Right here-- there needs to be another person up on that,
dancing.
This number is not coming along as quickly as I'd like.
Something's off, and I know what that is.
It's my numbers.
If we're going to beat Cathy, I need to make
an addition to this group.
ABBY LEE: Guess who's here early for her private?
Oh, she's bringing Payton in.
Oh, hey.
ABBY LEE (VOICEOVER): I've decided to bring
Payton into the group number.
She wants to be successful.
She wants to be part of this team.
And she's going to do everything she can to help us win.
Get up there on that beach and just,
like, improv a little bit.
ABBY LEE (VOICEOVER): I've had some problems
with Payton in the past because she has a smart mouth.
You need to fix that turnout.
PAYTON: I thought that I was better than most of the people
for--
ABBY LEE: You thought you were better than most
of the people in this group?
Oh, that's cocky.
But that's how I feel, performance-wise.
She's a great dancer, she's strong,
and she's going to take over and be the leader of this group.
It's high time that somebody be the leader.
[LORI MARTINI AND CASSANDRA KUBINSKI, "SWIM"]
--that you might capsize.
KRISTIE: How old's Payton? - 15.
Perfect.
Payton's danced with the team before.
I mean, and she's tall, but--
JILL: She's been an ALDC member for years now.
MELISSA: She's a member.
CHRISTI: And she's actually come in to help
take Brooke's place two times.
Oh, yay.
With Payton, that only means one thing's coming,
and that's Leslie.
Yippee for me.
Hi, ladies. MELISSA: Hello!
ALL: Hi!
JILL: Hi, Leslie.
CHRISTI: However, I will say one thing.
Going up against the Candy Apples this week,
it's good to have someone like Leslie in your corner.
You know, someone who's seen a brawl or five in a bar before.
We know you're scrappy, and we might
need some extra scrap this weekend because there's
some bitches coming to town.
Yeah, we're happy you're--
LESLIE: What do you mean?
(SINGING) --the fear that you might capsize.
CHRISTI: I am always the first person to say, like, we
don't need this person, and--
I think we need her this week.
CHRISTI: --we don't need that person.
Perfectly fine with Payton dancing with this group
this week.
Because you know what?
It's not about this, that, and the other thing.
It's about beating Candy Apples.
And she's an Abby Lee Dance Company member.
CHRISTI: That's right.
HOLLY: Yep.
If she had to bring someone in, bring someone from the team.
LESLIE: Well, this is different.
I'm happy that you guys are happy.
JILL: No, no-- of course.
We're really excited to be here with the team today.
And if Brooke and Paige don't come back,
do you think Payton fits in this team?
I mean, seriously.
I think that she will use Payton
until she works out whatever problems she's
having with Brooke and Paige.
And then Brooke will come back, and Payton will be kicked
out again because that's-- - I think that's wrong.
--what she does.
Payton and I want to be on this team.
We want to be permanent team members.
And we're going to do whatever it takes to stay on this team.
You know, Payton and I would die to have the opportunities
that your kids have.
Careful what you wish for, Leslie.
And I know you say that.
But that's why I've been doing this for 16 years.
She would die just for a little bit of that.
[musical sting]
LESLIE: I like this spot, right here.
Yeah, I know.
LESLIE: Hopefully It's mine permanently.
Well, I'm pretty sure it's still Kelly's.
JILL: Really, Leslie? Is that your goal?
Is that--
Absolutely, it's my goal.
You want Payton, who's 15, to dance with ten-year-olds?
LESLIE: Well, you know what? Then she can bring somebody in.
There's another spot open.
Bring somebody in her size, and it'll equal out.
Wouldn't you want somebody on your team
that is 100% for the team?
If Brooke walked through that door,
I think that she would put Brooke in the number.
I don't think Kelly and Brooke and Paige
should be able to come back.
Three times you leave the team?
When is it time that you're not allowed back?
From my perspective, watching Abby yesterday,
she missed Brooke being in this number
because there are things she wanted the kids to do,
and they're not Brooke.
In a group number, you're going to watch Payton.
And give her choreography that she can do.
Leslie must be on some sort of mind-altering drug,
probably one she borrowed from Melissa,
if she thinks she's going to replace Kelly on this team.
Well, I plan to tell Abby that we really want this spot.
I don't want this just to be another fill-in week.
Everybody has to think of the real reason
why we're sitting here in the first place--
it's to get our child ahead and dance.
CHRISTI: Well, Candy Apples has a lot of teens.
Maybe you need to go there.
JILL: Cathy is trying so hard to come
up with a group of kids that can beat our group of kids.
Her boys didn't work out, so she gets rid of the boys.
She brings in a new group.
What kind of teacher is that?
I am so sick of Cathy's tricks.
I want to make sure that us moms stick together this week
and we hand that crab apple a loss.
Are we sticking together?
Because you know, once we get there, Cathy's--
they're going to come after us.
Or me.
Now, why are you saying this?
Have you guys not stuck together in the past?
- Yes. - No, we have.
I feel like I'm getting ready to go, like, to battle.
You're our-- what did you call yourself?
The boy who fights in hockey?
- The goon. - [laughs] The goon.
I'm not the goon.
Maybe Leslie has a purpose after all.
I could get used to her going in as the muscle to fight
with Cathy this weekend. ALL: Morning.
LESLIE: Hi! Good morning.
JILL: Good morning.
Good afternoon,
New face, how are you?
I'm good. ABBY LEE: Good.
Finally getting to sit in Kelly seat.
I just want to let you know that she is really enjoying
this, and we are going to take every opportunity
that comes our way.
And that's why we are here.
ABBY LEE: Payton has the energy.
Payton has the desire.
She wants to do it.
She wants to be the best.
She wants this.
But, for this routine that we're doing right now,
when I envisioned this number--
[musical sting]
--I had Brooke on that prop.
And she could do all that contortion work, that rolling
around on the floor.
All of that was supposed to take place on that prop.
Payton doesn't have those skills.
She has other skills.
I hate to say it, Leslie, but we told you so.
Brooke just has a certain skill set that's difficult for Abby
to replace.
You know how hard it is when she gets kicked
off this team every time?
It's not about being kicked off the team.
It's about not being right for the piece that we're doing.
But it still feels that way-- ABBY LEE: Right, well--
--to a 14-, 15-year-old.
So every time I explain to her, but you still
have to be there when she asks you back,
and we are going to keep doing that-- we don't want that.
We want to be a permanent spot.
ABBY LEE (VOICEOVER): Leslie is in my face about Payton
being on the team and being a permanent member and blah,
blah, blah. You know what, Leslie?
You are not making a very good case for Payton's future.
[exhales sharply]
Oh, this is great.
ABBY LEE (VOICEOVER): This week, we also have a tag-along--
Leslie.
Now, her daughter Payton is a great addition to the team.
Payton works well with the other kids,
and she looks great in this number.
I'm not so sure about her mother, Leslie.
But I do know she's a vast improvement over Kelly.
JILL: So, Leslie, let me just say, Payton,
that I'm happy you're here.
LESLIE: Are you happier that we're here and Kelly's not?
Is that what you're trying-- - Well, I can't say happier--
LESLIE: --to say? ABBY LEE: Oh, I am.
--that's not fair.
I'm hoping that you guys get used to it being Payton
and I here and Kelly not coming back.
ABBY LEE: It's fine.
Listen to me, Kendall--
Just so all of you know, my name's Payton.
It's not Kendall. It's not Brooke.
It's none of you. It's Payton.
LESLIE: Yes. Yes.
ABBY LEE: But just what she did right now, like,
saying her name like that, that's a
15-going-on-16-year-old thing.
You would never, ever hear one of these kids talk
to me that way. - But she wasn't talking to you.
She just said that.
That's a smart mouth.
She wasn't being smart--
And, as a parent, you should take her outside
and have a little chat.
No, you're missing what she's trying to tell you.
She's trying to tell you that she's--
ABBY LEE: No, because I kept calling her--
--a person.
ABBY LEE: --Kendall in rehearsal by mistake.
I say lots of kids' names.
She's lucky I even know her name. (SHOUTING)
So shut your mouth!
I'm going to ask you a question right now, Miss Payton.
And if you answer me yes, then you're--
LESLIE: Don't answer.
--where you should be-- LESLIE: Don't answer.
ABBY LEE: --at 15 years old.
Do you have your solo costume with you?
No?
Then keep the smart mouth to yourself
because you'd have brought it just in case
I wanted to write you in.
Leslie wants Kelly's spot so desperately.
That seat has a name on it, and it's not Leslie.
Clearly, as soon as Kelly comes back, Leslie's out the door.
ANNOUNCER (OVER LOUDSPEAKER): All right, judges, up next
will be entry number 88A in the contemporary category.
Please help me welcome to the stage "Open Waters."
[cheering, applause]
[LORI MARTINI AND CASSANDRA KUBINSKI,
"SWIM"] I can tell you're still testing the water
and don't know how to begin.
Fall with me to the open water.
There is no lifeline to climb.
The deeper you go, swallowed by the undertow,
the more you feel alive.
I'll be there to keep you floating over and over again.
I'll be there, and I'll keep you floating
until you learn to swim.
To swim, ooh, ooh.
[cheering, applause]
ABBY LEE (VOICEOVER): I thought that our group was excellent.
Was it the most exciting routine I've ever done in my life?
No, of course not.
But, in two days, I thought it was pretty darn good.
ANNOUNCER: Now, ladies and gentlemen,
your highest-scoring 9 to 11 small group power champion will
be "Open Waters," number 88A.
[cheering, applause]
Way to go, guys.
Congratulations.
And what's the name of your dance studio?
Abby Lee Dance Company.
ABBY LEE (VOICEOVER): The very first time
at a brand-new competition, and we were
the overall high score winners.
And, just for some icing on the cake,
we did it in front of Cathy and all her moms.
[squealing, cheering]
What a rush.
CHRISTI: You know what?
I think Payton was great today.
That does not mean that that chair that your butt is in
belongs to anybody but Kelly.
[musical sting]
LESLIE: After the win!
After the win, you have enough nerve to say that to me?
CHRISTI: Leslie, I said Payton danced great.
She came for your team.
She supported you.
She helped you out to win.
But you're going to sit here and say--
And I gave her the credit.
--you want [bleep] [bleep].
Don't you [bleep] me.
I'll [bleep] you.
You will sit here and say, that is not your seat.
I want Kelly back.
When she constantly runs out on this team with her children?
Leslie's like the boil on the butt of humanity-- go away.
I need Kelly.
I miss my partner in crime.
[cheering]
See?
I knew it was the best thing in the world that Kelly was gone.
Yes!
Fabulous!
Woo-hoo!
We didn't have Paige screwing up the numbers.
Yes!
JILL: It was great, Abby.
Woo!
[cheering]