Dance Moms recap Season 4 episode 22: Kiss this

dance moms gino abby

Welcome back, Dance Moms nation. Did everyone recover from all the fist-flailing action from last week?

As our girls line up for this week’s pyramid, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that the select team is once again absent from the proceedings. It’s hard to get so many wannabe starlets scheduled for practices the same week. And just think about what a hotel room that fits their mothers’ egos must cost!

Unfortunately, someone has to keep the drama going now that the moms have spent a week bonding over their rage at Abby Lee, so Sarah and her mom, Christy with a Y — our precious CWAY CWAY — stay on the team despite how endlessly annoying CWAY is, even to Abby.

After the Pitt Crew’s loss to the select team last week, we all knew the pyramid was going to be rough, but this one was a bit much, even for Abs. Chloe’s at the bottom again (for the crime of being slightly out of sync on one turn…) with Maddie (the horror!) coming in second-to-last for crying afterward the awards ceremony. Kendall and Nia are space filler once again and despite her win, Mack Z only lands in second place. Sarah gets the top spot for being in  the winning group number and Abby seems to have conveniently forgotten she didn’t even make it into the top three for her mini solo. Since when does Abby Lee Miller accept anything but first place? Oh, right … when it makes the moms furious.

The Pitt Crew’s going to have to step it up this week to combat the Candy Apples and Cathy’s bat-@#$% crazy nonsense, but Abby’s got a few gimmicks of her own this time around. There’s only one other routine besides the group number — and that will be Maddie paired with Gino from Cathy’s former all-boy team. While it’s sure to rile Cathy, Abby’s equally habitual tendency to talent-poach is as hypocritical as it is annoying.

Over in Candy(Apple)land, Cathy announces she’s doing a ballroom routine because she can “predict Abby”rather than it being all part of the producers’ plan. In other news, Cathy’s brought back Abby’s “old friend” Johnny the Choreographer, as well as two new ballroom dancers. The Apples are stacked and ready to go.

Back at the ALDC, Abby pops up to the Mom Loft to let them know she’s calling the group number Broken Dolls … because she feels that’s what their girls are. Broken dolls. CWAY decides now is also a great moment to claim that she hasn’t been welcomed enough and tries to get Abby to defend her. Instead, Abby informs her that Sarah might not be able to keep up with the Pitt Crew. Undeterred, CWAY tries to throw the moms under the bus for having bad attitudes, but Abby’s so immune to that that she walks out and all CWAY’s managed to do is make everybody hate her a tiny bit more. Who knew that was even possible?

dance moms jill christi

Maddie and Gino rehearse their duet and are appropriately cutesy.

The song’s entitled That Girl’s Just Gotta Be Kissed and Abs wants it to end on an actual kiss, but our little Maddie’s never been kissed and is hesitant to go through with it. Especially with the moms looking on.

She finally agrees to the smooch and (in perhaps that most adorable moment of Dance Moms Season 4 so far) immediately runs out of the studio — leaving behind a perplexed Gino and laughing Abby — to tell her teammates, who are shocked and thrilled for her.

dance moms gino maddie kiss

dance moms gino abbygino maddie kiss

Mickey (Gino’s dad) does his best to charm Abby and see how the moms feel about having Gino stay on the team. The moms play along, but are smart enough to know a one-week show pony when Abby trots it in the ring. Christy — always ready to be offended — immediately feels threatened by Gino’s presence and tells everyone who will listen that the “new spot” is for Sarah. At this point in rehearsals, however, it probably isn’t Gino that will deprive her of that spot. It’s Sarah’s dance skills (or lack thereof).

When competition day finally arrives, Abby discovers that her friend is once again aiding the Apples, and it becomes clear to everyone that she’s losing it as Maddie and Gino rehearse in the dressing room. Then we get straight to the dancing.

The Candy Apple’s duet is up first and dem shorts, tho! Seriously, the girl is in a pretty standard (if skimpy) glitter and polyester affair, but the boy (Evan? I tend not to bother with Apple dancer names… they’ll be gone by next week) is wearing the dorkiest pair of shorts I’ve ever seen. It’s like they tried to make a Swedish school uniform look fashionable. Which is weird. On a lot of levels.

But the dance is pretty once you get past the awkward costuming and Abby admits her kids have serious competition.

Maddie nails it in the Broadway-style duet, bringing it with her signature faces and technique, but Abs is disappointed in Gino’s performance. She announces this in the dressing room and Mickey manages to be both manly and displeased. Before they really can get into it, though, the girls come out in their costumes and everyone has to act happy and supportive.

Come group dance time, the Candy Apples go first again. Their routine is called Conspiracy and although it looks cool technically, the whole “conspiracy” theme is kind of lost on me. There’s, like, this chair that someone sits on and tilts? Is it an interrogation? At the end they all fall down … and there’s kind of a love-story thing, maybe? If Cathy was conspiring to make me confused, she did a good job.

The ALDC girls are covered in makeup that is supposed to make them look like dolls. Dolls with too much blush up both sides of their faces and weird black lines on their jaws. Everything is clean and on point … until poor Chloe takes a huge fall. She gets up without missing a beat and the dance continues flawlessly, but it’s enough to really shake the poor girl up. Backstage, the girls rally around their team member and reassure her that they will never blame her if they lose.

The moment of truth comes with the awards announcements. Maddie and Gino come in second, surrendering first place to the CADC. Abby is unimpressed and puts the full blame on Gino. Despite Chloe’s tumble, the Broken Dolls take first place and the moms are thrilled that the girls can finally put their losing streak behind them. Back in the dressing room, Abby even brushes off Chloe’s fall as an accident and instead takes out her frustrations on Gino and Mickey — who she asks to leave the room immediately. Mickey is offended and the moms are uncertain what this means, except for CWAY who thinks this is somehow Abby “seeing her way” even though Abby still criticizes Sarah’s lack of technical skill. Does this woman have selective hearing?

Of course we end with a final confrontation between the Pitt Crew moms and Cathy because no Apple Episode would be complete without one! Long passed bothering with pleasantries, they immediately trade nonsensical insults about weight (“Your ass looks like a $40 cow!”) and everybody leaves feeling like they’ve had the last word.

Although the slip will certainly come back to haunt Chloe, and Sarah’s continued presence on the team means Christy’s continued presence in the Mom Loft, our girls are showing serious improvement this season and they’re finally ready to start taking back the wins they deserve. Now all we have to see is if they’re ready to take on the select team again, a situation which will certainly rear its ugly head again soon.

So what did you think Dance Moms nation? Were you happy to have an episode free of the select team or did you miss them? Were you charmed by Maddie and Gino’s kiss or was it a mean thing for Abby to do? How afraid are you for Chloe even though the Pitt Crew won? And is Christy with a Y the official queen of crazy? Sound off in the comments section below.

New episodes of Dance Moms premiere Tuesdays at 9/8CT on Lifetime.

15 Comments

  1. This show is becoming more and more unwatchable!
    Ms. Miller, you have becoming the boogie man of young dancers everywhere. What you said to Gino and his dad was despicable! You should be ashamed of yourself. This will be the last time I watch this show. The dancers on the show deserve better. You have gone way way too far Ms. Miller.

    • Yes! I felt horrible for Gino! They could have had the absolute best boy dancer in. The world for that dance and they still wouldn’t have won. Why? Because Maddie wasn’t even in the same league in terms of her dancing as the girl from candy apples. I don’t mean that to be mean towards Maddie because she’s a good little dancer, BUT the other girl in all honesty was much better in every way. Also, the choreography wasn’t that great. Candy apples was better (much better), and I can’t stand candy apples, but in all honesty the Dane and the dancers were much better. Poor Gino! He was terrific and as I said, Abby would have blamed ANYONE who was dancing with Maddie (except Maddie of course!)

  2. Also, just in case anyone doesn’t know, Sarah H. Placed first in her division. She is only 8 and is in the petite division, but of course they didn’t show that (just like they never show when Chloe gets first in teen division but they make it look like she didn’t win anything because they do the overalls). Anyway, just thought I’d throw that out there. I actually think (for her age) Sarah is a really good little dancer. Unfortunately, she has a horrible mother that will ruin any chance she may have. Plus, she is at ALDC so she isn’t getting the best dance training. I think Christ Y is despicable, but no one is more appalling than Abby herself. She is just plain sadistic in the way she treats Chloe (and Paige and Brooke before they left). It will be interesting to see who she picks on once Chloe is gone… Although, I don’t think the show will last for very long when Chloe leaves. I know I sure won’t be watching it. It will basically be the Miller/Ziegler show and who wants to see that??? Ugh!

    Great recap!!! Thanks for letting me vent. Something about this show brings out the worst in me. I just want to step in and smack the crap out of Abby and Jeff Collins for the abuse they are putting in these girls. Remember when lifetime used to be the channel about empowering women? Well, that’s long gone. Now it’s how to torture and a use innocent little girls for ratings. Shame on you Jeff Collins and shame on you Abby!!! You both are pathetic!! Ok, rant over

    • I know how you feel! It can be hard to watch Abbie yell at them all but it’s also hard not to want to support such talented children. They showed more of Abbie’s good side back in season one (taking the girls swimming and out for ice cream) and I wish they’d do that more often. I hope you come back to vent, we all know how you feel here! We want to scream but we just can’t let these girls go after four long years.
      Chloe forever!

      • I hear you but I dint think we are really support prating these girls anymore. Maybe Maddie and Mackenzie are benefitting, but the sadistic pleasure Abby gets out if hurting Chloe is unbearable to watch. I’m pretty sure that Chloe has left as of now and won’t be back for another season, or ever back to ALDC. I’m happy for her that she has left because she was treated like trash by Abby. I know I won’t watch the show once Chloe is gone and I’m sure plenty if others won’t either. Hopefully Abby’s 15 minutes of fame will be gone soon. She has bullied 3 wonderful girls off the show that have been with her since they were toddlers. She wanted them gone and now she got it, but I bet her show isn’t going to continue without those 3 original girls. She thinks everyone is going to tune in just for Maddie? She’s crazy! I’m glad that Chloe is now in a much better dance school and I’m sure she will come out a much stronger and better trained dancer now that she is away from that brute, Abby. Jeff Collins is a sleaze bag too.

  3. The hypocrisy of miller has reached ridiculous levels. I won’t bother saying anything about the “Cathy poached dancers” but for miller it is “they are mine” bullshit. How about miller stfu about calling those girls poor losers?

    Every one of those girls but maddie has been beat down by that pig for 4 years and they most certainly do know how to lose gracefully. Miller needs to hand that little gem of crap to maddie. She is the one not able to lose gracefully. So the duet was second. Let’s blame that little boy. It couldn’t possibly be because Cathy’s duet was better than maddie. So toss out a boy who gave his all, blame him, and yet again give maddie a free pass. I want to puke.

    Let’s talk about maddie’s “stardom” from some chick named sis’s kiddy porn video. Who the hell IS sia? Anyone believe that awful song would be playing, anywhere, ever, without Lifetime’s free publicity?? So maddie, good luck on that “career”.

    and that jesus freak? I think Christianity is being given a billion black eyes with that woman. I do wonder if Jesus ever told his apostles to “fucking bite me”? Shades of “minister dawn” coming up next week. Although as much as that phoney “christian” annoys me to death, she is correct in calling miller trash and a liar.

  4. Did anyone notice that the song Abby used for Gino and Maddie’s duet was the same as that gawd-awful mom’s dance that Cathy choreographed Season 1? I half expected some snide comment from Cathy when it started lol. I thought CADC deserved to win the duet, those kids were amazing. Gino and Maddie……meh, didn’t blow me away, it was cute but that was pretty much all I liked about it. I felt terrible for Chloe, she could have really injured herself, but like the star she is, didn’t miss a beat and finished strong. You can really tell that all the girls have improved on their ballet skills, it was technically stronger than any of their other ballet numbers. I was happy to see Abby not shred the crap out of Chloe for falling, but it could be coming next week.

  5. Thank you for giving us Dance Moms fans a place to “vent”. I am always outraged as to how Abby tries to totally crush Chloe more than anyone, however, I was horrified with how she totally ripped into Gino’s self esteem! As a fan of the show, you pretty much know what Abby is going to say to the girls ( which I believe is child abuse), but doing this to a boy that is brand new to her evil tongue and there to help Abby with her little scheme of shocking Cathy, was deplorable! I hope Gino and his father see this and, to Gino: You were great, honey! I have a son myself and just want to let you in on a little secret…Abby didn’t think that you were bad, no matter what boy had been in your position she would have acted the same, because Maddie didn’t place first. You see, for Abby it had everything to do with Maddie, not her partner! Gino, you are better than that women’s senseless words…I know that one day we will all “see you at the top”! Go gettem’ Gino!
    Mom from SC

    • We’re glad you came here to vent with us! Hopefully Gino gets your message. I’m sure Mickey will take good care of him!

      • Thank you! I’ve never done this “technical” stuff on a computer before so I wasn’t sure what would happen : ) Can you tell me a little more about this (is it a blog?)? And what kinds of things you are looking for…for example: are you looking for opinions on just Dance Moms or ideas or ….well just let me know. And while you’re at it, I have been a single Mom for 13 years and only dated once in that 13 years, so Im wondering if your audience could help me find Mr. Right Who Loves The Lord!!! (Lol)! WELL, IM sure that’s not what this forum is for, but hey, God works in mysterious ways!
        Thanks,
        Bonita

  6. Here’s the thing with this Broken Dolls dance-

    The version they showed on TV tonight was the one filmed specially for the show. The girls, and possibly Candy Apples whenever they’re on, do their dances twice, one for judging and one for cameras. That’s why placements can either seem good- or bad. Chloe did not fall in the judged dance and hence it was an accident the time it happened. It wouldn’t have deterred from the score at all since it wasn’t the judged performance.

    Maddie and Gino were amazing, but I got to hand it to Evan and Alyssa. That duet was just sensational. I’ve never been taken by a duet since Inside of Me, but this Stars Align might just be my favorite. I thought it was horrible when Abby blamed it on Gino. Maddie is not perfect. They both had technical errors, everyone has them somewhere.

    CADC’s group routine was interesting, but they always left off the word ‘Flight’ at the end. It was Consipiracy Flight, the actual name of the group dance. I understood the dance just fine, because Mckenzie at the beginning of the number sits in the chair as if she’s flying a plane.

    Yep… CWAY has lost her mind. From the preview for next episode and during the entire thing. Sarah is a gorgeous dancer, but damn this lady needs to just shut the hell up. Christi, not with a Y, was hilarious once again in this episode.

    Evan, the boy Cathy brought in, just seemed to have this arrogance to him. Like a slight smirk plastered on his face whenever they showed his face. And just… god those pants!

    Great recap Sara, sorry for my mistake of assuming Mrs. Acken wrote the post, but you fill her shoes well! Maybe you two should collaborate on an episode somehow. Because it’s be perfect. Can’t wait for next week!

    • Thanks for your kind words, Christian. We’ll keep posting as long as you keep reading!
      I didn’t know that they filmed the dances twice, but everything about the competitions makes *a lot* more sense now. Thanks for sharing that little tidbit.
      I really thought Maddie and Gino’s dance relied on them being cutesy than on technical skill… which holds true for most of Abby’s choreography… The Candy Apples definitely deserved that win. And knowing it was a “conspiracy flight” makes the CADC group number much more sense. That’s a weird editing choice…
      Sarah’s cute, but I don’t know if she’s ready for the Elite team yet. Although it’s great that she’s an ALDC trained dancer, the other girls have spent four years under intense pressure to perform for the show, which has definitely affected the way they dance. I just don’t know if Sarah is ready to step up. But it’s all up to Abbie now and how long she can put up with Crazy Christy…

      • Someone pointed out on another discussion page something I never thought of. The dance was called Broken Dolls right? I wonder if the judges would have thought Chloe falling was part of the dance, you know, the “broken” thing? Just something to chew on for the weekend lol.

        • Yes, Michelle, I agree that Chloe’s fall looked like it was part of the dance! Especially the way she seamlessly continued dancing as a “Broken Doll”.

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