Make It Or Break It S1xE10 "All That Glitters"

[babydraco]

>We open on a panoramic helicopter view of the Boston skyline. The girls descend from an airport shuttle in front of the Boston Commons Pyramid, and I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t know if this is a real place or not, but anyway, they’re instantly mobbed by the press. A reporter asks if Summer and Steve are Lauren’s “lovely mom and dad”. “That’s my dad, my mom’s dead,” Lauren mutters. Summer feels bad about encouraging Lauren to invite her mother, but Steve tells her not to worry about it.

For reasons I don’t fully comprehend, the reporters want to see what’s in Kaylie’s gym bag. When they pull out Carter’s necklace, Kaylie snatches it back and refuses to elaborate. Alex is, of course, embarrassed but Kaylie won’t give in. Emily’s trying to talk to Damon on the phone, explaining how Joe wouldn’t pay for Brian to come, since her mom broke up with him. Suddenly, the room breaks into applause so loud that Damon holds the phone away from his ear. Kelly Parker has arrived.

Mr. Keeler sneaks into the crowd and pretends to be a reporter, asking questions that allow Payson to send vague jibes Kelly Parker’s way.
Emily stands in the middle of the darkened gym. A worker turns on the lights and asks “Miss, are you supposed to be here?”

“I guess we’re about to find out,” Emily replies.

After the theme song, we see Brian sadly folding socks in the Kmetko Hovel while watching the Nationals competition on tv. Damon appears in the open doorway, introduces himself, and says he’s going to take Brian to Nationals.

On the bus.

Dude. I rode Amtrak from Boston to Denver last October. You go up through New York, and change trains in Chicago, there were at least two overnights that I recall. They’re not going to get there in time to see Emily if they go by bus. Of course, they’re going in a bus his friend has to drive to Boston for Radiohead to use, so it’s bound to be more private and comfortable than Greyhound.

Sasha announces the roommate pairings. He wants to put Lauren and Kaylie together, and Payson and Emily. Kaylie won’t room with Lauren , so Payson and Emily volunteer to switch.

Leo arranges (Leo, remember him? Kaylie’s brother?) for Carter to attempt to apologize to Kaylie. Kaylie is not interested, she’s sick of other people telling her what they need, and she wants to be alone.
Now we’re watching the parade of teams. There are three, the Denver Club, some random other place whose location isn’t even announced, and The Rock. The announcer says that the competition takes place over two days. So yeah, Brian and Damon will arrive just in time to leave again.

The girls are all doing well in their events, but Lauren is crabby, Emily is terrified, Payson is in pain and Kaylie is overwhelmed. Summer goes out into the lobby to call Lauren’s mother (Leslie) and yell at her for not showing up. But the conversation she has appears to enlighten her to new information, that I expect we’ll be told about in a minute.
Kelly Parker is good. Really good.

Emily is up on floor routine and performs her classical piece disappointingly.

Steve finds Summer in the hotel room, furiously packing.

“I thought it was Lauren who wouldn’t let me in,” She snaps. Summer has learned that Steve told Leslie Tanner not to come, that he practically threatened her. Summer is so angry she grabs her suitcase and storms out.

The girls get dressed up and attend some sort of outdoor reception. It’s the same outdoor gathering place most of these types of scenes will be taking place in. Kelly Parker is there and destroys each of them with a carefully worded and timed reveal that she knows their embarrassing problems (or the most famous ones anyway). It’s kind of giggleworthy that after she’s driven off Payson (cortisone shots) Lauren (slutty mcslut) and Kaylie (secret boyfriend cheated on her) she just looks at Emily, smiles and turns away as if Emily is so pointless she’s not even worth insulting.

Kaylie and her dad fight , because as her sports agent he believes she doesn’t need to medal to get endorsements, her looks and personality are enough. Kaylie is offended that he doesn’t want more for her, even though she “doesn’t care about gymnastics” anymore.

Lauren freaks out when Steve admits Summer has left him again.

As they’re all fighting and being insulted by Kelly, Damon’s Radiohead bus pulls up. I guess his friend must have broken all speed records driving almost non stop on highways to cross the US in one day.

Night, Payson, Kaylie and Emily are in one of their hotel rooms when Lauren bursts in, having stolen Kelly’s gymbag. As they run giggling out of their room (why, I don’t know, what on earth are they planning to do with the bag?) they run into Sasha, who demands to know where they think they’re going, five minutes before lights out, in their pajamas. They lie and say they’re going to the gift shop for magazines and tampons (yeah right like any of them menstruate regularly) and he’s too embarrassed to question them further.

The next morning, Kaylie shows up at MJ’s door (remember MJ?) and asks to be represented by her. Kaylie says her dad doesn’t believe she’s a champion. MJ is highly reluctant, she doesn’t believe Kaylie is a champion with the will to win.

At the competition, the tv news guy goes through Kelly Parker’s bag, and finds lip hair removal, a self help book called “Lonely No More, a Dating Guide for Losers” and a jumbo pack of condoms. Leaving aside the question of why a dateless loser would buy that many condoms, that was a pretty transparent and childish thing to do.

Carter shows up waving a big pro Kaylie sign. But she tells him that while she loves him, she needs to focus on herself. When her dad comes down to congratulate her on her mature decision, she tells him she wants him to be her dad, not her manager.

Lauren is performing well, but not cheerfully. After a good vault, she runs over to her phone and calls Summer. She asks plaintively why Summer isn’t there, and tells her that she believed Summer wouldn’t leave them.

“I left your father, Lauren, “ Summer says. “I didn’t leave you. Look up.” She’s up in the stands. Lauren is thrilled. Payson lands a pretty great vault, but Sasha sees her wincing and she has to pretend to go to the bathroom so she can take another cortisone shot. While shooting up in the locker room, she hears Kelly Parker talking about “Just another dose”. She moves quietly closer to the bank of lockers that separate her from Parker. Kelly is getting injected with cortisone by a doctor.

“I thought you said you didn’t need drugs, “ Payson accuses.

“Oh please, Payson, we all lie.”

“Not all of us, “ Payson says. She tosses her needle and cortisone in the trash before walking out to begin her bar routine. It starts out well, but she only gets in a few moves before her hands slip. Payson plummets to the mat, striking her head and back.

Sasha and her parents rush over, but Payson is unconscious. As she’s being wheeled out on a stretcher (murmuring “I didn’t take it, I didn’t take it”) the announcer tells us that Kaylie is the next likely National Champion. A desperate Sasha finally allows Emily to use her old music. It goes really well (which is only going to encourage her).

Payson is awake at the hospital, and her parents are hemming and hawing about telling her the truth. She has a “lumbosacral fracture” but the good news is there’s no nerve damage. Payson sobs as she’s informed that she may never do gymnastics again.

Kaylie and Kelly compete on floor, and the montage is actually kind of neat, because both these actresses are very good dancers and fun to watch.

Kaylie is the new National Champion. Lauren, Kaylie, Kelly and Emily have all made the National team.

There’s some tedious bit with Leo and Damon’s non starter of a non rivalry over Emily.

The girls visit Payson in the hospital and all lay their hands on top of hers. It's very sweet.