I’m not sure changing the RD is realistic at this point. They’ve already had to change their FD. Which, although they’ve put a good face on it, has to have been hugely distracting, not to mention discouraging.
Anthony said yesterday that they’ve put “lots and lots of hours” the past 2 weeks into reworking the middle section of the FD. Maybe the simplest explanation here is that, with that going on, they just didn’t have as much time to practice the RD coming into this event.
I’m no turns teknik, but watching the RD again several times, it just seems like they didn’t have the depth of edges in the PSt that some of the other top 5 managed, and they seemed to be skating more on flats/shallow edges. There were also some moments when they seemed to lack flow/sureness. This could be a result of less practice time or maybe just feeling a bit stiff and not “on” yesterday.
My thought is they’re going for a somewhat more subtle/flirty/dancey approach with this program. It’s not a hit like their last 2 RDs, but I think it’s okay? I like the second half more than the first half. I think maybe just focus on performing it more strongly.