S08.E11: Hannah Unmasked

[Guest]

Airs August 6, 2019

Quote

Hannah faces her biggest challenge yet when Abby assigns her the lead in the group dance; Elliana and Sarah have a solo showdown; Abby's treatment of Michelle threatens to tear Sarah and Michelle apart; Yolanda threatens to quit the team.

[Rabbittron]

14 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

Airs August 6, 2019

So what is new?

[tessat]

Dancing was superb. Routines were great. I just wish they'd leave out the mama drama. They pick on someone new each week.

[Tikichick]

As much as I enjoy the fact Hannah's mother seems to be kinder than we usually see on the show, I'm so glad the fact her domination of Hannah was pointed out.  Clearly her reaction shows the truth of the allegation -- and the fact that it's not anywhere near the first time she's heard it.  

The sudden, collective shift in the mothers' attitudes makes me think they somehow got some feedback, or production did, and decided to reign some things in a bit and pivot -- possibly so the audience at least has a scrap or two to work with as far as something to love to hate because these moms were beyond neck deep on the villain scale.   

[kicotan]

Hannah’s mom let it slip during one of the Talking Heads what her real problem is.  She said  “...we got the lead this week...”.  WE. No, Ann, Hannah got the lead this week, not both of you.

I wasn’t surprised that neither soloist won first place.  Their facial expressions of emotion were something that was emphasized during rehearsals and during the performance they both seemed to just have one pasted-on-smile throughout, especially Elliana.

The Michelle/Sarah drama is ridiculous.  Sucking up to the dance teacher and following their instructions at the studio is not “choosing her over her mother”.  Geesh.

Abby’s wigs look better than the Mom’s-why does their hair look so awful?  Don’t they have a stylist for the show?  At least Lilliana’s mom is letting go of the bleached blonde-her natural color looks so much better!

[rlc]

There’s probably a special place in hell for me saying/thinking this, but whenever Abby whizzes past in her super fast wheel chair, I hear the wicked witch music from Wizard of Oz in my head.

[Tikichick]

1 hour ago, kicotan said:

Hannah’s mom let it slip during one of the Talking Heads what her real problem is.  She said  “...we got the lead this week...”.  WE. No, Ann, Hannah got the lead this week, not both of you.

I wasn’t surprised that neither soloist won first place.  Their facial expressions of emotion were something that was emphasized during rehearsals and during the performance they both seemed to just have one pasted-on-smile throughout, especially Elliana.

Yes, that slip of the tongue highlighted the likely root of the issue.  With Hannah being 14 I hope something really pounds the danger of the situation into mom's head, because both likely outcomes of the situation as is point to frightening possibilities for Hannah -- the unholy mother of all rebellions or a meek knuckling under as perpetual lamb ready for slaughter for every bully and predator that comes her way whenever she's outside the stunted existence under mom's protective gaze.

Let her stumble, fall, screw up, learn to stand up and fix her mistakes when consequences are smaller and mom's around to offer appropriate guidance and support.

ETA:  Eliana's expression in particular really drew my eye in a not good way.  I thought it was very out of character for a kid who has shown some skill for acting in the past.  

Edited August 7, 2019 by Tikichick

[LibertarianSlut]

I'm going to pull up a seat and join everyone with the WTF-ery regarding the moms this ep.

First, Ann, it's so weak to try to let them chase you off the team.  Did she even watch this show before and see the bullying and piling on Melissa had to deal with every time she opened her got dam mouth in the early seasons?  If you want your kid to dance at this school, you'll put up with it.  If you want your kid to order her own mac and cheese, you tell her to speak up to the waitress if she's whispering.  If this becomes a pattern, let her not het a meal if she cannot order if effectively herself.  I promise, the kid will learn.  Ann, this isn't about you having courtesy for wait staff and not wanting to take all day.  This is a control problem you have that came bubbling to the surface last night.

Michelle--go upstairs!  You got what you wanted from Abby--Sarah is dancing--go upstairs!  Sarah--I give her points because it looks like she has watched the show, and she has learned that Abby loves a kid who will take Abby's side over her mom's, so that's exactly what Sarah did, and Michelle freaked out.  What a lunatic.  Again, if you're going to let a thing like family loyalty get in the way of learning at the feet of Abby Lee Miller (hahaha), then you aren't going to last long on the team, or you are going to be marginalized as the Nia.  Sarah doesn't want to be second string (or, as Yolanda would say, "second strand,") so she's doing what she has to do!

One thing I have never seen--a mother being harder on the kid than Abby is!  Yolanda, slow your roll, woman!  

I have noticed that this season is sort of featuring one or two kids at a time, which they've never done before.  I mean, did we even know Brady, GiaNina and Pressley were on the team last night?  I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

Stacey and Ashley continue as the resident mean girls.  

This group dance was so good!  Looked very different from anything I'm used to from them!  They looked like a completely different competitive team.  Great job guys!

I liked Eli's solo a hair more than Sarah's, but I thought Sarah did her dance justice.  It's hard to do acro and not look ridiculous or juvenile, but Sarah pulled it off better than I've seen it done even by Kalani.  I think she's a really strong little girl and I look forward to seeing what she's going to do.

[Absolom]

Slight ratings uptick:  602 K viewers and a .17 rating.  

Compared to the dismal ratings of many other summer Lifetime shows, they may be content with those numbers. 

Beating DM:  Married at First Sight:  1.027 M and a .32 rating which isn't anything to shout about.  

[Bichon]

Of note: the #2 program on all of cable tuesday night was The Real Housewives of the OC. 

Dance Moms rating of .25 for women 12 - 34 was tied with this episode, which in turn positioned itself as the #3 program for tuesday evening in this demographic. 

[Primeallthetime]

I feel for Elliana and Sarah - those two are elegant , well spoken and great dancers but their mothers will absolutely ruin them if they aren't careful. I seriously have no idea whose gaslighting this episode was worse - Yolanda's or Michelle's. At least Sarah calls her mothers bluff.

I thought Sarah's dance deserved to at least place. 

I like Brady and his mum but he feels very vanilla to me. Same with Presley

I question if Hannah is super quiet because that's her or if she genuinely has no desire to dance/be there but knows she could never say that to her mom. There have been super quiet girls like Chloe , Brooke and Ava but even they weren't THIS quiet. Hannah barely speaks.

I feel like Savannah's coming back - especially if Yolanda is sticking to her word and pulling Elliana from the team. I feel like they wouldn't have done an interview with her for the special if she was only going to be in a handful of episodes. Same with Camryn 

[tessat]

I really think Hannah is just naturally shy. I've had a couple of friends like that - super quiet until they get to know you. My cousin's daughter was the same way as is the granddaughter. I spent 6 hours with the granddaughter the other day - 12 yrs old - she hardly opened her mouth.

I too like the switch up on what kids are focused on each week. It's not just about 2-3 from the group for the whole season. I couldn't believe that Sarah didn't place as I thought she did a strong number.

[Jsage]

4 hours ago, tessat said:

I really think Hannah is just naturally shy.

I agree she is naturally shy. The thing is, she needs to learn coping skills to succeed in the real world. At 14, this is the time she should be developing coping mechanisms so her shyness doesn't turn into full-fledged anxiety over speaking. Her mom is doing her a great disservice by enabling her so much and not allowing this process to happen.

[PumpkinLumpkin]

7 hours ago, Primeallthetime said:

I like Brady and his mum but he feels very vanilla to me. Same with Presley

I agree about Brady. He's pretty bland. Pressley has a serious lacking of screentime. The season is almost over and still have no idea who she is. She's just there..... But from the little we seen of her, seems kinda drab.

[RebeccatheWriter]

 

 

 

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On 8/7/2019 at 9:20 AM, kicotan said:

Hannah’s mom let it slip during one of the Talking Heads what her real problem is.  She said  “...we got the lead this week...”.  WE. No, Ann, Hannah got the lead this week, not both of you.

I was being thrown back to Kelly back in the OG team. She was always throwing the we and I out there. In one of the feuds over costumes (cosh-tumes), she started screaming, "I never get my costumes on time." 

[Tikichick]

I can let it slide when the mother of the dancer speaks in first person making a comment about getting costumes late.  I was a dance mom who struggled with that issue from a dance studio.  It's stressful and a real scramble when you have less than 24 hours to alter and/or stone or embellish a costume before it hits the stage.  A child dancer isn't the one scrambling at that point, it's all on mom's shoulders -- and is not even a little bit fun.