Despite not having another perfect performance, Yuri Katsuki overcame his nervousness and did quite well in the free program of the Cup of China on "Yuri!!! on Ice" episode 7. Yuri ranked second overall while his friend Phichit Chulanot grabbed the gold and Chris ranked third place. We will finally see a continuation of the battle between two Yuris as the two will have another showdown at the Rostelecom Cup in Russia.
The performances order is based on the standing of the athletes after the short program on "Yuri!!! on Ice" episode 6. Guang Hong from China who is currently in sixth place performed first in "Yuri on Ice" episode 7. His music is "The Inferno" from "Shanghai Blade" movie. His theme about a heroic warrior who died was inspiring, but he fell down once. Meanwhile, Yuri was so nervous, he wasn't able to sleep at all last night and he can't even open a bottle of water due to agitation.
Next is Christophe Giacometti from Switzerland. He is an avid fan of Viktor and vowed to bring him back to the skating rink by proving he is better than Yuri. His performance was perfect and he had a total score of 283.81. Phichit danced to "Terra Incognita" from "The King and the Skater II," another western-themed track which immediately grabbed the interest of the audience. He landed all his jumps perfectly including three consecutive jumps near the end of his performance and earned the score 285 .76.
But something more interesting was happening off stage. Seeing Yuri's behavior, Viktor brought Yuri to a more private place to warm up. Yuri got more agitated when they started announcing the standings and Viktor was very manly when he covered Yuri's ears and told him not to listen. On the rink, Leo de la Iglesia of the United States was starting his performance. Yuri was still nervous and Viktor decided to play a bad coach even though it might break Yuri.
Viktor threatened he would take responsibility and resign as Yuri's coach if he messes up his performance. Much to Viktor's surprise, Yuri broke in tears and started bawling. Viktor looked flustered -- he said he isn't good in dealing with a crying person. Yuri asked why does it seem like he's testing him and Viktor answered that he wasn't being serious about what he said. Yuri told him that he was anxious about the performance because his mistakes will reflect on Viktor and Yuri confronted him if he secretly wanted to quit as his coach. Viktor answered no and said he just doesn't know how to cheer him up. "Just have more faith than I do that I'll win! You don't have to say anything just stand beside me," Yuri said in tears (I'm getting teary too).
Leo's performance was cut off but it seems like he didn't do a good job. Now it's Georgi Popovich from Russia. He danced to "A Tale of the Sleeping Prince," his costume looks similar to Sleeping Beauty. What's with him and his Disney themed performances? It's very ironic to his appearance. His theme was still about heartbreak over his girlfriend. He had a good start but while performing, he saw his ex-girlfriend leave the venue with her current boyfriend which caused him to make mistakes.
Yuri entered the rink with puffy eyes. His mini lovers' quarrel with Viktor was over but Viktor still didn't know what to say to him as his coach. It's cute how Yuri was the one trying to comfort Viktor. Yuri had a relaxed performance, he actually nailed most of his jumps aside from the triple. Instead of a quad toe loop, he did a flip on the last jump. He did not land properly but it has enough rotations making everyone surprised including Viktor. Flip is Viktor's signature jump and it is also very hard to do especially by the end of the performance where athletes already used up their stamina. Yuri doesn't know if Viktor will be mad or happy about what he did but as he saw Viktor running to the rink entrance, he also ran to him as well and Viktor jumped to him with a big hug (Am I the only one who thought for a second their lips will touch?).
On "Yuri on Ice" episode 8, Yuri and Viktor would go to Viktor's native land, Russia, for the Rostelecom Cup. Yuri is expected to have a showdown with his greatest rival, Yuri Plisetsky (let's call him Yurio to avoid confusion). Yuri and Yurio had a competition before in "Yuri on Ice" episode 3 for Viktor. Viktor originally promised Yurio to choreograph a program for him but the forgetful man he is, he forgot about it and promised to be Yuri's coach. Yuri won the competition though and Yurio went back to Russia alone.
We will finally see how much Yurio improved from the time they last met. I think he would do better than Yuri in the short program, he's been practicing it with a ballet champion to improve his skills. Yurio will perform his "On Love: Agape," which means pure, unconditional love, opposite of Yuri's "On Love: Eros." Viktor declared he and Yuri will try to win gold in Russia now that Yuri can do flips, which made Yurio break his spoon in anger. It's also expected that Yuri will face more hostility in Russia due to Viktor -- well, he just stole the nation's most treasured figure skater!
"Yuri on Ice" episode 8 titled "Yuri vs Yuri! The Horror!! Rostelecom Cup, Short Program" will air on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
