S08.E04: Choose Wisely

[Guest]

Airs June 18, 2019

Quote

Abby makes a shocking announcement that she's sending someone home; Stacey and Tricia go to war over Abby's star dancer, Brady; when tasked with picking their own duet partners, the young dancers fear that the wrong decision could send them home.

[Rabbittron]

You mean this was on and  I forgot to watch it.  That only proves how invested in the show I am. Not. 

[RebeccatheWriter]

I will give Brady's mom credit. It is not her fault that Abby treats the students differently. She plainly asked (more than once) what the other moms wanted her to do about any privilege or special treatment her son was receiving. If I was her, I would have been frustrated too, as she wasn't seeking Abby out to give him attention or modify the dance for him. They were all upset about the side aerial, but did they want him to fall on it? Most people have a dominant side and do moves better on that side. When I was a skater, I turned counter clockwise. It wasn't that I couldn't turn clockwise. It was that I was better at one rather than the other. Abby had limited choices there:

1. Keep it as it was and hope that he didn't mess up and bring down the score. 
2. Modify it so that he went the other direction, which did not look odd since he was the featured performer.
3. Modify it so that he stood there and the girls all did side aerials. 
4. Remove the side aerial and replace it with something else. 

She chose the second one. I know it's staged so that the moms are always mad, but it is her studio and her decision. If she had modified it in such a way that they would surely lose, I get being mad. Or if she said, nevermind, we're not doing the dance at all or starting over with a new dance you all have to learn in 15 minutes, that would be reason to question her decisions. But it was one trick that he did in reverse of them. Big freaking deal. 

And why does that one mom look like Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy? 

[LibertarianSlut]

I guess I don't care when Abby is being a straight-up bitch as much as when she's being an inconsistent bitch.  Case in point:  When she yelled to Michelle, as she was getting into her van, "your kid sucks!" Well...ok, she said what she said.  It's your job as a mom to decide whether to keep Sarah there.

But, at the end, when Abby was screaming at Lilliana and telling L not to cry, Abby told the kids that when she yells at them, one of the acceptable options was to let it go in one ear and out the other.  So why the hell did she get so angry last week and almost kicked GiaNina off the team for simply verbalizing ("I don't care what Abby says") Abby's own damn advice?  It's stuff like that when I am just like, I can't take this bitch anymore.

Anyone hoping that Abby would fall forward when she stood up like Hannibal Lechter in her wheelchair?  Me neither.

I don't care about these moms being so crazy; I care that they're not smart at all.  Abby said she was going to let one dancer go in the coming weeks.  The rest of the episode everyone was scrambling to stay on the team, the party line being that they had to prove to 'Miss Abby' that they're the best.  No...you just have to not be the worst.  She said she was replacing one kid, not the entire team.

Also, in season four, Abby repeatedly screamed from the rooftops that she was replacing the entire team (except Maddie), and all she wound up doing was bringing in an additional team for a handful of episodes.  So...I would say the odds of someone leaving on their own volition are much higher than someone being kicked off for poor dancing.

I didn't like either of the duets.  They didn't seem like they required very much skill, and they were rough around the edges.  The group dance was meh.  It looked exactly like something the old team would have done when Brooke and Paige were still there, before Kalani came in to elevate the team some.

I couldn't believe that Tricia did exactly what the other moms told her to--she went down and said she wanted Abby to be as tough on Brady as she was on the other kids--and they were still mad at her.  I do not understand that for the life of me.  What do they want her to do, be like Kathy Bates from Misery and smash Brady's legs so that he can't dance?  Will they be happy then?

I don't mind Joann and Ann so far, but Michelle is showing signs of weakness and stupidity for the first time.  Stacey, head mean girl, with her cronies Ashley and Erin are disgusting human beings.  

Out of all these kids that supposedly want to be on the show, Abby picked...Presley?  Anyone have any insight about that one?  it's a head-scratcher for me.

[Tikichick]

I want to see the reaction of the other moms when it's explained to them that Brady being left dominant means he has another advantage in his toolbox.  Most training focuses on right dominant moves since that is more prevalent, therefore the lefties also train more on the right and have a better chance of becoming fairly proficient on their right side.  It's much more unusual to get a lot of actual training and practice time to build left proficiency.  When choreographers want to use symmetry or something in particular that utilizes the left they're generally pretty thrilled to find a proficient leftie to hang it on.  

Cue the seething.

[Loves2Dance]

This episode was...tiresome. 

Did anyone else notice there were 3 awards in front of the kids after the Duet Awards? I went and looked to see why; Sarah and Savannah also had a solo and actually came in 1st, Brady/Pressley were 2nd, Lilly and Hannah were 3rd. Gotta love the ALDC editing...as if google doesn't exist. 

The drama feels forced which makes it less enjoyable; but I did truly believe Ann's meltdown was real. She strikes me as a mom who wants so much for their kid, but the kid just doesn't and mom can't cope. 

I also didn't realize that after Cheerleading Generation they show the first 10 minutes of the next week's episode so the rest of my comment will be a spoiler. Open if you dare...

Spoiler

Congratulations Moms, you've gotten the best dancer on the team kicked off. Frankly, Brady is too good for the team; but telling him he is going home, but still has to dance one more week is an absolute mind F...even by Abby's standards.  

Edited June 19, 2019 by Loves2Dance

[marinaalexis]

Spoiler

According to Abby at 6:17 in this typical egotistical video in which she trashes everyone else on the show, it was actually the producers who wanted Brady and his mom gone. And I believe they weren't contracted for the entire season in the first place. The whole "the moms chased them away!" narrative is just drama for the show. Nonetheless, I'm really sad to see Brady go, even if it's temporary. He's clearly the best on the team, and he seems like such a genuinely good kid.

Lilly's the one I'm really concerned about. She's having breakdowns every episode, and even her interviews make her seem like a complete stress case. I've seen a lot of people complain about her being "entitled," but all I see is a kid who's receiving way too much pressure from both her mother and herself to be perfect. She doesn't act like a ten year old and it's heartbreaking.

Edited June 19, 2019 by marinaalexis

[Absolom]

1 hour ago, marinaalexis said:

And I believe they weren't contracted for the entire season in the first place.

I expect that is it all in nutshell.  This was production planned from square one.  That was my first thought when I read in this thread what was happening.

ETA:  Another ratings drop:

508 K viewers and a 0.14 rating.  Kill the dead duck now.  

Edited June 19, 2019 by Absolom

[Jsage]

This is the first time I'm truly considering not watching this show anymore. The fights between the moms are just exhausting. Abby is as cruel as ever. Most of the girls aren't very endearing and I hate watching them come close to a panic attack every episode. Many of the dances so far have been sub par for me. Not difficult, not memorable and, often, not danced that well.This show was one of my favorites for its first few seasons. Definitely not anymore.

[Katy M]

I liked Brady and Pressley's duo.  It probably wasn't the most difficult/technical dance in the world, but I had fun watching it.  And as a non-dancer that's all I care about:)

If I hadn't known what The Healer (or whatever it was called) was about, I don't know that I would have gotten it from watching the dance.  I think they all did a pretty good job with what they had, but it just wasn't choreographed clearly, or was too complex for a 2 minute dance.  Maybe it made more sense if you got to see the whole thing.  I would rather see full dances, and all the dances, than watch the moms yell and scream and make fools of themselves.