S07.E02: Abby's Worst Nightmare

[OnceSane]

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Abby challenges the Junior Elites to a head-to-head competition and makes changes to the team; Abby brings in two new girls in hopes of finding her super team; Abby's biggest rival returns.

[RedheadZombie]

I greatly preferred Candy Apples' dance to ALDC.  But then I'm always a sucker for contemporary and dark pieces.  Still happy our girls won.

There's no way Cathy choreographed that dance.  She's become such a rancid caricature, and I really can't stand her.  If Abby goes to jail she deserves to, and she brought it on herself.  But the constant weight jokes and mocking her behind her back and to her face about jail - just really beyond trashy.  And since Cathy is not particularly attractive, nor svelte herself, I'm surprised she has the nerve to slam Abby and Jill.

Thank the gods that Vivi only made an appearance in the audience.  But there was a rather creepy little girl sitting next to Cathy.  She had on dark lipstick, extreme eye makeup, including dramatic black eyeliner, and had two ponytails on opposit sides of her head.  It looked like a cross of a mini-Cathy, and a drag queen version of Cathy.  I actually paused to get a better look.

This is the first time I haven't blamed Abby for walking out.  The producers clearly despise her, and it's obvious to everyone.  And it seems to me they're trying to drive her out, and/or trigger a breakdown that they can film.  Abby has thrown some spectacular tantrums over the years, but productions antics are starting to disturb me.  Buy her out, break the contract, whatever.  It doesn't have to be this nasty.

And could the producers be more on the nose?  Bring in a Latina and black teenager to compete with Kalani and Nia.  Do they see anything beyond race and ethnicity?  Although having such a multi-ethnic group is always a good thing.

It's ridiculous that the strongest dancers - Kalani and Brynn - aren't in duets together.  And Kendall and Nia should be together.  They can truly compete against each other since their talents are more comparable, and the weaker "faces" can be paired with the stronger.  But what do I know?

[Rylee]

Well, who would have thought it would be Cathy to bring some much needed humor (as bad and stupid as it was) to the show.  I'm not a Cathy fan, but this show... the Moms, are taking themselves way too seriously, whereas I get the impression that Cathy understands she's just playing a character and she has fun with it.

There was nothing new with Black Patsy and her storyline, she was over the top and uninteresting. It's all been done before, mother after mother, time and time again.

Hey Holly... In a Kalani and Nia duet, if it doesn't take 1st, of course Abby will blame Nia, and it's not because Kalani is her favorite.

I can't stand Jill.

[Rylee]

6 minutes ago, RedheadZombie said:

I greatly preferred Candy Apples' dance to ALDC.  But then I'm always a sucker for contemporary and dark pieces.  Still happy our girls won.

There's no way Cathy choreographed that dance.  She's become such a rancid caricature, and I really can't stand her.  If Abby goes to jail she deserves to, and she brought it on herself.  But the constant weight jokes and mocking her behind her back and to her face about jail - just really beyond trashy.  And since Cathy is not particularly attractive, nor svelte herself, I'm surprised she has the nerve to slam Abby and Jill.

Thank the gods that Vivi only made an appearance in the audience.  But there was a rather creepy little girl sitting next to Cathy.  She had on dark lipstick, extreme eye makeup, including dramatic black eyeliner, and had two ponytails on opposit sides of her head.  It looked like a cross of a mini-Cathy, and a drag queen version of Cathy.  I actually paused to get a better look.

This is the first time I haven't blamed Abby for walking out.  The producers clearly despise her, and it's obvious to everyone.  And it seems to me they're trying to drive her out, and/or trigger a breakdown that they can film.  Abby has thrown some spectacular tantrums over the years, but productions antics are starting to disturb me.  Buy her out, break the contract, whatever.  It doesn't have to be this nasty.

And could the producers be more on the nose?  Bring in a Latina and black teenager to compete with Kalani and Nia.  Do they see anything beyond race and ethnicity?  Although having such a multi-ethnic group is always a good thing.

It's ridiculous that the strongest dancers - Kalani and Brynn - aren't in duets together.  And Kendall and Nia should be together.  They can truly compete against each other since their talents are more comparable, and the weaker "faces" can be paired with the stronger.  But what do I know?

I see Cathy and some of her shenanigans as pure silliness. Not the taunting of Abby's weight or mocking of appearances, that's cruel and immature, (although Cathy's not the only one guilty of that) but things like, I'm baaack, and showing up with a broom, and such, while definitely lame, seem like an attempt to introduce a little fun into a show where no one seems to be having any fun anymore.

Regarding the jail cell comments - obviously, Cathy didn't bring it up out of concern for Abby's well-being, but still... I don't know why real life reality wouldn't be discussed on a supposed reality show. (I get why Abby wouldn't the case.)

Totally agree with you on the pairing of the dancers.

[holly4755]

I thought Cathy was Abby's friend and the taunts were all approved. At least that was the story the earlier years she was on. 

[tessat]

I think at one time - Cathy and Abby were friends but the producers drove a wedge between them in the early years when things were less scripted but producer driven.

Personally - I loved Cathy's dance better - I did think the addition of the new girls brought the team back as a whole to the glory days and I did like the dance. I thought it was funny that in the past whenever a new student showed up - Jill would bemoan the fact - Kendall is suppose to be the next Maddie yada, yada and gave the new moms grief - but suddenly realizes that without the new girls - the team will go down the drain.

I enjoyed watching Brynn dance but Kendall not so much. Liked Kalani and Nia's dance much better and was surprised that they only got 3rd place behind Kendall and Brynn. I do think that Kendall is now the worse dancer Abby has and she's just blah in the face as always. Nia has improved and where she lacks in technique - her projections are wonderful.

I will miss the minis and the only reason it was an elite vs mini decision is because of the pressure put on Abby by the elite moms. They don't want to lose the "star power" of the show to anyone else. I'm pretty much done with all of them except Ashley and that included Holly who I use to adore and thought was the only one of reason - now she's lost it too!

[Cherry Cola]

I thought the ALDC dance was beautiful.  I am glad they won.  Cathy is a joke.  Do these people really act like this? How embarrassing. 

[Absolom]

14 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

he producers clearly despise her, and it's obvious to everyone.  And it seems to me they're trying to drive her out, and/or trigger a breakdown that they can film.  Abby has thrown some spectacular tantrums over the years, but productions antics are starting to disturb me.  Buy her out, break the contract, whatever.  It doesn't have to be this nasty.

They do indeed despise her as does practically everyone who has had to work with her.  She brought that on herself and at this point there will be no sympathy coming out for her.  They're working with what she gives them and she's great at the dysfunctional.  She's a mess.  My expectation and that of some others in the industry who don't work for Collins is that they'll simply let the situation ride out until her sentencing and let the show go.  They seem to have no intention of entering into any negotiations with Abby at this point and she apparently has no intention of asking to be released.  She's as or more intent on making the world miserable as anyone else involved.

[Absolom]

Ratings:  1.042M viewers and a .36 rating.

[RedFire2000]

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I enjoyed watching Brynn dance but Kendall not so much. Liked Kalani and Nia's dance much better and was surprised that they only got 3rd place behind Kendall and Brynn. I do think that Kendall is now the worse dancer Abby has and she's just blah in the face as always. Nia has improved and where she lacks in technique - her projections are wonderful.

I agree! Nia and Kalani's duet was much better. I was only watching Brynn in the other duet. I wish it was just a solo for her or a duet with Kalani.  It's a shame they've only had 1 duet together. Kendall and Brynn are a poor match for duet partners. They have zero chemistry together. And you're right, now that JoJo is gone Kendall is now the worst dancer on the team. She dances with no emotion or passion and her technique is lacking. No excuse, that she still doesn't point her feet and dances with blank faces.

[hellohoping]

I also thought Nia and Kalani's duet was the superior one. And yes, absolutely the partnerships that make more sense are Brynn/Kalani and Kendall/Nia, however Kendall/Nia's duets have always been utterly awful. Both of them, Kendall in particular, need to hide behind better dancers.

I liked the ALDC routine much more than the Candy Apples one. It did feel like the old days again with a pretty lyrical/contemporary groups, more like the Maddie days. I guess it hadn't occurred to me that those dances pretty much stopped and were swapped with gimmicks after Maddie left.

Edited December 7, 2016 by hellohoping

[spanana]

17 hours ago, hellohoping said:

I also thought Nia and Kalani's duet was the superior one. And yes, absolutely the partnerships that make more sense are Brynn/Kalani and Kendall/Nia, however Kendall/Nia's duets have always been utterly awful. Both of them, Kendall in particular, need to hide behind better dancers.

Exactly this.  Unless these new girls stay on the team and start getting paired with Kendall and Nia for duos, Kalani/Brynn are not likely to dance together.  Both Kendall and Nia need better dancers to carry their duets and Abby/the show know that.  Heck, even Jill knows that.  That was why she was always railing about Kendall needing to be paired with Maddie.  It wasn't about them being BFF.  It was about that being the only way Kendall might score a win and not be a total mess on stage.  Also while Kendall still sucks, she actually does do somewhat better when dancing with a dancer above her level.  I don't know if it pushes her more or if my eye is just distracted from her.

While the show fudges the competitions and the results, you can't put a Nia/Kendall duet on stage and even pretend that it would place in a real competition, let alone win.

Edited December 8, 2016 by spanana

[hatchetgirl]

21 hours ago, Absolom said:

They seem to have no intention of entering into any negotiations with Abby at this point and she apparently has no intention of asking to be released.  She's as or more intent on making the world miserable as anyone else involved.

She's an insufferable bitch and has been from the start.  

[spanana]

9 minutes ago, hatchetgirl said:

She's an insufferable bitch and has been from the start.  

That is likely true, but there is something sordid about watching the show sink to those levels.  I also think it's having the opposite result of what the show wants.  When the show treats Abby badly, it starts to make the audience have sympathy for Abby.  Whether that sympathy is misplaced or not doesn't entirely matter, but just from reading around I've seen far more sympathy from fans towards Abby over the course of the last season or so...which to me implies that what the show is trying to do (show Abby for the crazy, miserable person she is) is actually backfiring.  Yeah, Abby comes off pathetic but that isn't really anger inducing.

If anything most of the vitriol I've seen from fans over the last 6 months has been pointed at Jill, Jessalyn and to some extent Kendall and the other moms. 

In the show as it currently stands, Jill is largely the one people get behind to really hate.

[Jax7917]

I don't think kendall and nia are bad dancers. They blend in in the group dances and I know I could never blend in if I were dancing. They are just not great at the slow ( contemporary?) dances. Nia seems to be more of a hip hop dancer and kendall.. I don't think its necessarily her dancing that isnt great but it's her facial expressions or lack there of that gives the audience nothing. She always has a confused look on her face. One of the things that made Maddie a star (besides abby pimping her every second on tv) is that she always looks confident when she dances and knows how to lead. Kendall just always looks unsure of herself.

 

Also, the cathy story line is over the top ridiculous. I know this show is scripted, but at least make it look realistic. No one acts like that

Edited December 8, 2016 by Jaclyn88

[realdancemom]

I agree that I liked Kalani/Nia's duet over Kendall/Brynn.  Even though Kalani looked better than Nia, I agree with whoever said that Nia has improved.  Kendall danced heavy next to Brynn.  I mostly watched Brynn.  I enjoyed both group dances.

I agree with Abbe when the moms try to tell her things like dance classes and other studio stuff.  No studio owner would let parents tell them what to do with their own studio.  If a parent doesn't like it, they can find another studio.  But that part is probably scripted anyway.

[MegD]

On 12/6/2016 at 10:57 PM, RedheadZombie said:

The producers clearly despise her, and it's obvious to everyone.  And it seems to me they're trying to drive her out, and/or trigger a breakdown that they can film.  Abby has thrown some spectacular tantrums over the years, but productions antics are starting to disturb me.  Buy her out, break the contract, whatever.  It doesn't have to be this nasty.

In a way, I think Abby may have brought this upon herself. One of the crimes she's awaiting sentencing for involved the producers and crew. While she was abroad, she wanted employees to conceal foreign cash in excess of what is allowed to be brought into the US without declaration in their luggage. I cannot find the link, but I would swear that the employees involved were from the production company as well on a trip to Australia. She also brought the production company into her bankruptcy fraud by demanding that payments be diverted from her accounts to hide money. They're now put in the uncomfortable situation that they cooperated and are complicit but also don't want to be sent to jail as well. They may be unwilling to buy out her contract due to the fraud charges (and the possible troubles thaty they might end up in for their part) or it may be that financially, it's much more expensive than just buying out her contract. I would imagine that the dancers and their mothers' contracts are tied to Abby's and Abby also has that signed agreement with the girls that has a complete non-compete in it where the girls cannot dance for anyone else (I can't remember how long, but it's a long stretch). The moms, who seem to want their daughters to be stars, are going to be very demanding if, all of a sudden, the girls are blocked from dancing in any competitive or commercial venue. It may even stretch to any appearances on camera, especially if Abby is their agent. So the producers are stuck in this situation where they can't get rid of Abby but they hate being around her. It also may be that they are trying to prove to any potential prosecutor that they weren't complicit or cooperating with her.

[Absolom]

48 minutes ago, MegD said:

They may be unwilling to buy out her contract due to the fraud charges

With the type of contract that is signed for reality TV there is rarely if ever any need to "buy out" a contract.  The performers are hired basically at will for the production company.  They can be let go at any time.  Think how characters are written out of regular TV series.  It's the same thing.  Our artistic direction has changed is a very common phrase used when letting people go.  Based on Abby's behavior they could have let her go at any time.  I expect the show producers think it's the drama that keeps people watching so they keep her around.

52 minutes ago, MegD said:

complete non-compete in it where the girls cannot dance for anyone else (I can't remember how long, but it's a long stretch). The moms, who seem to want their daughters to be stars, are going to be very demanding if, all of a sudden, the girls are blocked from dancing in any competitive or commercial venue

They would be blocked by their contracts with Collins, the production company.  Their ventures aside from the show either have to be pre-approved by the contract or agreed upon with Collins and LIfetime.

[MegD]

1 minute ago, Absolom said:

They would be blocked by their contracts with Collins, the production company.  Their ventures aside from the show either have to be pre-approved by the contract or agreed upon with Collins and LIfetime

I agree. But if the contracts with Collins are broken, there is still the underlying Abby contract signed with every student. I cannot find it at the moment but I know it used to be available online on the ALDC website. It had a non-compete clause in it which was pretty extensive and covered pretty much any hope of any of the girls switching studios or dancing professionally. If they were to cause the girls contracts to end, even if allowed, they may be subject to a lawsuit for the girls' lost income and lost potential. This happened with Chloe in season 2. She refused to sign the contract with the studio and therefore was required to only be on the competition team. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere else to dance. It eventually lead to the showdown between Abby and Christie when Abby decided to force them off the show as she was told she couldn't fire Chloe or Christie due to their contracts with Collins. Collins may know that if they did pushed the girls out and there was the subsequent lawsuit, the production company could face a resulting backlash that they have determined would be more expensive than just cancelling the show.

[Absolom]

It would be far fetched for Collins to be sued for a child going off the show.  They are free to let them go at any time if they wish.  Contracts about going to another studio are up every year so the mothers wouldn't have long to last plus the studio in LA given it's mainly for the show may not have annual contracts. Collins isn't likely to be sued over Abby's contracts with the girls.  They are separate issues.  The show is almost dead so haggling over contracts isn't really profitable.

[MegD]

With this particular cast of moms, it's not that far fetched. Kelly has already done it. I think it's also been mentioned before that Abby may have gotten the moms to sign studio contracts that were much longer around the time the the Christi/Chloe situation popped up in season 3. If Collins had any part in encouraging the moms to sign for their minor daughters, it's arguable that they would be liable if all of a sudden the girls are kicked off the show. They may have just determined that while they probably wouldn't have to pay anything, the media exposure isn't something they want. So in the meantime, they are going to take out their frustrations with Abby on her. It's about like how Kate Gosslin got the crap edit right after the divorce. There, they were finishing out the contract and letting her be seen exactly as she was, warts and all.

[Absolom]

Kelly was also not in the least successful in her lawsuit which would cause others to think twice.  She signed her kids up with Abby and had to accept responsibility for her own actions.   The parents have the option of signing the kids up for the show or not and that would not create liability for Collins which they well know. 

The answer as to why this is continuing is that Lifetime was getting ratings that they found acceptable.  When the ratings fall to a level where Lifetime is not making a profit, it will all end.