Bunheads - A Nutcracker in Paradise

By The Huntington from Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Sutton Foster) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

We’re going to be generous with the last episode of this weird first ten. Bunheads won’t be back until January. It’s such a hot mess with odd scenes like the whole last five minutes of the episode, but we’ve decided to understand it. We will root for it and allow it to be eccentric for as long as it entertains and makes us care about the characters. We actually care about Michelle and the girls. Fanny is going to take a while. This episode left us bummed, but it was good. In this show’s odd way. One of this week’s strengths was all the dancing. We saw a lot of ballet and even some musical theater dancing from Sutton Foster. We also liked the crazy, single white female ringer. We loved when she stood over Sasha and took her bow.

Sasha is Ern’s favorite character on this show; Melanie is probably Leeard’s. Charlie is no one’s favorite character. We are so happy Boo and Carl made up, even if their dancing moment and Boo’s public confession were crazypants. We liked the use of "The Rainbow Connection", even if the dance didn’t fit it at all. The song fit the mood, not the dance, and it was realistic that their dance wouldn’t fit the song that happened to be playing in the restaurant. Of course Sasha is going to take up with Roman and they will have equally stupidly named children. Ugh. At least she has a love interest though. Amy Sherman-Palladino does well with bad boys in her shows, so it might be good. We like what she’s doing with the bad girl too.

If you’ve seen the show, you know Michelle makes three mistakes. The first is telling Michael about Fanny’s secret desire to live with him in a cabin over the summer. Michelle is old enough to know that this would scare a lot of guys away. Also, if you interfere in someone else’s romantic relationship for the better, you must do so with informed advice and try not to give away secrets or exactly what the other party has told you, even if it would make your argument more convincing. What Michelle should have said was, “Oh, hey, I know this isn’t in your normal relationship habits, Michael, but maybe you should invite Fanny up sometime this summer. I can take over the studio while she’s gone if that’s something you want to do. Just let me know. It might be nice to surprise her.” And that’s how it’s done. Michelle’s second mistake was the pepper spray. Why does she even have mace?

To quote Tracey Thoms in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof: “Look, I don't know what futuristic utopia you live in, but the world I live in, a bitch need a gun…  Uh, motherf***er tryna rape me? I don't wanna give him skin rash! I wanna shut that n**** down…Look, if I ever become a famous actress, I won’t carry a gun. I'll hire me a do-dirt n****, and he'll carry the gun. And when s*** goes down, I'll sit back and laugh. But until that day, it's Wild West motherf***er!” Couldn’t  have put it better ourselves. We could, however, have put it cleaner. But that’s beside the point, which is that pepper spray is not infallible. A man can fight through it, most sprays aren’t strong enough, and you have to make sure you spray it so that the wind doesn’t blow it back in your face. Also, if it’s in the air, it’s going to hurt your eyes too, most likely. If you're not a gun person, get a powerful taser and a concealed weapons permit, and get trained to use it. Nobody mistakes a taser for a pretty spray either. Michelle’s third mistake was kissing the young Australian guy in public. Actually, that wasn’t her mistake at all. People are judgmental and should get over it.  

The audition dream was sobering and kind of deep. We liked Michelle’s rendition of "Maybe This Time". Obviously, she can sing. The whole time though, Ern just couldn’t stop thinking, “God, I’d kill for her arms. Dear Lord, do I really have to become a dancer and get off the couch to get those arms? Ugh.” We got to see Hubbell as her judge, who finally showed up. Hubbell told her that she was in Paradise to shake things up, that Fanny would have liked a daughter, and that Michelle has changed things. Michelle has bonded with the girl dancers and probably kept Fanny from falling into loneliness and despair. We loved that Sasha was the girl to start the Dead Poets Society thing. We’re glad other people stood up because for a moment we thought they wouldn’t. There was emotional payoff there and a little closure until January. Depending on how full our TV and occupational plates are, we may watch the rest of the season. The show has problems, but ain't it sweet?

Episode grade: A-