As you all know, I am very excited about the return of Make It Or Break It. When I visited the set back in October, they were filming “The Eleventh Hour.” They were very hush-hush about spoilers and such, but I did get to see Payson in her back brace, and a little bit of the scene from last night with Payson and her mom and Becca. I have to say, I loved this premiere. When I spoke with Ayla, she said that it was when she let her face drop, where you could see that she was really hurting despite her cool facade. She was absolutely right, and Payson went through some tough moments in the premiere, which were all acted beautifully.
The episode centered around Payson…her grief, her friends, her struggles. At the same time however, Kaylie is struggling with being the new National Champion. She hired a manager and now her time is taken up with media appearances, parades and distractions. Kaylie also feels extremely guilty for winning the National Championship, because Payson would have won if it wasn’t for her injury. Payson plays everything off like it’s fine, and she is doing great, but it is clear she isn’t. Her sister Becca wants to watch the parade with The Rock gymnasts, which turns into a painful moment for Payson who feels she should have been there. But she still insists everything is fine.
At the beginning of the episode, all of the girls are speculating about what’s going on with Payson. The first to visit Payson is Emily, who offers her support, and plays cards with her. The next to visit is Kaylie who asks her friend for advice on being National Champion, and expresses her guilt. Payson naturally doesn’t deal with this very well, and Kaylie leaves crying. Nikki Russo (Payson’s perhaps love interest) visits next and Lauren overhears them talking about the cortisone he gave to Payson. Payson tells Nikki to go get it from her locker and no one will ever know. Of course, conniving Lauren takes this as an opportunity to hold something over Nikki’s head, and goes to the gym before him to get the cortisone from Payson’s locker. When Lauren visits Payson, she shrugs her off. Later on in the episode, Payson’s dad has a talk with her and tells her to let it all out. She has gone through a great tragedy and lost her dream, and it’s okay to feel whatever way she feels. Later on that night, the Keeler family is awakened to Payson throwing her trophies away and breaking her gymnastics paraphernalia. This moment was really poignant. We see a crack in Payson’s facade of perfection and it was just so refreshing.
Meanwhile, Emily and Damon have a nice last date on the roof of the Pizza Shack. However, Razor returns and interrupts them. Damon seemed to be in the middle of asking Emily to wait for him when he goes to LA, but is unable to finish because of Razor. They say goodbye on sort of a bad note, and Emily is left behind. However, she decides (with some motherly advice) to go see Damon before he leaves for LA. She catches him on the bus, and tells him to ask her to wait for him. He does, they kiss, it was amazing. But now that Razor is back, there will of course be some sort of love triangle. Also, judging from scenes from the upcoming season, Damon is not as good as he seems. I really enjoy Damon (more than Razor), so I’m interested to see what happens. In addition, Lauren tells Sasha about the whole Carter mess, and Carter’s suspension is lifted. It is clear that Lauren is only doing this for selfish reasons and wants to add more distractions to Kaylie’s life. I like the male gymnasts though (Carter and Nikki) so I’m glad to see him back in the gym, and I’m sure there will be more love drama in the future.
Towards the end of the episode, Payson and her mom have a really touching scene. Her mom tells her that The Rock is still a part of her life, and that it taught her incredibly important life lessons. Payson then decides to return to The Rock (to her family’s surprise) and is greeted with applause and hugs from her friends and teammates. I believe Sasha’s words were “How do we greet a returning champion?” I really love how they handled the Payson storyline in this episode. I obviously would love to see her back in the gym, but I think she is going to take on an important role in her friends’ lives. After the previous conversation with Kaylie, Payson opens up to her and tells Kaylie that she is angry with her, and seeing her able to compete is very hard. But she also tells her that she is the National Champion and she is the one who can beat Kellie Parker, and she should never doubt herself.
Like Ayla, I want to see Payson win Olympic gold. But given that might not happen and/or it is a very long way away, I am glad to see Kaylie step up and fill her shoes. All the actresses on this show are fantastic and I can’t say enough good things about this show. Peri Gilpin brings a level of TV experience that one doesn’t see often on ABC Family shows, and she plays Kim Keeler so realistically. Candace Cameron Bure and Susan Ward also are fantastic. I look forward to seeing what direction Summer (Cameron Bure) goes in now that she is filling in for Kim Keeler as gym manager.
I have already seen next week’s episode (I’ll post my advance review next week), and I can tell you it is great. I can’t wait to see more!
Make It Or Break it airs Monday nights at 9 pm on ABC Family.
The TV Chick 