ABBY LEE: All right.
This week we are attending Sheer Talent in Fresno, California.
[APPLAUSE]
We never win in Fresno.
Fresno is not my favorite place.
Third place, entry number 99, "The Atlantic."
[APPLAUSE]
We better win.
All right, girls, the group routine--
Brynn, Nia, Kalani, Kendall, and Camryn.
This routine is based on a movie entitled "The Help."
There's a real big message here.
I want everybody acting.
The name of the routine is "Good Help is Hard to Find."
ABBY LEE: This week we're talking
about a little bit of history.
The movie is about the deep South,
and the housewives and their help.
I want these girls to realize that people in America
did struggle.
I want to give power to the women that were the help.
So it's about the change in the times, change in the way
people look at other people.
We have maids, we have socialites.
Leave the story up to me.
Yeah, that's what makes me very nervous.
Can you really convey the sensitivity
of a complex issue like that without making a mockery of it?
Well, we'll see.
So who's playing which different roles?
Holly, you know I typecast.
Nia, there will be one moment where the statement you make
is the point of the whole story.
So if this routine doesn't win, that pressure
is on your shoulders.
You better be perfect.
The book and the movie was based in the South,
and it was really terrible. - Yeah.
It's a very sensitive subject.
JILL: Yeah, but we're playing characters and--
You know what, Jill? Until--
I know it's sensitive. I don't get a call.
Until you are put in that situation--
JILL: I said it before.
Until you're put in that situation,
it's easy to say we're just playing characters.
There are some characters where it just hits
a little too close to home.
You have to trust, and I make the decisions here.
You're dismissed.
Thank you.
So, Brynn, you're my little socialite right here.
But you don't have a maid.
Where's your housekeeper?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hey, come on.
Lollygagger.
Hello.
Look who's here!
ABBY LEE: For this routine I need a sixth dancer.
So I'm bringing Daviana back in.
So, Fernanda, how long conceivably do you
think you're actually gonna be here?
I haven't even had a chance to talk to her
and figure out where we stand.
I think she really had regrets about sending you home.
We did have a winning streak when Daviana
was a part of this team.
So I think the door is wide open.
Obviously, Daviana is happy to be back.
I just don't know if she's gonna get her heart broken again.
ABBY LEE: Nia, Camryn, Daviana, you are the help.
We're trying to prove here in this story
that everyone is equal, and there
comes a time where Nia's role tells the story of I'm
not doing this anymore.
JILL: You know, not only were Nia and Camryn typecast,
so were Kendall, and Kalani, and Brynn.
I mean, no one likes to be typecast the snobby socialite.
ASHLEE: Why stick your neck out for criticism
when you don't need to?
Well, because this issue isn't outdated.
The issue has evolved into something right now--
But segregation is outdated.
No.
No, honey, it's not. - Really?
You don't think that?
No.
I live in one of the most segregated cities
in this country.
You have a county that is probably 90% white,
and you have the city that is probably 95% Black.
JILL: Why is that considered segregation?
Are you're not allowed to live in the other side?
Pretty much.
JILL: Oh.
Like, I'm telling you, they will-- they will run you off.
JILL: I didn't think you were allowed
to have segregation anymore. HOLLY: You're not allowed.
CAMILLE: You're not. - Well, that's what I'm saying.
You're not allowed.
So to say our country is segregated, like,
is throwing me for a loop.
HOLLY: But I-- you're not allowed.
But just because you're not allowed
doesn't mean it doesn't happen. JILL: I don't-- I don't--
I don't know.
I'm having a hard time swallowing--
HOLLY: Let's put it like this.
There are certain places I would never move 'cause I
know I would never be accepted.
I think for some of the moms who may not
live in a very diverse community,
they don't know what I'm talking about.
I think that's where it gets difficult.
We don't want to offend each other,
and then so often we don't really
get to the heart of the matter.
And I would love to have that conversation with my friends.
I mean, I think if you can't have
that conversation with your friends,
who can you have that conversation with?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ABBY LEE: You're still not giving it to me.
What the direction is--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The end of the dance is the most
important part of the dance.
And that's basically me standing up to the socialites,
taking off my apron, and saying I'm done.
So if this doesn't win, it's gonna be my fault,
which is a lot of pressure.
ABBY LEE: All right, girls, we are not
going to Fresno for vacation.
We are going to a dance competition to win.
Understood?
All right. Let's go.
Let's get on the bus.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, girls, let's go from the top with the music.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
HOLLY: I'm worried.
This is a group dance that has a lot of history
and raw emotion attached to it.
And to execute it well, they need to dance as one.
And I think that's an enormous weight for Nia
to have on her shoulders.
She has to lead this group.
ABBY LEE: OK, guys, we need to go.
But listen to me.
I don't know what's gonna happen here.
We don't have great luck in Fresno.
But I'll tell you what.
If you don't act as the character--
if you don't portray the role and get the message across,
what was it all for?
We got to go.
We're going.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
We're known for these type of dances--
these theatrical, character routines with a story.
'Cause these are Abby's favorites.
So if you want to be a part of this team,
we're gonna be doing a lot of these.
And you need to show her that you can do these dances.
Go out there and dance like it's the last time
you're ever gonna dance.
NIA: Yeah.
ABBY LEE: I'm nervous about the group routine.
I'm worried about how it will be received.
When the girls step on stage, I want them to do
something that means something.
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome entry number 36, "Good Help
is Hard to Find."
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(SINGING) Take a thought, hold it there.
Change the picture in your mind.
Keep the thought where you left it.
Oh, take a step to lead you there,
to the dream you wait to find.
Be the first to believe it.
Stuck in a life you don't want--
you got to leave that all behind.
Oh, and change your thoughts and you change the world.
Shine the light that you find to shine your truth.
Turn the key to unlock the door.
Oh, every day now you find the way how
to find what you're living for.
Change your thoughts, baby, and you can change your world.
Shine the light that you find.
Change.
Turn the key to unlock the door.
Oh, you got to change.
[VOCALIZING]
(SINGING) Change your thoughts and you change the world.
Change the world.
Shine the light that you find.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
That was great.
That was really good.
So good!
Really good.
[CHEERING]
That was so good, guys.
I could not be happier right now, because I just felt like I
was really in it on stage.
And the judges were really into it too.
It's pretty exciting.
I just hope it's enough for the win.
Next, we have our overall high score
for group size and production, if we can get a drum roll.
The overall high score for group size and production
goes to number 36, "Good help is Hard to Find."
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
JILL: First overall in Fresno--
I mean, really?
This is epic.
This is a dance that will go down in history
as telling an amazing story.
Whether those kids were typecast or not, it worked.
Abby knows what she's doing.
[CHEERING]
Yes!
JILL: Good job, girls!
[CHEERING]
She pulled it off with the lead.
I told you.
Acting-- she pulled it off, and the dancing.
Loved it.
It was silent at the end, Nia.
It worked out. We won.
It's time to party!
Let's go!
Oh, we've been talking about the group all day.
JILL: Yeah, what about--
ASHLEE: Yeah, what about Daviana?
This is kind of her dance for the week.
Right?
And so you're deciding on this group dance
if she's coming back?
I think she's great.
I thought she pulled it together.
I saw more face from her this week.
Thank you.
I think she's a nice kid.
I don't care if she's a swing.
If we're doing lyrical, we're doing contemporary,
I want six girls, she's my girl.
Wait.
Is she not coming back next week?
is that what you're telling me?
OK.
Well, I want a yes or no right now.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
No.
That's what I have to say.
Here we are, what, a few weeks before going to nationals?
And we still don't have a-- like, to me--
JILL: We don't have a team, Holly.
That's my-- that's--
We don't know who the heck's on the team.
And that's my point.
Abby needs to make a decision.
We should be feeling good right now.
And instead, nobody knows where they stand with Abby.
She keeps bringing moms who act like babies,
can't get their act together, fight with each other.
When are we gonna cut them loose and just keep
the kids that are doing well?