The TV Chick

As Holly Sorensen promised, the season finale of Make It Or Break It titled “At The Edge of the Worlds” was the most intense episode to date. It was a roller coaster of emotions, and what a fantastic roller coaster it was. In fact, I am already distraught a new episode won’t be on my television next week. The big World Trials day has arrived, but there is turmoil at The Rock. People are laughing at Payson because they all know about her kiss. She’s going to train anyway, and she makes light of it with her teammates. Kim defends Payson to Ellen Beals, but The National Committee decided they don’t want Sasha to coach The Rock gymnasts or the National Team. He’s suspended from The Rock. Ellen Beals names herself the new coach, naturally. Ugh, biotch! Sasha tells his gymnasts they don’t need him, just to follow the rules and stay focused. And then of course Trials are moved up a day, which directly conflicts with Emily’s court date. Emily tries to appeal but Beals is unwavering.

In Kaylie world, Austin confronts her about her eating. He doesn’t want her competing at Worlds in her condition. He asked how she fooled her parents and Sasha. She said she’s the only reason her family is staying together. I loved this justification. To Kaylie, what she’s doing makes sense. Anything she can do to retain her championship status will keep her family together. Of course this is entirely untrue but Kaylie’s in too deep to believe anything different. Austin even intervenes to the point where he talks to Kaylie’s parents, but they don’t believe her. She asks why he cares, and he admits that he wants to figure her out because he might fall in love with her. Kaylie’s dad kicks him out. Bad mistake Alex Cruz! Listen to wise Austin Tucker!

And even though Sasha can’t coach The Rock gymnasts anymore, he wants to continue with Payson’s training. Payson’s dad is none too pleased with this however. Summer wants to petition the National Committee to let Sasha coach. Summer tells Sasha she loves him, and he says I love you back. There’s some awesome make out action! And whew boy Sasha shirtless! Sasha stops them from going any further because he doesn’t want her to sacrifice her values. Next thing you know, Summer is praying in church. Steve comes in to pray behind her, and Summer takes this as a message of who to love. I have no problem with Candace Cameron Bure’s faith being written into her character. But I did think the whole praying in church thing was a little heavy handed. However, it was quickly redeemed when Steve Tanner came in crying. Summer tells Steve he needs to tell Lauren about her mom, after Lauren has said she’s glad her mom is dead. I like Summer and Sasha together much more than I like Summer and Steve together. I also don’t like that Lauren has basically manipulated this relationship back into place, so I hope Summer is able to come to her senses. We shall see!

Meanwhile, Damon and a coworker are at an exotic dancers club, and Chloe is bartending there. Awkward! Chloe tells Damon that Emily is in big trouble. Someone had to tell Damon! Damon and Emily talk and reconcile a bit. Damon offers to call his stepdad (who he hasn’t spoken to in years) to help change the court date, because he’s a lawyer. This is my reaction to Damon’s stepdad: OMG HIS STEPDAD IS THE DAD FROM BOY MEETS WORLD! Holy crap! Ahem. He gets her court date moved. But all is not fine in the Kmetko world, because the judge called Ellen Beals to verify Emily’s spot on the national team. She tells her Emily needs to know the consequences of her actions. Can’t they pull a High School Musical and make it to both the tryouts and the court date??

Payson and her dad finally have a good talk. She explains how Sasha made her feel, and how he never gave up on her. Her dad pays for a gym for Sasha and Payson to train in. He even thanks Sasha. Whew some tears coming already! After a particularly great floor routine, Sasha asks Payson if she’s ready to meet her destiny right then. This is going to be good.

World trials begin! I absolutely love when the girls are in a big competition. It makes for some great drama, even greater gymnastics and super high intensity. Emily is up on beam first. She messes up, Ellen Beals told her that she knows about her legal problems. Come on , Em, don’t let the bitch get in your way! Kaylie is on uneven bars next. She falls on her mount. Austin says she’s weak because she starved herself. Ellen Beals is happy that the committee won’t have to deal with Belov nonsense anymore, and then in walks Bela Karolyi, his dad!! AMAZING!! I LOVE IT! Seriously, I love this cameo so much and I hope he comes back again maybe in an Olympics or World Championships context. Dmitry Belov! He tells Ellen Beals to get lost! He gives The Rock girls an amazing pep talk. My goodness, I love him! I love how the girls are smiling so much and can’t hold in their giggles. This must have been an amazingly fun scene to shoot. My love for him is unmatched. Next thing we know, Sasha is marching Payson into the World Trials. Dmitry (aka Bela) puts on her floor music and she does her routine! Sneak attack by the Belovs!

It looks to me like Ayla did a lot of these dance moves herself. She looks fantastic in her new artistic gymnast role, and very graceful. She finishes her routine and everybody applauds wildly.  Her dad is in tears! Her teammates are hugging her. Payson doesn’t want Sasha to leave, and she stands up for him.  All of The Rock girls come to Sasha’s defense. The Committee shuts down Ellen Beals’ objections and decide to let him stay and coach his gymnasts through the competition.

Lauren is next on the uneven bars and she is hesitating because she’s crying about her mom. Steve  finally admits the truth to Lauren. He gives her a picture of her and her mom when she was a baby that she left for her. Lauren decides to compete for her, and she does a kick ass bar routine. I was even rooting for her even though she has been nothing but a bitch. Aaand I’m crying again. One thing this episode really did was give Lauren some redeeming qualities. Granted, I cannot forgive her for all her past transgressions and I hope she makes it up to her teammates but I was actually hoping she would make the world team.

Kaylie is next up on beam. Something tells me this won’t end well. She passes out and Austin catches her. She is rushed off to the hospital. Something had to happen like this for her to realize just how serious her condition was. I’m glad it wasn’t a career threatening injury, because I love Kaylie. However, I hope that after this she will be open to help and rehabilitation — both mentally and physically.

Emily is next on the vault, and Damon stops the police at the door. Damon convinced them to wait until after her vault. He gives Emily a fantastic pep talk and calls her a mustang. She sticks her vault landing! Go Em! Everyone is hugging each other. Emily gets carted off in hand cuffs. Damon tells her he loves her. I’m sure this will all get sorted out, but it was so heartbreaking to see Emily get taken off to jail.

It’s finally big announcement time!  The second position is left open for Kaylie after she is medically examined. Third place goes to Lauren Tanner. Fifth spot goes to Emily Kmetko. Sixth spot is Payson Keeler! Yay! Sasha isn’t there to celebrate, and sadly neither is Emily. What would I have to do to get my hands on one of their USA World Team jackets?

The episode ends with Kaylie in the hospital, and Austin is by her side. Emily is in jail. Summer is eating dinner with Lauren and Steve. Sasha wrote Payson a long letter, and he seems to be getting out of town, as he drives away with his trailer. Whoa! Shocking! I know that Sasha is a big fan favorite, so I’m pretty confident this isn’t the last we’ve seen of him. But where is he going? Is he still in love with Summer? And most importantly, will his dad — Bela Karolyi — be back? What a cliffhanger to end with!

I adored this finale. All of The Rock gymnasts made the World Championship team, pending Kaylie’s medical exam. Payson proved herself to be a champion once again. Emily proved the she is worth being noticed. And Lauren, well, Lauren will always be Lauren. Making her nice would greatly detract from how her character has been set up thus far. Here’s what I’d like to see in season 2: More competitions. I love when the girls are in the gym. It’s fun to see their home lives and social lives as well but I think the best episodes are competition or training centric. More Austin Tucker. I loved the addition of this character. He clearly served a purpose in regards to Kaylie but besides that, it was nice to see that he wasn’t at all like the image he projects. Less Ellen Beals. I’m fairly confident Ellen Beals will be overshadowed by the rest of the National Committee in season 2 given the fact that they shut her down in the finale. MJ back. Remember her? She’s now a series regular on White Collar, but I would love to see her back for an episode or two. Another rival to The Rock girls. Kellie Parker didn’t qualify for the World Championships team because she suffered an ankle injury in the France meet. I’d love to see someone else pop up as a rival besides Jenji Cho.

Overall, this season (or half season) has been incredible. The show built on the momentum of the first season, and made Kaylie an interesting focal point. However, they were able to focus on Kaylie while still giving plenty of attention to the other gymnasts. I am so glad Payson is back in competition mode. I feel like we may see more from her sister as an elite in season 2. “At The Edge of the Worlds” was full of excitement and I loved every minute. It was action packed, and contained make outs, falls, and some fantastic routines. Make It Or Break It has proven itself as a drama about more than just gymnastics. The characters are interesting, and go on journeys that we as non elite athletes couldn’t begin to understand. The show takes us into a completely different world week after week, and that is a sign of a truly fantastic television show. I cannot wait for more!