If you thought Yolanda unleashed some serious crazy on last week’s episode of Dance Moms, she must have been contagious (haha!). Just when I thought we’d found an even keeled replacement for the unhinged Abby Lee Miller things started going south rather quickly!
The moms are beginning to doubt Laurieann Gibson’s magic touch. She doesn’t have the formula for winning like Abby has. Laurieann blames the lack of girls’ stamina, but the mothers are buying it. Ashlee is starting to regret her choice to invite Laurieann to the studio. In Laurieann’s A-list, the minis are on the bottom, or D-list. Yolanda tries to put in her two cents, but she’s quickly shut down. Kendall and Nia are on the C-list for not working hard enough or dancing up to their potential…and Maesie joins them for not dancing at all. Kalani and Camryn comprise the B-list with Brynn on the top.
Laurieann gives Nia and Kalani a duet but rips into Nia about dancing up to her expectations. Brynn and Kendall will be also be doing a duet. The minis are not included in the group routine, and she dismisses the mothers over Yo-yo’s interjections. In the viewing room, the mothers bicker about who is benefiting most from Laurieann and which dancers had the best advantages under Abby. Ashlee believes its Kendall and Nia in both instances. Holly disagrees, but their argument is cut short because Laurieann decides to swap out Nia for Camryn. Holly is confused, and Ashlee needles her about the flip-flop. Does Holly love Laurieann as much now? Camryn’s mother doesn’t think she’ll keep Camryn in the dance, but she’s mistaken. It’s awkward for Camryn as she replaces Nia amidst a lecture from Laurieann about Nia needing to find the fight in herself. Nia and Holly leave the studio with minimal drama, but they are certainly not happy about this turn of events.
Kalani has her own prom dress line, and she’s excited to have her teammates wear her designs in the group number, Contagious. Laurieann screams at the girls to revel in their exhaustion and defeat. She’s definitely unleashed her inner Abby, freaking out about a win. If the girls can’t make it happen, she’s leaving. Holly worries what will be come of the ALDC with Abby MIA and Laurieanne threatening to walk. As Brynn and Kendall rehearse their Olivia Newton John inspired aerobics routine, Jill and Ashlee complain about the exercises in the choreography, and they approach Laurieann with their concerns. It does not go well. As Laurieann goes through Kalani’s dresses, she rants about how disrespectful the mothers are. Did she giggle and chitchat when she was meeting Prince or working with Michael Jackson? Hell no! She interrupts her own tirade to compliment the gowns, and Ashlee swallows a laugh at the stark switch in personalities. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Laurieann who quickly puts her in her place. Perhaps dance competitions aren’t for Ms. Gibson?
The following day, Laurieann reiterates to Nia how much she needs to find her fight, but she won’t be finding it in the duet. She is only as good as her last eight-count. Ashlee wonders if Holly thinks Nia is back in the number, but Holly reminds her that the competition is days away. They need to keep it as is and not make any changes, even if it means Nia loses the opportunity. Ashlee cites it as another situation where a veteran mom doesn’t feel she needs to fight for her daughter. She makes pointed comments directed at Holly that are not well-received. Holly counters that Nia has had to fight for everything she has, and she storms out before things become more heated. Laurieann’s stress is bubbling over into the viewing room for sure!
In Las Vegas, Camille apologizes for leaving Camryn’s group number costume in Los Angeles. Laurieann completely loses her shiz, screeching at Camille and pulling Camryn from the group routine. Gia and Kalani ask her to reconsider, and Laurieann tells Camryn she’s fortunate to have her tribe supporting her. As she rambles on about Camryn packing her own bags, Brynn looks straight up terrified. The mothers look beyond tired as Laurieann shrieks about eight counts. The day of competition, the mothers wonder about Laurieann’s whereabouts, and Camille jokes they’ve been conditioned by Abby’s craziness. As the mothers wait, Yo-yo pines away for the good ol’ days of Abby when minis were allowed to dance. Jill snips that the mini moms will never understand what a privilege it is to dance with the ALDC. Their disagreement escalates, and Laurieann busts in to remind the mothers that she’s having a hard time managing the mothers’ horrible behavior. Abby’s legacy was ego driven, and these mothers think the team is much better than it actually is. She may be on to something!
Brynn and Kendall perform first, and it’s a cute, upbeat routine that is overshadowed by Kendall tending to her leotard wedgie a few times. Jill gets tickled that she’s the one ratting out her daughter’s mistakes to Laurieann. Kalani and Camryn’s duet is pretty amazing in my opinion, but Laurieann is disappointed. She gives the girls her same speech about thinking they are better than they are. They need humility, and they need to get off the hype train. In Laurieann’s opinion, Kalani had to dance down to Camryn’s level. After she dismisses the girls, Kira questions why Kalani making sure the girls looked in sync was a problem. Her daughter didn’t want to highlight Camryn’s screw-up. Camille takes offense to this statement, which prompts Kira to yell at Camryn about taking off her mom goggles. Her daughter isn’t perfect. Laurieann reminds Camille that Camryn has had timing issues before, and Camryn asks why they weren’t corrected by Laurieann before the competition. Kira and Camryn engage in a knock down drag out over semantics. Did Kira say Camryn screwed up or did she call her a screw up? Kira thunders that Camryn will have no dancing career post-ALDC which causes Camryn to retreat in rage. Laurieann is beginning to think that perhaps Abby had the right idea by hightailing it away from these ladies and heading to Cancun.
Before the group routine, the girls anxiety is at an all time high. Kalani gives her teammates a pep talk. They can’t let down Laurieann or they could find themselves without a dance instructor. They listened and delivered–it’s an awesome performance. The team is holding their breath during the awards ceremony, and Kendall and Brynn are excited with a second place finish, behind Kalani and Camryn’s winning duet. The ALDC is robbed when they place third, and Laurieann is not having it. Her girls deserved the win so she goes chasing down the emcee who is Abby’s bestie. She demands to see the scores as he runs through the lobby. Holly and the other moms laugh at how fast Laurieann can chase him in her heels. After he escapes to the airport, Laurieann heads back to the dressing room to remind the team that the mothers need to keep things in check. When Jill disagrees, Laurieann shares a cautionary tale about a hotel worker she used to mentor with her sister until her career was ruined by her mother’s fame hungry ways. The dancers pretty much all side-eye their moms. Noted.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE? WHO IS THE CRAZIEST ONE OF ALL?
[Photo Credit: Lifetime]
