u/Fit2bthaid

I can keep this general enough to avoid spoiler tags, I think, but I'll add them if I'm proven wrong.

What sets this series apart from all the other L & O's, a few of which I've also watched to current episodes, is Mariska, and how through the entire evolutionary arc of all these years, still is able to be sufficiently genuine in portraying Oliva, that I can cry for her courage and vulnerability more often than not.

This episode deals with family alcoholism and the effect on child development. Nuff said. The way the creatives and crew are able to consistently present these topics in such a personal way, really sets this show apart.

As someone who's now bedridden for what days remain, I'm happily restarting the entire 27 year journey again, and this one really stood out.

Kudos

So, I think I get now the way Hybe does these shows. They have concepts/arrangement of members, that they test out. It's sort of a red team/blue team concept.

In the case of Dream Academy, they had a small Katseye, centered around Lexie, and they had a tall Katseye, centered around Manon. These were the two trainees Bang was OBSESSED with. If you look at the missions, even through the spice girls bit after Lexie left, you can see the two teams:

Tall Katseye:

Sophia, Manon, Dani, Meg, Lara, Yoonchip

Small Katseye

Lexie, Emily, Ezrela, Samara Sophia, An Asian, maybe shorter than Yoonchae.

Once Lexie dropped out, it was obvious which way they were going.

In the case of the final four for The Final Piece, they split between visual and vocal, and assigned the finalists accordingly. So, initially you and Ayana and Hiori on the vocal side, and they got the vocal song: We Ride. On the other side, you have the spark/energy trainees, Aoi and Sakura, and they got Party b4 the party.

What the final was meant to do was present two different focuses for Saint Satine. If they wanted a group that could handle BlackPink level vocals, they would have picked We Ride/Ayana. If they wanted a more high energy Spice Girls kind of vibe, Sakura.

It was the actual vibe of the performances as much as the two trainees, that determined the group and the direction of the group. Sakura was an archetype as was Ayana/Hiori.

The rumor is that the vocal girls from World Scout are going to end up in a larger, Japanese group, with Ayana and Hiori as the centers.