There’s little scoop to be found about the upcoming second season of Make It or Break It save for this — the show’s site has pictures of the stars dressed up in rock gear. That’s all that they’re willing to share.
Well, that and a peak at the premiere.
What I like about what I’ve seen is that season two seems to pick up on a lot of themes that were prevalent in season one. And whereas I’ve bemoaned recurring plots on other shows, here it seems to work. The love triangle between Kaylie, Lauren, and Carter was never resolved, so why shouldn’t it reappear? Emily still loves Not-Razor, so why not bring that achy-breaky story back? When it’s done to beat things to death it can be grating, but here it just makes sense.
And, of course, the Rock’s battle with the National Team is still fresh, and is a great use of Sasha. I’m glad there’s still a lot more runway there.
But I have to be honest with you — I was extremely disappointed with the season two premiere. The second half of season one started out on wobblier legs than the first, but by the end the show was once again standing strong, with the break from the National Committee playing an enjoyably prominent role on the series.
Season two opens with the “Rock Rebels” making headlines and waves. Kaylie is still trying to be respected as #1, Emily is struggling with having lost her scholarship, Lauren is Lauren, Payson is hoping to petition her way onto the National Team, and the girls are officially suspended for participating in the non-sanctioned China meet.
And the first half of the episode actually picked up and ran with those stories quite nicely … until it started to deteriorate. The episode takes a definitively distasteful turn for the worse, headlined by Michelle Clunie’s Ellen Beals. And the problem is that all of the plots that weave to and from her are likely to be season-long, if not series-long.
I’ll put it to you this way: Lauren is extremely awful, as always, in the premiere, but I found the other three girls to be her equals by the end. And unfortunately Lauren’s dad Steve looks poised to return to his early role on the show. Too bad his dating Chloe will keep him in even more scenes this season.
What is promising is that the twist with the girls holds the prospect of some really great stories for Sasha. Plus, if played right, Payson’s fight to return to form could make better use of the potential that I saw in Ayla Kell that so far has gone to waste.
Plus Kim is back at work, co-managing the Rock with Summer. That could provide us with good Kim/Summer stuff, good Kim/Sasha stuff, and the Kim/Payson stuff that was lacking during Payson’s convalescence.
I just hope the writers clean up the rest of their mess faster than it looks possible for them to do. Check out the premiere for yourself next Monday night, June 28, at 10:00 pm on ABC Family.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 23, 2010 @ 15:01 EST5EDT
