This show has a big cast of characters, and they are all crammed into the relatively tiny one hour premier, so it was a bit hard soothing through them all. The one that stuck out the most was obviously Layla. She was a huge player in this first episode from fighting with her boyfriend (more than once), to meeting with her sex crazed mom, and even cornering a fellow trainer to get to the bottom of their dirty laundry. Layla is not afraid to ask questions and push buttons, and that will either have you ending up loving the hell out of her, or hating her intensely.
For the first episode, I haven't decided which side of that line I'm on, though by the end I was pretty close to completely writing her off in my head. Her and her BFF Courtney were the mean girls for the episode. Courtney, who complained the most about shade, actually had a little something shady to say himself as each cast member was being introduced. Courtney has a great body, but his split personality drove me insane this episode. As much as I wanted this sexy god of a man to be cool, when he was around Layla he became almost as annoying as she was. But he would turn around and act tolerable when she wasn't in the room.
I did feel for Courtney a bit in that he was starting to realize that he wouldn't be able to sustain this job forever. He was actually in great need of a shoulder surgery (which the promo kind of ruined will happen this season), but he knows that if he takes off work he will be losing money -- perhaps too much to sustain his lifestyle. It's a hard choice to be in, but that doesn't stop him from being extremely over the top. Don't get me wrong, I love gay men on television, but he was really pushing it to my limits with all his "yaaaas"s and "werk"s and "gurl"s. It was getting to be a bit too much, honestly.
Lena was one who flew almost completely under the radar. She and Noah had among the least amount of screen time (sans one other member who was virtually invisible), and I really wish I had gotten to know them a bit better. Noah was incredibly hot and had overcome being a fat child by working out and making it his passion. Lena on the other hand had been pursuing a life of fame through dance but when things didn't work out she turned to fitness.
The thing in common the two have was Holly. Holly is the best person on this show hands down. If you want to fight me over this, I'm willing to take you on. She's pretty, she's smart, and she's got more muscles than most of the cast on this show, which is really saying something. It's clear she's worked hard to get where she is in life, and if the others' opinions mean anything, she's pretty much the queen bee of New York's trainer scene. She's even got her own fan club.
Lena decided to get a taste of the life Holly leads because she's a great inspiration to her. It's here we really get to see Holly shine. Instead of barking orders at people she uses positive reinforcement, making the person she is training feel empowered. If that isn't a talent, I don't know what is. I really wish more people used her style of training, and maybe we would have more people turn their lives around. Holly definitely made a mark on Lena and lit a fire under her to skyrocket to the top.
Then there's Joe. Let's face it -- Joe is hot. But there's another side to that coin. Joe is also a bit of a snob. I don't mean that he just has good taste in clothing. I mean that he's a jerk when it comes to those who don't "get" fashion. He supposedly was once a model (and had a few photos shown on screen to back it up) but had retired to be a fitness instructor. And this, folks, is where the meat of the drama is spawning currently.
You see, the rest of the trainers don't much care for him anyway. Well I say that, but the injured Lindsey seems to have a thing for them. Thus he got invited to their girls night out. Prior to this, Layla was informed via Courtney playing the telephone game that Joe was a go-go dancer at a gay club before and that he preys on gay clients using his sex appeal to wrangle them in. Of course being the to-the-point woman she is, Layla had no reservations about bringing it up point blank. Words were thrown both ways with Layla simply wanting answers and Joe refusing to answer seemingly rude questions about his finances.
Here's the thing: I don't think either one was in the right. First off Layla was wrong for bringing up someone's finances, especially in a group setting. Joe was wrong fro being an overall douche. I won't say he asked for it exactly, but when you supposedly have the same job as everyone else, yet you are boasting about all your designer clothes and your more than four hundred pairs of shoes, some jealous feelings are sure to rise, and along with those feelings come questions. If you aren't prepared to answer to those questions, shut your mouth before you start bragging. But that's just my opinion.
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| At least he's hot though. |
What can I say? I've been looking forward to this show for quite some time now, and to see it presented, I was faced with one question. Was it worth the wait? I think it was. It had a lot of drama for the first episode and it didn't fall into the pitfalls of an identity crisis. The show knows that it's all bout the drama. The antics aren't split up between drama and clients (such as Below Deck and Apres Ski) and it has a clear identity of what it is and who it is marketing to. It has a lot of sex appeal for both men and women, gay and straight. We have a strong out lesbian on TV again, which has been a bit lacking on Bravo for a while now.
With it's diverse characters, I can see Work Out New York becoming a quick favorite on the network. They definitely know what they are doing, and they did a marvelous job of setting up the players in this first episode. We have a pretty clear picture of where alliances lie and who may just be faltering. The storyline of Joe VS Layla doesn't seem to be ending any time soon and may be an overarching plot for the season. As much as I am not liking either person as of yet, I know it will draw in ratings and buy time for the rest of these awesome people to be introduced.
Honestly I'm just hoping for way more Holly.
And maybe a little Lena, too.
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