Reality television is a ruiner of lives, but it's guaranteed entertainment.

Nick is getting all he's asking for and more on The Big Leap Season 1 Episode 2, with romances brewing, love triangles, rivalries, sexy times, and broken hearts.

The hour upped the drama another notch and introduced some new complications.

Nick is shameless. The man is damn good at his job, and you want to hate him for it because of how manipulative and exploitative he is. He does whatever he needs to do to get the footage that keeps people talking.

We got our first glimpse at how bad he gets with it when they showed a flashback to his previous reality gig that was nothing short of a clusterf*ck that required the Coast Guard and may have ended up with someone's death.

Intern: We have Governor DeSantis, the Coast Guard, and Zack Peterman from the network.
Nick: God, what a horrible array of choices.

• Permalink: We have Governor DeSantis, the Coast Guard, and Zack Peterman from the network.

Nick didn't bat an eye over the class-action lawsuit. All he thought about was how all the danger, chaos, and drama made for great TV. And he's bringing that same approach to this dancing show.

His livelihood depends on the show's success, and he's pulling out all the stops to make sure this series has all the drama, intrigue, and scandal to appeal to viewers, regardless of what it does to the contestants.

Nick makes no apologies for his methods, and his general sense of indifference to the personal ramifications that his seeing ruthlessness will have on the others should be offputting. However, somehow he pulls it off.

Somehow Scott Foley makes a seeming slimeball character more compelling than he has any right to be. On the one hand, you're cringing when he directs the crew to listen to every dirty detail of the argument between Julia and Kevin without them knowing it, and you dread how he'll use Mike's "off the record" cheating admission against him.

Nick: I need Gabby with the football player that she's crushing on. Look, it's all right there, and I need Brittany right here to make her feel insecure. It's a whole, uh, it's a whole story arc.
Monica: What's that got to do with dancing?
Nick: Nothing. The show's not about dancing. I need people to bang. I need tears. I need a fistfight. I need an eating disorder. Otherwise, why not just go to the ballet and see Swan Lake, which oh my God, how boring.

• Permalink: I need people to bang. I need tears. I need a fistfight. I need an eating disorder.

And you want to loathe him for initiating the rivalry between Gabby and Brittany, laced with school-aged meanness and body-shaming and over a boy, no doubt.

But then he does things like inadvertently gives Gabby the pep-talk she needs or compromises himself almost to the degree of the contestants he's trying to manipulate with this sexual relationship with Monica, and you don't hate him. It doesn't hurt that despite his awfulness, the man is hilarious.

Nick is a puppetmaster who knows and reads people well, but he's also at the mercy of them, and this whole thing can fall apart and run him, too.

The contestants can be at the mercy of his manipulative mechanizations, but they can also get ahead of his games and work things to their advantage or thwart matters for him as well.

Gabby is hip to his ways even when she still gets wrapped up in his manipulations.

It was maddening when she discovered Nick's explicit desire to learn about the father of her child and to take advantage of her crush on Reggie. It's humiliating when someone can use things like that against you.

But it also seems that Nick genuinely likes Gabby despite his antics. It's vile that he relies on stale tropes and cliched situations and tactics to elicit the desired reality TV moments, but Gabby is his girl.

It was in his vested interest to have her play the Black Swan versus Brittany in the routine, but he also has faith in her abilities.

And while simultaneously doing things that could hurt her, he also expressed a fondness for her that isn't shared by people like Brittany or Monica.

Gabby is playing into all of Nick's plans, but his pep-talk of sorts seemed to come from a genuine place in addition to one that served him.

Nick recognizes how likable and lovable Gabby is, and he'd rather she lean into that with the confidence it takes to carry this series than roll over and throw up a white flag of surrender. In his way, he wants her to be the star and is rooting for her.

It doesn't excuse any of his shenanigans or makes him any less slimy for them, but it also keeps him from being this one-dimensional antagonist.

In some ways, Brittany and Monica are cut from the same cloth and regard Gabby similarly. Brittany seems unaware of Gabby's ability to best her in likability and underestimates what she's capable of as a dancer and leading lady.

She resorts to the same tired tactics you see in high school, making Brittany the classic Cheerleader Mean Girl going after the attention of the football player.

Brittany doesn't even notice or care that Reggie isn't into her and usually directs all of his attention toward Gabby. Then again, maybe she does recognize that, and she finds it so confounding that she's determined to change his mind and "right the order."

Something tells me Monica's issue with Gabby stems from her past issues as a prima ballerina. Gabby isn't the only curvy dancer in their brood, and we've seen Monica charmed by people like the meter maid.

The entire competition is comprised of amateurish dancers, so Monica can't even hide behind her statements about Gabby not being a strong enough dancer given everyone else's experience.

All you can go back to is that Gabby is good enough and with star potential, and that unnerves Monica in some way as a ballerina who endured all the grueling aspects of that career only to end up here.

Everyone wants to dull Gabby's natural shine, damn it, and they won't!

Nick claimed it was his idea to make her the understudy instead of the lead. He knows Gabby is his star and the underdog, and he wants to milk it for all that it's worth.

If anyone finds out about us, you won't touch me again, and it'll ruin you.

Monica

• Permalink: If anyone finds out about us, you won't touch me again, and it'll ruin you.

However, I still wonder if his recent dalliance with Monica affected his decision. Maybe Gabby didn't deserve the lead role, but she didn't place anywhere at all. Bullcrap!

Monica is a purist who thinks about the dance of the series to no avail. And Nick is an opportunist who chases after drama even if he has to manufacture it. They'll likely be at constant odds with each other over this now that they're sex buddies.

But it's Wayne who offers some stability in The Big Leap storm. He balances the other two out as best as he can manage, and he'll likely keep the contestants' heads above water.

His scene with Julia was one of the best of the hour. Wayne made himself a bit vulnerable to relate to and uplift her. For Wayne, he buys into the show's premise as one for second chances and joy.

Wayne: You okay?
Julia: Well, my marriage is falling apart and nobody likes me.
Wayne: I like you. You're just going through a little bit of a transition. Kind of feels like the whole world is right now. Transitions are hard and unflattering.

• Permalink: I like you. You're just going through a little bit of a transition. Kind of feels like the...

And Julia needed to know that this could be her fresh start and second chance. Julia is terrified of getting old, but Wayne was there to remind her of all the beauty and wisdom that comes with age.

Wayne's statements about transitions felt profound, not solely for Julia in this state of upheaval in her life, but for all of us post-pandemic. And damn it, I wanted a hug from Kevin Daniels too after that!

Your heart breaks for Julia, whose marriage is over. As her daughter pointed out, she has her fair share of issues with her social media obsession. However, she didn't deserve the vitriol Kevin spewed at her during that interview.

For someone who hates all of the antics, you would think he wouldn't feed it with his behavior during that interview. The tension between them was palpable, and he was acting like a petulant toddler.

Kevin: I'm so unhappy in this marriage.
Julia: What are you saying, you don't love me anymore?
Kevin: I don't even know if I like you. I'm going to go get a hotel this week. Then look for my own place. The show is still out there. You want to go out first, or should I?

• Permalink: I don't even know if I like you. I'm going to go get a hotel this week. Then look for my own...

Now Nick and the others have caught their argument on camera, and the whole world will know that Kevin has a porn addiction and their marriage is dead. When Kevin told Julia he doesn't even like her, let alone love her -- it was gasp-worthy.

I don't know how Julia will fare in this competition. She turned to it for a specific set of reasons that has expanded to something far more personal for her. But Julia also has to work with Raven, who, in her mind, represents what ended her marriage.

Raven is an unapologetic sex worker, and her moment in the locker room fielding everyone's questions about her work was hilarious. Julia went from progressive feminist regarding body-shaming when Brittany was mean to Gabby to lambasting Raven for her work and accusing her of setting women back.

But the irony of it all is amid all the drama that'll ensue with this pair as Julia directs her hurt and ire at Raven, it's Raven who'll probably have a few things to teach Julia and help her come into and embrace herself.

Are you masturbating from home today, or are you going into the office?

Julia

• Permalink: Are you masturbating from home today, or are you going into the office?

Mike's vulnerability with Nick will also be the death of him. He remains the most hapless of them all, with the funniest scenarios and lines. Mike's opener with him going from a woman kicking her coffee on him on one of his five menial jobs to commiserating with her about how sucky life is was golden.

But he reveals too much of himself without meaning to or considering how it'll cost him. Nick figured out he cheated on Paige based on his passionate responses to the plot of the dance routine.

And then Nick manipulated the hell out of him into revealing it and captured the whole thing. Mike was probably never going to get Paige back anyway, but he damn sure won't when she finds out about his affair.

And Paula was almost collateral damage when his refusal to follow the script kept him from dancing with her. Paula showing up at his bar to buy top-notch booze for the guys and go in on Mike was classic.

She's a rad character, which means it'll hurt like hell when Mike finds out about her former job. Oddly, the show is probably gearing toward romance, but Paula blends in perfectly with Mike's group of friends (who continue to be some of the ultimate scene-stealers).

They have softer approaches to making him get his crap together, and she comes in guns ablaze, and all of it works and is effective. They all play off each other nicely, and the impromptu dance outside of the bar was probably the best dance number of the hour.

Justin's dancing is always a crowd-pleaser, especially if you're a fan of hip-hop, but he and Simon's dance-off on the basketball court didn't feel as organic.

However, their interactions are intriguing and also point to another potential romance for the series.

Simon is confident, personable, unapologetic, proud, and flamboyant. The latter is something that Justin has a hard time grappling with as a gay man of color who is sort of out but still harbors internalized homophobia.

Simon peeped Justin right away, and not only can you appreciate him helping Justin with the ballet moves, but maybe Justin can learn something about self-acceptance from Simon, too.

However, there is a wonderful nuance here that the series could explore regarding their respective experiences as gay men.

Culturally, the internalized homophobia has some distinct differences, and it's not lost that Justin was particularly on edge about Simon's flair while on the basketball court, a hyper-masculine sport, among mostly Black men.

Simon: You have so much internalized homophobia, I don't know how you get out of bed in the morning.
Justin: So I'm gay and I'm homophobic?!
Simon: I said what I said.

• Permalink: You have so much internalized homophobia, I don't know how you get out of bed in the morning.

The dance routine ended up something fun between the two. But it felt as if Justin initiated his more "socially acceptable" in this circle hip-hop moves to distract and contrast Simon's blend of ballet and ballroom.

Part of Justin's inability to let go and commit to the ballet is because of his subconscious fear of what he would look like doing it. Simon picked up on and challenged that. He will continue to do so, but he also let Justin know that he's had some hardships in his past, too.

But whether it's sports ranging from basketball to dance or its genres ranging from ballroom and ballet to hip hop and breakdancing, it's fascinating how there's a sliding scale of socio-cultural acceptability based on things like gender, race, age, class, and body size. I appreciate how the series digs at those without overdoing it.

So far, Simon has more nuance than his sister. Brittany, as of now, is a classic caricature. She went from having pleasant interactions with Gabby in the beginning to all the passive-aggressive digs and cattiness.

Hi, is it believable that he would leave me for a girl like her?

Brittany

• Permalink: Hi, is it believable that he would leave me for a girl like her?

Brittany's a perfect reality show villain. Part of her behavior is probably a result of keeping that in mind.

If Julia is the "Karen" of the bunch because of her reactions to Raven, then Brittany is the "Becky."

You wouldn't have to be envious of her to share Gabby's exact same reaction when Brittany randomly fell into a split near Reggie. Who does that?

Gabby expressed that she had to deal with Brittanys her entire life, and she can't let this girl distract her from pursuing her dreams again. She's already sacrificed too much to get there.

It was a point she hilariously made clear with precious Sam not taking the least bit of offense. Gabby quit her job, and her mother rotates between encouragement and being another force that keeps her down.

She needs this show to go well, and that means fewer distractions. Unfortunately for her (and fortunately for us), Reggie is a deliciously big distraction.

Thank goodness someone pointed out to her that Reggie makes googly eyes at her, too. It makes it far more interesting if she has something to challenge the idea that her pining is one-sided.

Reggie is such a shameless flirt, but since he's been there, he only directs his attention to Gabby, Girl, open your eyes; that man is always looking at YOU!

He genuinely likes talking to Gabby and has no problem hyping her up to anyone who will listen. He credited her for showing him Swan Lake.

He only called her in to check out his trailer, with Force MDs' Tender Love playing in the background. And he confided in her about the real reason he was there and how he wants to get his 13 million dollar contract back.

Reggie invited her for dinner on a freaking Friday night! And let's not get into him massaging her thighs with his massager. The man is smitten!

We know damn well Brittany wasn't giving him a BJ in that trailer.

Brittany probably bogarted into his trailer, he was polite about it, and she was strategically using the massager on him to give the impression she was giving him a blowjob, attempting to make Gabby jealous and hurt her.

And damn it! She succeeded.

Absolutely hilarious when Nick could barely offer any words of encouragement or spare Gabby's feelings because he was too pissed about no one capturing the footage on tape, though.

Over to you, Big Leap Fanatics.

Raven: Hey, what if we got stripper poles on the stage.
Monica: Shut your mouth, no!

• Permalink: Shut your mouth, no!

Which brewing romance are you enjoying the most? Do you feel awful for Julia right now?

How messy will things get now that Nick and Monica are having sex? When will they let Gabby be great?

You can watch The Big Leap online here via TV Fanatic.

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.