The abrupt end to the 2020 NCAA gymnastics season was a shock to everyone, us included. And while we understand and support the measures being taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it means that a lot of us are suddenly left with extra time on our hands…
Which is why we’ve decided to embark on an important journey, one that will take us back through one of television’s most important series to date: Make It or Break It. Every Saturday (and a number of other bonus days) from now until the 2021 season, our editors Katherine, Kalley and Claire will be breaking down and recapping each episode of everyone’s favorite gymnastics show.
Want to watch along? You can find MIOBI on Hulu and the Freeform app, all you have to have is a subscription/cable login. You can also buy the DVDs or purchase seasons or single episodes on various platforms, like iTunes. Join us in the cheesiness and the early 2010s TV gymnastics by using the hashtag #MakeItOrBreakItDown on Twitter as you watch.
You can read our S1E1 recap here.
Season 2, Episode 6: Party Gone Out of Bounds
**TW: Numerous Instances of Disordered Eating/Exercise**
Poor Lauren wakes up to some truly devastating news.
She walks through a rock-hewn 14th century Gothic cathedral downstairs and overhears her dad trying to sneak Chloe out of the house after a night of doing things Summer would definitely not approve of. BUSTED!
Lauren calls Chloe a “common tramp,” which is kind of rich coming from her. If that wasn’t sanctimonious enough, she asks, “So Dad, does this mean I can sneak boys into the house to have sex with?” THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING THIS ENTIRE SERIES. She also tells her dad she’s a virgin and plans on staying one.
Over to Kaylie: We get a montage of all her very unhealthy exercise and diet habits, culminating in her eating a quarter of a banana and ceremoniously throwing the remainder in the trash.
Chloe makes a big production of walking into the kitchen and telling the kids, “Oh man, y’all were sleeping so soundly last night you didn’t even hear me come in at a regular time that wasn’t an hour ago!”
Sasha and Summer are flirting in a way that would make middle schoolers roll their eyes. He asks her out on a formal date, and they agree to keep their relationship secret.
At the Rock, the girls are talking about the upcoming Worlds team selection and how to get an edge. They settle on climbing a mountain at 5:30 every morning (like you do). Austin invites them to a raging party at his new lake house with Olympians “Shaun, Bode and Evan.” What, was Ryan Lochte unavailable?
Lauren and Payson (?!) really want to go. Kaylie reminds them what happened the last time they went to a party; they remind her that she did a keg stand. Right then, Sasha shows up and insists that the girls take the weekend off to relax before they begin “boot camp” in preparation for Worlds trials. How convenient…
Kaylie thinks Sasha is testing them and insists they need to practice anyway since Emily can’t stick her vault, Lauren’s “DOD” on beam sucks and Payson is struggling with level 7 and 8 skills. Savage.
Kim shows up and tells Summer, “Gee, you’re awfully cheerful.” Summer IMMEDIATELY says, “I’m going out with Sasha tonight!” then bails on her job to go get a pre-date mani-pedi. Enter Sasha. Kim says, “Gee, you’re awfully cheerful.” Sasha IMMEDIATELY says, “I’m going out with Summer tonight!”
Lauren asks Carter why he didn’t come over last night. He explains that her pathological need to always be an asshole is a major turn-off for him. She says his “Mr. Nice Guy who always finishes last” persona is a turn-off for her.
Steve Tanner and Chloe have a responsible, sex-positive discussion about STDs STIs. They plan on a fancy date night to celebrate their 3 month-iversary. I’m so impressed, I’m not even going to shit on them for being in their mid- to late-30s and celebrating a 3 month-iversary.
Austin is trying to guilt Emily into coming to his party whether “Comandante Cruz” likes it or not. Somehow, Emily is able to resist his charms. Kaylie goes over to tell him to leave them alone, but they end up making a bet as to whether or not the girls will relent and go to the party.
Kaylie invites the girls (except Lauren) to spend the night so she can keep an eye on them. Emily can’t because she’s got to hang out with her brother since their “Mom Tramp” (Lauren’s words) is going to be out with Steve. Payson’s in, though. Lauren convinces Kaylie that Emily’s lying… Yes, because Emily has a history of lying.
Chloe confronts Lauren leaving the Rock to explain that she innocently fell asleep and nothing happened. Lauren snaps back, “Really? Because you sounded like a squealing cat in heat when you were banging my dad.”
Lauren tells Summer that Chloe’s been “flaunting having premarital sex” with Steve, which must mean it’s OK for her to have premarital sex too, right? She then begs Summer to get back together with Steve because, “I need a positive influence in my life and so does he. It’s not like you’re seeing anyone else.” Summer looks like she’s actually considering it.
Payson tells Kaylie she needs to chill with the stair-stepper. Kaylie insists she’s just following the Andre Agassi method of conditioning.
Because apparently Kaylie and Payson have switched personalities, Payson keeps pushing Kaylie to go to the party. Kaylie’s only interested in whether or not Emily’s there. When they call her house, Brian says she went to the grocery store. That’s all the proof Kaylie needs. They have to go to the lake house to bust her.
Sasha and Summer arrive at the snooty French restaurant for their date. The maître d’ immediately recognizes Summer because she used to eat there with Steve. This prompts Summer to tell Sasha how guilty she feels for “fibbing” to Lauren about being single and how upset Lauren that Chloe and Steve are doing it because she wants Summer and Steve to get back together. Sasha, understandably, thinks maybe Summer’s the one who’s upset… As she’s reassuring him that she’s so happy to be on a date and not have to hide their relationship, Steve and Chloe walk into Le Privilège.
Payson and Kaylie are spying on Austin’s party to see whether or not Emily’s there. Payson refuses to go in if Kaylie’s not going to let her do anything fun, saying she’s suffered enough humiliation recently; Kaylie has no such sense of self-preservation.
She’s so distracted by Lauren trying to make Carter jealous by getting freaky in a hot tub with several dudes that she loses her balance and falls into a huge pile of garbage right in front of Austin.
At Le Privilège, Chloe and Steve are arguing about whether or not Lauren got rid of Summer or Summer got rid of Steve. Chloe thinks Steve still has feelings for her, but he insists he is over Summer and doesn’t want to think about Summer so just stop talking about Summer. The waiter brings over a thing of champagne that Steve didn’t order… Sasha and Summer sent over, and I am officially deceased.
Austin brings over a beer for Kaylie “Remember When I did a Keg Stand” Cruz, and she tries to pump him for information about Emily (who isn’t there). Lauren sees them and takes a cell phone pic, which she promptly texts to Emily.
Steve and Chloe are stunned that Sasha and Summer are apparently dating. Both insist they aren’t jealous.
They go over to thank Sasha and Summer for the champagne. Sasha claims they’re having a business dinner and this is just a thank you to his fabulous gym manager for her hard work. Steve asks, “What about Kim? Are you not thankful for her hard work?” On cue, Kim comes running in, saying, “Whew, sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bear!”
Payson goes to snag Kaylie, but gets distracted by Shaun White and refuses to leave. Kaylie and Carter have a heart-to-heart over why he picked Lauren over her (Lauren, meanwhile, is still rolling around with those hot tub dudes). Emily shows up and is pissed that Kaylie’s there having a beer after making her promise not to go.
Kaylie tries to get Payson to back her up about how hard it is being team captain. Payson says leaders lead by example and not by trying to control everyone’s every waking move, prompting Kaylie to set a good example and leave. Payson decides to go meet Bode Miller.
Summer and Chloe bump into each other in the bathroom. She compliments Chloe’s ugly new Hermes scarf, then says, “I have a drawerful of them. It’s Steve’s go-to gift.”
Summer tells Chloe she “questions her judgement” for condoning casual, premarital sex and setting a bad example for their teenage children. OK, Judgy McHolier Than Thou… Not having premarital sex is totally fine; safe sex between enthusiastically consenting adults is also totally fine. Conflating someone’s value (or values) with their sex life is not fine.
Emily and Lauren get into a Twister competition where the winner can make the loser do whatever she wants… ‘K.
Eventually, Emily falls. Lauren’s about to make her do something awful when she spots Carter glaring at her. She says, “Emily has to accept my apology for stealing her choreography and ruining her custom leotard.” Emily, a much better person than me, does accept the apology.
Austin follows a distraught Kaylie to her car. In a moment of (seemingly) genuine concern, he tells her he gets the pressure to stay on top and that he appreciates how much she wants her teammates to succeed, too. She breaks down about how hard being a leader is and how much Lauren’s betrayal hurt. Austin advises her to just let go a little.
Uh oh, here come the police! Kaylie runs back in to save the Rock girls. Lauren forgets her purse and promptly gets questioned by a cop about underage drinking. The other girls distract the cop by doing aerials, giving Lauren a chance to get away.
The cops have blocked all the entrances, forcing the girls to get creative with their escape.
Sasha takes Summer back home, and she apologizes for ruining their first date. Sasha asks if it’s really better that they hide their relationship just so Lauren will think there’s a chance Steve and Summer will get back together.
The girls somehow manage to swim to safety (which is great cross-training, btw). They talk about all the “normal” things they can’t do if they want to make it to the Olympics. Ultimately, Kaylie apologizes for acting like a drill sergeant. They all promise to do their best if Kaylie promises to stop trying to control everyone. They girls chuck their promise rings into the lake, which makes my True Love Waits-surviving heart happy.
Steve and Chloe are drinking snifters of brandy by the fire, so classy. He suggests they move it into boudoir. Chloe parrots Summer’s spiel about setting a good (by Summer’s standards) example for the girls. After some back and forth, they agree to only do it in hotels from now on…
Instead of having sex, they decide to make fried ice cream (a decision I can respect). Chloe goes searching for a deep fryer and catches Lauren and Carter in flagrante. Oof.
Balance Check
Every week we will break down the little moments that stood out as being extremely on point and those that wobbled a bit too much. Shout out to Vulture and its Gossip Girl Reality Index for providing the template for our version.
Faker Than Austin Being Able to Afford a Luxury Lake House
- Sasha thinking the girls who make the 2010 Worlds team are a shoo-in for the 2012 Olympic team. Minus 5, one point each for 2010 Worlds team members Rebecca Bross, Mackenzie Caquatto, Bridget Sloan, Mattie Larson and Alicia Sacramone.
- The maître d’ at Le Privilège telling Summer, “It’s good to see you again, Miss Van Horne,” when she’s obviously on a date with another dude. Fancy waiters understand the value of discretion. Minus 3.
- Cell phone photos from 2010 did not look like this. Minus 2.
Total: -10
Realer Than Summer Being a Passive-Aggressive Jerk Towards Her Ex-Fiancé’s New Girlfriend
- Lauren successfully manipulating people time and time again, even when they’ve previously been burned by her. Sociopaths gonna sociopath. Plus 5.
- Teenage girls thinking massive sunglasses render them unrecognizable. Plus 3.
- Emily and Kaylie holding their noses before jumping into that lake. If you grew up around lakes, you get it. Plus 2.
Total: 10
Rating:
1: The Feeling After You Find Out NCAAs Is Cancelled (Too Soon?)
2: The NCAA Banning Chalk Blowing Choreography
3: Brandie Jay’s Accidental DTY
4: Kelly Garrison Squeal After a Stuck Oklahoma Vault
5: It was beautiful, it was lovely, we went out there and ENJOYED THIS
Call it Anna Pavlova’s second vault, ’cause this episode earned a net neutral 0.
Recap by Claire Billman
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