Bellisima08

I don't know if the bottom of Kat's leotard worked its way up by accident or if it was a purposeful design/costume choice, but either way it's an unfortunate look.

If it is a serious issue (such as mental health or an unhealthy relationship with food) then she should focus on fixing that before thinking about re-auditioning. If she were thinking about coming back & getting into training camp next year, she would have to still work on maintaining the DDC body/weight and their level of dance through this year. Doing that is almost a full-time job & requires most if not all of your attention. If she truly wants to fix whatever is going on with her, returning to the team needs to be on the back burner. As to if she would be a third year or a rookie if she comes back next year, while I don't think she would be bounced back to total rookie status, I don't think she should get the expected perks of being a third year such as being considered for a group leader or moved up higher in the triangle. I think her return should be treated as though she were repeating a grade in school. If Kelli were to let her breeze through everything and just pick up where she left off, it would not look good. She would have to come back in amazing condition and at full strength because people are going to be watching for any hints of her being off her game.

This was honestly so shocking to me. I was thinking that this year we were going to have to see her being focused on by being named a group leader and moving up to almost the front row of the triangle. I had a suspicion that if last year had been normal, we were going to see her with some special status as a first year by her always stepping up to give advice to rookies or having her serve as a mentor to a rookie by having her take them places or being roomies with one, but since last year was all screwed up due to Covid, she didn't get that. I actually had this image in my mind of Victoria & Tina having a meltdown when they found out about how different TC was going to be last year because she wasn't going to get that focus. Honestly though it must be serious for her to step back because I fully expected her to have a long run on the team where it would take either injury or a major life change for her to give it up. I do wonder if she'll be able to maintain the level of fitness or dance without the daily motivation of rehearsals or upcoming games, especially if there's serious issues. If the issues are severe, such as mental health or maybe food/nutrition related, then her focus should be fixing that & not maintaining DCC's very hard to achieve/keep up body ideal. I do find it interesting that she felt the need to point out how brave, mature and unselfish she's being by doing this. Reading between the lines it feels like she's saying " ya'll do think I'm brave, mature and unselfish right?" I mean come on Victoria, you know you have plenty of fans. You don't have to go fishing for praise or compliments.

I hope she makes it also. If its true that her power has improved, then she has a good chance as she already had a lot of the qualities that they look for in terms of looks and her personality seemed great for the team as well. Plus with VK gone, Madeline won't have to worry about being compared to her because let's be honest, as long as VK was there any other legacy that tried out would automatically be held up against VK. They already have their looks in common and the fact that they are both legacies, but Madeline shined in ways that VK didn't such as humility, class and being well-spoken.

I never noticed before that after VK fell, Judy started to look at Kelli in a horrified way, but then smiled when she realized Kelli was laughing. You can actually see Judy mentally change gears from "what a sloppy mistake. Kelli must have seen that." to "whoops Kelli thinks its endearing! Smile quickly!"

I liked that about her as well. Madeline S downplayed being the daughter of a former cheerleader whereas Victoria, Kelli and CMT mentioned Tina Kalina & VK being a legacy every chance they got. Madeline wanted it on her own merits which made her far more appealing then Victoria who was basically riding in on her mom's coattails.

Right there with you. Even Kelli and Judy said a few seasons ago that they were a little over the arm over the head. I don't know, if it were me, I'd be practicing different poses in my mirror for months and looking for new inspiration.

Just compared this list with the list of those who retired on Making the Team's wikipedia page and your guesses were pretty much spot on. Of the nine who are retiring, you got six of them right.

To quote Clueless "she's a full-on Monet. It's like a painting. From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess."

I didn't even spot Meredith's missing scrunchie! I was too distracted by noticing how VK is sitting in such a way that it thrusts out her butt. I assume she's wearing shorts, but the way she's sitting makes it look like a long t-shirt that's barely covering her behind. Now I know Tess is sitting in a similar way, but at least she's more ladylike & has more coverage.

That's an awesome idea. He seems to have a good personality for that.

Sounds like Tina Kalina is in the audience. And why the heck is Meredith doing the pre-show if she's making such obvious mistakes? Her error stuck out like a sore thumb!

Man, VK is ALL TEETH in this pic!

I agree. While I think Lily can blend better if she has to adjust, Meredith seems to need a lot of time to adjust to changes in placement & choreography. Plus, if she messes up, she seems to lack the ability to shake it off. In the final days of training camp when they were making changes to the group, her face fell every time she messed up. Of course maybe during a game she will make more of an effort to maintain her smile if she makes a mistake, but I think she might just be the type of person who has trouble hiding her emotions. Some people just have that quality of where their emotions just play across their face. When I was a teenager I had that and people said they could always tell what I was thinking. I've gotten better at controlling it, but sometimes when you are feeling something strongly, you can't help it.

He really is a bright spot on the show. I wish they could have Phil do other things like give a lecture on greeting people or working a room.

In watching this episode, I have to say it was one of the least captivating finales I've seen. The whole bit of Charlotte being there and explaining the other "option" that Kelli had for finalizing the team just had such a weird vibe to it. The way she said it was just so casual like "well you do have the other option". When she said that I was like "since when has there been another option"? As for the reveal to all the girls, I didn't like how that went down. They put Lily & Meredith through the angst of being called into the office sending their fear of being cut into overdrive. All their teammates see them being called to the office & they were probably thinking they both got cut. And while it was cool to see how happy everyone was for both of them to make it (I was very happy for Lily), the whole thing about how they all essentially have to audition again before each game kind of ruined the moment. All these girls have been driving themselves full-bore through training camp and all of them (unless someone is dealing with injury or illness) should be assured of being able to dance. Now because Kelli was unable to buckle down & cut one last person (cough...Meredith...cough), everyone has to subject themselves to the last-minute stress of wondering if they will get to dance and they have to adjust their positions (which we all know Meredith excels at). They should have just stayed with the use of All-Stars filling in when needed. The only other thing that stuck out was VK's ++++++ comment. The whole humility bit and her going on about how she's matured just went out the window at that moment. The taking of the team photo was underwhelming and I really don't get why Marshall insists on making VK's hair so big that she looks like a bobble-head. I mean with the outward curling layers she looked like she had Farrah Fawcett's 70s hair on steroids! Also I don't know who is responsible for doing their makeup, but a lot of girls had so many different shades between the color of their body and the color on their face. You would think that by this time, the makeup people would know how to even out skin tone. The Meet the Team presentation had some bright moments as I was happy to see Dayton and seeing Amanda with her parents was sweet, but once again Tina Kalina just HAD to make her presence known. I was like "Tina, you don't need those huge cutouts of VK's head. Between her inflated ego & Marshall's styling, your daughter's head is big enough." At least now we are at the end of the season. It will be interesting to see how this constant shifting of the 37 girls plays out as the football season progresses. What will it mean for the team dynamics? Will it only cause more stress? Will it become a permanent thing in future seasons? Only time will tell.

I loved that moment also! I like how they are recognizing that he's a popular guy! This is something that I think Meredith is really going to struggle with.

Amen to this! I mean yes, she's an adorable kid, but these ladies have been posing and taking this picture all day and they don't want it to do for any longer then they have to. I'm sure all they want to do is get off their feet and up from their knees and go home, Its not right for Judy & Cassie to make them take extra time to do this photo. I'm hoping this little girl wakes up one day and realizes she has options other than carrying on the legacy.

Excellent comparison!! When you think about it, football season is about the same length as the Rockettes performance season and football probably rakes in more money then the Rockettes. You would think that given how much the Cowboys organization makes, they could pay more for the Cheerleaders, particularly when it comes to health benefits. Kelli herself commented in the last episode about their high-impact style of dance (its certainly more high impact than the Rockettes) and how it results in lots of injuries. Those injuries more often than not end up requiring you to rest, get surgery & physical therapy to name a few things. Personally if the Cowboys are going to ask these dancers to put their bodies through a lot to learn high-impact dances & risk injury to look professional, they could at least pay them a professional salary.

K&J must have been inwardly screaming when they saw this on the big screen. What is going on with the middle section that is causing such a snafu? Are all the Rookies in the middle? Is VK so off balance that she's pulling everyone out of alignment with her? We need answers!

I've wondered about that as well. The only reason that's come to my mind is that maybe they didn't want to have to pay an All-Star extra for appearing in a game in addition to what they pay her for All-Star duties? I don't think I've ever heard what All-Stars get paid for their appearances. Or maybe TPTB just want to keep the All-Stars as a separate thing.

So in watching last Friday's episode, I was struck by the thought of how relieved I am that we are almost to the end. Normally I'm excited to get to see the announcement of the squad and the taking of the picture, but right now I'm just glad it's almost over. The whole episode kind of felt like filler and when Bridget talked about how tired she was, I was like "girl I feel ya." Speaking of Bridget, I thought the timing of Kelli asking everyone if they had eaten & were hydrating just after pulling Bridget into the office was a little insensitive. I mean everyone knew she said that because of Bridget & it just put a spotlight on her. I thought it would have been better if K&J just put the word out to the trainers to remind the girls quietly to get food and water. If I was Bridget sitting through that comment I would have been embarrassed. Another thought that crossed my mind was the sudden focus on Julia and how she was dancing. I found the timing suspicious because up to her media training snafu, there was no mention of her making mistakes & she was getting all kinds of praise. I mean she didn't just become a bad dancer overnight. I wondered if the increased focus was done in order to catch her making mistakes so that Kelli had a visual reason to cut her and she could say "well look at the mistakes Julia was making, she had to go." But even with her missteps, she still wasn't a worse dancer than Meredith was. Speaking of Meredith, there were almost no shots of her making mistakes. It made me think if Kelli told the camera guys to not focus on Meredith & instead try to catch moments of Julia messing up. As for Julia's office visit, that was just uncomfortable to watch. First the whole team seemed to know she was getting cut because I could hear someone tell Julia they would wait for as long as it took. And even though Julia did mess up in her media training and had no one to blame but herself, I still felt bad for her. Judy could barely look her in the eyes although she did say that Julia should try out again which I was surprised by. I do wonder if she will come back next year given how things went down with the media training & how frustrated Julia seemed with things in the last few episodes. The performance of show group at the opening of the Cowboys training camp was pretty good although I was annoyed with the multiple closeups of VK while they were waiting to go onto the field. I could have certainly done without all the shots of Tina Kalina up in the stands. And what was up with her and that other lady dancing along to the choreography? It was distracting and reminded me of the mom of Regina George in the "Mean Girls" movie and how she was dancing in the auditorium aisles while the girls were performing in the Christmas show. We get it Tina, you were a cheerleader, but your time is over. Now its time for the new team to have their day so sit down! Also what was going on with VK's hair? Did they double her extensions because her hair looked like it was twice it's normal volume. Really that was how I could spot VK during the dance. All I had to do was look for the flinging mass of yellow hair. Lastly I was really underwhelmed by Charlotte's appearance. Normally she actually gives some insight & talks to the girls at some point, but really all she did was sit there & she really didn't clarify anything. The only thing that she said that caught my attention was how she was surprised by Meredith and how fluid she was. I had thought that her making that comment would get Kelli's attention because Kelli always talks about how their style calls for sharp movements and she'd connect the fact that Meredith's fluidity doesn't match their style, but it didn't amount to anything. Really it was just a another blah moment in a blah show. At this point I'm only curious about the next episode because we will be getting the explanation for why they have alternates this season. I did wonder if they were setting the stage for it in this episode because at one point when Judy was doing a talking head segment, she mentioned the injuries that Maddie & Alexis were getting. She then said something about how, with all the injuries, it was important to have smart dancers who could fill in. At the time I thought it was a strange comment to make, but in thinking back to all I've heard on these boards, it now makes sense. Oh well. And so we limp onward to the finish line.

Gabby looked amazing in the video! I feel bad for her all over again. Erin's picture is stunning. The bathing suit she's wearing really makes her eyes pop!

Agreed! Shaina may not have been dancing full out, but at least she was blending well with the others. Meredith's mistakes were sticking out like a sore thumb. And Shaina looked stunning in her cameo photos and the uniform looked good on her. If they had to have an alternate, I think she would have been the better choice, but Kelli (for whatever warped reason) would rather go with sub-par. Honestly at this point, the theory that Kelli took Meredith strictly for the purpose of having someone that's so bad she makes VK look better, seems to make more and more sense.