Tiffanie’s Take: ABDC 3 Episode 2

Granted, this week’s theme was nothing short of ridiculous—leap frogs, monkey rolls, knee kicks, side planks—but all the teams managed to incorporate their Fit Test Challenge moves, and did it well at that. My favorite routines included those of Quest Crew, Beat Freaks and Striker’s All-Stars. Although all of the themed moves were randomly assigned, they all managed to fit their respective crews amazingly well.

In the grab bag of stamina moves, Quest Crew ended up with kickboxing. This challenge really let Steve Terada shine, which was apparent in his sick double butterfly kick. More than that, Quest Crew went all out and extended a martial arts theme into their whole routine, which incorporated an unmistakable nod to the Matrix, as well as old school kung-fu flick humor and iconic poses. The whole time I was thinking, “This is what would happen if Billy Blanks had a baby with a dance machine…”

JC also pointed out the Taebo influence on the routine (though in less enthused terms), and he called their performance, “Overall, eh.” It’s only JC’s first day back on ABDC 3, but he’s been quick to get back into form: vague, monosyllabic and slightly daft meanderings. Lil Mama supported J.C.’s opinion, but clarified that it was because she felt the Quest boys did not incorporate enough dance and choreography.

Finally, Shane Sparks spoke the truth when he asked his fellow judges, “Are we watching the same show?!” Not enough dance and choreography? As the judges always emphasize, the winning crew should not only be talented dancers, but great performers and entertainers, as well. Quest hit all of these notes this week, but only Shane seemed to be in his right mind during their performance. I really feel like this was a case of being too stingy on the first round, and unfortunately for Quest Crew, they were up first.

Well, I think I can say I totally called it last week: by the looks of how the girls of Beat Freaks were pumpin’ iron in the behind-the-scenes montage, it’s going to be a stiff competition. My favorite LA girls ended up with the “Side Plank” challenge… (Seriously, were these challenges really randomly assigned? Hmm…) Side planks are done on the floor and are pretty static—meaning, you have to stay still, not move around—so that seemed like a huge hurdle, seeing as how these girls are all about bombastic energy.

This yoga move calls for a huge amount of upper-body strength, and the girls not only nailed it, but danced circles around it, which they did by incorporating hints of bboy and hops into their side planks. Shane really summed it up when he dubbed the girls “7 Superheroes.” With their candy hued costumes flashing about in a frenzy all across the stage, Beat Freaks makes it look like this is just another day on the job, saving one audience at a time.

However, after Quest Crew and Beat Freaks’ stellar performances came bad news: either Team Millenia or Boxcuttahz was going home. We now have one less crew with Asian representation, but the competition is crazy fierce this year, and beyond this week’s farewell, we’ll have to see a lot more talented crews leave in more weeks to come. Just don’t boot off Quest Crew or Beat Freaks—I’ll flip the eff out if that happens! Both Team Millenia and Boxcuttahz ended up with some of the episode’s dumbest challenges, but in choosing themes to support these moves, both teams shined in terms of creativity: Team Millenia turned leap frogging into a lurch-y zombie dance, with slight nods to “Thriller,” and Boxcuttahz turned mountain climbing into a nerdy gym class heroes act.

Before the show started, they did a camera pan around all of the dance crews, and I literally blurted out, “Ugh?!” when I saw Team Millenia. After seeing all the tight, bright and funky costumes, Team Millenia’s make-up was definitely unexpected. Assuming they were going for the undead look, I was looking forward to their performance all night. The zombie shtick was definitely a clever way of working around the leap frog challenge, but at times it felt slow, out of pace and too reliant on the theme.

Last week, my qualm with their performance was that they were using the “rock band” theme as a crutch, and this week, I got the same feeling: we’re not getting Team Millenia, we’re getting Team Millenia, featuring (fill in the blank with a random theme). Again, I know they’re a class act when it comes to perseverance, but out of 2/2 episodes, I haven’t been particularly impressed, especially when other crews are seriously steppin’ up their games.

Last week, I said I wasn’t impressed with Boxcuttahz’ theatrical skills, but they definitely cleaned it up this week—it was cute and silly—and confirmed my suspicions that they were holding back. However, although they let loose tonight, it wasn’t enough, and they were criticized for blatantly appearing as if they were thinking throughout the routine. It was really sad to see Boxcuttahz go, especially when Lydia Paek started crying and couldn’t even walk it out.

At the end of the day, the judges were right in pointing out that both Team Millenia and Boxcuttahz are similar in terms of their choreographic approaches. However, they’re also similar in that they both seem to be holding back from showing us all their heart and soul, or as Lil Mama always puts it: you need to bring it.

Notes:

• Next week: Britney Spears Challenge. On top of incorporating Spears’ stage appeal, I’m guessing episode three will feature her songs. What songs would you love to see the teams dance to? I’m prayin’ for Ring Masters to dance bone-crush to “Hit Me Baby One More Time”…

• I was fortunate enough to be able to catch up with Quest Crew after the show: stay tuned for Ningin’s Quest Crew Interview!