Coriandria

To the dance training debate. I kind of think of it like cleaning my house. I clean my house on a regular basis. I don't clean my house as often as my sister by miles. I think I'm decently competent at cleaning a house. But am I trained? no not really. I don't know the ins and outs between ammonia, bleach, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide for example. I imagine maids on the other hand are pretty well trained and versed in cleaning practices. If I hired one to clean my house, I might ask them a few pointers get some insight on their training. But that doesn't suddenly mean I'm trained at the level of a professional maid. Lindsey likes to dance. She dances on her own a lot. Do to her success as a musician she has had the luxury of hiring dancers that she has worked with for some videos. Does that suddenly make her a professional dancer? um... Not really. I think the idea of "ringer" and "professionally trained" is getting a bit muddy and everyone has their own personal criteria on what makes someone a ringer. For me personally Lindsey was never a ringer. Just a talented woman with a strong work ethic. As for Victoria's elimination. I'm not that surprised but I'm a bit baffled why people are criticizing her for crying. She lost a competition; she's disappointed; she cried. Some people do that. They cry when they have emotions. Doesn't seem like something to get annoyed by.

Yes that was the point I was trying to make. Whitney seems like a nice person from what I can tell and I imagine she routinely gives Frankie words of encouragement when they are working together. But with all that potential footage that I'm somewhat guessing exists TPTB decided to throw Jordan and Lindsey under the bus with this "they shouldn't be here it's so easy for them" narrative that they have pushed 2 weeks in a row now. And again this narrative was particularly problematic for Lindsey this week with it clouding the "is she or isn't she really injured" drama-llama.

The big issue I had with the Frankie narrative this week was that it felt really manipulative (the producers being manipulative that is). I understand why people find "ringers" unfair especially when they have a favorite they are rooting for. But what truly irked me was the fact that the show itself is trying to push this idea that Lindsey and Jordan having dance experience are having an easy time of things while everyone else struggles. I have no doubt at this stage all the contestants are working incredibly hard. Does Jordan/Lindsey have a leg up with their previous experiences? sure. But the thing is so does Frankie. He was an actor which means he has a decent level of artistry and depending on the type of acting decent body control. He was a race car driver which in actuality is very physically demanding not everyone realizes this but it is. So he has strong physicality from that. And he was a drummer in a band! So not only strong musicality but musicality focused on rhythm. Is it really any small wonder that with all these assets and the fact that he works really hard that he's able to pull off great routines on this show? Nope not a shocker. Now Frankie not realizing how all his previous experience helps him learn to dance is completely normal. And having lack of confidence/low self-esteem is not uncommon. So the things Frankie said I can totally get. But did no one try to explain to him what his strengths are? Did Whitney never express to him why his dances are getting scored high? No? It's just a "well they are dancers it's an unfair competition." BS comment? Now I'm not trying to through Whitney under a bus here. I'm sure she said words of encouragement to Frankie in various ways but the producers choose to use the "it's so crazy that Jordan and Lindsey are allowed in this competition" to back up Val and Maks earlier comments. There is a long term narrative they are trying to promote and it feels like they are actively trying to sabotage Jordan and Lindsey's position which makes little sense to me. I don't get why they are actively doing this. And again to be clear I like Frankie. I'm personally rooting for Lindsey but if Frankie or Jordan won the whole thing I wouldn't be upset about it. They are both great. And I really don't think Frankie needs to be propped up in this way. They could have done a really nice narrative about the importance of believing in yourself and realizing that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Not this BS "oh it's all unfair but we'll be the underdog that rises above" nonsense.

I wouldn't be too hard on Mark over his tweet. I agree that the editing made it look like Frankie was talking about contestant Lindsey when he could have easily meant Lindsay. But the package was seriously problematic. Other boards have been on fire with hateful conspiracy theorists throwing serious venom at Lindsey claiming she was faking her injury for votes last week. Having a package the very next week implying Lindsey was off dancing a routine flawlessly on day 2 really adds some oil to the "She's faking it!" fire. Mark needed to nip that in the bud and quickly. Trying to explain the nuance of reality show editing creating narratives that are often times untrue wouldn't have worked as most people would have likely given side eye to such a defense since if anything it only gives more credence to the Lindsey injury being untrue by the same logic. So he simply replied to the package as it was presented defending Lindsey's integrity as a contestant. At least that's how I read things. Also I feel like at times both Lindsey and Jordan's dance experience is a bit overblown. They have some experience sure but they weren't professional dancers going into this show. The package heavily put Jordan and Lindsey in a bad light to prop up Frankie as this poor soul in an unfair competition which was rather eye-rolling to sit through. I don't judge Frankie on this it was complete producers choice to create this narrative but the narrative still irks me a bit.

I believe Victoria's story about bullying. But it's all about perspective. Remember she was in a comma like state for 4 years. That's a long time being out of the loop. I can see a fellow classmates reference something from recent pop culture or a local culture reference she's completely ignorant on. Less sensitive kids might have gawked at her ignorance. "How do you not know blah blah?". And even worse kids might look at the wheelchair and think something hateful like "what are you autistic?" While I think most reactions from students would be innocent surprise, I can still see their reaction gutting her inside as her missed years of life would have been a painful sensitive topic. So while not intentional bullying the results of how she felt would have been the same.

I feel like the only one siding with Weller this episode. I'm a feminist and all but Ally's selfish recklessness was infuriating. Cry double standards all you want but the facts are there is another human being inside her and each time she puts her life in danger, she puts her child in danger. What if that bullet went into her abdomen? It was obsurd to think the FBI would even let her on the field knowing she was pregnant. After she has the kid, if Weller still makes a stink that she should have a desk job then ally can get as self righteous as she wants but until then she needs a reality check.

Finally caught up on Hulu. I was screaming at Jane don't be so stupid when she brain wiped roman. This is not going to go well. Remember the icy treatment Jane got at opting the save Romans life over giving them intel. How will I wiped all his knowledge on phase 2 so he can have a fresh start going to go over. The FBI is going to be pissed. They won't give roman any chances. They'll interrogate him then toss him to the wolves known as the CIA without batting an eye. All this memory wipe will do is remove Jane's influence on him and priming him for any propaganda that goes his way. I have no doubt this will go very badly and the next time roman has a gun he won't hesitate to shoot Jane sadly.