The TV Chick

It’s Prom Night at The Rock…well, at Payson’s school. Last night’s episode “Save The Last Dance” centered around the girls going to prom. Payson finally seems happy to go to school, and has found a new hobby in photography. Her new friend Heather talks about prom night and gets Kaylie and Lauren excited, so they all vow to go if Payson goes. The girls immediately start planning for the big night.

Meanwhile, Damon decides to show up at the pizza shack to try and explain himself. Emily, who previously ripped up a photo of her and Damon, is not having any of it. Lauren shows up and tells Emily they are all going to prom. Razor of course offers to step in as her date, which she isn’t thrilled about. Back at the gym, Sasha is pushing Kaylie to try and master an arabian. Carter (still in love with her) offers to help her like Nicky did previously, and she takes him up on the offer. By the end of the epsiode, Carter takes the safety net away (she was practicing attached to wires) and she lands her new skill. Carter is obviously still very much in love with Kaylie, but Kaylie doesn’t seem to feel the same way.

Lauren, up to her old ways, finds Carter in the closet and he tells her that her dad is dating someone. She decides that she will figure it out from the woman’s cheap perfume. Lauren calls her dad and tells him that someone has been upstairs with a lady friend, and her dad denies the whole thing and blames it on the housekeeper. Steve and Chloe at this point, are still keeping up their ruse of not dating.

In addition, last we left the Keelers, they had just heard about a doctor in Europe who had an experimental prodedure that could maybe help Payson. In this episode, they struggled with the idea of telling Payson. Kim was very adamant on keeping this from Payson, because her daughter finally seemed to be normal again. Mark felt as if they were unfairly keeping a secret from Payson, and she deserved to know. Kim and Mark decide to go to meet with the doctor, who is in Boulder for a conference, to see what she has to say. Kim is clearly against the surgery from the start and talks about paralysis being a risk (and not an option) and asking the doctor if Payson will be the same gymnast as she was before she was injured. The doctor is very enthusiastic, and has followed Payson’s career. She tells Kim that there is risk with any surgery and she couldn’t guarantee she would be the same gymnast, but she thinks she can help Payson. Kim storms out of the meeting, and Mark soon follows, but obviously, this is not the end of this story line. I understand where Mrs. Keeler is coming from. She doesn’t want to get her daughter’s hopes up for something that could potentially harm her or not work. However, Payson is a champion and gymnastics is her life. I am glad she has been able to slowly adapt to a normal lifestyle, but there is nothing normal about Payson. At the end of the episode, Kim and Mark decide to sit down with Payson and tell her the truth.

In prom preparation mode, Emily’s mom offers to buy her a dress, and Lauren begs her dad for a new dress to no avail. Payson and her mom go shopping and get manicures, and Kim comments that she never thought she’d see her daughter so happy and going to prom. Lauren goes out to her dad’s car and sees a brand new, beautiful pink dress and gets excited that her dad actually bought her a new dress despite his protests. However, when prom night arrives, she just gives her some money in case she goes out after. The dress was actually for Emily–he had his personal shopper pick it out for her as a favor to Chloe…more to come on that later. Right before prom, Heather shows up at Payson’s house in panic mode because the band dropped out at the last minute. Payson saves the day by asking Damon and Razor’s band to play at the prom (although Emily is unaware of this).

All the girls (sans Emily) show up to prom together and seem to be having a good time. Carter asks Kaylie to dance and is rejected, only to see Kaylie dancing with another random guy later on that night. Ike (remember, loser boy who said everything was pointless and got drunk and high in the parking lot) shows up to prom in a tux to apologize to Payson, and dance with her. Emily finally shows up, and when Lauren sees the dress she drags out Carter and declares that her dad is dating Emily. Carter tells her this is impossible, and then Emily tells the girls that her mom got her the dress. Lauren drags Carter outside again and realizes that her dad is dating Chloe Kmetko…a fact which she is none too pleased about. Also, Emily is upset over Damon and Razor’s band playing at the prom, but Payson said she had no other choice. Damon declares that he is going to sing a song he wrote for Emily but gets stage fright and runs off. Emily runs after him and Damon comes clean about the mixer he bought and didn’t know was stolen. Emily explains that all she wants from him is honesty and for him to be there for her when she needs him (not for him to record a song for her). He gets upset and storms off, and then enter Razor. Razor tells Emily that he has never seen Damon get up on stage and attempt to sing for anyone so clearly he loves her, and because she went after him, he knows she loves him, too. He says he will step out of the picture, and they will just be friends, leaving Emily crying in the parking lot.

While at prom, Heather makes a speech about Payson saving the day, and the entire prom cheers for Payson. Payson appears to be elated. After prom night, Carter returns to Lauren’s house to pack up, and Lauren opens up to him a little bit and talks about how no one ever wants her. Carter then proceeds to ask Lauren to dance, and they share a rather sweet moment together. While this is going on, we see Kaylie delete the picture of her and Carter from her phone in a symbolic gesture that she is finally over him.

Holly Sorensen (the creator) posted on twitter that this was one of her favorite episodes of the season because it is powerful and fun, and I have to agree. It was great to see Payson go to prom, and to see Kaylie finally moving on and stepping up her gymnastics. The Keeler’s struggle felt so real. I want to see Payson back in the gym, but a surgery like this one could be risky and require a long recovery. I can’t wait to see what Payson and her family decides. I also really enjoy seeing the vulnerable side of Lauren. She can be dramatic and ridiculous but deep down, she is hurting. I was disappointed not to see any of the Summer and Sasha storyline (or let’s face it, making out) but I am sure we will see more in the future. Next week’s episode is titled “Hope and Faith,” which is an intriguing title, and I can’t wait to see it!

Make It Or Break It airs Monday nights at 9 pm on ABC Family.