SYTYCD S10 Auditions

Bit weird that they separated the Los Angeles auditions into two separate nights. I guess maybe they were expecting to have two hour episodes of the show each week? But then why not wait to keep last week's and this to this week? WEIRD. That's all there is to it.

Nicholas Stewart aka Slick. Flex dancing. Or otherwise known as pulling his arms in and out of their sockets? Yeesh. Gross! To choreography because he is "so amazing in your style." That's their code for thinking they won't be able to do anything else. Doesn't make it through.

Alex Kessinger. Cute blonde thing with compelling backstory and moves to back it up. Will probably be really good at doing choreographed routines from what I can tell. A little too much loving looks to judges, though. Get more into the dancing and less look at me, look at me, please! Straight to Vegas.

Sebastian Serra. Ballet dancer with kind of jungle vibe. Very interesting. Started stronger than finished, to me, but still good. Jesse mentions handsomeness too. Ha. Vegas.

Mariia Lebedeva and Misha Smagin. Latin ballroom. She has a smoothness to her moves whereas he is much sharper, interesting combo. Mary scream. Vegas. That dude seems a little smarmy though?

Emilio Dosal. Hip hop. Not amazing, but seems very moldable, like he could do well with other styles. Has a good personality for the character work required. To choreography. Through to Vegas.

Makenzie Dustman. Contemporary. Somber. Emotional. Great music choice. Nice to see someone connect emotionally with the movement, translates to the audience. Vegas.


Austin up next. Minnie Driver the guest judge this time. Mary has some wackadoo hair.

Hayley Erbert. Self described as a "sexy" dancer. Actually quite pretty dancer, doesn't hurt that she's also quite pretty herself. Vegas.

Donovan Gibbs. Really like his dance style. Sort of contemporary with hip hop bits mixed in, or is it the other way around. Very strong, though pulls faces a bit. Bring up the dad for a battle, and the dad is pretty awesome. Vegas.

Dannon O'Brien. Halloween house kid into movie makeup. Seemed like could be a disaster based on prepackage, but actually good, into telling a story. Such a weird sweetheart. Vegas.

Shane Garcia. Stutterer uses dance as a way to get over it. Beautiful, fluid in his animation movement. Something so touching about his dancing. To choreography. Hope he can do it. Through to Vegas!

Daniela Bustillos. Good but not great. Want more from her dancing, kind of subdued, bit boring. To choreography. Makes it to Vegas.

Nick Muckleroy. Strength. Control. Gymnastic moves. Good music choice for his commanding style. Vegas.

Hampton Williams aka The Exorcist. Daughter and girlfriend Darleesha Goggins also come up, they have kind of prepared performance, all doing his sort of style, which is always so engaging. Vegas.

Next week: Boston.

Supernatural 8x23 "Sacrifice"

Another season in the can, people! Started off a bit shaky to me, but picked up near the end here. And, as season finales tend to go, a lot of crap went down tonight. Shizz happened, yo.

Don't trust the short bearded fellow.

Sam and Dean are working on the final demon tablet trial - to cure a demon. Since they royally botched doing that to Abaddon, they work up a plan to do it to Crowley instead. A plan which Crowley falls for rather easily, though I guess he wouldn't know about devil's trapped handcuffs as they were hidden in that bunker for decades. Anyway, they trap him in a church, get the angel tablet from him, and get ready to start working the cure mojo on him, but Castiel pops in to ask for help.

You see, he was still conferring with Metatron about the next phase in the angel trials. That is, to get a Cupid to give him their bow. Before they can do it, though, Naomi's cronies find them and zap Metatron up to Heaven. So, Cas goes to find Dean to ask for his help in getting the Cupid's bow. Dean would rather stay with Sam, but Sam assures him he can do this thing on his own, so Dean reluctantly heads off with Castiel. They also get Kevin to start taking a look at the angel tablet in the bunker. Not sure why they haven't let him stay in the bunker until now, though.

Up in Heaven, Naomi has Metatron in her questioning chamber of sorts to figure out his dealio. She's very suspicious of the fact that he's been missing for so long, yet seems to know everything that's been going on so easily. Hmm. Good point, Naomi, good point.

Sam, you look like crap. Hot crap, sure, but still crap.

Back at the church, Sam is administering his purified blood to Crowley every hour as per the curing a demon ritual. They get interrupted, however, by a very pissed off Abaddon, who is not so happy that Crowley is the king of Hell. She beats him up for a bit, tosses Sam around some, but in the end, Sam is able to douse her in holy fire and she smokes out of there. Too bad, I liked that actress playing her. After that, Crowley starts talking a little less Crowley-like. Is that blood starting to work after all?

Dean and Castiel track down a Cupid and get her to give him her bow, which is really her hand, which is gross, but that's how they roll on this show. Anyway, Kevin calls up Dean to tell him he doesn't see anything about the Nephilim or the cupid's bow on the tablet, and that's when Naomi pops down for a visit. She basically confirms what Kevin was saying - Metatron is up to something that does not involve closing the gates of Heaven, but rather casting all of the angels out of Heaven instead. Sending them to Earth to live mortal lives. Castiel is convinced that she's lying, but when she tells Dean that the final demon trial is meant to kill Sam, he leaves Cas unattended to go help his baby bro. Never a good idea to leave Cas on his own, Dean, have we not learned this by now?

Brotherly moment of the night.

Because what happens when he goes up to Heaven to see what's going on? Naomi's got a drill in her brain and Metatron is there to basically gloat and take away Castiel's grace. Naomi was right, he's gotten Cas to be his patsy in performing a spell, and the last thing he needed was an angel's grace. He sends Cas down to Earth, apparently human.

Dean finds Sam just as he's about to complete the demon curing ritual on Crowley, who has completely changed his tune from nefarious to genuinely upset about what he's done. Though Sam is prepared to sacrifice himself to close the gates of Hell, Dean manages to talk him out of it in a rather touching brotherly moment. His arms stop glowing from the purifying stuff, but then he collapses in agony. Something is wrong!

They run outside to find there's some kind of weird storm a-brewing. Kevin, in the bunker, sees a bunch of red lights appearing on a map. Cas, cast out of Heaven, wanders around, looking to the sky. And there, falling from the broiling clouds are white lights. Angels. Falling from Heaven.

And... season eight! Dun dun dun!

Random Thoughts:

- Interesting, though not entirely unexpected, way to end the season, with the angels falling. What will that mean going forward?

- What happens to Crowley now? Will he stay semi-cured? Can Dean finish curing him, thus saving Sam from completing the third trial? Will that leave Abaddon an opening to take over Hell?

- I didn't really talk about that opening scene with Sheriff Jody Mills because it's not entirely needed to get the plot, but basically she was the next one Crowley was going after, and I was going to be pissed if she actually was killed because it would've just been another strong female killed off on this show, but thankfully she was not killed. Jody lives on!

- Did everyone see the lights falling from the sky? Because that would be some weird news in the real world.

Quotes:

Dean: How about what you did to Penny Markle in the sixth grade, how about you lead with that?
Sam: That was you.
Dean: ... Carry on.

Kevin: Is this a joke?
Castiel: No, it's the word of God.

Castiel: There was one... female.
Dean: What?
Castiel: I don't think she was female.

Abaddon: Hello, boys.
Crowley: That's my line.

Dean: Talk first. Stab later.

Dean: You finish this trial, you're dead, Sam.
Sam: So?

SYTYCD S10 Detroit Auditions

To haunt all of our nightmares.

For the second round of auditions, SYTYCD heads to Detroit for the first time. Joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel is season four favorite tWitch, who gives us all a treat when he briefly performs halfway through the episode.

Jade Zuberi. Really great pop locker/animator. Very engrossing. He wanted to tell a story with his movement and I think he did. Straight to Vegas.

Amy Yakima. Extended jazz thing with her dad, oh jeez. She has a tendency to be a hair flailer, but a decent dancer nonetheless, uses the whole stage. Straight to Vegas.

Morgan Williams. Great lines. Good control for being so tall, not gangly at all. Straight to Vegas despite Nigel trying to psych out with a fake out suggestion of sending him to choreo.

Will "Sysko" Green. The jit, style of dance created in Detroit, not really sure how to describe it. Kind of haphazard to me. Mary requests him to do hip roll and has to go up on stage and sit in a chair for him. I confess that's where he became much more interesting to me, and where that picture of Nigel above came from. To choreography. Tries to freestyle in choreography and told to head home.

Tyrone Cobham. Tapper. Probably one of the best tappers we've seen on the show, right? The judges are very effusive about him. Honestly I think he could go far if he can do other stuff. Straight to Vegas.

Darryl "Smiles" Harrell. Krump. Part of a crew, maybe called Fade or Fame. To choreo. Too much for him, no Vegas.

DeFonte "Prince Charming" Thomas. The other featured dancer from the crew. He's pretty all over the place, mish mosh of styles. Exotic dancing kind of showing through. Choreo. To Vegas for this one, he looked like he was a pretty quick learner.

Well, that's all for now! Next week: Austin. More Los Angeles.

SYTYCD Season 10 Los Angeles Audtions

Well, guys, welcome back to So You Think You Can Dance. Can you believe this show has been on 10 seasons already? That is insane in the membrane! I've watched it since the first season, and honestly sometimes feel a little laggy about it now because it's hard to seem fresh anymore, but nonetheless it's a pretty enjoyable show. Looks like so far they're keeping the audition rounds shorter, but that may just be for this week. Tonight featured Los Angeles. I'm not going super in depth here, just touching on the contestants that were highlighted...

Fik-Shun, despite having a stupid moniker (for some reason it really bothers me when they always give themselves these other names, tWitch being the exception of course), was really awesome. Great control, the way he was on the ground and pulled himself up and down. Very cool. Straight through to Vegas.

Malece Miller. Nothing special to me. Not strong enough in my opinion, though they gave her a lot of backstory and she had the funny deaf/not deaf joke. Ends up going through to Vegas. She has potential for growth, I guess?

Paul Karmiryan won So You Think You Can Dance in Armenia. Somehow I don't think he should then be able to try out for this show as well? Seems a bit hinky to me, but he gets through to Vegas anyway. Suckling at the mother teat? Sorry, I'm being super critical!

Elijah Laurant. Aka tutu head. Strong, though a bit weird. I just don't like when people are so concerned about being an artist and sharing their vision. Oh goodness. To Vegas he goes.

Taylor Ward. Former softballer turned dancer totally dislocates her knee when warming up. Looks really disgusting but pops it back in. Actually quite pretty dancing, though can tell the knee is a little wonky. To choreo and through to Vegas.

Morris Isby. B-Boy. Goes to choreo. Apparently used to be number 1 in the world or something, but doesn't make it through to Vegas.

Armen Way. Rapper and ballroom dancer? Seemed like he might be a joke based on intro package but actually good. Straight to Vegas.

The Great 1-8ers, Eric & Lorenzo Chapman. Pop & locking. They get the inspirational cut, started their own kids dancing program. They're so nice and lovely and stuff, but not good enough for choreography on this show, ha. I'm not sure if I should be happy they highlight these types of things because it does help local communities, but seems very pat-on-the-back-y.

Not sure I'm super pumped about any of these yet, but it's still early. What about you?

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Supernatural 8x22 "Clip Show"

A return to the classic Supernatural opening, sort of, this week, with a couple young people seemingly having a nice old time until something goes terribly wrong. Of course, it turns out that one of the young people in question is all the way back from season one's wendigo episode. That was only episode two of the entire series! Wow. Anyway, the dude ends up dead from like, bleeding eyes and a possibly exploding head. Dun dun dun!

Dean, I'm sorry for all the subtext.

Meanwhile, back at the bunker, Sam and Dean are in full research mode, trying to figure out what it could mean to cure a demon, per the third trial on the demon tablet. Castiel is moping around like a kicked puppy, begging forgiveness from Dean, the ever grudge-holder. Good luck with that unless you're about to kick the bucket.

They find something in the archives, though, that appears to be helpful. A video of an old exorcism from back in the '50s labeled "Weird!!!" Basically, this priest is doing an exorcism, but in a different way than normal. Namely, some different Latin and by also cutting his and and slamming his blood into the demon's mouth.

Not clear what exactly happened, but the point was he was trying to "cleanse" the demon or something, which we can take to mean "cure" in this case, I suppose. Later, he does a similar thing to another demon, only pumping him full of his own purified blood while doing the exorcism stuff, which apparently eventually gets the demon to be more empathetic again, then does the bloody hand face Latin, and voila, demon cured? Unclear on what happens to the person they were possessing though if they can just keep hanging out in the body.

Rather hilarious they needed popcorn for this.

Now that they have all of this info, they figure it's time to get themselves a demon to try it out on and finish the trials. Dean figures they should use one they already know the whereabouts of, so they dig up Abaddon from some episodes back and put humpty dumpty back together again. Well, except for her hands. Those, they cut off.

However, before they can get to the ritual, they get a phone call from Crowley, and here is where they act like FOOLS. FOOLISH FOOLS! They leave Abaddon alone in this warehouse, thinking she is down for the count because her hands are cut off and she has a devil's trap bullet in her head. Right. She is able to move her hands outside of her body and pulls the bullet out of her head. Dummies! Never leave demons alone!

They're about to be epic stupid. Sigh.

Anyway, their phone call with Crowley basically amounts to him telling them that people they've helped save in the past are turning up dead, and that they should check it out. They find another past save dead, and Crowley then tells him he's going to keep killing these people every 12 hours unless the boys decide to give him the demon tablet and quit doing the trials. Yeah, sure, that's gonna happen.

They say as much, so Crowley directs them to his next victim, none other than fan favorite Sarah from way back in season one. They think they've got it covered by putting up devil's traps and all other demon warding stuff, but when the time comes, she starts choking to death. Turns out, it was a spell. They search the room frantically for the hex bag that must be there, but alas, are unable to find it. Sarah is dead meat, which makes Sam feel really terrible, particularly when he finds out she's married and has a kid who's almost one year old. Ah, shizz. Another girl bites the dust. Never kiss Sam, kids, if you want to survive.

Crowley has some words that hit rather close to home for the boys - namely that the only reason the hunting they've done in their lives has had meaning was because of the people they saved, and when you take that away, what do they really have anymore? Sam is feeling rather defeated after all of this and thinks maybe they should just take the deal, but Dean says NO SIR, WE SHALL FIND A WAY! And maybe they will, when they're not being stupid and leaving super powerful demons alone to outsmart them. JEEZ.

Meanwhile! Castiel wants to make amends with Dean, so he decides to go to the local mini mart and basically get Dean's dream package - jerky, Busty Asian Beauties, beer, toilet paper... he even attempts to get him some pie, but we all know that Dean never actually gets his pie, so Cas is sadly thwarted in his good efforts. Metatron shows up before he throttles the kid at the convenience store for not having any pie and tells him that he's not so happy with what Heaven's become lately, and he thinks they should perform the trials to close the gates so the angels can figure their shit out.

The angel he wants to perform the trials? Castiel, of course, a fellow free thinker. The problem is, the first trial consists of Cas having to kill/pull out the heart of a Nephilim. You know, a child of an angel and a human. Apparently only one exists in the world. Cas doesn't want to do it, as it's not her fault, but when they follow her later, she gets rather uppity and tries to kill them, going all glowy eyed and strong-armed. So, he shoves his angel sword through her throat. Does that count as completing the first trial, because nothing really seemed to happen to him like it did to Sam after he completed his.

Random Thoughts:

- Are people outraged about Sarah's death? Is it the writers just playing into the whole thing about anyone whoever got it on with Sam in any way ends up dead? I just think it's sad that really the only girl that anyone ever liked with Sam on this show has now finally ended up dead. Also, her face looked crazy skinny. RANDOM!

- I got a laugh out of the call coming in from 666 being Crowley. One thing you can say about Crowley, he certainly has style.

- How did Crowley get the hex bag in their phone anyway? Hmm. Not sure about that.

- I mean. Boys. You really left Abaddon alone? Come on, son!

- Apart from Sarah, the people chosen to represent the past saves dying were kind of random. Maybe that was the point? Wonder if they actually chose those ones on purpose or if they had to scout around for which actors were available and did it that way?

Quotes:

Castiel: I like this bunker. It's orderly.

Sam: So, we have a dungeon.
Dean: Finally.

Castiel: Where's the pie?
Merchant: I think we're out.
Castiel. No, you don't understand. I need pie.

Sam: This is gonna be disgusting.
Dean: Uh huh.

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