Even though “Make It Or Break It” is back, and had it’s season three premiere on March 26, one key actress was absent from the first episode.
Emily Kimetko (Chelsea Hobbs) has been apart of the show since season one and it was a disappointment not to see her in the season three premiere “Smells like Winner.” Emily provided the show with a character that was an outsider within the group of gymnasts. She was down to earth and struggling through financial and family problems.
It seems that the show is attempting to replace her with a new character, Jordan Randall (Chelsea Tavares). Jordan hitches a ride to the Olympic training camp where she has not even been invited to attend and camps out for days. Like Emily, Jordan is coming from nothing as the underdog. This similar story line may make this season very familiar and repetitive to what viewers have seen in the past two seasons. In the first episode, Tavares definitely does not come close to the acting standards of the other three actresses, but it is too early to judge what she will bring the show.
Another very similar story line from season two that is budding in the first episode is the romantic affair between the new coach, McIntire and the doctor/nutritionist. This is almost exactly like the relationship Coach Sasha Beloff (Neil Jackson) and Summer Van Horne (Candance Cameron). Sasha and Summer were forced to keep their relationship a secret because they worked together at The Rock Gym. It’s the same scene from season two, the couple hiding in the office canoodling.
Viewers know that the actresses who play the gymnasts are most definitely not performing all of the stunts that play in every episode but one scene in particular appeared extremely fake. When Lauren Tanner (Cassie Scerbo) is going up to the roof to steal back the lucky statue, it shows her flipping up to the roof and just looks completely falsified. If they are going to have stunts do them right so that the viewer is tricked to believing it’s real.
The girls no longer have their home at the Rock and rather are in entirely new territory so it is bound to get interesting. They have no rules when it comes to dating and no parents telling them what to do which will help make this season a lot more dynamic then the past two. Both Kaylie Cruz (Josie Loren) and Payson Keeler (Ayla Kell) both have boyfriends which are now allowed at their new training camp. However, of course Lauren is already getting in between Payson and her boyfriend Max (Joshua Bowman) out of jealousy. This aspect of the show is very predictable. In the beginning of the episode the viewer can easily guess that Lauren will steal Payson’s letter from Max at some point and tamper with it.
It is hard to judge solely from the premiere what this season will be like, but if it is anything like the last two seasons there will be a lot of tears, drama, and sweat.
