Winners

My Review

In the U.K. this episode was shown out of order as episode 7 instead of episode 8. I really like this episode and finally we have a whole episode that concentrates solely on out main cast members and it's a good in depth look at the characters of both Coco and Doris. They both have their own plots but they overlap and affect each other and it’s a really interesting story. My only small criticism would be that characters being rejected or having a loss of confidence is a running theme this season and we’re only on episode 8 and already, Leroy, Coco, Doris, Julie have gone through it. Even Bruno gets told by Shorofsky that he’s not good enough to audition for Julliard. So it feels like they are pretty much doing the same story over and over but as a stand alone episode this is good.

The scene where Coco asks Reardon for help and Doris asks Bruno is nicely cut together to make it seem like one conversation. Although I'm not sure why Reardon is helping Coco when he knows it’s against the rules for her to go on a real audition and both of them could get into trouble. I guess he doesn't want to seem like the bad guy.

Coco’s behaviour can be seen as selfish as she constantly lets Leroy down but I think selfish is too strong a word. To me she is more single minded, she knows what she wants and focuses on how to get there. The fact that other people may get hurt in the process doesn't seem to be deliberate but that she is focusing so much on what she wants and needs she simply doesn't notice the other people. One of the things I love about Coco is her pure determination. The words of the song she sings “if there’s something really special here then you can bet your life it’s me” really do sum her up so well and that’s a great choice of song for the character. Also how it's performed is good fun as nothing goes to plan.

It is interesting that Coco messed up the audition and far more believable and realistic than the story they came up for Leroy about not being good enough in “Feelings”. However I don’t like that they had Coco lie about it. Whatever else that Coco is I don’t see her as a liar. I'm glad that she quickly came clean quickly but for me I just wished she not said anything to the other students. I don’t know, if she promised to tell them all at lunch or something and just put off saying something.

However as she did lie it was interesting that Bruno knows her so well that he can tell when she’s lying.

As for Doris this is a great story for her. It’s not something that just appears out of thin air like some of the other stories it's been something that has been brewing pretty much since the start of the first season. Weight problems and self image, I think a lot of people could relate to those issues. Valerie plays a lot of it with great humour especially the scene with Bruno in Battery Park but underneath it’s quite sad how she views herself negatively and calls herself a “shlump” (if that’s how you spell it, it’s not a word I'm familiar with). The scene with Sherwood towards the end is really touching. Also the weight issue and even the self esteem issues don’t just go away they always seem like they are in the background for Doris, which is great continuity

I like how Doris brings up her feelings in the drama class which puts Coco on the spot and now realising the pain one of her friends is in she tries to help this is why I don't see her as selfish but she just needs things spelt out sometimes. I love their hug at the end.

I'm not keen on the song “Manhattan”, it’s pleasant but as this the only duet Erica and Val do (yes they sing together on other songs with other cast members but this their only duet) I wanted something much more powerful and meaningful. Still it’s an upbeat ending to a good episode but why are they performing in the cafeteria again. Someone has taken the tables out, why would they do this? when there is a perfectly good dance room and auditorium?

Also Why are Danny and Doris in with the advanced dancers anyway? This happens quite a few times but naturally someone who isn't a proper dance is going to feel inadequate when compared to the other dancers.

Episode Pictures

Marguerite Pomerhn as Marguerite

Bronwyn Thomas as Michelle

Carmine Caridi as Angelo Martelli

Duncan Ross as Charles McKay

Edwin Avedissian as Eddie

Lila Teigh as Wife