Just caught up on the Free Dance. Overall, this event was pretty solidly meh for me. The only teams who I really resonated with across both programs were the Browns and (to my surprise) Lopareva/Brissaud. I enjoy the Taschlers, as always, but the music in the free dance isn't to my personal taste.
I've never really clicked with Lopareva/Brissaud so I was really pleasantly surprised to find their RD enormous fun, and be completely sucked in with their techno cyberpunk-esque FD! It's totally fresh and different from the rest of the field, and it feels bold, fearless and exciting. Really looking forward to seeing how both programs develop!
The Browns I already love, and man was their James Brown program a breath of fresh air. Their choreography and interpretation felt specific and intentional in a way I missed with a lot of the rest of the field, and they're as charismatic and fast as ever. I also thought their FD was a total home run, though naturally they'll want to get their levels up in the future.
I'm reserving judgement on Lajoie/Lagha's RD until next time, since it wasn't clean and the fall clearly threw both of them off for the rest of the program. The FD... they performed it very well, but I just absolutely loathe that cover of The Sound of Silence so I can't fairly evaluate a program I'll be watching on mute all season. Zingas/Kolesnik... still haven't clicked with them, sorry. Lim/Quan, really awful music editing and cuts in the RD, the FD feels like it needs more work to keep the middle section engaging and maybe a stronger character for Ye Quan. Even if he's playing her minion, he could be more eager to please or more aggressive or more pathetic, or a literal dog she's about to kill, I don't know, just something that creates a bit of tension and interest between them.
Speaking of needing a stronger concept, Gilles/Poirier's FD. You give vague you get vague. I saw an interview where Paul said the program was "ambiguous" and the lyrics "made no sense" and would therefore not enlighten the audience as to the program's meaning, so uh... that's a bit of an alarm bell. I don't mind not being spoonfed a concept but that just sounds indecisive to me. Very disappointing, especially since last year's FD was the closest I've come to genuinely enjoying their programs in a long, long time. Obviously they're under no obligation to please me (or anyone) but I do hope they refine both programs before their next outing and clear up their intentions with the FD especially.
Compared to Skate America last week, this was for me a much more interesting set of RDs and FDs 
