Make It or Break It, which aired onABC Familyfrom 2009 to 2012, followed four girls as they balanced becoming world-class gymnasts and the drama of their gym with the everyday trials of life as a teenager. Set in Boulder, Colorado, Payson (Ayla Kell), Kaylie (Josie Loren), and Lauren (Cassie Scerbo) are a powerful trio on their way to competing in the country-wide event otherwise known as “Nationals” when Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs) shows up and trouble is stirred by her arrival, leaving the girls shaken. Throughout the three seasons, viewers follow the girls as new events unfold, new competitions arise, and their commitment to their singular shared dream of winning a gold medal is tested.
Though the series will never be known for being an accurate depiction of elite gymnastics — some stunts were, let’s just say, beginner-friendly — the show offered much more, becoming something that is still enthralling a decade later. We’ve put together a list of the nine episodes that remain the most powerful, entertaining, and sum up the best of whatMake It or Break Itoffers.
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“Where’s Kaylie?” (Season 1, Episode 9)
It’s the breaking point for Kaylie as she learns her boyfriend Carter (Zachary Abel) and Lauren slept together, offering a perfect opportunity to show the deep relationships between these athletes and what they’re willing to give up to go all the way. The day before the girls leave for Nationals, Carter reluctantly tells Kaylie that he slept with someone else on the night of the party when Kaylie got wasted, and they fought. Slowly, the pieces fall into place that the perfect night Lauren kept bragging about when Lauren lost her virginity was the same night, and the betrayal clicks for Kaylie.
What’s so special about this episode is how the girls risk it all to go track down Kaylie once they learn she’s missing — even Lauren. After the fighting begins, it’s a bold move from Emily and Lauren to seemingly throw their keys into the lake, so they’re essentially stranded hours away. It shows what this life is all about, especially when we learn that they could have left the entire time, and it was a fake out. As much as they’re fighting for themselves to make it, their team is at least partially responsible in helping them get there, and they become a family whether they want to or not. No simple betrayal can ruin that, nor will the others let it. Though surprisingly light on the gymnastics, this episode delves into the meaning of team in a wonderfully dramatic way.
“All That Glitters” (Season 1, Episode 10)
In the first finale, everything is on the line. The girls feel the pressure of having this last shot to kill it and make the National Team. Plus, everything that has been building up is finally being unleashed. Payson’s back pain has been hidden behind illegally-obtained cortisone. Lauren is haunted by her mother not showing up to the bus station, which is made worse when Summer (Candace Cameron Bure) leaves her father. Emily is feeling like an outsider, struggling to feel like she belongs at Nationals.
Meanwhile, after such a hurtful betrayal and her dad’s outburst over Carter, Kaylie is stuck between two worlds. The competition episodes ofMake It or Break Itare always the most enjoyable, as the pressure of competition brings out something new. Like, Payson deciding not to use the cortisone, going out to perform, and breaking her back. Or, Kaylie stepping up and using what she’s endured as motivation and winning the all-around gold, beating Kelly Parker (Nicole Gale Anderson). There’s a perfect balance of such high and low moments in these competitions, which is wondrous to watch, and each shakes things up with how the rest of the show plays out from there. It feels like life.
“Are We Family?” (Season 1, Episode 20)
The story fell into place perfectly over the nine previous episodes, leading to the competition between the gymnasts of the Rock and the Chinese National Team. With Payson back from her career-ending injury, though not performing at full capacity again, it’s up to Kaylie, Lauren, and Emily to prove that the NGO was wrong for not bringing all of them to the official meet between the U.S. and China.
For the most part, this is the only time when we see these girls conquer and a competition feels completely rewarding. Nationals was tainted by Payson’s injury, and the others follow suit. The meet truly proves these girls are the best gymnasts in the country, and fully acknowledges the win. As the season finale, it leaves off on some rather unexpected notes, too, like Carter choosing Lauren over Kaylie and Damon and Emily’s relationship being left undefined. This episode portrays the great balance of personal and professional conflict and success.
“All or Nothing” (Season 2, Episode 2)
After proving themselves, and making their way back onto the National Team, the girls head to France for a meet… except, only Kaylie and Emily made the cut, but Lauren is just an alternate. With any goodwill behind them and the truth out about Lauren and Carter’s relationship, the tension between Kaylie and Lauren is at an all-time high.
“All or Nothing” is a great portrayal of Lauren as an antagonist, something that the show really leaned into in the beginning but cooled off on later. Lauren perfectly manages to get Emily benched, after encouraging Emily to take a train and go see her boyfriend the night before a meet, but only giving Emily the ticket to get there and not to get back. It’s devious — terrible, even — but that’s what some are willing to do to win, and something the girls always have to be aware of with Lauren.
“What Are You Made Of?” (Season 2, Episode 7)
The pressure is rising as the girls attend their last practice before World Trials, where there is a surprise announcement that not all the girls on the National Team will be able to perform at Trials, making the practice another competition. However, none of the girls are in the best head space to deal with this. Kaylie’s deep in her eating disorder, starving herself to be able to “perfect” moves that only Genji Cho can do. And, after weeks of this, Kaylie’s coach, Sasha Belov (Neil Jackson), is taking notice and becoming more concerned. However, no one is willing to listen to him, as they only see that Kaylie is getting better with her gymnastics, blind to the fact that she’s hurting herself to do so. When Marty (Erik Palladino), the National Team Coach, does, he’s fired, replaced by the nightmare that is Ellen Beals (Michelle Clunie).
While the competitions obviously come with a great amount of pressure, this episode depicts the pressure that these girls are constantly under from all sides. Pressure from within, like with Kaylie, or pressure from someone that doesn’t necessarily have your best interests in mind, like Ellen’s vendetta against Emily. It’s a test, and watching them pull it together amidst the chaos is what makes the series so captivating.
“Requiem for a Dream” (Season 2, Episode 16)
“Requiem for a Dream” changes the course of the show. It’s the final appearance of Hobbs as Emily Kmetko, as the actor’s pregnancy forced the writers’ hand, and they wrote in the pregnancy for Emily… which is not something an elite athlete can work around to continue training with so little time left before the 2012 Olympics.
It’s an interesting end for Emily, but manages to perfectly capture the struggle and pressure she’s always felt that, in the end, she couldn’t handle. While goodbyes are always hard, there’s also something exciting and so inexplicably beautiful about Payson, Lauren, and Kaylie coming together at the end to acknowledge the loss of their friend/teammate and decide to continue fighting.
“Dog Eat Dog” (Season 2, Episode 18)
With Emily gone, there’s a spot open on the World Team that Kaylie is vying for, but Sasha doesn’t believe she’s ready to handle the pressure of a major competition. But, what stands out most about “Dog Eat Dog” is the show treating Kelly Parker as the fourth star in Emily’s absence and developing her outside of the gym, like with her “manamomster” — manager, mother, and monster (thanks, Kim Keeler) — Sheila (Kathy Najimy).
With Kaylie as the star of the gymnastics world, Sheila is putting Kelly in an uncomfortable position by forcing her to try finding evidence about Kaylie’s eating disorder to destroy Kaylie’s reputation, but Kelly is seeing Kaylie as more than just competition and is torn. Anderson does a fantastic job at portraying Kelly from the onset, but particularly once she becomes part of the team. Altogether, it’s an exciting episode with some great character development.
“Worlds Apart” (Season 2, Episode 20)
The most powerful aspect of the episode, though, is Kaylie’s struggle with the truth. The world believes she was out with an ACL tear, as having an eating disorder would supposedly cause her scores — and, by association, her team’s scores — to fall. Kaylie’s struggle to do what everyone is telling her to do or follow her gut is such an important story, and watching Kaylie own her truth and lead her team to victory is so rewarding and heartwarming.
“Time Is of the Essence” (Season 3, Episode 3)
Make It or Break ItSeason 3 is an unsettling departure from what the show was at first, but this episode does a great job at changing that. With the girls falling apart under Coach Mac (Dondré T. Whitfield), his job is at risk, so the girls are commanded to come to dinner at his home for a bonding session. However, unlike with the boys he had coached before, the girls aren’t as willing to blindly follow his commands or bond with someone they don’t really know that is constantly yelling at and shaming them. Plus, it’s a night full of drama as in-fighting starts between the girls. After Kaylie and Kelly find out Lauren released the footage of Payson and Sasha kissing, which Payson continues to be haunted by, they keep it a secret from Payson. But, Jordan (Chelsea Tavares) overhears and, in one of her many efforts to get back at Kaylie, drops hints about it until Kelly blurts out the truth.
Above all, this episode makes the list because of Payson and Lauren’s growing friendship being impeded by this secret coming to light. After being partnered in the gym, the two had surprisingly become quite close, causing Kaylie to feel left out. But, this secret kept fans from really becoming invested in the friendship. Having it come out (in such a delicious setting for drama to be revealed, by the way) and having Payson have a mature, vulnerable conversation with Lauren about it was the perfect way to handle the situation. It didn’t tear them apart, it didn’t make the friendship any less enjoyable. In fact, it did the opposite. They could be honest and trust one another, and Payson (like Sasha) let it go.Make It or Break Italways found the best way to reveal secrets, never leaving viewers disappointed.
