Last year’s FS was a prime example of PCS-worthy skating [by T/M]...
Nope, I have to disagree with you here. There is a difference between clean technical excellence, physical beauty, smooth flow over the ice, and simply skating to the music versus the indescribable impact we feel when music, movement, partner connection, personality, costumes and above all innate expressiveness and powerful emotion bring out the essence of the music and tell a story that's palpable but also ineffable.
We get that in these performances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0t3vfx_iA Great technical brilliance but also a palpable emotional connection with compatible music; D/R have variant physicality but a soulful connection that shines through
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bNOnXTe4Ok Sheer force of will and desire that transcends technique; Musicality flows with technique to deliver a powerful emotional punch throughout that we can feel because of S/M having to come from behind, added to the drama behind the partnership's formation, and the challenges Aliona faced for so many years and overcame in these moments
The same for this performance by S/H: great technique backed by a deep emotional connection and sheer force of will and desire, complemented by and expressed through the music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXhT77g5HU 2017 sp (sadly the experience is destroyed by the stupid overhead shot during climactic footwork sequence)
We don't need any sleight of hand tricks from director and camera crew!!!
This was powerful emotionally too by S/H, especially in the final step sequence and lifts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u7gwsPkwfs 2019 Worlds
And this, innovative, beautiful program, expressive to the music, and performed at this team's first Olympics together (2006) during a time when they and their coach Steuer were under siege:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MG4cpfzjl8 -- they deserved better scores, they landed in fifth
https://youtu.be/8sGIlHFS-ls?t=114 2007 Euros -- more innovation and powerful emotion;
there's a reason why they are five-time World champions, two-time Olympic medalists, four-time European champions and four-time GPF champions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4a5FDDgtVg 2011 GPF innovation par excellence with
Pina;
Aliona tends to get most of the credit, when Robin & Ingo deserve equal credit for their collaborative achievements which pushed forward the pairs discipline; It's sad how the sport has largely dismissed Ingo due to his politically-compromised past
Breakthrough ice dance/pairs cross-fertilization innovation in these performances, added to palpable connection and unique chemistry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZqqWIKjlVI S/M
Find That Man TEB 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A2_sCgWJac WTT 2017 J/C's
Earned It, and boy have they!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O72bm7Dq8b8 Euros 2017 fp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACYihOfXumo IDF 2017 fp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PkUzRixwA0 Euros 2018 sp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZnWFHvsAr4 GPF 2018 fp
The connection and the story they tell is not about sexiness. That's there but the more powerful impact is a deep emotional connection which isn't just romantic. It is full of passion and desire to prevail in pursuing their dreams; very much like the fierce will and desire in the performances of S/H and S/M
Just as we see in this iconic performance full of courage and desire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kql3sf_crA 2003 Worlds fp S/Z
This promising new pairing also demonstrates the power of an emotional connection combined with great choreo, music, costumes, effortless lifts, speed, SS, gorgeous triple twist, death spiral class and sass, well-matched physicality, etc. With steadier jumps, they can go far:
Jessica CALALANG / Brian JOHNSON USA SP Warsaw Cup 2019
www.youtube.com
Jessica CALALANG & Brian JOHNSON USA Free Skate 2019 Warsaw Cup
www.youtube.com
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Dead on, entertaining assessment. Unfortunately, time moves on, and there's no 'going back.' 
Diva Susie recognizes she ain't with stalwart Klimov anymore. She has to help Novo along if she wants to continue pursuing another Olympics chance. Competition nerves are par for the course for any new team, and those anxious nerves at home in their first GP comp got the best of poor Novo. I'm sure they can get it together better than they looked in the fp. If the judges had maybe placed them a point or even half a point behind H/S in 4th place in the sp, instead of giving them third, maybe there would have been less nerves for Stol/Novo in the fp, or maybe not. There was a bit of online fan debate that ensued about S/N's third place in sp with mistakes, so there might have been some feeling about H/S being done wrong wafting through the arena too, among non-Russian fans.
H/S also connect well, but I don't find them particularly interesting or exciting. Their former Say Something program was nice and got them noticed. Their sp is good this season, but I don't find their fp particularly engaging or suited to them. The fact H/S were able to take bronze with a less than scintillating fp with errors is another indication of the weak field/ jitters/ sophomore 'next-quad' blues being experienced on the GP this season. It is nice H/S got on the podium unexpectedly (they and their coach were fair to busting in the kiss 'n cry with hopeful expectation before the scoreboard changed for them from 2nd place in fp to first overall, prior to T/M and Boi/Koz skating their fps). 
During T/M's fp, I found myself distracted away from looking at the screen, and wondering when it was going to be over, regardless of how sweet on the eyes these two are physically.
