Make It Or Break It - Life Or Death - Recap
The lack of Sasha is really starting to be felt around the gym. Darby is still a crappy coach and is making wrong decisions left and right. Lauren also continues to make horrible decisions. But I have to give it to her, she's a fantastic actress and manipulator when it comes to her dad and Summer. Lauren senses that things may be heating up between Payson and Max but has already claimed him for herself. Max is taking professional headshots for the girls and makes a date with Payson during hers. When it comes to going to Lauren's house, he spends more of his time taking pictures of her in her underwear. Were those things leather? And I don't fully blame Lauren here either. I have to question Max's judgment for thinking that was okay when he knows Payson likes him back. Either way, it doesn't end well for Lauren when Summer walks in on them. Summer threatens to tell Lauren's dad but once again, Lauren manipulates her way out of trouble. Sigh. And of course, Payson sees the pictures and wants nothing to do with Max.
Payson isn't having a good week. She's annoyed that their upcoming meet with a legit team has been canceled. Darby replaces it with a meet that Payson describes as a waste of time. Their new competition is apparently known for sucking. The girls put no effort into their training and with Darby as their coach, there's no one pushing them. Darby continues to try and get Payson to like her and makes a deal with her. If Payson tries to get people around the gym on Darby's side, she'll help her do a move that she's not ready for. Payson is excited to learn a new challenging move that will up her difficulty level but Mama Keeler is pissed Darby would put her daughter at risk. Oh no! Save Payson!
Kaylie is still struggling with the death of her friend Maeve and the secrets she's been keeping. She's shocked when she receives a call from Maeve's family asking her to speak at the funeral. She's not sure she can handle it but Damon offers to help her through it. They've been getting closer, bonding over his music. Damon offers to go with her but Kaylie runs out after confronting Maeve's parents who are completely convinced Maeve had gotten better. Kaylie breaks down and tells Damon the truth she's been hiding and finally accepts that she has a problem. She gets her feelings out in lyrical form by helping Damon write his new song. He's performing at The Shack and Emily isn't allowed to go.
But Darby wants everyone to like her right? So she arranges for a club field trip to see the show. Emily is shocked to see Kaylie up on stage singing and hugging her boyfriend. I think she should calm down. It's just a hug. And she probably has bigger problems. Summer shows up at the show to drag Lauren home and Marcus shows up to catch Emily before she sneaks out the back. He does however catch Darby drinking. Will she be fired? Darby is just messing up all over the place. The girls lose the meet with the crappy team and Payson falls attempting the move Darby encouraged her to do. Payson lays the smackdown on Darby for being a crappy coach and Darby leaves in tears.
Bring back Sasha!