"Even though our routines may look comfortable, it doesn't mean that life is always comfortable. And we use skating as our escape." - Sean-Christopher (Bad Boys Skate Crew) Roller skating is such a passionate sport! Overall I enjoyed the show and performances, but had some mixed feelings on the execution. As a roller skater myself, I was happy to see there were so many different types of skaters. They were particular about bringing in multiple styles such as rhythm, artistic, jam, and even aggressive. Even the teams they brought in were very diverse, from professional full-time skaters to competitive skaters to hobbyists and hidden talents from smaller skate communities. I loved that a lot! Though because this show is more "Roller-Jam"-esque, there were clear advantages for some teams that had the more classic/traditional style or had familiarity with performing. The show also shined a reminder on how dangerous the sport is. The roller skaters make it look easy, but there were at least three injuries that happened throughout the course of the show. Every episode had three judges, and Terell Ferguson was one of the two recurring judges. He comes from the roller skating community and has a lot of history with the sport whereas Johnny Weir comes from and ice skating background. The third judge was usually a guest musical judge. I think having Weir and the guest judges was a very interesting choice because it put a lot of onus on Terelll to "see everything" and be the technical master. As strange as I found it initially, I think Terell and Weir ended up being such a great dynamic pair. They were super funny as Terell would comment on the teams saying "you guys know I see everything" and Johnny would bounce off with "don't you dare!" or "where?". Weir can appreciate a lot of the artistry as a figure skater but doesn't need to pick up on the technical aspects because Terell covers that base and will explain for everyone. And because of the musical era theme of the competition, it allowed the guest judge to get a glimpse of roller skating in a new light and bring back nostalgia for the history roller skating has had. One of my favorite scenes was when the teams did a group choreo dance together as an entirety, not just with their individual teams. Something a viewer might not realize is how interconnected the skate community is. It was mentioned in the show a bit, but many of the skaters may have seen or known each other beforehand. While the show does have some moments showing how tight-knit and warm the community is when they support each other in disqualification or injury, it doesn't really come out until the end of the series. Even then, it's showcased in a typical reality-show way where they're presenting a sympathetic story because they are trying to explain why they deserve to win the cash prize. In this sense, I would have loved to have seen a deviation from the typical-produced reality show. Roller Jam could have benefitted from a treatment similar to Korean shows Physical 100 or Culinary Class Wars where the base premise is competitive, but there is a lot of good sportsmanship built up from the community and individuals. If you want a more technical review of the show, I would recommend watching Nicole Fiore's episode breakdowns on Youtube. She is a 4-time world champion roller skater, so is very qualified to comment on the technical aspects. From a brief watch of some scenes, my understanding is that the camerawork was a bit lacking in knowing how to film certain angles and lots of material from the interviews were likely cut out. For simplicity's sake of non-roller skaters, some details can get seemingly get looked over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iHqvJ1Z3Io&pp=ygUXbmljb2xlIGZpb3JlIHJvbGxlciBqYW0%3D She even has a video with Natalie Chen (Discoasis) where they talk about Natalie's experience on the show. Turns out in the past Nicole had taught skating to Natalie and fellow contestant Madison Newton (The Lone Stars of Texas). How's that for a small world!