When a busload of sexy Brazilians arrives at school, Hester High gets hot and bothered. Karma uses this to try and get Amy to fall in love with someone else. Meanwhile, Lauren is put in charge of the welcome party.
Everyone is trying to move on from their emotional feelings on Faking It this week. They get a large handful of Brazilian eye candy to stare at - because of course Hester High has a sister school in Brazil. And yet, none of them are really successful. It takes time to get over feelings especially of the romantic variety. However, it's nearly impossible to move on considering all the secrets and friendships all of these characters have with one another. Shane and Lauren move on past their last relationships. But the emotional obstacle they had to move around isn't nearly as strong as the Amy-Liam-Karma love fiasco.Making things even more complicated is the fact that Amy doesn't quite understand who she is yet as a sexual being. That's an important trait for the character to have right now. She shouldn't suddenly identify as a lesbian solely because she admitted her true feelings to Karma. That surely would make things a lot easier. And yet, she has feelings for both men and women. That makes her more sympathetic. She is confused and yet trying to forge ahead. Karma is trying to help her move forward as quickly as possible - by hilariously making the translations seem more desirable. Amy does end up kissing a Brazilian girl. But her feelings towards Karma can't just disappear like that. She will always have love for her on some level - whether it's romantic or completely platonic. Right now, she's figuring stuff out and that can't be rushed.
Similarly, Karma is so invested in helping Amy progress as a person and win back that friendship so she doesn't have to deal with her feelings towards Liam. I still hate it that she physically stops and stares at him whenever she notices him walking across the way. It's about damn time the show moves past that trick. On the other side of things, Liam is still completely wrapped up in Karma's little spell. That really is the only thing that is defining him as a character right now. He is pining after her and yet knows he can't do anything because of his secret night with Amy. The fact that he shares that news with Shane is indicative that this secret won't last for much longer. And perhaps then, the various pieces of the show can start flowing better together. They didn't in this episode. It did somewhat feel like a placeholder to fill time due to the expanded episode order this season. It was fine and funny but not a whole lot actually happened in terms of plot progression.
Some more thoughts:
- "Lust in Translation" was written by Diana Metzger and directed by Joe Mussbaum.
- Also, Shane kisses Karma to see why Liam and Amy are so hung up on her. In what world would that make sense to him? And yet, he goes for it anyway. And it was definitely a highlight of the episode.
- It seems that the show may be pairing up Lauren and Theo. They have a mutual bond because of their previous high school experiences. But that height disparity is so distracting.
- Last season it was a big deal when Amy and Karma broke up. And now, it's basically meaningless to the lives of people at Hester High.
- Amy: "My life is not a romantic comedy. I can barely stand watching them."
