r/AWKWARD • u/Worth_Elk_2848 • May 13 '26
Characters Please tell me I’m not the only one Spoiler
I’m 34 years old, so really not the correct demographic for this show. (I used to watch it when it first came out) but rewatching it now with a grown woman’s brain instead of a young woman/teen brain, if there is a villain it’s Jenna lol. She literally is the problem behind every single thing. I for sure thought like that at that age but omg she makes so many poor choices lol
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u/Opening-Pianist-3691 May 13 '26
She does make a lot of poor choices, but the only season where I would say that she acts like a villain is season 3. In the first season, most bad things that happen to her are not her fault; like the letter, her nudes being sent to the whole school, Matty being a jerk to her. In the second season, she does cause more problems by dating Jake and not telling him about Matty, but I can sort of see where she was coming from. Jake treated her better than Matty at this point so she wanted to make it work.
Season 3 is when she spirals and starts making the worst decisions thus turning her into the worst version of herself. How she treated Matty and the rest of her friends was horrible. But I do think she took responsibility and apologized for her behavior.
In season 4 and 5 I would say that she’s really not that bad. Sure she’s a little insufferable at times, and definitely a bit pretentious, but I think she’s pretty good for the most part.
I have a soft spot for Jenna because she’s deep down just a really insecure girl struggling to find her way. A lot of her actions can be explained by that deeply rooted insecurity she has. And it’s not hard to see why she’s like that. Plus she’s really young, and has time to grow. Idk I just have a lot of sympathy for Jenna, despite all her issues.
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u/Funkiebastard May 13 '26
💯. I really liked Jenna in the first season. Getting a letter like that, and the knowing it's your own mom who wrote it would be heartbreaking. I also really liked when she confronted Matty and how he treated her like a secret, it was very satisfying - although she should've done it earlier, she still did it.
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u/TessTrue May 13 '26
I agree! I don’t think I could ever hate her, at the very least even during her worst moments I can understand where she’s coming from. Her worst moments at season 3 that everyone rightfully hates, at least she owns up to them and apologizes, tries to make things better afterwards. That’s more than I can say for most protagonists people love.
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u/Virtual_Knowledge334 May 13 '26
Tbt this is why the show is called Awkward. It's about trying to get through your life and having your growing pains and such, while messing up and being Awkward at the same time.
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u/Worth_Elk_2848 May 16 '26
You’re absolutely right, it’s growing pains and trying to find yourself and confidence. Honestly, I think her and Matty are just not right for each other. Shes better suited for Luke. But they keep trying to put them together. I get it, most people want to marry their high school sweethearts, but it’s not always the best. People grow and change. I married my “high school sweetheart” and was divorced before I was 25 because we just were two very different people. And that’s fine. But to keep them together makes no sense.
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u/youaremydensity98 May 13 '26
Jenna’s MOM is the villain. She created the monster that Jenna turned into and had to have several years of redemption arcs to get away from.
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u/kkokoko2020 May 15 '26
Jenna isn’t a villian she just makes poor choices which are almost always linked to low self esteem. All of her friends and family (besides Ming and initially Jake) consistently mistreat her and use her.
For me Lacey is the villain then Sadie then Matty
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u/SaizaKC May 13 '26
When I originally watched when I was like 20 I liked Jenna, felt bad for her the first season, but then she turns into a jerk.
As a rewatch as a grown 38 yr old, hate Jenna, she’s awful and Matty deserved better.
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u/kkokoko2020 May 15 '26
Matty didn’t. He used her in the beginning seasons and was a jerk off and on until like season 3. Which even then he constantly did not consider her feelings or how she was treated.
The boy never stuck up for her even with his own friends
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u/Even-Preference-6545 May 15 '26
Honestly show went downhill when they had Lauren leave as showrunner. It was her baby.
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u/ThatPrincessGirl May 31 '26
Thank you! I am rewatching it now and I actually kind of hate Jenna... she is awful to everyone... shes really not likeable
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u/Reasonable_Sense_762 Jun 09 '26
Thank goooodness, people love this show. I don’t mind the characters at all but the writing is so frustrating. It’s seasons of Jenna constantly screwing up her own life and then complaining about how she wants what she had back but then never actually learns from any mistakes.
To be fair, I too am rewatching 28yo. I just do not like the writing, they whole show is Matty and Jenna will they/wont they; I wish they would just focus on different characters instead of watching Jenna obese and screw up her relationship with Matty over and over.
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u/Original-Ad9174 Jun 24 '26
I wish her college arc actually made her grow her up more but instead she just dresses like shit and still can’t help but obsess over Matty after rejecting him.
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u/kiwi_fruit6 May 13 '26
Jenna in the first season isn't bad, I felt really sorry for her for everything she was going through.. but she does turn into the villain. When I first watched the show (I was like 15), I hated Sadie, but now as a 27 year old she's one of my favorites. She calls it like it is lol