There's good news and bad news, Awkward fans. The good news is, Awkward will return for Season 5. The bad news is that the fifth season will be the last. Hey, no one said high school would last forever.
TVLine says MTV is calling it quits on Awkward after Season 5. For those who've lost track, the high school set half-hour series is currently in its fourth season.
Season 4 picked up last Spring with Jenna Hamilton and her friends (and frenemies) starting senior year at Palos Hills High School. If what TVLine' says in that "the end of high school will also mark the end of Awkward," it sounds like senior year will stretch throughout another season, or part of it anyway. Season 4 is said to be ending with Spring Break, which leaves a bit of time left between then and graduation to wrap up high school. And while that home stretch of senior year could be such a significant run of time that it might substantiate an entire season, it's also possible Awkward's final season will spill over into post-graduation summer territory. We'll have to wait and see.
As for the cancellation, on one hand, it's always disappointing when a great show comes to an end. There really is nothing quite like Awkward on TV right now either. The series may leave a void that some future sharply clever and ridiculously addicting high school set comedy might fill someday. But on the bright side, let's face it, high school doesn't last forever, and the leap from high school to whatever's-next for a teen-set TV show is often a struggle and one a lot of shows don't manage to land.
Ashley Rickards' Jenna Hamilton may be at the center of this series, but Awkward is practically an ensemble show. What are the odds that Jenna, Matty, Sadie, Lissa and Tamara will all end up in the same place after high school? And how do you work the parents and Miss Marks into the equation without it seeming really, well, awkward? Beyond that, Awkward is a high school show. Its main focus is on the struggles -- both serious and humorous -- of adolescence during high school. College is a whole different game -- assuming Jenna even goes to college. There's no way the series could continue beyond high school without changing drastically.
And then there's the fact that Awkward knows it's ending. The writers of this series have a tendency to build up to and eventually drop some pretty major cliffhangers on viewers, particularly at the end of a season. Better that they know the end is near and can work the final season toward a proper conclusion than for the series to end at the start or in the middle of a whole new set of issues for Jenna. I want to see how this story ends. From the sound of it, that'll happen with Season 5. In the meantime, Season 4 episodes are currently airing on Tuesday night on MTV. And you can stream the first three seasons on Amazon Prime.
