That was a cute little play on words by Sasha and the girls, no? Their gym is The Rock, so their gym’s getting it on….
There was a lot going on during last night’s episode of Make It or Break It, and unfortunately the fight for a spot on the squad that’s going to China for a little international competition was somewhat secondary to a whole lot of drama.
The biggest reveal may have been that the National committee is both aware of Marty’s indiscretions and completely supportive of him and not his former team. While that may not sound like news, I was not expecting Sasha to get so thoroughly brushed off when he confronted that committee member about their choices for the squad. The fact now is that The Rock doesn’t stand a chance in head-to-head comparisons.
So why not go rogue, right?
The idea actually made me think of the US Men’s Speed Skating Team and Shani Davis, who has separated himself far enough from the team that he trains with his own coaches and raises his own sponsorship money. But as is my understanding, Davis still must be one of the team’s primary selections in order to compete in any competition. He’s not Team Davis representing his own country and competing on his own. So what is it that Sasha has in mind?
Because his girls certainly can’t get to China without the National committee choosing to take them. I suppose The Rock could become the gym that “plays by its own rules,” but there isn’t much practical application of that cliche here. And what will that do to all the gymnasts at The Rock who the National committee does feel it can control? Will they be unduly painted by the same brush because Sasha’s ego was bruised and he believes his girls were robbed? Let’s not forget that Kaylie, for one, is not much of a champion. And Emily’s always been seen as a work in progress. Isn’t it possible that they just weren’t as good as the six selections overall?
Meanwhile, the Chloe and Steve drama played out with Lauren trying to scare Chloe off, and Emily finding out about the secret romance. As expected, Chloe downplayed their relationship, but from what we’ve seen it’s been more than two dates that they’ve enjoyed together; at least be honest with Emily now. However, I do think that Chloe should back off, because the last thing Emily needs is Lauren riding her for the rest of her competitive life. Lauren seriously needs to get what’s coming to her.
The unraveling of the Cruz family saga could spell a lot of trouble for Kaylie first and foremost. Clearly the National committee doesn’t care about Marty’s part in that incident, which means that the likely result here is that Alex and Ronnie will be trying to save their marriage at home, while Kaylie tries to work with the guy who has now ruined her parents marriage whenever the National team meets. She was already falling far short of performing like a champion before this; the latest reveal might be the death of her reign.
I’m a little disappointed in Payson’s current story. I imagine that a lot of people enjoyed it, and intellectually I can understand that Kim gave a great performance last night as a mother struggling mightily with her daughter’s safety versus her happiness. But I think it was necessary to buy into the original premise to really feel the drama, which I just couldn’t get myself to do. I’ve been trying to think like a parent whose daughter just saw her dream cut short, but my son isn’t even two yet. I keep falling into the trap of thinking like the person I can more associate with: Payson. And if I’m Payson, it’s a no-brainer to do the surgery.
So I’m standing there thinking I’m a parent but with the viewpoint of the kid … the result is I keep seeing Kim’s struggle as a whole lot of unnecessary drama. I’m not minimizing it, I’m just saying I couldn’t get myself in the right mindset to appreciate it.
But I do really hope that Payson comes out the other side of her surgery healthy. In that respect, I can see her ability to compete as being secondary (although her joining Team Sasha would give some much needed credibility to his rogue crew). I just hope she comes out whole. The rest can take care of itself.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 16, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
An interesting assessment except for the part about Lauren. Maybe I’m alone in this but I see Lauren as one of my favourite characters. When the series started sure she was wack for no reason. Sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend is inexcusable. Even up to the point where she hid his phone in the Cruz’s bathroom wasn’t very endearing, but shortly after that Lauren became a person. She’s still not friendly or nice all the time but she’s whole. She doesn’t cut people down for no reason anymore she has actual goals. She’s even trying to achieve them with a measure of honour (i.e. trying to give Kaylie a new boyfriend before taking the old). She’s showing vulnerability, loyalty, restraint, even a measure of trustworthiness (she never actually tried to sleep with Carter directly as she promised him). The tragedy of Lauren is that now that she’s cleaned up her act she can’t get any sympathy. Now she has Daddy issues, Summer isn’t there to cry on, her friends resent her for getting picked. The boy she likes is oblivious to her. Lauren is trying to be a better person and just can not catch a break, and so I for one feel for her.
*POST AUTHOR*
I tend to disagree – I think Lauren just hasn’t had the opportunity for any major back-stabbings lately, but I don’t see her working towards self-improvement at all. Far from it. And when will she pay for almost killing Emily in the pilot?
The way the show is presenting events to us is that Emily and (especially) Kaylie were better than the others and were unfairly robbed of the Beijing competition. If Sasha had been mistaken as to their merits, we would have been provided with one of the other characters, most likely Summer, correcting him. The National Committee member was practically twirling her mustache as she gloated over Sasha. She cited discipline and inconsistency, which had certainly been true, but also made it fairly clear that the decision on those two had been made long before the meet, and no level of future performance would cause the Committee to reverse its decision on freezing the girls out.
My thought when watching this episode was that Sasha was planning to make his girls’ superiority so plain and so public that the Committee would have no choice but to include them again. If not, it would have to answer to whatever larger body keeps the organization in business, be it the general public or a collection of the largest donors, and the fact that they valued politics over ability would come out.
I’m expecting Payson to slowly be able to practice again, but be nowhere near the others for the rest of the season, because they frankly wouldn’t stand a chance otherwise.
*POST AUTHOR*
I know. I just feel like, intellectually, I can’t wrap my head around that idea. Emily and Kaylie were better? Because Kaylie added in an extra whatever in her floor routine, which is really the only tangible proof we have? I’ve found, especially concerning Kaylie, that we’ve just been told to accept that she’s good. At least with Payson (and I guess Lauren to a certain extent), you feel that they’re at the top of their sport. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn, at some point, that Alex’s money had been the only thing keeping Kaylie in the gym. Just a personality vibe, I think. And in Emily’s case, I’ve always seen her as the raw talent that needs to be molded extensively before she can play with the big girls. They kind of jumped the gun, in my mind, between the pilot and every other episode with her.
Yes, it’s a case of telling rather than showing with regard to those two, a failing endemic to this show because it focuses more on family and romantic drama than gymnastic techniques and competition. By the same token, we only know that the London 6/China 5 were worse because we were told so. Payson and Lauren nail the professional demeanor, but we rarely see them do any more than Kaylie does.
I believe it was Sasha who told Emily in an early episode that she had more raw talent than anyone, including Payson, and could be better than all of them if she worked hard enough. I just thought, oh, of course she is. This obviously did nothing to endear the character to me.
*POST AUTHOR*
Sasha, or Marty?
I’m not certain who it was, hence the qualification (might have been in the pilot). It was a gag-worthy moment for me, so I’ve tried to suppress the memory as much as possible.
*POST AUTHOR*
:)
If it was the pilot, definitely Marty. Sasha didn’t appear until episode two or three.