Parents bring out the best and worst in us.
The twins’ mother showed up on The Big Leap Season 1 Episode 6, and somehow, she surpassed Nick as a harbinger of chaos and destruction.
Not only was the live aftershow turned into a different type of show, i.e., a sh*t one, but her sneaky, ruthless mechanizations shifted relationships for the series on and offscreen.
It was the Lovewells’ time to shine, and at the very least, they stood out during an hour where Missi Pyle was the ultimate scene-stealer as their Momster. Between the flashback opener and Tonya’s behavior along the way, we better understand how and why the twins are the way they are.
Tonya views her children as meal tickets, and through their talent, she hopes they could all rise to the ranks of fame and fortune. She fostered an unstable and toxic environment for Brittney and Simon growing up, never allowing them the chance to be kids or even recognizing them as individuals.
Tonya continuously pushed the narrative that it was them against the world, alienating them from others, preventing them from making friends, or forging healthy relationships and bonds with other people.
She pushed a lonely life upon her kids, making it where the only close bonds they had were with one another, and it explains so much about how both of the twins turned out.
Simon is better adjusted, and he’s reached a point where he can buck against his mother’s expectations or at least minimize the harm and damage she can do to those undeserving. Simon serves as the person who does not want to project onto others the things his mother did to him.
It explains why he often takes such a supportive role to those around him, has a more positive outlook, and warms up to others easily, trying to cultivate the bonds Tonya deprived him of for years.
Our brand is the twins. You two are not interesting as individuals. What have I said about subplots?
Tonya
Unfortunately, Brittney is more susceptible to her mother’s ways, and as a woman, it’s unsurprising if she faced more and harsher criticism than the self-professed “mama’s boy.” Because of her mother’s eternal judgment and nitpicking, it’s probably easier for Brittney to have a more rigid shell and keep people at a distance with her bitchiness.
Tonya blew into town, ruining so many good things or at least attempting to do so. One minute, we’re enjoying the crackling sexual tension between Justin and Simon that overpowered them so much that they concocted a reason to rehearse again just to go through with that steamy kiss.
The next minute, Simon, under Tonya’s advisement, pushed Justin away.
The idea that all relationships are transactional and that a romance isn’t worth having unless there’s something to extort from it is such a terrible take. And when you think of someone brewing with love like Simon, it’s unthinkable that a parent would stifle that in him.
His burgeoning romantic relationship with Justin wasn’t worthwhile since Justin didn’t have acclaim, and he, too, was a bright star that could outshine Simon. As difficult as it was when you root so much for Simon and Justin’s love story, we probably needed to see Simon struggle to overcome hardship.
He’s so good at supporting and uplifting other people and presenting himself as if he has it together, his wisdom overtaking everything. The reminder that Simon isn’t infallible and childhood demons and family toxicity have a firm grip on him, too, humanized him even more.
Simon: Is this why you did that?
Brittney: Mom told me to. Lovewells against the world, right?
Simon: No, Brittney.
The relationship between the twins remains fascinating, as more often than not, Simon always appears as Brittney’s keeper. He apologizes for her, reels her in when necessary, and holds her back. He makes excuses for her and overcompensates with others because of her.
Simon is the brother who stands between Brittney and the rest of the world. If he’s taking it upon himself to prioritize himself ahead of her and stop doing all of that, finally being the individual he wanted to be but Tonya never allowed, it would force Brittney to sit with herself and make changes.
The prospect of that storyline for both of them is attractive.
We even know who Brittney could be if she didn’t let the years of her mother’s toxic bullcrap and her lack of command over her emotions get in the way of matters.
Brittney never had a friend and likely didn’t think she needed one even on her worse and loneliest days because of Simon serving as her crutch and the only other person who knew what it was like with her mother.
It took no time for her to realize she and Gabby shared things in common and that when she wasn’t rude to Gabby all of the time, the other woman had no issue becoming her friend.
Gabby is such a precious sweetheart. She was probably more excited than Brittney that they became friends. They had a ball at Gabby’s house for pizza night, and their HSM dancing and singing along with coloring and other fun were cute.
Incentivize. Flatter. Push an agenda. Persuasion 101. It also helps not to be her mother.
Paula
It’s probably the most normal Brittney ever felt, and she realized how easy it is to be part of a loving environment. Maybe Brittney would’ve had the guts to challenge her mother if she hadn’t found Reggie’s letter and gotten jealous.
The combination of jealousy and her mother’s hold on her led to that distasteful admission during the live aftershow.
Tonya doesn’t mind making her daughter the villain if it means more airtime and attention. To Tonya, any attention is good attention. She doesn’t even consider how damaging that is for Brittney.
Up until this point, Brittney’s mean girl shtick hasn’t gotten her alienated from everyone. But after sharing with the world that Gabby’s high school teacher was Sam’s father, with most folks knowing the troubling undertones of that, Brittney won’t have any friends at all even Simon is sick of her by now.
OK, I really don’t like calling other women a bitch, but what a bitch!
Raven
Reggie and the others were outraged. Aja couldn’t bite her tongue talking about how trifling Brittney was, and the uber feminist Raven couldn’t even refrain from calling Brittney a “bitch.”
After seeing what Brittney could be and how her mother screwed her up, you can’t help but root for her redemption. Brittney isn’t a bad person, but instead, she never got the chance to be a good one or a person at all. Tonya treats her like a brand and entity, and Brittney doesn’t even know who she is at the present moment.
Hopefully, she’ll start to figure that out for the remainder of the season.
Thank goodness that Simon is figuring it out. Did anyone else squeal in delight when he showed up at Justin’s place to apologize and explain himself? These two are too adorable for words, and if Justin finally has sex with someone without getting drunk first, I’m thrilled that person is Simon.
Justin gets to be himself with Simon — love and accept himself because of Simon’s influence, and that’s such a beautiful thing.
Of course, their door exchange was just as satisfying as Reggie and Gabby’s.
Reggie benefitted from some time spent with Mike and his friends (gifts that keep giving). He probably should’ve given Gabby the benefit of the doubt and realized that she didn’t read his letter.
We’ll never know what kind of game Reggie was spitting in it, but him pouring his feeling out worked to his advantage when Gabby showed up at his house.
However, as pleasant as their kiss was, it was Gabby’s moments with her mother that were among the best Gabby scenes of the hour.
Gina often comes across as critical of Gabby, but she always has the best words when it matters most. She handled the news about Gabby’s teacher well. She didn’t dwell on any of the particulars; instead, she focused on letting Gabby know she did nothing wrong.
It hurt Gina that she couldn’t have been there for Gabby, telling her how amazing she was and all when everything happened. In a way, it probably hit Gina that maybe if Gabby heard enough about her qualities, strength, beauty, and more that she wouldn’t have sought out validation elsewhere.
Hey, look at me. This is one thing that happened in your life, and it gave us Sammie, but it does not define you. That teacher is a creep and a predator. You are a talented, beautiful, fantastic woman, and I’m so proud to be your mother. I only wish you had told me when it was happening. And I would’ve spent the last seven years telling you that, and I am so sorry that you were alone.
Gina
The hour also gave us another interesting pair with Paula and Julia. Although, most of it wasn’t as exciting as other portions of the hour. The one thing of note and concern is that Paula may be sick again.
She never shared what her doctor told her when he called, and after Mike’s heartfelt apology and plea to work things out, she emphasized that they’re only friends.
The only reason Paula would go from wanting Mike to forgive her to friend-zoning him that quickly is if she thinks or knows she’s sick and wants to spare him more pain if she’s dying.
The rest of the show season leading up to the performance will be a doozy. Sadly, Zach’s excitement over their wholesome series becoming a full-blown salacious sh*tshow may test Nick more than ever.
In his way, Nick has grown a conscience while working on The Big Leap. Now, he’d like for this show to make his daughter proud of him.
Monica: You know when I feel the way you’re feeling, there’s a little mantra I love to say to pull myself out of it.
Nick: Yeah? What is it?
Monica: Get up you stupid little bitch, you’ll do whatever is asked of you, and you won’t get any food or water until the job is done!
For once, he didn’t want the ugly drama to spill out on camera, and he considered the repercussions of that happening and how his last incident with Atlantis nearly cost him his career.
It bothered him how easily he adapted to Brittney going off-script as he zoomed in on all the drama. Maybe on the show about second chances, Nick’s opportunity has become about being a better person, and it’s working.
But now that the series is going viral as this hot mess reality show, like way too many others, will the message get lost? And what happens when Nick has to lean into what works at the expense of the people involved?
Over to you, Big Leap Fanatics.
What were your favorite moments? How excited are you about Justin/Simon and Reggie/Gabby? Do you think Paula is sick again? HIt the comments.
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Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.