"Awkward" Season 3 premieres April 16 at 10 p.m. ET on MTV, and in preparation for more shenanigans at Palos Hills High, The Huffington Post visited the Los Angeles-based set to catch up with the cast. We talked to Brett Davern (Jake), Beau Mirchoff (Matty), Jillian Rose Reed (Tamara), Molly Tarlov (Sadie), Greer Grammer (Lissa), Desi Lydic (Val) and Nikki DeLoach (Lacey) about what junior year has in store, including more romantic entanglements and a potential pregnancy.
Although Ashley Rickards told us that Jenna and Matty are "very in love" after summer vacation, that doesn't mean their lives are free of drama -- it's high school, after all.
Jake and Tamara had an unexpected hook-up in the Season 2 finale, and Reed acknowledged that although Jenna gave BFF Tamara her blessing to date Jenna's ex, "It doesn't matter if you say 'go for it,' it's still gonna be strange. Tamara and Jenna weren't together over the summer, so Jenna doesn't really know anything that's progressed. When we come back in the first episode, there's definitely that feeling of separation and having to get back into the swing of things and have that conversation about what's happened."
Davern said that although Jake might never have looked at Tamara in a romantic light before, things have definitely evolved since we last saw them. "They had this impulsive moment in the car [in the finale] and he has that hero complex so he saw a damsel in distress and had this moment with her, and I don't know if he thought anything would happen with her going forward. You go to Europe, you have that summer camp syndrome, maybe the chaperones weren't around that much ... I think they had a really fun time and found things in each other that they really liked."
On this side of the pond, Mirchoff promised that Matty and Jenna's time together at camp has helped them "grow this budding relationship and learn about each other and deepen the relationship -- it's hit a new level."
Still, this being "Awkward," the foursome will have their share of obstacles. "Matty and Jenna were extremely comfortable with each other," Mirchoff observed. "Jake and Tamara come back and things have gotten different again, school's started so how are they gonna act in front of people? Matty was insecure about his relationships [before] -- is he gonna be the same? There's some insecurities with Jake, Matty's best friend -- are there any residual feelings left there? How are they all going to hang out together without any tension or awkwardness?"
According to Davern, "As far as Jenna and Jake are concerned, they had that great friendship to begin with. Even after she broke his heart, he was able to forgive and move on, so he and Jenna are great friends, and I think the writers do a really great job of tackling that kind of situation with Matty and Tamara maybe sometimes feeling like a third wheel because Jake and Jenna have this great past. It's gonna get awkward, there's gonna be some weird moments, but that makes for fun TV."
Outside of the quadrangle, resident school bully Sadie Saxton will have her share of trouble this year, according to Tarlov: "Sadie has a lot of things happen to her in the beginning of the season. We'll see a lot of it in the first episode ... We do see Sadie dressing a little bit differently, there will be a distinct difference. It'll be talked about at school; rumors are flying. There's some pretty life-changing stuff that happens to Sadie and we'll get that all at the top."
Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, from Sadie's perspective), Sadie will have clueless best friend Lissa to lend a supportive ear. "There's some interesting stuff between Sadie and Lissa, you get to see them both go through a pretty big change this year, separately," Grammer previewed. "It's interesting to see how they react to the other's situation. You definitely see how they're there for each other and how their friendship really works."
On "Awkward," the adults are sometimes as hilariously immature as the teenagers, but both DeLoach and Lydic promise that Lacey and Val will be a strong presence for Jenna this season.
"Jenna thought that her mom was this one person and then last season revealed that her mom was always standing by her and always there for her. I think that reveal really shifted their relationship, so now it's in a place that it's never been," DeLoach admitted. "Jenna's trusting her mom and Lacey's really trying to step up and be the mother that she personally never had and the mother that Jenna has always needed."
Having been through her own share of relationship drama last year with Jenna's father, Kevin (Mike Faiola), Lacey is well-positioned to offer her daughter advice, for once. "[Jenna and Matty] are going to struggle in their relationship, the same way that Lacey and Kevin did, because Kevin wasn't always there for her. He left a lot and he wasn't always dependable, so that means that her daughter's probably going to have to struggle with that. Kevin's a great guy with a good heart and he's a great dad ... [and] Lacey sees that Matty's a really good kid, and that's the most important thing: do you have a good heart, do you make my daughter happy? Matty has done that."
At school, Jenna will have kooky Vice Principal Val on her side, and according to Lydic, the duo is "as strong as ever. The fun part about their relationship is it started with Val forcing herself on her and Jenna reluctantly having to walk into her office, and there's a nice shift that's happened where Jenna has seen the good in Val like Val has seen the good in Jenna."
Still, Lydic did preview that this season will see "the power shifting" for Val and that she'll be "going back to her roots." She'll also have some "fun stuff with Ming [Jessica Lu]" and Matty, and will team up with Jake for an installment of "Awkward's" tie-in webseries.
"There is a thread within the show [that ties into] the webisodes," Lydic revealed. "It's a bit different, tonally -- it's a little more experimental. We're playing with different genres from webisode to webisode, and there's a little bit of a mystery I'm following."
To find out more about the mystery Val will be trying to solve, as well as Sadie's big change and the evolving love square, tune in for Season 3 of "Awkward," Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on MTV.
