Awkward Black Girl ‘The Call’ review: Press 2 for apology

Here’s an embed of Awkward Black Girl season 2, episode 10 “The Call” in case you haven’t seen it:

There is actually a lot to talk about during this episode of Awkward Black Girl, which is setting up the second season’s finale. For one, just by design, there’s more content to weed through, and is an episode that could have weaved in and out between both of the paralleling stories this season better had it committed to being a full 22 minutes like traditional episodes. There’s obviously a lot to cram in here before the 2-parter finale, even if a lot of it feels like it’s not pertinent to the story.

For example, J’s visit with Raul may seem a bit superfluous, but when you combine it with the character’s grown over the past season, it’s almost a necessity. A previous J would have completely left that situation feeling upset, frustrated, and most of all doubting herself going into the final interview for her dream job. This J decides to take the moral high road, and thus has a better and clearer head going into the interview — even if the person she’s competing with takes it upon himself to make it hell for her. That said, she’s not completely without her classic awkwardness, as J doesn’t know what to do with a bit of spit that has fallen on her lip. It’s classic Awkward Black Girl — another reason why the scene is important, to reinforce the fact that this is the same show that began as what to do when you’re stuck in a stop sign situation during episode one.

In a way, it may have felt like the writers were trying to put gags in just so that they could make you laugh, but after several episodes of the series staying quite on focus with its storytelling, it was welcome. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much this season as I did at the Hunger Games-inspired scene of sorts and the “Shut yo bitch” scene.

And of course, after J and White J’s first ever real argument, CeCe is all cozied up with DJ Doug — not the image that J wants to see at the moment. But at the same time, CeCe has always been available for J, and so I say why not let her revel in her newfound affection? In this episode, we saw that the fight doesn’t matter that much to J anyway (even if the audience believes that White J needs to offer a huge apology for the way things went down); she’s willing to forgive him almost instantly as long as he steps up first. That said, CeCe’s advice may resonate going into the finale: will J take the high road here as well once all is said and done, or will she flail into being her previous self?

And that’s not even getting to the job part, which I think was perfectly executed going into the climax of the season. That’s the question we’ll have heading into the finale and seeing how J can handle this imminent uncertainty. But why do we have to wait so long!?