Spinning Out

[louisa05]

I watched the first three episodes and have not really been impressed but the portrayals of the skate moms and rink grapevine really stood out for me as well. Like Oshun, I have a child who danced; all that looked VERY familiar to me!

We can’t expect accuracy, of course, but I was amused by the very first scene, showing a packed house of very involved spectators, at what appears to be a junior-level regional or sectional competition.

Wait til they go to sectionals at the end of the season. That arena is more decked out with professional banners than both of the Nationals I have attended were. And it is a packed house, too.

And the first place pair team somehow skates their free skate 20 minutes after a ladies short program that we were told was the first one. I am so confused by the competition scheduling. Apparently, it's all just random.

Plus, coaches frequently quit and leave the premises in the middle of their skater's program. Happens all the time.

 

[LenaRadiFan]

Wait til they go to sectionals at the end of the season. That arena is more decked out with professional banners than both of the Nationals I have attended were. And it is a packed house, too.

And the first place pair team somehow skates their free skate 20 minutes after a ladies short program that we were told was the first one. I am so confused by the competition scheduling. Apparently, it's all just random.

Plus, coaches frequently quit and leave the premises in the middle of their skater's program. Happens all the time.

The scheduling doesn't make any sense at all lol at regionals(? I believe) after the short they were 7th but then skated last because they immediatly knew their final placements?

Regardless, I enjoy the show even though I am always amused when some of the skaters get depicted as great one in a lifetime talents when somehow the 3T seems to be the most difficult thing in the world

 

[lpt]

How dull and banal all this looks in comparison with dramas we have in real life figure skating!

 

[louisa05]

The scheduling doesn't make any sense at all lol at regionals(? I believe) after the short they were 7th but then skated last because they immediatly knew their final placements?

Regardless, I enjoy the show even though I am always amused when some of the skaters get depicted as great one in a lifetime talents when somehow the 3T seems to be the most difficult thing in the world

And now they are skating their free skate with no warm up having completely skipped it and she showed up two seconds before the music started.

Maybe there's a skater somewhere who can help us out, but wouldn't there be a problem if skaters didn't show up for their official warm up? Of course, to get all the pairs skaters free skates done within 20 minutes of the first ladies SP, I suppose you have to leave out warm ups.

 

[missviolet]

I dig the show lol but laugh at inaccuracies. Serena being a big threat with 3-2 combo haha. I actually like the drama even though ghey could tone it down. I reaaaally enjoyed seeing Johnny, didnt expect him but immediately recognised him. His costumes were on point with his real ones lol especially in the last ep

 

[fzztsimmons]

Having now seen the whole thing, as aforementioned, as a trash addict and self-confessed basic b !tch, I loved it

Figure skating definitely drops into the background during the majority of the episodes and really it's just a way of bringing the different characters together. However I enjoyed the topics it touched upon - mental health issues and family dynamics, the issues around power, especially within sports that typically involve minors spending large portions of time with adults, even racism, both within elite and priviledged sports and more broadly in america in general.

It wasn't necessarily always the most accurate or realistic portrayal of those topics or of figure skating itself, but the mistakes weren't imo glaring enough that it disrupted my enjoyment. It was campy and angsty teen drama but I enjoyed it and think there's definitely enough material for another season.
If you want something easy to binge with a sprinkling of figure skating, this is one for you!

 

[anonymoose_au]

So I decided to watch this thing, I'm up to episode 4.

It's actually quite engaging, although the skating is kinda funny, perhaps this is a parallel universe where 3Ts are the hardest jumps.

I will say I almost has a heart attack when Kat marched off to find Justin without putting the skate guards on at first...but seriously didn't she step onto concrete? Those poor blades!

And now she's gonna skate on natural ice on them!! But hey I guess they have a skate sharpner guy on site, lucky them!

It's still a bit hard to get over a skater who's terrified of falling going into pairs...like...has she never watched it before? Another parallel universe thing maybe?

 

[louisa05]

So I decided to watch this thing, I'm up to episode 4.

It's actually quite engaging, although the skating is kinda funny, perhaps this is a parallel universe where 3Ts are the hardest jumps.

I will say I almost has a heart attack when Kat marched off to find Justin without putting the skate guards on at first...but seriously didn't she step onto concrete? Those poor blades!

And now she's gonna skate on natural ice on them!! But hey I guess they have a skate sharpner guy on site, lucky them!

It's still a bit hard to get over a skater who's terrified of falling going into pairs...like...has she never watched it before? Another parallel universe thing maybe?

As I was explaining some of this to my mother, I adjusted some of my opinions about the skating level and the horrific falls: of course a 3T is super hard if you are skating on destroyed blades all the time. And, of course, falls are particularly hazardous on those blades. It all makes sense.

 

[Colonel Green]

I dig the show lol but laugh at inaccuracies. Serena being a big threat with 3-2 combo haha.

The weird thing about the depiction of the technical level in ladies' singles is that it seems like midway through the series they suddenly realized how behind this was, because a few episodes later Serena talks about doing a 3Lz-3T combination, and then at the Regionals there are two rival skaters who are said to be attempting triple Axels.

 

[waterblades]

Here is the link to an article that discusses all the stunt doubles

In terms of the pairs skating, Trennt Michaud was Justin and Elizabeth Putnam was Kat in episode 3 & 4, replaced by Evelyn Walsh in episode 7 & 10. Walsh/Michaud are the Canadian National Silver medalists and were 12th at Worlds last season.

In terms of the singles skating/non pairs stuff, Dylan Moscovitch was Justin and for Kat her doubles included Kim Deguise Léveillée and Michelle Long, who were both Canadian singles skaters.

Anyone know why Elizabeth skated with Trent for 3&4? Since is regular partner is Evelyn Walsh and she skates in later episodes.

 

[crazydreamer]

I feel like the technical difficulty inaccuracies are a factor of them not having stunt doubles who can do 3-3s. If the show is popular, maybe they can up the cgi and doubles next year. Would be nice to have more cameos too.

The silliest thing to me though is that the story revolves around two 21 year old ladies who have never been to nationals and yet are serious Olympic contenders for 2022. Never heard of that happening before. At least the younger sister is somewhat age appropriate.

 

[Reddi]

There's one thing that really bothered me in this instantly forgettable show: an injury in ep 1 (girl's blade gets stuck in her boot)... is this a thing that really happens?:shocked:

 

[apgold]

There's one thing that really bothered me in this instantly forgettable show: an injury in ep 1 (girl's blade gets stuck in her boot)... is this a thing that really happens?:shocked:

I hope not. That looked painful.

 

[Ziotic]

I hope not. That looked painful.

It absolutely happens!

 

[Orlov]

I am now on the 8th episode. I must say right away - this serial is just tormenting me , but I made a decision to watch it to the end. Firstly, not every time you can see a show about FS, secondly because of my boy Johnny Weir.

Why is everything so dark and depressing? Why is the main character mentally ill? Why did it have to be done? I want to watch about sports, about figure skating, I want to enjoy. Why am I being shown a character who bites herself bloody and is going crazy in a store right now? Yes, mental illness exists, alas. There are a lot of bad things in the world. But the very fact that bad things exist does not mean that they necessarily need to be included in the series about figure skating. What the hell?

Why are they always drinking? How can her partner be a top athlete if he regularly gets drunk in the evenings?

In the series, almost no figure skating is shown. They are drinking, take pills (This serial just kind of pills-fest. No, I've certainly heard of the all-powerful pharm-industry in America, but dudes, come on ) having sex, being jealous, involved in family scandals, whatever, but not training.

Johnny was made a minor frivolous character (also a big fan of drinking in bars and at parties). It seems he's still a bit of a positive character. But I think that only thing that saved him was that he is gay - otherwise he would have been cliched evil competitor of the main characters

People, do not take offense, but the sister of the main character does not look as a "super-promising" single skater. I mean the body complexion. As I understand it, the story takes place in our world (at least they're talking about the 2022 Beijing Olympics), in our Universe, with our physical laws and our gravity Dear Director of the series, you could look at the complexion of leading US ladies skaters - Bradie Tennell, Mariah Bell, Starr Andrews, Ting Cui (6th, 9th, 22nd, 37th place in the ISU ranking). Yes, for example, Johnny, of course, doesn't look like a pair skater too. But there is nothing to be done, they could not choose here. But the actress of the necessary complexion, they could well choose at the casting.

For me only once was a bright place in the series - at the end of the fourth episode, when they were on a street skating rink at night skate their program (when the black ski-bartender saw them).

 

[macy]

Ashley Wagner posted her take on the series on her instagram stories today, catch it before it expires! she said she even tried out for the main character.

 

[moonvine]

All the skaters in my Twitter feed, especially Chris K, are laughing themselves silly over it. He’s saying oh I’m supposed to go to the bar at night? I’m not sure I can get through 5 minutes of it. I’m kind of a TV snob and like good acting and directing. I did like the original Ice Castles movie but the remake made me regret wasting an hour and a half of my life on it.

 

[ancientpeas]

It was watchable. I thought they did a decent job with the figure skating stuff. Normal people would have been bored by the level of detail ubers would have wanted.

All the mental health stuff made me a little nuts. People do not go crazy 5 minutes after going off their lithium but I don't go to tv shows for their accuracy in displaying the nuances of mental illness.

Best figure skating movie is still The Cutting Edge to me and the figure skating in it is hopelessly inaccurate but the chemistry between the leads is good and you and end up caring about what happens to them. Toe Pick!

 

[pearly]

I am confused about Jenn's age. I thought they said she was 16 some time around episode 4 or 5. I know I've been confused the entire show how come she never gets asked for ID at the bar and that she and Kat are so close despite the age difference. And then the thing with the doctor. Are they the same age? Why did I think she was 16?

 

[lishazard]

Ashley Wagner posted her take on the series on her instagram stories today, catch it before it expires! she said she even tried out for the main character.

Hang on, she did? That's amazing, because throughout the series I kept thinking that Kat reminds me of a darker angrier Ashley. At the same time, given what Kat does throughout the show, I'm kind of glad Ashley isn't Kat.