma and forces the other shoe to drop.

Now that Karma is finally a Real option, and they are both on the same page, albeit with a number of things left unsaid and baggage cluttering the runway, will Amy make the leap and step off the edge with her?

The answer at this point MUST be Yes. This reset eliminates any of the reservations and stalling from previous seasons and delivers on the Romantic Karmy storyline and begins a new chapter for Faking It!!

#Faking it #TV analysis #Carter Covington #KARMY #Rita Volk #Katie Stevens #karmy endgame #TV Tropes #Faking It analysis #lgbtq #surrealistpunk #Sabramy