Curtain Call

Ever since Leah Stephenson auditioned for the San Francisco Ballet Academy, Pamela Hunter has seen her as an archrival. In fact, Pam tried to sabotage that audition for Leah - and their relationship has gone downhill from there. So now when Pamela starts making friendly overtures, Leah isn't sure whether she can trust the other girl. And now that Pam is being nice, who is responsible for the nasty tricks threatening Leah's career?

It's really not surprising that Pam is jealous of Leah - she's the darling of every teacher, every choreographer, the other students, and now even the press. But Leah just can't understand why everyone doesn't adore her. Leah comes across as more naive than usual in this episode, and it becomes obvious that show more these are intended for children - not for teenagers. Her approach to confrontation is straight out of a didactic tale.

I found myself disappointed with the wrap-up of this. I really enjoyed that the 'villainess' Pam was behaving decently for a change. And I couldn't help but hope that someone else was behind the tricks on Leah. The tricks, though, seemed pretty juvenile, and Leah falling apart over such things instead of focusing on her budding dance career just makes her look like a weak character. And the justification for the culprit's behavior is just pretty silly. Another typical 'ballet' problem checked off the list.

Here, I found myself significantly more interested in the set-up for the next story than in the plot of this one (after all - there are no mean people, just unhappy ones...). show less

Pam and Leah are ballet dancers studying at the same academy (S.F.B.A.). Pam is mean and cruel to Leah in every possible way, but Leah tries to give her a chance. She learns Pam isn't worth the effort.