The White Swan Lives!
Monica is still upset about the performance and her dreams of becoming the White Swan are shattered. She’s not as excited as she was before, and her attitude has changed a lot. This explains why Monica is so cold towards everyone.
As the gang heads to Chicago, Nick directs traffic in front of the camera, giving Wayne his lines as he informs the gang that they’re headed to Chicago to perform part of the ballet for the prestigious Chicago Ballet. They’re also going to be competing for a lavish sports car too, just to up the stakes a bit.
Monica is incensed and heads up to confront Nick. Only, he makes sure the rest of them can hear when Monica berates and puts them down in Nick’s office. ..
Many of the characters are going through a degree of drama, with Justin encouraged to talk about his past, including how his Dad kicked him out when he found out the boy was gay. There is some deep emotional scarring here, and enough for Nick to pry open with both hands. ..
According to Justin’s dad, he’s more annoyed about Justin turning off the big game to announce he’s gay than anything else. Well, Nick encourages him to show up at the ballet… sweetening the deal by mentioning Reggie will be there too.
The Chicago team’s performance has the knock-on effect of making all the gang members self-conscious and worried about their own dancing.
Monica and Wayne head out to talk to the team about Claude’s performance. It turns out that Claude’s visa has expired and he will be kicked out of the show with immediate effect. Monica decides to give it to Justin instead.
Reggie and Gabby go to a dentist convention and start dancing, drinking at the open bar. They have a great time and eventually it ends with Reggie pulled back into his hotel room with Brittney and the rest of the girls.
Meanwhile, Julia ends up talking with Raven on the webcam site after Kevin refuses to pick up his phone. It turns out he’s actually been paying for Raven’s tuition too, which completely crushes Julia. ..
The dress rehearsal for the big performance in front of the Chicago Ballet goes ahead. After a night of heavy drinking, Brittney is in no shape to perform, especially after she throws up in her bag. That means Gabby manages to make it in as the White Swan! Unfortunately everything goes awry just after Gabby takes to the stage. Justin’s dad shows up, distracting Justin from his moves. Thankfully though, Gabby nails her role with perfection.
Justin and his Dad hash it out, where everything goes to pot. It turns out Justin’s Mum was actually in love with her best friend, Tracy. This explains why Justin has resentment against his Dad, believing that he abandoned her when she needed him most.
Justin’s interview on-camera after the game was a turning point for him. He finally felt like he had his father’s attention and approval. ..
That evening, the group all get ready, singing and dancing along the corridors. There’s a beautiful one-shot sequence here, eventually culminating into them all together in the hallway, ready for the big show. Bravo to the team for filming this, it really is beautifully constructed. ..
Gabby and the gang make it back home to find that Julia has won the car. However, her money woes continue as she learns that Kevin has been spending more of her money – and he’s currently in Costa Rica.
The Episode Review
Monica’s past is finally brought to the forefront in this episode as we start to understand why she’s so involved with the production and her icy demeanor too. It’s clear that there’s a lot going on with her and this episode does a great job bringing that to the foreground.
Do people else think that the Brittney blowjob scandal is all one big misunderstanding? I mean, it could well be that nothing happened and Gabby has misinterpreted this but we’ll see. The pairing of Reggie and Gabby is a great move though and one that breaks down body stereotypes in an organic way, which is partly why this show works as well as it does.
Chicago Ballet’s dancers were amazing. Justin was great as the Prince and Monica may be grooming him to be her protégé. ..
Fox’s new series, The Big Leap, has been a big step forward for the network and an enjoyable series. Let’s hope the rest of the season follows suit! ..
