The week’s episode of Toned Up carried two major themes: chaos and threesomes. As Karena and Katrina head to Hawaii to film their latest fitness DVD, these themes follow along with them.
The episode begins in the girls’ (and Brian’s) apartment. Karena and Katrina are sorting laundry and deciding what they are going to pack for Hawaii. Brian enters the scene and asks why they are doing their packing and sorting in his and Katrina’s bedroom. It’s an introduction to the tension that’s going to follow the group throughout the episode. Brian wants it to be just him and Katrina going forward. Katrina is torn between not wanting to change her relationship with her best friend, and what her fiancé wants. The conversation takes a different turn in the next scene when Brian grabs Kat’s neck brace for her and surprises Karena with a neck brace of her own. Even he realizes that the two of them are joined at the hip and want to do everything together.
The girls land in Hawaii and immediately decide that they need to unwind and relax before the big shoot starts. They head to the hotel bar and are served a glass of wine each. We are shown a game that they like to play called “the kissing game” in which Katrina picks a guy from the bar and Karena has to approach and kiss him. It’s a silly game that shows their personalities and their close friendship. After a few more cocktails, the girls are tipsy and become emotional talking about having to move away from each other. Karena says that Kat is getting married and change for Kat means change for her. It’s another home hitting point that there is an internal tug of war between the three of them.
On the beach the next morning, the girls are working out and practicing the moves for their DVD shoot. When they decide to get in the water, they grab paddleboards and head out into the waves. Again Karena brings up Kat’s relationship with Brian. She questions whether they will be able to have girls’ trips like this after Kat is married. Katrina assures her that they will.
That night they get dressed up for dinner. They are both excited that this is the last meal before the crew shows up and therefore it’s their last time to be together alone. However, as soon as they reach the restaurant, they see a wrench in their plans. Brian has decided to surprise them and is sitting at their dinner table. He sweetly gives both the girls a lay and Karena asks if she’s invited to this reunion dinner. Brian tells her of course she’s invited and everyone sits down. Even though Brian is trying to make Karena feel a part of the night, Karena still feels like a third wheel and she’s a little upset that he crashed their time. In a talking heads interview, Brian speaks about loving to see Katrina, but also that he’s there because he has a stake in the company and wants to make sure this DVD shoot goes well.
After dinner, there is another power struggle between Brian and Karena. Brian wants Katrina to spend the night in his room alone with him. Karena says that they have work to do and nothing will get done if Kat goes to Brian’s room. For a few moments, Katrina is torn about what to do. She doesn’t want Brian mad at her, but she does realize that there’s a lot of work to do. In the end, she decides to stay with Karena in her original hotel room.
Chaos presents itself the next morning when the girls meet up with the production crew for the shoot. In their effort to save money, they didn’t fly the crew out early to scout locations so they are now trying to figure out where and what to shoot first. They want to accomplish taking the stills for the DVD cover and also film the first half of the workouts. They decide to drive an hour and a half out to some waterfalls for the stills and then make their way back to the beach for the workouts.
On the road, it is quickly realized that no one knows where they are going. The caravan of crew, Karena, Katrina, and Brian pull over to the side of the road. They check google maps and still cannot figure out where the waterfalls are. As they continue driving, Brian tells them that their car is about to run out of gas. The girls become a little irritated at the time slipping away and the money that’s flying out of the window. After trying to siphon gas from the crew’s car into Brian’s car and that not working, the girls decide to not waste any more time. They leave Brian and the gasless car by the side of the road and continue on to the beach. They’ve now decided that they only have enough time to shoot the stills for the cover of the dvd.
Once they arrive at the beach, chaos continues to follow Karena and Katrina. The wind has picked up. It causes their hair to blow across their faces not allowing the photographer to get a good shot. Then they try to hold surfboards for a beachy shot, but those blow out of their hands. Next the girls attempt to get some underwater shots. They swim out into the ocean and the riptides catch them immediately. Both Brian, who’s arrived from getting towed, and Kat’s brother, the videographer, are worried that the tide is going to slam the girls against the rocks. The biggest concern is that Kat will re-injure her neck and they won’t be able to film the DVD at all.
In the end, the underwater shots turn out gorgeous and the sunset shots of the girls are perfect for the DVD cover. However, the girls are now behind schedule and over budget. Next week we get to see the meat of the filming and it seems more chaos and trouble follows the girls.