Playing Naomi on Lost was one thing; for Marsha Thomason, tougher than getting murdered in a jungle might be playing sports agent MJ on Make It or Break It … the participants are certainly more ruthless.
Plus, who wants to square off with a teen-athlete’s parent, even a good one like Payson’s mom, Kim? It’s damn you for not making my kid a superstar, or damn you for trying to corrupt my kid. Well, at least MJ appears to have a past with coach Sasha (Neil Jackson), and it doesn’t seem to have ended on bad terms … who knows where that might go?
But it doesn’t look like she’ll be landing Payson, the whale, as a client. Mark (Brett Cullen)? All it takes is a little conversation with your kid about how you want them to stay a kid (or a near-facsimile) a bit longer, without having to undertake the rather difficult task of being responsible for the financial well-being of your family. It’s the reason you started hauling beverages, although not a great one for keeping that from your wife; she should know when the right time to leave you is. Kidding!
So, Emily got the boot for being herself. Sasha wasn’t necessarily wrong — although a bit harsh — but that was the athlete that Marty (Erik Palladino) brought in: raw, rough, and renegade. Sasha shouldn’t have the same amount of patience for it as Marty would, but he needs to realize its going to be a process. No, she shouldn’t go to Nationals yet, because she’s yet to be trained into preparedness, but she does need a place to hone her craft.
However, if he booted her for not listening, and specifically told her to get out of the Rock, how does her sneaking back into the Rock look good for her? I know I’m going to hear about how I’m simplifying things, but if the knock against her is her being too headstrong, she didn’t do herself any favors by breaking in.
Or by blindly seeing nailing the dismount as an indicator of her belonging in the gym. In fact, if I were Sasha, and was faced with someone who just so didn’t get it … well, I certainly wouldn’t be participating in what was one of the creepiest of almost pedophiliac scenes on a network called ABC Family. I’m sure some found it touching, but that scene between Sasha and Emily was extremely creepy for me, and I wasn’t convinced he wasn’t going to do something completely inappropriate to her, no matter how good a guy he seems to be. Yuck.
Creepy for a different reason are Emily and Not-Razor (Johnny Pacar), and I’m wondering if the writers got stuck with this story after Nico Tortorella, who appeared as Razor for three episodes before “taking off for a few weeks,” landed a gig on another show. Whoops. I imagine Razor will return briefly, punch out Not-Razor, quit their band, and leave for Idaho to join a fanatical militia…. That targets the National Gymnastics competition, and … um, and leaves.
And maybe takes Lauren with him? That’s one sick puppy, and not in a soap opera villain way — like, worse than that guy on Days of Our Lives who gave Marlena amnesia (is that even vaguely accurate?). It’s clear this is where the writers want her, so I don’t know if there’s merit in debating it.
But to the plot; I’m not quite sure (I’m being generous) what her goal was by stealing Kaylie’s necklace. However, I did pick up on something: when watching Summer (Candace Cameron Bure) lecture Lauren, picture DJ giving it to Stephanie.
Spooky, right?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Aug 04, 2009 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
Payson was adorable in her big announcement scene, so proud of herself for helping her family, and so clueless as to how her parents would take her impulsive decision. She seems like a shark when performing but a little kid at home.
Yes, banning Emily from his gym makes no sense, but it was all a ploy on Sasha’s part. He acts like an ass publicly, but in that same scene, MJ, the only one that knows him personally comes up to him and quietly calls him on “being up to something.” He then let Emily break into the Rock to train (and naturally Damon has a criminal past to be more of a bad boy), dismissed her again after her perfect performance, and waited for her to break down completely before trying to actually teach her.
I don’t understand the Emily character, so I’m not sure what his plan actually accomplished, but it’s pretty easy to understand what he was doing. He was just trying to break through her toughness and unwillingness to trust him, since asking nicely didn’t work. Everything Sasha does or says seems to be some form of manipulation, whether he’s dealing with the kids or their parents, and I find myself enjoying it.
Notice Lauren never gave Carter back his Blackberry, either. I think she’s just taking trophies since she can’t have him, and she certainly didn’t want to let the other girl keep his necklace. Or maybe she’ll become a serial killer.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m with you on liking Payson, but I don’t think you can call her much more than a self-absorbed teen-athlete. Yes, she computed the family’s need for money into wanting to become pro, but she was driven to it, I think, by two outside factors: the fact that Kelly Parker was going to make millions “just for showing up to Nationals”, and her own self-interest in daddy doing something respectable or, if not, just being there for her 24/7. I think applying altruism to her act is a little too much, even if she were just a normal teen. But yes, she’s a kid at home because she’s never been forced to be anything else. No school, no chores, no nothing.
I understand that Sasha had a grand plan, but that still doesn’t address the issue of how kicking her out does nothing, and neither does her sticking the landing. Even a big scam needs to make sense in the end. Emily’s “break down” did nothing to change her drive to be on her own, and her decision to fall into Sasha’s arms doesn’t prove otherwise. TV shows will do what they do, and consider it enough, but it’s still valid to apply it to real life, and see how it might stand up in the light of day. That’s where my questioning the whole thing comes from.
I enjoy Sasha too (although I like Marty better), but I don’t think he broke through to anything … everyone can lose it upon occasion; that doesn’t mean there’s a practical application to that episode afterward.
Definitely serial killer … after Nationals.
Who said anything about altruism? Yes, there is a measure of ego and selfishness in her decision, but to say it’s not primarily motivated by a desire to help her family is unnecessarily cynical. Payson’s never shown an interest in the fame or money before, only in being the best. You can call her self-absorbed, but intensely focused is a nicer way of putting it. And she doesn’t seem like she would enjoy the publicity and personal appearances involved in going professional, but she’s willing to do it because they need the money.
I’d expect Kaylie or Lauren to be mortified by seeing their fathers delivering beer, but Payson and her family have always been portrayed as more down-to-earth, so that seemed more of a wake-up call to her than an embarrassment. And she didn’t want to beat Parker in endorsement earnings; she just knows that she would command just as much if not more if she went that route.
Don’t ask me to explain how Emily’s transformation was supposed to work. I do know that Sasha didn’t care at all about her sticking the landing–that was all Emily’s misconception. Apparently, doing everything possible to publicly humiliate and attack her was his strategy. Falling on command was only the first step, not the end of her obedience training. And if you thought that was skeevy, just imagine how bad their hug in the darkness would have been without the ennobling English accent.
I forgot to add that I don’t think we can assume Payson doesn’t do school at all. I don’t know anything about real amateur athletes, but I’d assume that all the girls were home-schooled the rest of the year when it wasn’t just a few weeks until a big meet. Have they said otherwise on the show yet?
Also, Kim and Mark are so grounded and responsible that I can’t believe they wouldn’t insist on at least partial schooling, and maybe even some light chores around the house, as their daughters do have some downtime. The other parents, sure.
Lastly, calling Payson a whale is pretty mean. Just because she isn’t a stick like Emily doesn’t mean she’s anything other than normal.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think you’re just a lot more sunny and bright than I am. :)
We saw in the pilot that Payson was a little afraid of what was to come after the Olympics were over … going pro is the answer that went unspoken, or maybe even unthought-of, at the time. Either way, she’s made it clear that she wants to be known far and wide as the best. Part of that is the athletics, and part is fame and fortune.
Even if Payson’s family is “down to Earth” it’s relative to the other girls’, not to the rest of us. They do still have an Olympic-caliber athlete for a daughter. She’s not thinking like the rest of us might be, and she’s also still a teenage girl – neurotic and self-conscious in social settings. She has the embarrassment gene, too.
I meant that she doesn’t attend high school; we know that they’re all home-schooled. Not the same thing as far as their development into adults goes.
By “whale” I was referring to her potential as a client (“But it doesn’t look like she’ll be landing Payson, the whale, as a client”), as in, the big fish. I’ve never commented on anyone’s physical attributes before, have I? It’s not me.
I know, but people usually say “the big fish.” You can’t leave an opening like that and expect someone not to crack wise. ;-)
Sunny and bright and 90ºF today. And yes, like Ambrose Bierce, I am an optimist when it comes to my fiction.
*POST AUTHOR*
I hear “whale” a lot more commonly. Whichever. ;)
Hey, as long as you seriously didn’t think I was making fun of her for nothing, Bitter Bierce.