The fourth season of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on ABC Family has been filled with drama and heartbreak, and the season finale was no exception. At the beginning of the episode, Grant High School was buzzing over the rumor that Ricky would be proposing to his girlfriend and the mother of his child, Amy, at his graduation, where he is giving the valedictorian speech. Amy, also, has her own suspicions because her three year old son, John, keeps saying "ring." Even amidst the rumors, Adrian, Ricky's ex-girlfriend, still wants to be with him. She is convinced that if she has one last kiss with him, then she will know whether they are really over or not. Adrian's ex-husband, Ben, tells her that she needs to move on from Ricky and that it will be for her own good. Ben says that both he and Adrian need to move on because Amy and Ricky will be getting married soon. Ben shows wisdom and maturity when he says this to Adrian.
The season finale is filled with flashbacks; the seniors are looking back on their four years at Grant High School. These flashbacks captured an appropriate sense of nostalgia. During Ricky's valedictorian speech, he thanks certain students in his class for helping him throughout his life, even the students who helped him when they were in elementary school. This seems to bring out Ricky's character because he remembers the small things that people did for him in the past that meant a lot. He then thanks his teachers and says that teachers make the world a better place. This is humbling and gracious because he realizes that he would not be where he is today without them. Ricky tells the class that they are all a part of something greater than themselves. He, also, thanks his adoptive parents and his teary birth mother, who previously struggled with addiction. He mentioned in his speech that it is never too late for a parent to start caring for his or her child. This particular statement made Ricky's speech especially moving. The speech was also extremely inspirational. When Ricky talked about his difficult past and how he was able to rise above it, it gave the graduating class hope about how they could change their lives for the better no matter what their circumstances were. Lastly, Ricky thanks Amy for teaching him that he is capable of being loved and loving someone in return. He then asks Amy to join him on the stage, while Lauren and Madison, Amy's two best friends, hold each other and squeal with delight. Ricky then asks Amy to marry him. The proposal was sweet, yet a little over-the-top since it was done in front of the school at graduation. Amy happily obliges, and Grant High School's graduating class of 2011 flips their tassels (while Amy flips Ricky's) and gets ready to party.
Jesse, Lauren's boyfriend, throws a party at his parents' lake house, and he invites the graduating class and their friends. At the party, Ricky and Amy show up, and Amy gives him permission to kiss Adrian in order to see whether their relationship is truly over. He does, and then Adrian's current love interest, Omar, gets upset because he thinks that that was disrespectful. Adrian is left alone on the dance floor, but Ben comes to the rescue and dances with her. Many people spent the night at the house, and the next morning, lots of interesting sleeping arrangements were revealed. Adrian had slept with Henry, Ben's best friend, and Madison had slept with Jesse, which Jesse blamed on drinking at the party the night before. Lauren got extremely upset about this and left the lake house immediately. Grace and Jack, a former couple, decided to kiss to see if it was really over between them, like Adrian and Ricky did. The outcome was much different than Adrian's, however; the sparks were evident between them. The end of the episode was definitely full of surprises and scandal, and there are still many questions remaining about what will happen next season.
