Gracie clearly wins Mirai in Transitions, Skating Skills, Choreography and even Performance/Execution...
There is no basis for scoring Nagasu over Gold in PCS. Maybe last year, but not with what Gold put out this go-around.
Nagasu uses more crossovers, has less transitions, skates slower, has worse ice coverage, her program is not choreographed as well and was not as well-performed as Gold's. Again, your opinion is fairly baseless. Look at the criteria for PCS. Gracie's program isn't just better, but smartly constructed. This probably would have scored that high internationally, if her old one couldn't I 69+. It actually wasn't that much off.
I think Ashley gets a PCS boost and she has some of the weakest footwork (technically speaking) of the top contenders. Lots of flat turns and switching edges before turns, etc. (She has actually admitted to this in interview, which makes it even MORE noticeable to me now... :'( ). Her jumps looked pretty weak. O probably would have had her a couple points down.
Polina's score was in line with what other Juniors are scoring with similar programs on the Senior circuit, like Radionova. Not sure what the fuss is about. She had huge jumps and high difficulty, and these girls pop up with great IJS spins and decent footwork these days. The score was not that far off. I think she should go to set her up for the future off she skates well in the free skate...
Gracie's Lutz was one of the biggest I've ever seen.
People calling U.S. Nationals the most inflated must have missed Japanese Nationals or not seen what Yuna Kim scored at her Nationals in the SP (80+). Seriously...
As I said, I was left a bit cold in-person at the arena. And but that's just me and others who shared my opinion. However, others I talked to, really loved it and thought her score was well deserved.
Actually the best reflection of this is that she was about 50/50 as far as a standing ovation. It was interesting, people either really responded to it or didn't.
Mirai, on the other hand, had pretty much the whole audience behind her. From where I sit (Sec. 14, ha!) she had pretty good ice coverage as well. I would say she isn't as fast as Gracie's but I wouldn't say she's a total slowpoke either.
Obviously thinking about it further. I can understand logically how they got that score, but as my husband said, it was because it was a much more utilitarian, point-getting program. But that's the point (no pun intended), I suppose. You can't judge by the audience reaction, obviously. Again, I can logically understand why she's in first now, but I guess the heart doesn't quite agree. And of course, the judges shouldn't judge on heart.
IN any case, I'm a bit surprised by my reaction as someone that likes Gracie's skating in general and someone that wasn't particularly that enamored with Mirai. But that is where I'm at right now. Talk to me a few days, perhaps when I watch the videos again and the initial emotion/reaction disappears I might have a different opinion.