The TV Chick

Just when I thought things couldn’t get more crazy for The Rock girls, they did. Last night’s episode of Make It Or Break It was an intense one. It featured probably some of the best acting performances by the girls on the show as each character dealt with their own looming set of problems. The episode starts with Emily in jail, recalling her arrest. She calls Razor for help, but since she’s a minor, her mom has to show up to get her. And boy does she show up. She’s dressed in a very revealing outfit with an interesting hairdo, leaving us to wonder, what exactly IS her new job? Emily and her mom duke it out at the police station. Soon after, Damon shows up to see her. They kiss. Woo! He got signed to a record label. Emily doesn’t tell want to ruin his good mood, so she doesn’t tell him about the arrest. Later, Emily and Damon are out on a date, and Emily comes clean about the endowment fund but not the arrest. She storms out of their date. She wants space because they weren’t supposed to see each other for two years. And in love triangle action, Razor is back working at the Pizza Shack. He tries to make her feel better about the bad date, and  they get in a food fight. Damon walks in on them. Oh wrong impressions. In the end, Damon tells Emily if she wants to be with someone in the meantime, she can. Emily looks sad and distraught. This is clearly not what she wanted! I love the Emily/Damon relationship, so  I am sad for both of them. But I also enjoy a good love triangle. I wonder if we will see a Razor/Emily kiss. I’m also Team Kmetko and hope that Emily really steps it up for World Trials and that this doesn’t distract her too much.

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Last night’s episode of Make It Or Break It, quite cleverly titled Rock Bottom, was very intense.  Each character is going through something big, and it’s only going to get more dramatic as the season wraps up. Lauren is dealing with the aftermath of her dad paying for Emily. She still wants to break Chloe and her dad up, so when Chloe tells her to come clean to her dad about Carter or she will, she devises a plan. She confides in Summer about her sex life, but blatantly lies about Chloe’s involvement in her life and knowledge of her relations with Carter. Lauren is the queen of manipulation. Carter’s only concern in this matter is getting kicked out of the gym. Of course, Summer spills the news to Steve, and he is unwilling to forgive Chloe. Chloe aptly points out that she forgave him even though he lied about the endowment, but he doesn’t budge. Steve Tanner, you are shady, just like your daughter! I don’t think this will be the end for them, though. Who knows. Lauren’s plan worked, but she breaks up with Carter because he seems to care more about himself than her. Lauren, you have a big tendency to ruin good things.

Emily is back working at the Pizza Shack, and pays Steve back some of the money from the endowment. She promises to pay back the rest. However, not all is fine in the Kmetko household. Chloe is supposedly starting a new job (who knows where), but the electricity went out and her brother Brian is dealing with seizure syptoms. She goes to get his medicine refilled from the pharmacy, but is told insurance doesn’t cover it anymore. Not knowing what to do, she takes the pills and runs off. This moment was just so sad. Emily was desperate. She is clearly not the type to steal anything. Her morals (unlike some others on the show — ahem, Lauren) are admirable, and she’s a very hard worker. I can’t imagine having to make that choice. At the end of the episode, the cops come and arrest her. How will this impact her place on the National team? Will bitchy Ellen Beals find out about this? Who will bail her out? Emily has more than proved herself to be worthy of a place on the National team and a scholarship, but what will happen now?

Back at The Rock, Payson is still training to become an artistic gymnast. Payson is practicing her artistic dance moves, Sasha said she’s not quite there yet. He brings her outside to paint a canvas with her dance moves, asks her to channel her emotions. On her second try, she paints this beautiful canvas. I absolutely loved seeing Ayla dance again, because I know she has extensive ballet training and it’s so nice to see. Later, Payson is back in the gym practicing. Sasha wants to tell a story, asks her to think of her favorite story. Her favorite story is Romeo and Juliet, and he tells her to pretend she’s Juliet. Later that night, Summer and Sasha are on a date outside The Rock. Summer finds a Christianity book in his trailer and is of course, instantly won over. Payson walks in on their date to brings Sasha food. What a sweet crush. I also love seeing Summer and Sasha together. But the most shocking moment of the entire episode comes when Payson is showing him her routine the next day while she is attempting to be Juliet. She completely nails it, and tells him he inspires her. Out of the blue, she kisseshim. I GASPED. Seriously, I gasped out loud. I understand Payson has hormones and it’s natural to get attracted to someone in a position of power like a coach. Also, Neil Jackson, who plays Sasha is quite amazing to look at, this was just very surprising. I’m sure Payson surprised herself given the fact that she runs off after this. In the previews for the next episode, a picture of them kissing was circulating around, which is obviously not a good thing. I hope that this mini scandal can blow over quickly, but I’m not sure if it will. There’s also some controversy surrounding Kim Keeler challenging Steve Tanner for President of the parents board. Payson’s parents disagree about Kim running. Mark thinks she won’t be neutral after that. Payson thinks her mom should run so she can win and they can save the gym and Sasha. Eventually, Mark gives her the go ahead to run. Go Kim! Keep out shady Steve Tanner.

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As readers probably know by now, I was at Comic Con last week and couldn’t write my review of Make It Or Break It. But not to worry, I am back! And ready to talk about my favorite Rock gymnasts. To recap, last week was The Rock awards banquet where Summer gets drunk, Becca Keeler is going to train to be an elite while Payson struggles with becoming an artistic gymnast, Lauren is a total biotch to Emily yet manages to win The Rocky (congeniality award) because her dad clearly faked the results, and Kaylie wants to lose weight to be able to do harder moves like the Chinese gymnast. I have a very strong opinion on this storyline but I’ll talk more about that later. And there is some Summer/Sasha making out! Yay! 

Last night’s episode “I Won’t Dance, Don’t Ask Me” centers around the elite gymnasts (including Payson) getting new floor routines. Of course, there is drama when Lauren and Emily vie for the same choreographer and she chooses Emily. There is even more drama when Lauren steals Emily’s moves at the big presentation to prove she is better than her. Sasha takes Payson out to the ballet (despite Summer’s big hints she’d like to go) to change her perceptions about what body type fits the ballerina mold. In the ballet, the swan must be reborn to become a woman. It symbolizes becoming what you are meant to be. She is so inspired, and realizes that she is perfectly capable of being an artistic gymnast and changing her ways. Way to go Payson!

Kaylie asks her parents to be her co-managers, which really just ends up backfiring in her face because they fight all the time. The end result is Kaylie’s ridiculous mix of classical and techno floor music and her crazy awful moves at the presentation. But it’s not Kaylie’s falling apart family that is plaguing her. She is running 10 miles a day, and eating barely anything and no one seems to notice. This was happening a bit the last episode, because Kaylie wants to lose weight to complete the harder moves. The show is treading a fine line with this storyline. I love Kaylie, and she has seemed like the healthiest gymnast on the show. Healthy, not as in fat, but as in a healthy attitude and lifestyle. I realize that eating disorders happen in elite gymnastics, and athletes are definitely at risk. I don’t have any problem with them going down this route for Kaylie (although I am a bit sad), I just really hope they avoid cliches. However, I can understand what lead her to this, so it doesn’t come out of left field. Her life is falling apart a bit and she has a lot of pressure to maintain her national championship title. If she does get a more serious eating/over-exercising disorder, I hope to see her get counseling, or some sort of help. On TV shows (My favorite childhood sitcom Full House and also Saved By The Bell comes to mind), these stories get glossed over, wrapped in a bow and sent on their way. I think Make It Or Break It has tackled some tough, dramatic storylines with a lot of grace and I really hope this one is not an exception. That said, Josie Loren is doing a fantastic job playing Kaylie and dealing with the challenges life is throwing at her.

In Emily’s world, she is struggling to let go and nail her dance moves. After a late night practice, she grabs a slice of pizza with Austin Tucker. It’s not a date as they both so firmly declare. Austin tells Emily to take risks, and feel comfortable spending money on herself. Of course, Lauren catches her and blabs to the other girls. After Lauren steals her dance moves, Emily comes out and performs the same ones, with a great deal of fortitude and grace. She shows Lauren! Go Emily! I am so Team Kmetko! I feel like I should make a shirt…Anyway, Carter tells Lauren what she did to Emily was really terrible, and her bad side is really scary. He can’t tell her he loves her because she does things like what she did to Emily. Wow, harsh words, Carter. But I agree with you. Lauren needs to do some self evaulation if she wants to be a good friend again and find love.

At the end of the episode, Payson practices a new, graceful ballerina routine. Ayla Kell’s ballet dancing training must have come into play here. I am really enjoying this new Payson. I also can’t wait to see some sisterly rivalry in the gym once she is back to her old form. I really enjoy episodes where the girls are in the gym, and the dancing was great. What I liked the most is that you could tell it was really them on the dance moves because they are capable of doing basic dance as opposed to really difficult tumbling. All of the cast did great! I like the way this season is going (as there isn’t many episodes left until the hiatus). They are set up for another big competition (most likely) and they are gearing up for the Olympics, even if they are years away. The Kaylie plot has really been the only storyline out of all of the episodes of this show that I have been wary of. And I was a big fan of the TV movie The Perfect Body (which quite ironically, Chelsea Hobbs was in!) which centers around an eating disorder and gymnastics. I have the utmost faith in the creators and executive producers to resolve this storyline well, I just hope Kaylie is able to face her problems head on and become the champion she deserves to be. I also love the Summer and Sasha romance, and I can’t wait to see their official first date. There is a side of me that wants him to partially corrupt her, and go against her religious beliefs (as Neil Jackson, who plays Sasha on the show so eloquently put it on Twitter: bedroom gymnastics), but this is an ABC Family show after all. I look forward to what lies ahead.

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

Last night’s episode was the penultimate for this mid-season of Make It Or Break It, and my Mondays are going to be lacking in drama after next week. This week’s episode titled “The Only Thing We Have To Fear…” centered around the preparation for The Rock’s meet with China. Sasha puts the girls on lock down for a week, where they have to sleep in the gym in order to live like the Chinese do and bond as a team. Lauren explains how horrible the China meet went, and how she choked in the biggest way. She explains that she needs her teammates, and that they have all been there for each other since they were kids. Kaylie and Lauren seem to be on the road to repairing their friendship, as they promise never to let a guy interfere with their relationship again.

Meanwhile, in Emily Kmetko world, she is struggling to land her Yurchenko vault that has a blind landing. Sasha has told her that failure is not an option and she needs to land the vault in order to be competitive with the Chinese. Damon tells Emily he wants to be there for her in every way and they finally say I love you (in the Pizza Shack no less).

However, not all is good at The Rock. The National Team Committee wants to shut down the meet and continues to make threats against Sasha and his team, calling them rogue on several occasions. The Coordinator speaks to Emily, and threatens her scholarship. She also gets MJ involved. MJ tells Kaylie she could lose her endorsement money as well as her National Champion title because of this meet and encourages her to back out. After all they have gone through as a team, Kaylie is incredibly conflicted and goes to Lauren for help. (more on this later).

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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.

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When Make It Or Break It premiered last summer, the first thought that popped into my mind was…how did they know that has been my idea for a show for years? But in all honesty, one of my other loves in life is gymnastics. I follow the sport closely, and I used to be a gymnast. So when I found out about a show that combines two of my greatest interests, I could hardly contain myself. The show has more than lived up to my expectations, and I was so excited when it was renewed for 10 more episodes. It is a great look into the world of elite gymnastics, but even more than that, it’s a great drama with wonderful, interesting characters. I recently caught up with Candace Cameron Bure, and her lovely daughter Natasha at an ABC Family event (she wasn’t there on the day of my set visit), and asked her about the upcoming season, her character Summer and how she uses twitter to keep up with her fans. This season brings a lot of new things for Summer, she even hinted that she might be getting involved at The Rock.

Last (mid) season’s finale of Make It Or Break it ended on a big cliffhanger. What’s in the future for Summer? What’s going to happen with your relationship with Lauren now that you’re not with her dad anymore?
Summer broke up with Steve. She called off the engagement, and there’s definitely a switch in the relationship with Summer and Lauren, now that I’ve broken up with her dad. And I think Lauren’s never going to stop her one-liners, her zingers, but I think that they’ll be embraced by that relationship now because it’s quite different and there’s lot of cliffhangers with Payson and whether she’s going to ever do gymnastics again. And my character, now that she’s broken up, she might be finding love, you know, another love on the show. So you’ll have to tune in.

And do you want to be on the show? (to her daughter Natasha)
Yes, I do.

Do you want to play a gymnast?
Yes.

Candace, how do you feel about that?
Oh, it’s fine.
Natasha: I could be your daughter on the show.
Candace: You could be my daughter, but that might be a little true to life because I am just playing a character. But you could be a younger gymnast, that would be great.

Are you working on anything aside from the show?
I have a production company, and we’re working on some television movies right now and an independent. And I have a book that’s going to be released over the summer on health and fitness.

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