Make It or Break It Volume One Extended Edition DVD Review
Posted by Michael Weyer on 01.12.2010
ABC Family's newest drama lands the mark in terms of some intriguing stories and acting in a unique setting.
Make It Or Break It Volume One DVD
Canadian Home Video
430 Minutes
For a network that sounds kid-friendly, ABC Family has been giving the CW a run for the money in terms of shows that highlight teenage angst and sex. From The Secret Life of the American Teenager to Greek, the network has been providing some rather unique drama. Now added to the list is Make It or Break It, a series which rises from its “young gymnasts” label to become a good show with nice character turns. As has been the case with ABC Family, the first half of the first season of the show is now on DVD in time for the second half premiering this week. While the extras are a bit scarce, the actual show provides some nice entertainment.
The Show
The series is set in Boulder, Colorado, specifically the top-notch gym Rocky Mountain or the Rock for short. In the first episode, Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs) has moved to Boulder with her flighty mother Chloe (Susan Ward) and her wheelchair-bound brother Brian (Wyatt Smith). Emily has gotten a scholarship deal with the Rock to pursue her gymnastics dream. She soon finds herself getting involved with the main players at the Rock:
Kaylie Cruz (Josie Loren) is a rich girl whose mother Ronnie (Rosa Blasi) was a former pop singer and father Alex (Jason Manuel Olazbal) a baseball player. She’s keeping secret her dating fellow gym star Carter (Zachary Burr Abel) as she’s worried her dad, who manages her career, might not approve. Payson Keeler (Alva Kell) is the top gymnast, her parents Kim and Marc (Peri Gilpin and Brett Cullen), middle-class who try to help their daughter out as she puts gymnastics before everything else in her life. Lauren Tanner (Cassie Scerbo) is a “mean girl” who expects to be the best. She’s not happy at the discovery that her father Steve (Anthony Starke) is dating his secretary Summer (Candice Cameron Brue), a Christian lady who Lauren is convinced is a gold-digger.
The arrival of Emily doesn’t sit well with the three friends, particularly after she beats out Lauren in a competition. Steven decides to leave with not just Lauren but also The Rock’s coach, Marty (Erik Pallindo). Marty doesn’t want to go but is forced to when Steven threatens to reveal that Marty has been having an affair with Ronnie. The gym is in a bit of chaos after the departure with Kim taking up handling the finances. However, being blackmailed rubs Marty the wrong way and he keeps Lauren down. Trying to usurp him, Steven seeks out Sasha Belov (Neil Jackson), an Olympic legend who’s become a bit of a recluse. Sasha refuses to replace Marty but says he would like to handle the team at the Rock. Lauren and Steven swallow their pride and come back to the Rock with Sasha in tow as the new coach tries to whip the girls into shape for Nationals while dealing with their own problems.
The setup of the series is rather unique in how it shows off the bat the fact that while
friends, the four main leads are also competitors. Emily is seen as the outsider with Lauren particularly down on her throughout the season. Payson and Kaylie are a little more open but still clearly don’t like someone coming into their gym and Emily has to fight for her place. But it’s also fun seeing the class clashes between the rich Kaylie, slightly less rich Lauren, middle-class Payson and dirt-poor Emily as their parents also show some fun mixes as well. It’s a fun dynamic that helps carry the show.
Of course, this is a teen drama and there’s some major issues for the characters. The big one is in the third episode when they sneak off to a college party where Kaylie and Carter get into a big argument and afterward Carter sleeps with Lauren. Carter deals with the guilt over the season while Lauren (who’s always had a crush on him) tries to win him for real and the tension under the surface between the friends provides some nice material.
Kometko is the main focus as Emily tries to prove herself to the doubters around her. She and Sasha clash quite a bit as he even bans her from the gym at one point for refusing to listen, forcing her to finally adjust her attitude. That attitude is explained by her upbringing as Chloe has been constantly on the move with one bad relationship after another and Emily has been forced to be more of the adult in the family. At first tempted by band guy Razor (Nico Tortorella), Emily is also drawn to Damon (Johnny Pacar), who helps her at the pizza place where she works and with her struggles at the gym. Kometko gives the role a nice believable feeling of “chip on your shoulder” as Emily tries to soften her independent spirit a bit.
At first, Lauren seems the typical bitch, looking down on others, seducing Carter and no qualms leaving the Rock high and dry when she leaves. She also is disdainful of Summer, despite the fact the woman truly cares for Lauren’s dad and wants to get to be friends. She even shares with Lauren the fact that she was pretty “open” in high school and realized how bad that was and doesn’t want Lauren going down the same path. But in one of the show’s nice layers, there’s a reason behind Lauren’s feelings. Apparently, instead of being around the world doing humanitarian work like she tells everyone, Lauren’s mother is a drug addict who, after years of rehab and broken promises, left her family. While angered over that, Lauren also holds onto the hope that her mom will be coming back and resents Summer being around. Her work with Carter is interesting as well as she can come off conniving and selfish wanting her best friend’s guy but you sense how it’s not just her expecting to have what she wants, she really does care for Carter and thinks she can do well with him. Scerbo does a really good job elevating what could have been a one-dimensional bitchy character with some real depth to help you sympathize with her.
Kaylie is at the center of a lot of the drama and you feel sorry about her pining over Carter, unaware of his cheating. She gets good stuff when she discovers her mom’s affair and is outraged at how she betrayed Kaylie’s dad. Loren ably sells Kaylie’s desire to win while also handling a girl who’s been brought up in luxury and doesn’t quite understand how others need to struggle. Her single-mindedness is outdone by Payson, who completely ignores anything in life that doesn’t help her gymnastics dreams. She has her own family issues as when she visits Emily at the pizza place and is stunned to see her dad delivering beer, revealing he’d lost his job weeks before and didn’t tell anyone. A subplot about her seeking painkillers for a back injury takes up the latter half of the year and while Kell may come off a bit one-note at times, she does get good material on Payson’s ultra-dedication.
The adults get their fair share of moments as well. Ward is a blast as Chloe, dressing in wild outfits and has a nice dynamic with Emily. At times, she seems to not understand how embarrassing she is but she’ll also show regret over her actions and knows she’s a living reminder to Emily to avoid those same mistakes. Their Gilmore Girls-like vibe offers a great energy to the show. Blasi is good showing the guilt Ronnie has over the affair while Olzabal is pretty much in the background, his big moment coming with his overreaction at discovering Carter and Kaylie dating. Veteran Gilpin gives Kim the right amount of world-weariness of the middle-class mom pushed into helping her daughter’s dreams while she and her husband put their own plans on hold a bit. The tension between them regarding his job situation is a nice realistic touch to things. Cameron puts Full House behind her as Summer, seemingly innocent at times with her attempts to get close to Lauren but also shows backbone as she tells Lauren point-blank she’s going to be in their life and she has to accept it. Starke also shows different sides, selfish and conniving but also caring for daughter and girlfriend, although he makes a big mistake near the end that hurts both. Finally, Jackson is terrific as Sasha, cool all the time with a dry humor but hard as hell when coaching. He knows the girls need a drill sergeant, not a friend and makes it clear he brooks no insubordination, as when he punishes the girls for their college party visit by making them train all Sunday long. But he knows how to soften it just enough at times so you can tell he truly likes them and wants them to succeed.
The actual gymnastics scenes are well done as the actresses make believable athletes. The story works well with various touches like a mother-daughter fashion show and the conflicts between the parents. The best episode is the penultimate one as the truth about Carter and Lauren comes out and Kaylie runs away. The other three girls try to find her, leading to a night sharing their various secrets and fears. At the same time, their mothers get together for their own night of drinking and sharing and the dual meetings work together wonderfully. The finale is the big Nationals competition as the girls perform while various subplots involving their parents come to a head and a major shake-up occurs that plays into the current season.
The show can be a bit melodramatic and goes for the teenage TV clichés like training to rock songs and some of the family stuff you see coming. While they do a good job overall, every now and then, the actresses can come off a bit whiny and off-kilter for the drama around them. The writing can also be hit and miss as there are clever bits but also over the top moments and dialogue. But the gym routines and better, the constant competition between the characters, add a nice dynamic to things. It’s more adult than you expect as well as the teens adjust their dreams to the hard reality around them. Overall, the series is a pretty fun show that gives a nice edge to the usual teen affair and while it may not land on target all the time, it makes a good try nonetheless.
Rating: 7.7 out of 10.0
Video: Widescreen 1.78:1, enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The video does come off crisp and clear, showing the action well and sells the show’s visual style too.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 SurroundSound with subtitles in Spanish and French. The audio is quite clear, helpful with both the dialogue and the various music used as well with little need to adjust it.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
Bonus Features
The final episode is an “extended cut” which adds a few minutes of footage, most notably the girls pulling a prank on an arrogant rival.
Making It (8:52) is the standard “making-of” featurette. Holly Sorensen, the show’s creator and head writer does seem to go a bit far with her comment on how “the national mood was right” for the show but you can’t argue with her obvious love of the material. They discuss the casting as they wanted actresses with the right build and hopefully some gym/cheerleading experience. Hobbs reveals she was the last one cast and as a dancer, needed a crash course in gymnastics. Carolyn Day, the gym coordinator is shown putting them through training and the girls all boast ripped-up palms to show their dedication. Greg Barnett, the stunt coordinator, talks about how the actresses like to do as much as they can but do need to let the stunt doubles step in. A fun bit is costumer Mary Kate Killilea talking about how the leotards are designed for each character specifically with Kaylie’s being high-end due to her being wealthy while Payson and Emily’s are more simple. The actresses all give major props to real gymnasts, understanding them much better and in awe of how they accept this all as just part of the life. A fun focus overall on how the show works.
There are six deleted scenes, most obviously cut for time. A few bits are nice like Summer talking Steven into showing her off as his girlfriend more. The best sequence was sadly dropped, a different way for Chloe and Ronnie to bond as Chloe (having seen Ronnie and Marty kissing) is confronted about it as Ronnie wants to keep her quiet. (“I want you to treat me with respect.” “Can’t I just write you a check?”) The scene gets quite good as Chloe, having been through more than her share of bad relationships isn’t judgmental of Ronnie and even telling her how to win back her husband’s attentions. It gets funny as Emily comes home, shocked that her mom and Ronnie are bonding and Chloe blurts out the truth to a great reaction. A shame it was dropped as the actresses do a great job with it.
Rating: 7.5 out of 8.0
The 411: While it can be rough at times, overall Make it or Break It balances some good acting and writing with nice plots and twists. The adult themes may be much for a younger audience but still score well with viewers, leading to a half-season that's a pretty good drama that can hopefully continue its winnig ways for a while.
