‘NYC Prep’: Acting their age

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In high school, everyone attempts to act older than they really are, but the teens on ‘NYC Prep’ take it a step further. Perhaps it’s the camera’s presence or the blatantly contrived scenes, but last night’s episode was more akin to watching kids reenact scenes from their favorite movie or TV show than kids trying their hand at real adult situations. I can almost envision PC or Camille practicing their feigned looks of disgust in the mirror every day.

Camille clearly has watched too many TBS reruns of ‘Sex and the City.’ While sipping tea and chatting about boys with her friend Maite, she defends her high standards with the haughtiness of Miranda mixed with Samantha’s blase attitude. ‘Plenty of people have asked me out,’ she says matter-of-factly. ‘I’ve been on plenty of dates before.... I guess I’m going to have to lower my standards.’ Thank goodness for Maite, whose knowing looks were the most believable I’ve seen on this show so far. She dispenses some sage advice for Camille: Lose the checklist of standards and try liking a boy for who he is, not what she wants him to be.

So Camille begins her journey toward becoming a ‘boyfriend girl’ with a date with Dan, a boy she met at a party two episodes ago. With his wispy brown hair and wide smile, he’s a knockoff of Sebastian - -with much less personality and charm. They dine at Brasserie 8 1/2, a trendy restaurant that also has appeared on ‘Sex and the City,’ but instead of looking sophisticated, the two seem very young and out of place. The conversation is as tedious and awkward as can be expected on a first date, and it culminates with an agitated Camille biting Dan’s head off for asking the same question multiple times (‘Are you enjoying yourself this evening?’). Kudos to her for nipping his annoying habit in the bud, but thumbs down for hooking up with him anyway.

The tension continues at the dinner party that Camille decides to throw. Held in a private room at a fancy (or ‘bourgeois’ as PC calls it) restaurant, this idea was obviously more Bravo’s than Camille’s. Seeing the cast in a more intimate setting accentuates the fact that they were likely not friends before filming the show and would probably never interact if they weren’t bound by contract.

PC is his usual bored, obnoxious self and tries to spice up the snoozefest with inappropriate questions and rude comments. It was amusing to see everyone squirm for a second, but he needs to study a few more ‘80s movies starring James Spader if he wants to play the smooth upper-class jerk effectively. The most interesting thing to come out of the dinner is PC’s sudden fascination with Taylor. ‘She’s either really dumb or really smart,’ he muses. ‘But nothing in between.’ He later suggests to Jessie that Taylor should be their next ‘charity case’ (I suspect PC is a secret Jane Austen fan). We’ll see how far his interest takes him.

What are your thoughts on the episode?

-- Enid Portuguez