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This might have been the best idea Michelle and Emily ever had.

Ozzy

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"A-Troupe Escape" is the 23rd episode in Season 6 of The Next Step and the 177th episode overall. It aired on March 31, 2019.

Synopsis[]

"A-Troupe's ability to work as a team is tested when they are locked in an escape room."[1]

Plot[]

In Studio A, Summer is doing a last-minute Regionals rehearsal, confessing that she always gets nervous before competitions. As she performs a solo, she confesses that she wants to believe they will win, but everything seems to be falling apart: Noah is stressed, Richelle is heartbroken, and Kenzie and Jacquie are still fighting about Davis. She reveals that Emily and Michelle have called a meeting later on, and she hopes they can help A-Troupe to reconnect before they have to compete.

That evening, A-Troupe is gathered in Shakes & Ladders, where they become increasingly bored as they wait for Michelle and Emily. Suddenly, an unseen someone slides an envelope under the door, and Noah goes to fetch it. The card inside is from Emily and Michelle, and reveals that the A-Troupers are in "an escape room". They are locked in until they complete a series of tasks, which they have until dawn to accomplish. Summer is excited by this, confessing that this is the perfect way for them to reconnect.

Accompanied by the others in Talking Heads, Noah reads out their first clue, which reveals that the next one is hidden somewhere in the room. As they split up to find it, Noah confesses that he thinks the escape room is a good idea, as it will hopefully help them feel like a team again — however, as soon as he says this, Kenzie and Jacquie begin fighting over an area of the room. Kenzie quickly brings up Davis, and her refusal to get over her departure visibly exasperates Jacquie. Eventually, Kingston finds a briefcase, which is locked with a unknown six-digit code. Finn nonchalantly suggests it could be his email password, but Piper soon finds another clue beneath the briefcase, and presumes it holds the solution.

In the Studio A office, Michelle and Emily congratulate themselves for thinking of the escape room. Emily casually goes to open the door, and is briefly convinced that they are locked in; Michelle soon forces the door open and — to her surprise — notices Kate enter the studio with a stranger. Kate confesses that it is great to be back at the studio, as she never realizes how much she misses it until she is there again. Michelle and Emily loudly greet her, and she follows them into the office, revealing that she has "big news". Michelle and Emily immediately guess that the stranger is her boyfriend, and make wild assumptions about her getting married. However, Kate shuts them down, and reveals that it isn’t necessarily good news — she is selling The Next Step Dance Studio.

In the escape room, the A-Troupers discover that the clue has numbered them all from 0 to 9 (each is now wearing a lanyard with an ID card holder bearing a single-digit number), and the numbers in the code are made up of whoever is the correct answer to six trivia questions. Summer is excited by the clue, as it means they will all get to know more about each other. Noah reads out the questions, the first of which reveals that someone was once in a band called Spaghetti Pedicure. Everyone laughs at the name, and guesses it is Noah — but the answer turns out to be Summer, immediately irritating Richelle, who confesses that there seems to be nothing Summer can’t do. In contrast, Henry is enchanted, and suggests that he and Summer could make music together, making everyone roll their eyes at their sappy behaviour.

The next question reveals that someone on the team went to Space Camp; everyone immediately assumes it is Ozzy, who is mildly offended that they think he would be the one to do something "nerdy". Kenzie reveals that it was her, and defends the experience by telling them she got to go in a space shuttle. Noah reveals that the next person has auditioned for A-Troupe more than any other dancer, and Richelle reveals that it is her, as she has apparently auditioned six times. Summer voices her disbelief that she had to do so many auditions, and Richelle retorts that "some of them" actually worked to get onto A-Troupe, taking everyone aback with her bluntness. Summer defensively claims she has also worked hard — but Richelle confesses that Summer may believe this, but she knows it isn’t true. Now attempting to ease the tension,

Noah reads out the next question, which reveals that Regionals will be the first competition for someone on the team; Kingston immediately confirms it is him. Again, Summer is surprised, and asks how he can be on A-Troupe if he has never been to a competition; Kingston becomes hostile at her condescension, and recounts how he came to A-Troupe with no professional experience. Summer casually dubs him a "basement dancer", which only triggers him even more. Now visibly worried, Noah again tries to move on quickly, announcing that someone on the team was a spokesperson in a cereal commercial. Piper happily declares that it is Finn, and tells everyone he is the "Fruity Moons kid", leaving them all gobsmacked — and completely ignoring Finn’s obvious discomfort. Piper reveals that she showed Finn's video to Emily and Michelle, and he fires back that she promised she would never tell anyone; Piper is genuinely bewildered, confessing that she didn’t realize he felt so strongly about it.

Now desperate to be finished, Noah reads out the final question: the answer is whoever the most romantic person on the team is. Kingston and Ozzy are sure it is Henry, reminding everyone how much he pined over Jacquie and Amy; Summer is taken aback, and asks if Henry dated both of them. Henry mutters that he and Amy never officially dated, and he broke up with Jacquie long ago — but Kingston magnifies both situations, even mentioning how Henry let his unresolved feelings for Jacquie damage his friendship with Noah. Summer is appalled, and asks Henry why he would hide the fact that he is on a team with his ex-girlfriend, much to Jacquie’s discomfort. Summer renounces her earlier enthusiasm, deeming the escape room a disaster. Piper begs Noah to open the briefcase so they can get this over with, leading to a full exchange of condemnation for everything revealed by the trivia questions — with Kenzie managing to bring up Davis yet again. As the arguing reaches fever pitch, they are finally interrupted by Noah yelling that he has opened the briefcase. Everyone shuts up, believing they can finally leave — until Noah reveals that they have only completed the first task, much to their dismay.

As Noah tries to console everyone, Kenzie confesses that they should be preparing to go to Regionals, and pronounces the escape room a waste of time. It is revealed that the next task is a scavenger hunt, and the dancers have been paired up to search for five "choreo cards". The first pair is Kingston and Summer, and Kingston is frustrated to be paired with the person who just insulted him; Noah and Ozzy are next, and Ozzy sarcastically confesses that he hopes he isn’t too "nerdy" for the task. Finn and Piper are next, followed by Henry and Richelle — and to their joint horror, the last pair is Kenzie and Jacquie. Noah sends everyone to search for the cards, wishing them luck.

In the office, Michelle and Emily despairingly ask Kate why she is selling the studio; she confesses that she doesn’t have time to run it properly any more, and tells them that she has had a lot of new opportunities since working on a reality TV show. Emily points out that she is considering selling to a stranger, but Kate reveals that she knows him well and thinks he would be a good fit for The Next Step. She assures Emily and Michelle that everything will be fine, but Emily confesses that if the studio is sold, she doesn’t know what will happen to them or the dancers.

A-Troupe splits off to look for their cards, and the scene jumps between the different pairs. Kenzie quickly dominates her and Jacquie's search, and both quickly become frustrated at the vagueness of their clue — which appears to involve basic waltz steps — and wind up taking it out on each other. After briefly continuing to be hostile towards Piper, Finn realizes that she feels bad and accepts her apology, though not before she promises not to tell anyone else about his commercial; the two soon find their card at the top of a large ladder decoration affixed to one of the cafe walls. Summer confesses that she is glad she is with Kingston, and takes the opportunity to apologize; Kingston tells her that Elliot used to call him a basement dancer, and Summer assures him she meant it as a compliment, as she would never have known he wasn't a trained dancer. Kingston is flattered, and Summer kindly advises that he stop downplaying his achievements; they then find their card hidden in a chessboard. Henry watches Summer from across the room, dwelling on whether or not she is still angry with him; Richelle shows complete disinterest, and finds their clue under the blender with minimal effort. Finally, Noah apologizes to Ozzy for assuming that he would go to space camp, and assures him that he things of himself as a "dance nerd"; Ozzy emphatically agrees, to the point of startling Noah. After debating what their clue could mean, Noah turns upside down and finds their card under a table. The pairs gather with their cards, but quickly realize one is missing — Jacquie and Kenzie are still searching, and still arguing.

Jacquie and Kenzie continue bickering, and Noah confesses that if they can’t work things out, they will never be ready for Regionals. Meanwhile, Henry approaches Summer, who begins solemnly listing various dancers and asking if he has dated them; he profusely denies it each time. She asks if he is hiding anything else from her, and he tentatively reveals that he didn’t really like archery — which prompts Summer to laugh and proclaim he was bad at it. She confesses that she hopes Henry will know to be honest with her from now on.

As Michelle rants about how they have been madly preparing for Regionals only for the studio to be sold to a stranger, Emily suddenly seems to get an idea. She eagerly proposes they buy the studio themselves — and though Michelle seems troubled by the idea, Emily fixates on it, confessing that she has always dreamed of owning a dance studio. Michelle quietly notes that they would be permanently tied to the studio, and confesses that although she loves The Next Step, she has been having doubts about running it. She tries to say she is unsure about committing to the studio, but Emily is so obsessed by the thought of them co-owning it that she fails to take this in, and assures her she will get over her fears. Eventually, Michelle simply agrees to do it, but confesses that she doesn't think she wants to be a studio owner — though equally, she isn’t sure what she actually does want to do, and she wonders if this is the path she is meant to take.

Kenzie and Jacquie still haven’t found their card, and the others are getting more and more fed up. Once again, Kenzie turns their argument to the subject of Davis, making Jacquie point out that Kenzie could have given up her spot in the hip-hop routine for her; however, Kenzie responds that she at least treated Davis with respect, something she thinks Jacquie never did. In exasperation, Jacquie reminds her that Davis is her sister, and it is normal for them to fight. She voices her relief that Davis is staying with their grandparents before Regionals — but suddenly, the memory of her grandparents gives her a breakthrough, and she realizes they may not have a card to find. Kenzie is confused about why she thinks her grandparents are relevant to their clue, and Jacquie recalls that they used the basic waltz steps when they were learning to dance — so she thinks they have to waltz together. Kenzie is incredibly reluctant to dance with Jacquie, but in desperation, she agrees to try it — and as soon they complete one waltz step, the door's lock clicks.

Everyone begins celebrating, and Kenzie and Jacquie instinctively hug. They are briefly surprised at themselves — but Kenzie suddenly apologizes for being so hard on Jacquie, admitting that she was probably taking the stress of Regionals out on her. Jacquie adds that they were both so worried about Davis that it affected their own relationship, and Kenzie agrees; they embrace, happy to finally be friends again. They join the rest of A-Troupe, who are running to open the door — but when they get there, they are startled to discover their way is blocked by life-size cardboard cut-outs of Emily (in the act of wagging her index finger, like a mother telling off a naughty child) and Michelle (holding out one hand in a 'stop' gesture, like a traffic cop).

Noah removes one last clue from near the cut-out Michelle’s hand, and learns that they have one more task to do — they all have to dance like another member of the team. For the first time that night, everyone is more than willing to take part and have a good time: Finn imitates Piper, Piper imitates Jacquie, Noah imitates Richelle, Richelle imitates Ozzy, Henry and Kingston imitate each other, Kenzie dances like Summer, Summer imitates Noah, Jacquie imitates Finn, with his signature "big fish, little fish, cardboard box" move ("I have no idea who that's supposed to be," a puzzled Finn confesses in Talking Heads); and finally, Ozzy dances like Kenzie. Relishing the experience, everyone begins dancing together happily, having finally connected in time for Regionals.

Trivia[]

Continuity[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • In the Behind the Scenes of this episode, there is a brief deleted clip and blooper of Noah asking Richelle how she's doing after her break-up with Elliot.[2] It is unknown why that deleted scene did not air, although given that there is a scene of Ozzy comforting Richelle about her break-up with Elliot in "And Then There Were Three", it is possible that the producers chose to keep that scene instead, given that they appear to be of a similar nature.

Errors[]

  • Richelle claims to have auditioned for A-Troupe six times, but she has actually only auditioned three times to get into A-Troupe and the fourth was to keep her spot. This is technically the same as Noah, who also auditioned four times, but he got into A-Troupe on his second try and his third and fourth were also to keep his spots.
    • This is reiterated by Briar Nolet in the Behind the Scenes of this episode, when she says that she really only auditioned three times.[2]
    • It could be that Richelle is simply exaggerating, though it seems unlikely that she would brag about not getting into A-Troupe.
  • Kingston claims that Michelle brought him to The Next Step Dance Studio after finding him online. Although this is the way in which he joined the studio, it was West who discovered him, not Michelle.
  • Summer appears to be unaware that Henry ever had feelings for Amy, despite being directly involved with their romance for the majority of its existence.
  • Emily states that she has always dreamed of being a studio owner, but in "Good Girls Go Bad", she says that she wants to become a Broadway dancer. However, it is possible that owning a studio is Emily's fallback option in the event of her not making it on Broadway or that this is her new dream, given that her knee injury obtained at the end of Season 2 prohibited her from dancing professionally.

Cast[]

Main[]

Recurring[]

Absent[]

Featured music[]

Featured dances[]

Quotes[]

Main article: A-Troupe Escape/Quotes

Aftershow[]

Main article: A-Troupe Escape/Aftershow

Gallery[]

Kathy Riley season 3 episode 13 "Look at that painting!"

To view the A-Troupe Escape gallery, click here.


References[]

  1. [1]. CBBC (November 8, 2018). Retrieved on November 8, 2018.
  2. 2.0 2.1 [2]. YouTube (Nov 16, 2018). Retrieved on October 7, 2023.
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