Despite that attention, she's a bitter, foul-mouthed and unemployed young woman who still lives at home with her postal carrier dad, Stan (GARY COLE), who puts up with her behavior, but would like for her to grow up finally. He seems to get the chance when Coach Pavleck commits suicide, followed by Stan reading a letter from her that states that if Hope becomes the coach to rising star gymnast Maggie Townsend (HALEY LU RICHARDSON) and gets her through the next eight weeks of training leading to team trials in Toronto, she'll receive $500,000 the coach put away for her, but can't tell anyone about it.

Both Maggie and her single mom, Janice (CECILY STRONG), are excited by the prospect of this new coaching arrangement, as is Ben Lawfort (THOMAS MIDDLEDITCH) who believes having a star around could save his financially strapped gym. And while the money sounds good to Hope, she doesn't want the young star to steal her fame and glory, and thus initially sets out to sabotage her success. But when Lance threatens to take Hope's coaching duties away from her and place Maggie with someone else, her competitive spirit kicks in. From that point on, she does what she can to get Maggie ready for the competition, all while softening up a bit to Ben's old-fashioned, romantic gestures toward her.