The TV Chick

Last night’s episode of Make It Or Break it centered around a fundraiser to bring China’s team to The Rock. Sasha is mad about the team that was sent overseas to China, and wants to challenge them to a meet with his dream team in the United States. However, what Sasha fails to tell the gym mothers prior to their planning this fundraiser is that he hadn’t even invited China yet. He was waiting for the US to lose to China so he could invite them. The gym mothers hold a meeting to try and come up with good fundraising ideas, and settle on Bingo, at the Pizza Shack.

However, the cliffhanger we’ve all been waiting for is if Payson got through her surgery. Outside of the gym, Sasha is training Kaylie and Emily quite hard, and making them run on rough terrain while timing them. He tells them to go again, and they question it. Sasha explains that Payson would never complain, as Payson comes running up the hill. She made it! I mean, there was never a doubt in mind she wouldn’t survive surgery, but it was so nice to see her running. When she finishes, she immediately turns back to go again and improve her time. But not everything is great in the Keeler household. Payson’s surgery wasn’t covered by insurance (since it wasn’t “essential”) so Kim meets with a realtor to see about selling the house. The realtor tells her that she could sell and get out of her loan but she would still be in debt.

Later in the episode, Payson goes to see her physical therapist to get the go-ahead to start training. He tells her she can start the next day. However, when she returns to the car where her mother is waiting, she tells her that she’s not ready to train yet.

Meanwhile, the gym moms show up to the Pizza Shack to set up for the fundraising event, and Emily freaks out because Sasha can’t know she has a job. Payson shows up and tells the girls that she needs a job because her family might have to sell the house due to the debt from her surgery. Kaylie offers to lend her some of her sponsorship money but she doesn’t accept. It’s at this point that Chloe Kmetko comes up with the idea to throw the Bingo jackpot so that Kim Keeler wins. In the last round, Kaylie forces Kim to play. Hilarity ensues when Chloe spills her water on the napkin where the winning numbers are written down, but she manages to pull it off with everyone’s help and Kim Keeler wins 10 thousand dollars.

Throughout the episode there is this whole will they/wont they thing going on between a bunch of the characters. Kaylie’s brother Leo returns to help his family and repair the relationship between Kaylie and her mom…and he clearly still likes Emily. Emily still likes Damon (and he still likes her). Sasha and Summer still have feelings for each other. And Carter (who offers to be a friend to Kaylie earlier in the episode) and Kaylie still like each other. So at the end of the episode, it all comes to a head. Emily is trying to choose between the two guys, and her and Kaylie talk about how their training makes them strive for perfection and that this probably messes them up in relationships. Damon decides he is going to be the girl Emily wants and needs, and heads off to the recording studio. Summer goes to talk to Sasha and they end up kissing, despite her protests. After all of this, Kaylie and Carter are cleaning up at the Pizza Shack and somehow get to throwing soap at each other and Kaylie kisses him. Looks like romance is back in full swing.

China ends up winning the meet against the US and Sasha holds an official press conference inviting the Chinese team to the The Rock. Later that night, Sasha is waiting for a call and gets one from the National Team coordinator. She threatens him because of his press conference and tells him the China team will not be going there. She also says there will be severe consequences for his actions. As he’s about to leave the gym, he hears the phone ring from upstairs and it’s the Chinese team accepting the invitation.

Kim Keeler then returns home and tells Marc of her “good fortune.” She then listens to a phone message from Payson’s physical therapist saying that he hasn’t heard from Payson in a week since he told her she could train again and he wanted to know how everything was going. The next scene is Payson wearing grips, about to go on the bars, but replaying the moment of her fall in her mind. She can’t get past the mental block and walks out of the gym.

No surprise here but I really liked this episode. I thought the Payson scenes were great. I expected her to get right back at it once she got the word, but even champions have their fears. I also loved the romance. I wanted the Sasha and Summer relationship to be brought back into the spotlight and I’m glad to see it getting some screen time. It’s also revealed in this episode that Summer has been the one to tell all The Rock secrets. I wonder if this aspect of the story will lead anywhere. And we all knew it was only a matter of time before Carter and Kaylie repaired their relationship. As for the Damon/Emily/Leo love triangle (if you can call it that), it will be interesting to see what happens. I would love to see Payson back on the bars before the season ends. I don’t want another cliffhanger that involves Payson. Also, did anyone notice there was no Lauren in this episode? At first, the dynamic seemed weird, but it was sort of refreshing to have no drama in the gym. However, I’m sure she will come back snarkier than ever and ready to share her China stories.

I wonder who Sasha will decide is good enough to compete against China. Clearly, Payson won’t be ready yet. But will he pick Kellie Parker or snub her? Emily needs to get a Yurchenko 1 1/2 in order to up her difficulty (which Leo offers to help her with). Will she stick the blind landing and make it on the team? Will the National Team Coordinators somehow put a stop to this “rogue” meet? So many questions!

I’m also curious what the show’s plans are in terms of time line. The Olympics are supposedly 4 years away but will they be 4 seasons away? I look forward to seeing the conclusion of this half season and what season 2 brings.

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