Awake the Wyatt Within

Awake the Wyatt Within is the 32nd episode of 6teen and the 6th episode of the second season. It aired in Canada on January 12, 2005 and in the United States on July 30, 2009.

When Wyatt learns that Wayne can pick the perfect movie for any couple, he desperately asks Wayne for a film to get him and Serena back together. He is unable to decipher the message of the film, and becomes driven to obsession over figuring out the message of the movie. Meanwhile, Caitlin has to figure out a way to keep the Big Squeeze running after her blender breaks, and Coach Halder keeps punishing Jen with push-ups at work for dating Charlie Dobbs.

Main Plot
Wyatt is at work when he sees Wayne recommend a movie to Jen and Charlie, with reasoning as to why they should watch it at this stage in their relationship. He then hears from a jock and his girlfriend that Wayne's selection of a movie for them apparently saved their relationship. Upon hearing this, Wyatt is convinced of Wayne's talent, and asks him to recommend a movie that would get him and Serena back together. However, Wayne refuses, saying that he doesn't give recommendations to staff.

Later, Jason and Joanie check out a movie, and answer in the affirmative when Wyatt guesses that Wayne suggested a movie for them as well. He then bitterly turns to Wayne and makes another request, ignoring Jude's suggestion to forget about Serena and to move on. When Wayne refuses again, Wyatt challenges him, saying that Wayne probably can't do it. Wayne sees through Wyatt's attempt to goad him, but concedes and makes Wyatt a recommendation: video #01685. Jude gets it for Wyatt, and Wayne tells Wyatt that it'll help and then tells Wyatt to leave him alone.

When Wyatt meets with his friends, he suggests a movie night. The gang agrees, and Jen decides to bring Charlie. At that moment, Jonesy sees a girl in a blue dress walk past, and tells Nikki that she'd look nice in a dress like that. Unfortunately for him, this is taken by the girls as him telling Nikki what to wear, and Nikki leaves the table in a foul mood. When they watch Life's Little Wrinkles, Nikki's irritation at her callous boyfriend has not subsided, and she elbows him when he tries to put an arm around her.

After the movie has ended, the group has different emotional reactions to it. The girls and Charlie Dobbs all think that the movie was beautiful and touching, while Jonesy and Jude both fell asleep while watching it. However, this doesn't answer Wyatt's main question about the movie: what does it mean for him? Nikki suggests that it means nothing for him, while Jonesy suggests that it means he's boring. Wyatt isn't satisfied with either answer, so he decides to go straight to Wayne for an explanation. Wayne doesn't like this, and in response to Wyatt's inability to figure out the message of the movie, he removes Wyatt's picks from the Staff Picks wall.

Later, Wyatt meets with his friends to see if they have any new ideas about the message. Caitlin suggests that maybe it meant that they were meant to be forever, and Jen agrees. Wyatt decides that this must be the message, even though Nikki strongly advises otherwise. Convinced that he has to win her back, Wyatt takes over on the mall PA and calls out to Serena, who does her best to ignore his pleas. When he doesn't get a response, Wyatt, feeling completely humiliated, gives up and sadly heads back to his friends.

Caitlin comes up with a plan to soothe the burn of rejection: get Wyatt on a massive caffeine high using Orange Mocha Stimu-lattes from Grind Me. This initially works, but this drives Wyatt back to the movie, which he watches again, trying to find the message. When Jude passes by him at work, however, he suggests that Wyatt ask some old men who have probably seen it what the message of the movie was. This leads Wyatt and Jude to interview several old people about their relationships and what the movie says about them. None of the responses are helpful, unfortunately, so Wyatt comes up with a new idea: have Jude dress up as an old woman and ask about the meaning of the movie.

When they do this, Wayne sees right through Jude's disguise and calls him out on it. Wyatt then admits that it's his fault, as he couldn't figure out the message of Life's Little Wrinkles. This causes Wayne to double-take, as the movie he was supposed to watch was Dumping Amy. As it turns out, it's Jude's fault that Wyatt got the wrong movie, as Jude grabbed the wrong tape since all the boxes looked the same.

When Wyatt next sees his friends, he invites them to watch Dumping Amy with him, but they refuse, as they all have different plans. When Wyatt offers to invite Charlie as well, Jen tells him he can't, as she dumped him. Jonesy is surprised by this, but he has a gift for Nikki: something that will look good on her. When she opens the gift, she finds that it's the shirt she usually wears, and she forgives him for his earlier gaffe, causing him to dance in celebration.

Sub-Plot One: Caitlin's Broken Blender
Caitlin is lazing around the Big Squeeze, doing nothing, when Big Steve arrives with a proclamation: he's headed off to the Calgary Stampede in order to play the Cow Lottery, and if he wins, there'll be a bonus for Caitlin–assuming that she keeps sales up and things running smoothly. Caitlin is naturally in favor of this, but unfortunately for her, her blender dies right after her boss leaves. As a result, she needs to figure out a way to keep making lemon drinks, but this time without the aid of a blender.

Caitlin then tries several different ways to get lemon juice. Smashing lemons with hammers, putting them through an industrial-strength fan, and using the giant lemon itself to crush them are some of the ways she attempts to make things work. Eventually, though, she enlists the help of Jonesy, who smuggles her cans of lemonade from his job at El Sporto's. However, when she takes Nikki's side in the fight she's having with Jonesy, Jonesy rescinds his offer and takes back his lemonade.

When Big Steve gets back, he's in a good mood. As a consequence of this, he wants a lemon smoothie, and tries to make it himself in the broken blender. Caitlin watches with bated breath as the blender doesn't work, but surprisingly enough, Big Steve's reaction to the broken blender is to simply state that he believes he broke it. He's alright with this, though, because blenders only live a select amount of time, and this particular one had lived far beyond the average blender. He plans to pick up a blender the next day, and hands Caitlin her bonus before taking off.

Sub-Plot Two: Jen and Charlie
When Coach Halder catches Jen staring at her boyfriend with stars in her eyes, he starts assigning her push-ups as punishment for "love on the job." When Jen does this but proclaims that love will make her strong, he assigns her extra push-ups as punishment for saying the word "love." As the week goes on, Coach Halder continues assigning these punishments, even though he somehow never punishes Charlie for being her accomplice in love.

As a result, Jen starts to find faults with Charlie. She begins to notice little things wrong with him, like how he always calls her "honey" and how he eats his hot dogs. Soon, she becomes irritated by his laugh, his haircut, and his head, which she claims is too large. Eventually, she can't take it anymore, and breaks up with him.

Quotes
Jude: What's wrong with her? Wayne: She just got canned from her job as an ad exec, so I sent her home with "Working Woman." Jude: The one where the chick steals her boss's job and her boyfriend and then gets her thrown in jail? Wayne: Yep. She's gonna be all right. Jason and Joanie: Mmmm-hmmm. (They leave.) Wyatt: Don't choke on each other's tongues! Wayne: GAH! Jude: I watched "Life's Little Wrinkles" the other day, and I was wondering... Wayne: ...yeah? Jude: What's the message of the movie? Wayne: Well, I'd tell you– (he pulls off Jude's wig) –if you weren't a GUY DRESSED AS AN OLD WOMAN! What is with you, dude?!? Jude: Ooooooh... Wyatt: This is all your fault?  (Jude gulps.) I watched that thing TWELVE TIMES because of you! Jude: All the boxes look the same!
 * Wayne: There you go. Now watch this a couple times and see if you don't feel better. You can rise above this. See you tomorrow. (He sends a middle-aged woman off with her movie.)
 * Wyatt: Let me guess. Wayne here recommended a life-changing movie to you two.
 * Jude: (disguised as an old woman) Excuse me?
 * Wayne: THIS is the movie you were supposed to watch: "Dumping Amy!" (to Jude) You gave him the wrong movie, dude!

Trivia

 * Jonesy's job: El Sporto's waiter. Reason for firing: He walked over a floor vent while wearing his kilt and unintentionally exposed himself to some customers.

Errors

 * Although the industrial fan isn't plugged in, Jude is somehow able to turn it on.

Episode connections

 * Although Jonesy got fired from El Sporto's in this episode, he would later be rehired in the episode "Cheapskates".
 * Jude's drag costume, which first appeared in the episode "Mr. Nice Guy", reappears in this episode.
 * Jonesy's victory dance, which was first used in the episode "Bring It On", is reused in this episode, complete with him shouting; "Oh, yeah!".
 * One of the women is seen wearing the sports jacket from the episode "The Five Finger Discount".
 * Wyatt's breakup plot would conclude in the episode "Love At Worst Sight".

Cultural references

 * The film name "Dumping Amy", one of Wayne's recommendations, is a reference to the film Chasing Amy.
 * The film "How to Fix My Boyfriend in 10 Days" is a play on the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.