Mighty Hunter - Make It Or Break It

Mighty Hunter

My 11 year old cat Sunfire is a fat orange tabby who is able to be contained in the backyard because he is too big to jump onto the fence. Last week he caught his first bird and presented it to me in our living room. Today he dropped a rat in the exact same spot for Caleb. These are the only animals larger than a tiny tree frog that either of our cats have brought to us. I think that in his senior years Sunfire has decided to cross that "big game hunter" dream off his bucket list. :D

Make It Or Break It

I watched the ABC series "Make It Or Break It" on Netflix this week. It is the story of several elite women gymnasts as they struggle to get to the Olympics. There were a few things that bothered me but overall I really enjoyed the series.

What I liked:
A Christian character was portrayed who was not a stereotype but was genuine but also weak. Too often the Christian is played for a laugh or is the antagonist somehow. I like that she struggled with her faith and how it affected her relationships.

The actual gymnastics were fun to watch. Whoever they got as the body doubles were great.

I liked that when a character had a problem it carried through the entire series and was not wrapped up in an episode or two. One of the gymnasts breaks her back and that affected everything she did right and the choices she made right up until the end.

One of the actresses got pregnant and they wrote it into the show. They dealt with the issue of abortion in a way that I haven't seen since "Rhoda" way back in the 70s. It was frank and honest and the struggle between terminating the pregnancy or the dream of Olympic gold was well played out.

What I did not like:
One of the gymnasts is the bad girl of the group. I don't mind that but until the 3rd season every word that came out of her mouth was designed to hurt someone or play an angle or get her way. She was played so much to stereotype that there was nothing to love about her. Unfortunately she was best friends with two of the other lead characters and I found myself wondering why they didn't kick her to the curb years ago. No one would ever want to be friends with her.

That girl did something that humiliated her best friend and got their beloved coach fired. The story was played up over the course of most of the series. When it is finally revealed that she was responsible the humiliated girl forgives her on the spot. That wasn't at all realistic to me. This may have been because the last season was cut to only 8 episodes and the plot needed quick resolution.

The shortened season was the other thing I didn't like. It was rushed as the girls attempt to qualify for the Olympics. New characters were introduced and most of the parents cut from the show but there was little time to explore the new characters. One of the new gymnasts was very interesting and while they did a good job on her story given the time they had I think a full season would have been better for her story. The series ends with the revelation of who made the Olympic team and who didn't. We never learn how they do. That may be a good ending or not depending on your point-of-view.