The Big Leap Episode 1 recap: I Want You Back

After a year with virtually no fall television season due to the pandemic, it’s nice to see that things have somewhat returned to normal in the world of broadcast television. This week kicks off the fall 2021 TV season and here we’re taking a look at FOX’s new dramedy The Big Leap Episode 1.

The Big Leap is an earnest, heartwarming musical dramedy that should fill the void left by Zoey’s Playlist until the new wrap-up special airs. What makes The Big Leap unique is that it’s about dancing for once, instead of singing, and it pokes fun at the popular reality dance competitions we’ve seen dozens of over the years, even on FOX’s network.

The Big Leap Episode 1 starts in the past, seven years before the present day. We meet best friends Justin (Raymond Cham Jr.) and Gabby (Simone Recasner), star dancers at their high school who are also in a relationship. But everyone knows Justin is gay except Gabby until a party where she walks in on him kissing another guy. That same night, Gabby also discovers that she is pregnant after hooking up with someone during winter break when she and Justin were broken up.

Fast-forward to the current day and Gabby is now the mother of a boy named Sam. She and Justin haven’t really spoken since they were teenagers since he assumed she hated him. But Gabby, who has been feeling pretty directionless as of late, sees an advertisement for The Big Leap, an in-universe dance reality series that is holding auditions soon. She tracks Justin down to the bowling alley where he now works and convinces him to audition with her.

The other key characters in this story include Julia Perkins (Teri Polo), a ballerina in a rocky marriage, Mike Devries (Jon Rudnitsky), a guy dealing with his life in crisis after he gets laid off from his job and his wife asks for a separation, and troubled football player Reggie Sadler (Ser’Darius Blain). Piper Perabo also stars as professional dancer Paula Clark, who is recovering from breast cancer.

The Big Leap Episode 1 recap: Auditions

What is The Big Leap? It’s a fictional reality series that will follow a company of 20 dancers as they rehearse and prepare to perform a hip, modern remake of Swan Lake. The audition process is similar to the many reality shows we’ve seen of this nature, such as So You Think You Can Dance.

The judges are Wayne Sleep (Kevin Daniels) and the cutthroat Monica Sullivan (Mallory Jansen), and the entire thing is overseen by the sleazy executive producer Nick Blackburn (Scott Foley). Nick is the type of guy to root out your dark secrets and then exploit them on national television. He’s on the prowl for the juiciest stories.

As for our main cast, all of them pass through the first round, except Gabby. She slips during her dance audition with Justin, he makes it through, but she doesn’t. Luckily for Gabby, another opportunity comes knocking. When Nick tries recruiting Reggie to join the show, he refuses. He tells Gabby that if she can convince him, then she can get a second-chance audition.

So while everyone else is preparing for the next final round of cuts, Gabby is busy working with Reggie to finetune their dance moves and get another shot. Sparks fly between them as the chemistry is instantaneous between these two actors.

During the final cuts, Mike dances with Paula and Julia dances with Justin, both couples do well. But then Gabby and Reggie arrive and blow everyone away with their heartstopping performance. That’s when Nick tells one of his minions to start digging into the father of Gabby’s son because Gabby is going to be the star of this new show. He expects her to fall in love with Reggie. “And he’s going to break her heart.”

Are you sold on The Big Leap Episode 1? Will you keep watching? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

The first two episodes of The Big Leap are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes premiere Monday nights on FOX.