'Famous In 12' Episode 4 Recap

By Lynsey Mukomel
@lynseymukomel

*Contains spoilers*

Episode Recap

After last week's ultimatum, Harvey drops by the house to hear once and for all if the family is in or out. He asks if it's worth it and editing shows the family quickly says yes. Harvey challenges them to amp up their game with more outrageous and interesting things for attention. Maariyah points out, "why go back to being nothing when you can be something?" That was the exact moment I reevaluated my current course towards a college degree. Am I doing it wrong?

Taliah has an emotional moment when her mother sits her down to discuss her commitment to her son, and balancing that with pursuing fame. That quickly turns into her trying out for a choreographer that has worked with the Pussycat Dolls, P!nk and Usher, so I guess that will be how she provides for her 6-year-old. She is given the opportunity to dance at a club to make an impression and launch her career. There's one problem, her only experience comes from being apart of her high school dance team. After receiving a six-out-of-10 score from the choreographer she was trying to impress, it became evident she won't be twerking her way to fame.

The girls show some serious guts when they crash the L.A. Kings' parade after their Stanley Cup win. Taliah and Jameelah didn't have tickets, but thanks to perseverance they found their way into the celebration at the Staples Center. According to Harvey it was one of the highlights of the week, and honestly I was impressed they pulled it off.

The Game, a rapper, had an appearance at a charity event giving food to the homeless. Taliah was more concerned about meeting him than helping. Unfortunately her flirting game didn't go over well with him (pun definitely intended) and the day was a total flop. He supposedly followed her on Twitter; however, my research shows he hasn't. She, along with her sisters, still only have an average of about 3,000 followers.

The girls' next brilliant idea led to them recruiting a hot dog vendor and posting up outside an L.A. nightclub. Lance Bass, N*Sync superstar, walked by and showed the girls some love -  among other intoxicated people who wanted a late-night snack.

After a pretty uneventful appearance at a Critic's Choice Awards function, the family went down to the "Third Street Promenade," a popular area for street performers. Adrienne Curry, a Next Top Model winner, just so happened to be walking by while Jameelah was showing off her modeling skills, and offered some advice. She reminded Jameelah that modeling is about selling product and not personality, which might be hard given she is "Miss Selfie Centered". Jameelah walked away with Adrienne's email which is a step in the right direction.

The time finally came for Harvey's reality check and he quickly got down to the nitty-gritty. He was mostly hard on Taliah for her bomb of a dance audition, but also pointed out the family isn't gaining any momentum. He threatened to send them home early if something doesn't change. Their popularity dropped seven points to 51 out of 100 from last week. Harvey explained it as a "do-or-die" situation.

The family leaves stressed about the week to come, and Angela shows some frustration for the first time. One of her comments during the interview was that the girls needed to get their acts together. Maybe she'll ground them if they don't become more famous by next week.

About "Famous in 12"

Gossip-channel TMZ attempts to spread some good will giving a family a shot at fame. Ringleader Harvey Levin concocted a social experiment to see if they can catapult into fame in 12 short weeks — just by shameless self promotion, his all-knowing guidance, and of course social media. The Artiaga family were the lucky winners from the casting call, and were flown out to live in L.A. for the show. The family consists of three girls — Maariyah, 19, the "World's Sexiest Virgin"; Jameelah, 22 and "Miss Selfie Centered" ; and Taliah, 27, the "Dancer". Mom Angie, the "Erotic Writer", and Stepdad Mike, the "DJ", have been married 16 years.

Lynsey Mukomel is a senior at Columbia College Chicago studying Broadcast Journalism. Upon graduating she will be applying for on-air reporting jobs, and hopes to one day pursue investigative reporting. In addition to securing competitive internships in the Chicago area, she works for her school and anchors a weekly webcast. To learn more about Lynsey visit her website at lynseymukomel.com.