Just when you think we might not see those Candy Apples anymore, they pop up right when you least expect it and Abby decides to fight back with a taste of Cathy's own medicine. Rather than taking the high road and continuing to try and beat their rivals with superior choreography, Abby stoops just as low as Cathy and adds a couple of her older dancers to the competition team. I know Cathy has broken the rules in the past and tried to sneak in some older girls, but I have to agree with the Dance Moms when they point out Abby's hypocritical actions. If she really believes her girls are better dancers than Cathy's Apples, she shouldn't have to pull out any secret weapons from her other dance groups. Will Abby's new additions help the team pull off the big win against their arch enemy? Let's twirl right into tonight's episode and find out!

Crossing Enemy Lines

The Abby Lee Dance Company has to face their enemy in their home state of Ohio, and because the head apple claims she doesn't have time to choreograph a winning number for her girls to take to competition, so she hires two outside choreographers to draft two dances. I happen to think that Cathy is a little worried and knows she isn't as experienced as Abby when it comes to winning choreography, so she needs outside inspiration to have a chance at winning first place. It turns out that maybe this wasn't such a good plan because they don't even end up placing in the top five with their Chinese inspired dance. Maybe Cathy will think twice next time and actually be a dance instructor and choreograph a dance.

Playing Favorites

After her double win last week, Maddie gets a break from having a solo and Paige and Chloe are put in the spotlight. If there were any questions about whether Abby favors Maddie over the others, tonight confirms them. Not only did she demand that Paige take the crown without excuse, but also that she will receive zero practice time with a coach. Because she has worked on this number before, Abby doesn't think she needs any further guidance and can come in and practice on her own. I think this is just absolutely ridiculous, and no matter if she has done the dance or not, she has never actually performed it in front of judges and deserves all the attention that Maddie always gets.

Clearly Kelly isn't happy about the lack of attention Abby is giving her daughter, so she does the unthinkable - she changes Paige's choreography before the competition without telling her. Everyone, including Kelly, knew that Abby would completely lose it on Paige after she performed a completely different dance on stage, but did that stop her? Of course not. Paige is left to feel the wrath of her instructor just because Kelly felt like she needed to throw a temper tantrum. I don't agree with the lack of practice and attention that Abby denied Paige, but I also don't agree with Kelly going behind her back and changing the choreography knowing that Paige would pay the price for it.

Next week Payton returns to the team, and as you might guess, the moms aren't too excited for it. What do you think of tonight's episode? Do you think Kelly should have changed Paige's choreography? Leave your comments and come back next week for your Dance Moms coverage!

Kathryn MacDougall
Contributing Writer

(Image courtesy of Lifetime)