Farewell, Make It Or Break It

ABC Family’s Make It Or Break It is no more. Last night was the series finale, which means that we won’t see the fictional U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team compete at the 2012 Games in London. Bummer.

After all, that’s what this entire series was built around, wasn’t it? So it seems odd that a series built around a particular world event like the Olympics would end its run mere months before said event takes place.

Granted, this season has been the weakest of the three. I don’t think it was due to the absence of Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs), Coach Sasha (Neil Jackson), or other Rock-related characters. I think it was new additions like Jordan (Chelsea Tavares) and Wendy (Amanda Leighton) that just made certain episodes hard to watch after a while. Jordan was just plain unlikable until we found out the reason for her rage (she was molested by her coach when she was younger), but she still had left a bad impression by that point; Wendy started out like an annoying, over-caffeinated chipmunk, until she suddenly became a manipulative psychopath. Neither character gave us any reason to care about or root for them and since they were part of the ensemble it weakened the group as a whole.

Make It Or Break It was a solid gymnastics drama with plenty of solid stories, interesting characters, and some great gymnastics routines. Unlike Secret Life of the American Teenager (aren’t they all in their 20s by now?), this series didn’t grate on the nerves and one’s patience as often. True, Lauren (Cassie Scerbo) could be an evil, conniving, and backstabbing bitch, but every once in a while she got what she deserved.

When the show began it was about new girl Emily Kmetko coming to The Rock in Boulder to train for the Olympics. Her personal life, her rebellious nature, and her lack of connection with the established Rock Girls – Lauren, Payson (Ayla Kell), and Kaylie (Josie Loren) – made it hard at first for her to succeed. Over the course of the season she proved herself to be a viable gymnast and a pretty good friend. There were plenty of interesting side stories, especially ones involving Emily’s mom, and the season ended with us wanting more.

Enter season two which added more sexual tension and fuel to the drama fire as new characters like Max (Joshua Bowman) and Austin (Zane Holtz) were introduced into the mix. There was plenty of drama when Payson’s attraction to her coach led to her kissing him on camera; then when the footage was leaked to the NGO all hell broke loose. The drama was also hard and fast for Emily who found herself pregnant by season’s end, which led to her leaving gymnastics and the series for good. Oh, and that whole Max is bisexual and kisses Austin but then starts to date Payson think was pretty crazy too!

I feel that season two was the best in terms of storylines, drama, and overall storylines and character development. It was unfortunate that Emily had to leave, but since the actress who played her was pregnant in real life it would have been difficult to pull of the gymnast look even if they only shot her from the neck up the next season.

Then came season three, which I already figured was the final season since it wouldn’t make much sense to continue the series AFTER the Olympics. But I was truly surprised by the announcement that season three would be only eight episodes and that’s it. And so it is. The finale is here and fans of the series are pissed. It’s not like the show had worn out its welcome. I definitely could have kept with the series through the Olympics as could other people.

Alas, it’s not meant to be and on last night’s episode we saw exactly how the series would wrap: Payson, Lauren, and Kaylie made it onto the Olympic team along with Jordan and the enigmatic Colleen Evans (whom you’ve never met as a character, but Wendy went down for drugging Kaylie, so someone had to round out the top five. I was happy for Colleen. I think she probably did a great routine (would have been nice if they had showed us a little of it, but whatever).

It was a solid and fitting finale to the series. Most of the loose ends were tied up. We got to see many familiar faces like Sasha, Summer (Candace Cameron Bure), Payson’s Dad (Brett Cullen), the Cruzes (Jason Manuel Olazabal and Rosa Blasi), and Lauren’s Dad (Anthony Starke). I liked it. I’m sad to see the show end, but it was a great way to finish off this addictive series.

Could there be a Make It Or Break It TV-movie featuring them at the 2012 Olympics? That would be a nice little bonus for fans of the series and let us see them compete in the 2012 Games.

So we say goodbye to Make It Or Break It. It’s been a fun ride that ended too soon, but we will all find a way to move on (we did after Lost ended, right?).

What did you think of the series finale? Do you think there will be a TV movie? What was you favorite moment/who was your favorite character in the series? Leave a comment and let us know!

Related links:

Make It Or Break It: Volume One – DVD Review

Make It Or Break It – Season Two Premiere Preview

ChicksWeLike: The Women of Make It Or Break It

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