Homemade Brownies

I don't consider myself a chocolate person, really, but lately I have been hankering for all kinds of chocolate things. Cakes, cookies, and.... brownies! And what should happen to help my chocolate quest than I spot this recipe the other day on Smitten Sugar for some homemade brownies. Now, I've made some from scratch before, but who knows where in the world that recipe went, and I remember it being okay but not great.

 

So what about these? They are super, super dense, so if you like your brownies to be more cakey than fudgey, these are not for you. But if you're in the mood for some fudgey brownies, you are in luck. I like them both ways, but I will say that I could've used maybe a touch more sweetness in these somehow. Maybe it's the amount of bittersweet chocolate or the cocoa powder, or the sugar itself. I'm not sure. And don't get me wrong, they're pretty dang good anyway. Go out and make them if you're feeling like some brownies! They do create a lot of dirty dishes, though. Just saying.

Homemade Brownies

5 ounces of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into quarters

3 tbsp cocoa powder

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and place oven rack in lower middle position. Line an 8 or 9 inch baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth (or, if you're lucky and have one, you can use a double boiler!). Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Whisk until combined, about 15-20 seconds. Whisk in warm chocolate mixture until incorporated. Then stir in flour with a wooden spoon until just combined. (This might take a little while, dont worry it will smooth out.) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even.

Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Remove the brownies from the pan, cut and enjoy!

My pictures today aren't going to be that great. I was making these at night, so I had to use a flash. Blah blah blah.

Seeing as I don't have a double boiler, here is my improvisation. Pyrex glass bowl on top of a small pot with water boiling underneath. Worked quite well, I must say. This is the chocolate pieces and butter as they melt together.

Meanwhile, I started whipping up the eggs and sugar to have ready for when the chocolate stuff was done.

And this is after adding the chocolate and the flour and everything - it's ready to go into the pan. Just as a tip for anyone working with mixing eggs and warm things, go at it slowly so the eggs don't start to cook. You want to get them heated up to the warm stuff but you don't want little cooked egg bits floating around!

And... voila! Sorry, I don't have any photos of the pan itself. You probably know what that looks like, you're a smart person. I assume.

And now I must go eat a brownie. They're already a few days old, but guess what! They're still good. And even better if you zap one in the microwave for about 8 seconds. Trust me, 8 seconds is the magic number. 

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 6-2 Results

It was a bit of a foregone conclusion tonight as to who the two dancers going home would be. I have to say I would've only been shocked had it not been the two of them. I'm talking about Jose and Billy, of course. The only other shocking moment of the night was when Lauren was in the bottom over Robert, which I did not expect. I think the only way either Jose or Billy may have been safe is if Adechike had magically ended up in the bottom. And really, is he bribing people? Who votes for him week after week? I'm sorry that I don't like him, but there you have it. I don't.

Knowing the end result made the rest of the episode feel rather superfluous, though I did really enjoy Mia's opening number set to Sting's "Everything She Does is Magic." I have to say I much prefer Mia as a choreographer than as a judge. Her choreography is consistently great. Otherwise, there were some other guest performances by some of the people from Step Up 3D, some random singer Christian something, and Allison Iraheta from American Idol. Not gonna lie, I fast forwarded through the musical performances. I just don't care. This is why I don't watch American Idol. But we didn't get a reintroduction to any of the all-stars tonight! There's not much time left - what about Allison, Dominic, Ade, & Kathryn?

I do want to comment that despite not being all that sad over seeing Jose or Billy go, I will miss seeing Billy's always impressively creative solos. Tonight was no exception in that department. I didn't want it to end!

Tonight was the last night that the judges were in control of the who was sent home. Next week, with only four dancers left, it will be all up to America. Now that Lauren has been in the bottom three, I think it's even more clear that Kent has it in the bag.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 6 Redux

Things have been kind of lackluster in the SYTYCD-verse since Alex was so rudely taken away due to injury, that I don't think things started to really recover until tonight. Or have they? Because after three weeks of injuries sidelining dancers, everyone was able to dance tonight. But then, at the very end, Lauren was taken off to the medics! What? This is just getting stupid. Hopefully she will be okay, otherwise it's another frontrunner taken out too soon. Sigh.

On to the dancers. Rather than ranking this week, I'm just going to go by the order they performed their solos. First up...

Jose - Ah, Jose. Where do we begin with Jose? I think the judges decided not to cut anyone last week because they would've cut Jose and felt bad about it because Billy hadn't actually danced while Jose had. It became quite clear throughout the evening that he will be getting the boot if he ends up in the bottom three. His solo, however, was I think his best on the show so far. It was well put together and I actually liked it for once! I also liked his hip hop piece with all-star Comfort, choreographed by Marty Kudelka and Dana Wilson, despite the judges deciding to crap all over it, apart from guest judge Toni Redpath. Honestly I thought it was one of his better dances of the season. Am I just crazy? Did I just really dig the choreography? Who knows. Jose's second partner dance of the night was a Spencer Liff broadway piece with Kent. And, well, sorry Jose, but Kent just way outshone you. Kent is born for broadway, so it's not really fair, but still. It was pretty apparent. Unless something crazy happens, I think this was the last performance show for the b-boy.

Lauren - Lauren got lots of praise tonight. The judges basically declared her the other top contender for the title, which is no surprise. While I don't think she can unseat the behemoth that is Kent, she is the only one who could maybe have even a little bit of a chance. Her solo tonight was fantastic. Rather than flailing about aimlessly, it was well thought out and performed. Her first partner dance was with all-star Allison in a Tyce broadway number. And, groan. Tyce and broadway. I'm sorry but that was boring. And there is something about the music in all of his numbers that always rubs me the wrong way. The judges were full of compliments, though Nigel did say he thought it was sort of forgettable. Her second partner dance of the night was with Adechike in a Jean Marc & France choreographed foxtrot. Whereas the music bugged me in her other dance, here I thought it was inspired, if maybe heavy-handed. The routine itself was great, the choreography lovely. The dancing seemed okay to me but the judges had a lot to say about ballroomy things being not right. Most of that was directed at Adechike, however.

Billy - Billy! What a night for twee Billy Bell. After suffering from an injury and deciding not to perform last week, Billy was granted a save from the judges and able to come back with a vengeance this week. His solo was awesome, as usual. He always thinks them through and has a plan, which I appreciate. And while he also did well in his Nakul choreographed Bollywood piece with Robert (dang! doing that on an injured knee must've been painful!), what I really want to talk about is his other partner dance. It was a Stacey Tookey contemporary piece danced with all-star Ade, and by golly, by gee, I got actual chills! Chills! This has been a very seriously rare thing this season! It helped that they had "Mad World" as the music, which is lovely. But hey, let's give props to not only Billy and Ade, but Stacey Tookey too. She had a great night tonight. I'll get to that again later. But Billy! Billy was playing a homeless man while Ade was playing a successful business man. They meet on the street and realize they actually used to know each other. And this probably could've all come across without the video package beforehand, which you can't always say for some of the routines. So, great job, Billy. Even though I kind of think this could be your last week too, unless someone else ends up in the bottom, you ended it on a high note.

Kent - If Kent doesn't win, I'll probably have the biggest jaw drop in history. The girls in the crowd just go made insane for him. And while I liked him at first, I must admit I am starting to get a little sick of it. His solo didn't really help matters, as it seemed overly dramatic without much actual dancing going on. His first partner dance of the night was with all-star Anya in a Jean Marc and France choreographed cha cha, which, if you'll recall, is the same style they danced in he first performance show. Cha cha redux. But I actually quite liked the routine, though now that it's over I can't really remember it all that clearly, I just wrote that I was impressed, but the judges were only so-so. Kent's second partner dance of the night was the aforementioned Spencer Liff broadway with Jose, and boy oh boy, Kent is just made for Broadway. He could seriously be a Broadway star. The judges basically said the exact same thing. Honestly Kent's routines weren't entirely overly memorable tonight, but I don't think it matters a whit anymore.

Robert - Now Robert, Robert also had a great night. While his solo was basically more of the same as what we've seen in previous weeks, his partner dances more than made up for it. In particular, his first dance with all-star Kathryn in a Stacey Tookey contemporary piece. Yes, Ms. Tookey had a great night as  a choreographer! Though I thought this dance was going to be a message piece, it was actually danced rather beautifully and didn't seem as full of a message as it may have been. And that twist at the end! I did not see that twist coming! In case you missed it, the piece was about leaving for war, and while we were made to think that it was Robert leaving for war, in the end we found out it was Kathryn! What! I will say one thing about Robert, though. I wish he had better extensions and a little more abandon in some of his movement. There is just a little something he seems to be holding back. The judges really loved this number, though. Robert's second partner dance of the night also garnered a lot of praise from the judges. It was the Bollywood dance with Billy, and though it wasn't entirely synchronized in some parts, they both did a really good job with it. And it was a really hard routine, so I give them both props. The judges seemed to think Robert did a better job than Billy. I couldn't really tell either way.

Adechike - For someone who's somehow never been in the bottom three, Adechike gets a lot of negative comments from the judges. While his solo was more of his typical strong stuff, it wasn't his best of the season. And his strong-ness, I think, is what hurts him in his partner dances. I felt very vindicated when the judges brought up that very fact, because I had only wrote it down myself moments before. Psychic! Adechike's first partner dance was a Tyce jazz routine with all-star Courtney. And it was... fine. But there's something about his movement that lacks fluidity, he always hits things so hard and strong when it doesn't necessarily fit. The routine could've been better with a different dancer, honestly. His second partner dance of the night was with Lauren in that foxtrot, and the judges berated him for quite a few things, it seemed. Something about claw hands. And I'd say also the lack of fluidity again. I think Adechike is the only one the judges might oust over Billy if he got into the bottom three. But seeing as it hasn't happened yet (seriously? how has this not happened ever?), I'm not sure it will tomorrow.

In any case, if Lauren ends up being taken out due to injury, then what the heck is even the point of the finale? All of the best dancers will have been sidelined. And what a pointless season it will have become. It's already kind of become that already with Alex and Ashley... Sigh. Why do I bother?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural: Top 10 Castiel Moments (Seasons 1-5)

After focusing on the best episodes of season two last week, I'm switching things up! My past lists have focused a great deal on the brothers Winchester, which is to be expected considering they are the stars of the show! But along the way, they have made a few friends. And this week the spotlight is on their angelic buddy Castiel.

Castiel has been something of a polarizing figure in the Supernatural fandom. People seem to either love or hate him. But how can you hate him when he's played by Misha Collins? Come now. I had a tough time ordering this list. Do I favor humor? Sacrificial acts? It's all subjective! Inevitably, though, this list has a lot of items from season five over season four, simply because he became more interesting in season five. C'est la vie!

Remember, the title to each item is a link to a youtube clip of the moment in question. Enjoy!

10. Badassery and sacrificial acts (at the 4:30 mark)

(5x18 "Point of No Return")

Though earlier in the episode, Castiel had expressed his extreme disappointment in Dean, he decides to have one of his rare badass moments anyway in an effort to get the boys in to save Adam from Zachariah. He does some angelic ass-kicking, then rips off his shirt to reveal he's cut that Enochian sigil thing into his very own chest to blast the angels away! Including himself! It was a rather surprising moment, and I'm sure many fans rejoiced at getting to see a glimpse of Misha's bare chest. 

9. "Hey, assbutt!" Kabluey!

(5x22 "Swan Song")

We are no strangers to Castiel having some of the funniest lines, but here he really reached new levels, seeing as he used to be so chaste in his language!  Here, he and Bobby come to the aid of Dean in his attempt to coax Sam out of Lucifer by getting rid of Adam-Michael with a little "Hey, assbutt!" and throwing some holy fire on him. Lucifer, however, was not so happy with Castiel's decision to molotov his brother, and with a snap of his fingers - kabluey! Castiel was exploded! We all know he didn't stay exploded, but hey, it was a surprising moment nonetheless. 

8. Rebels against Zachariah (about 7 minutes in)

(4x22 "Lucifer Rising")

Though Castiel had grown close to Dean and Sam through their various adventures, he was eventually made to return to the angelic fold. But Dean is having none of that obeying nonsense, and gives him a verbal lashing. Castiel steps up and rescues Dean from that holding zone, then goes one step further and sacrifices himself to stay with Chuck while the archangel draws near. He likes to sacrifice himself a lot, you see. But it seems to work out for him, because he's always managed to come back somehow. 

7. Succumbing to human nature

(5x14 "My Bloody Valentine") 

Though perhaps not the most proud moment ever, it was certainly entertaining to see Castiel be just as effected by Famine as the humans around him. It was a slow descent into humanity for Castiel over the course of season five, and this was just one of those moments to showcase that. But it was definitely very gross to see him munching down on raw beef. Blugh. 

6. In the "future"

(5x04 "The End")

When Dean gets sent to the "future" by Zachariah, to witness just what him continually refusing to say yes would do to the world, we get some bits of humor in all the desolation thanks to a very hippie-fied future Castiel. He's doing drugs and having orgies! Some of my favorite moments of his are when he realizes that present-Dean is not future-Dean and how he later comments that he likes the past Dean better. Don't we all, Castiel?

5. Beats down Dean

(5x18 "Point of No Return")

I know, this is the second moment I have featured from this episode. But they are both notable in and of themselves, so whatever! Here, Cas has had enough of Dean whining and threatening to say yes to Michael. So he tracks him down, gets a little whiny-yelly at him "I rebelled for THIS?!" and beats the royal hell out of Dean's pretty face! Though Dean wants Castiel to finish him off, Cas of course would never do that to his Dean, instead sending him to dreamy land and taking him back to Sam and Bobby. 

4. Out of minutes

(5x04 "The End")

Another repeat episode! Shh! But this is regular Castiel, not future Castiel. As we have come to know and love about our angel friend, he often has trouble with cell phones. As he struggles to talk to Dean, he's running out of minutes on the phone, which is of course highly upsetting to him. I've kind of truncated this also to when he saves Dean just in time from Zachariah later in the episode, because they had made an appointment during that phone call. And he probably just stood there on the side of the road by himself all night. Ah, Cas. 

3. On a bender

(5x17 "99 Problems")

After finding out that God doesn't want to be found, Castiel decides to try what the humans do when they're upset - he goes on a bender, drinking an entire liquor store. When he comes to talk with Sam and Dean about what's going on with this supposed prophet lady they have encountered, he has some of his best lines and reactions to things. Sam asks if he's okay, his response: "Don't ask stupid questions." He has a laugh when the boys tell him what something in Enochian means. Apparently "you breed with the mouth of a goat" is pretty funny in Enochian. And, when discussing their plans, he calls Sam an abomination. You gotta love how drinking just basically makes him speak his mind. 

2. Working with Dean

(5x03 "Free to Be You and Me")

While Sam and Dean are separated, Castiel instead joins Dean working a case. He, of course, has some issues. Not only with getting the badge right, but also just being completely forthright with the policeman, telling him that what's going on is angels and demons are fighting, or, as he puts it, skirmishing. But by far the funniest part of their adventures together is when Dean finds out that Castiel has never taken part in carnal pleasures. Dean, of course, is having none of that, and promptly takes him to the "den of iniquity." Poor Cas looked the most scared he has ever looked when faced with doing the deed. He screws it up, though, which gives Dean another laugh. And us along with him. 

1. Entrance

(4x01 "Lazarus Rising")

By far the coolest moment of Castiel's career on the show, however, was when we first met him so long ago. It was one of the best entrances on the show that I think we've ever seen. If you were like me, you had no idea that angels were going to be on the show at that point, so I was completely surprised by the whole thing. Not to mention that those angel wings were just so awesomely done too. It was a real turning point for the show, for better or worse. I like to think better, though, because I never would have known who Misha Collins was otherwise. And he is perfect as Castiel, isn't he? The answer is yes, by the way. It's always yes.

To check out my other various Supernatural lists: Click!

Psst! Hey you! You should totally go like my Facebook page. I'd love you forever and ever. Click and like: http://www.facebook.com/freshfromthe.com. 

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 6 Results

What a pointless hour of television. What a pointless week of competition. After so much blustering bluster, the judges decided to not eliminate any of the dancers this week, instead deciding to eliminate two people next week.

So why even bother mentioning that Billy, sidelined by an injury, was joined by Robert and Jose in the bottom three? That both of their solos were pretty good, but neither could even come close to that guest solo we saw from DJ Smart. My oh my, that was frickin' amazing. That guy had the biggest thighs I think I have ever seen. And that routine was awesome. The other guest performance of the night was one from the American Ballet Theater, doing something from Don Quixote. I am always a little awed and disturbed by how long those ballet dancers can stay on point. That just seems incredibly painful.

Otherwise, the all-stars featured in tonight's show were Lauren and Neil from season three. I really did not remember that they ever had a routine together, but apparently they did, because they performed a Wade Robson jazz piece. You'd think I'd remember a Wade number! I wish he would choreograph some stuff this season, I always like his stuff.

The musical guest was Enrique Iglesias, and I well... I had that on mute and was on the phone. I really could care less about their musical guests!

And that's it. Blah blah. Shenanigans. Ruckus. More random words. The end.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 6 Performance Show

Seriously, do we have a Tanya Harding in the group secretly sabotaging people every week, or what? For the THIRD week in a row, a dancer was sidelined by an injury! This time it was Billy, even though I guess his doctors did say it would be safe for him to dance tonight, he decided he didn't want to risk it. I think it is all but assured that he'll be the one to go home tomorrow, whether he gets the okay for next week or not, just based on the fact that he's been in the bottom for a while. Honestly, what is even the point in voting anymore?

Anyway, the dancers tonight all had to perform thrice - once with an all-star, once with a fellow contestant, and once in a solo. We were also treated with guest judge Kenny Ortega and were continually reminded that it was the 150th episode of the show. I think they said it maybe 10 times. We get it!

On to the dancers...

Kent - There is no stopping this Kent train, I don't think. Nearly every judge has called him the one to beat now, and since Alex is out, it's very true. I think the only other time someone stood out so clearly as the frontrunner to win was Benji way back when, but even he didn't get the amount of screaming that Kent does. Sheesh! Seriously, those screams are intense. What is he, a Jonas brother? Kent started off his evening with a Sonya Tayeh jazz piece with all-star Kathryn. I have to say that it was probably the least "Sonya-y" routine I have ever seen her do. Honestly I thought there was a little too much "Kent!" in that routine for my tastes, but he danced it well regardless. His other partner routine was a first for the show. He was originally paired up with Billy for a stepping piece choreographed by Chuck Maldonado, but because Billy was injured, Twitch stepped in. I really didn't know what to think about it, I was sort of distracted by their outfits, to be honest. The judges went a little ape-nuts over it, mostly because they didn't think Kent would be able to pull it off. I'm not sure he pulled it off as well as they claim he did, but whatever, it doesn't much matter. His solo didn't have much substance for me either, it was a lot of running back and forth and leaping. Perhaps describing his being overwhelmed by everything? He does look a bit overwhelmed these days.

Robert - Robert, I think you may be able to make it into the top four, buddy! Who would've thought that a few weeks ago? I certainly think you deserve to be there over a couple of other guys, so fingers crossed that nothing crazy happens. (i.e. don't get injured!) Robert's night started with a Tyce Diorio jazz piece with all-star Lauren. It was all about seduction, rather than a story. The music was distracting for half of it, and the torn up shirt was distracting for the other half, but the dancing itself was good! Thankfully he has apparently become aware he was a little too hammy with the cameras, because he's dialed it back quite a bit. His second partner dance of the evening was with the other Lauren in a Dmitry Chaplin samba. And whoa did he look good in that outfit. Wait a minute, his birthday is today and he's only 20?! Eeeeep! Uh, moving on. Back to the dancing. Honestly I thought some of it looked like a little bit of a struggle, but he was definitely committed to it, and the judges seemed to really like him as well. I thought Dmitry's choreography was really strong, props to Dmitry! Robert's solo was strong as well, very emotional, it seemed. He is one of the better soloists this season.

Lauren - Really, there's no way Lauren isn't making the top four. She's the only lady left! She had an okay night tonight. Her first dance was with Twitch in a NapTab hip hop piece that had something to do with cowboys. Even though the judges seemed to really like everything about it, I don't know, I was a little bit bored by the whole thing and found myself barely paying attention. She did dance it really well, though, so it's no dig on her. Just kind of... eh? Her second routine of the evening was the aforementioned samba with Robert, and she seemed to get more criticisms than Robert did on it. They also kept going on and on about her butt, which is apparently now her hallmark. What a hallmark to have! Her solo wasn't really anything to write home about. I'm not sure why all of the contemporary style girls always think the best way to do a solo is to flail about frenetically all over the place. At least make it look like it's not completely spontaneous!

Adechike - Adechike impressed me with 2/3 of his routines tonight. His first partner number was a NapTab lyrical hip hop with all-star Comfort. I would say this was by far his best performance so far in the competition. Not to mention one of Comfort's best, as my eyes were often drawn to her. I liked this hip hop routine way way way better than their other one tonight, mostly because Adechike and Comfort were so very committed to what it was portraying. As a few of the judges commented, it didn't feel so much a dance but like we were watching a movie or something. Adechike was even moved to tears at the end, he was so emotional. His other dance of the evening, however, did not go over quite as well. He and Jose were given the first double male paso doble choreographed by Dmitry. They certainly tried their hardest, but some of the partner moves seemed awkward and it kind of seemed to end before it should have or something. The judges were all rather diplomatic in their critiques, calling it a "valiant effort." I think we all know that means they think it sucked but didn't want to say so. Adechike's solo, on the other hand, was really well done. His solos, though this is only the second time we've seen one, are always so strong. I think his was probably the best solo of the night.

Jose - It's too bad I have Jose this low, because I think he actually had my favorite routine of the night! But it was more the choreography than his performance of it, so there you go. That routine was a contemporary Sonya piece danced with all-star Allison. I loved it for its creativity and simplicity. They only danced at the edge of the stage, and it was awesome. The judges all went a little nuts over how they couldn't really critique the dancing because there wasn't a ton of technical dancing and blah blah, but whatever, I loved it! But Jose's second partner piece was the paso doble with Adechike, and the judges weren't showing any of them any love over that one. I will say that I thought Jose did a good job of bringing up his level to match Adechike, though. They were both very committed to trying, so that's something. But Jose's solo? Umm. Kind of lame. He was working the music a lot, but not actually doing very much in terms of moves or tricks. Smiling will only get you so far unless you come up with some kind of fun gimmick like Twitch used to do for his solos. Ah, those were the days.

Which two dancers will be joining Billy in the bottom three tomorrow? I hope it's Jose and Adechike, but who really knows. Adechike has yet to visit the bottom three for some reason, but I guess it has to happen sometime. Honestly if people keep getting injured, it doesn't really matter at all! Sigh.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural: Top 5 Season Two Episodes

Another week of hiatus, another list! This week, I'm focusing on the top 5 episodes of season two, arguably the overall strongest season of the show, in my humble little opinion. Nearly every episode is strong, but some stood out above the rest. Which ones? Well let's just take a gander!

The titles are links to clips of a favorite scene from each episode.

5. Nightshifter (2x12)

Nightshifter was a very taught, well-crafted episode of television where things started out okay but then started spiraling into serious crap for the brothers Winchester with a bank heist gone wrong. We got to meet two great guest stars in the forms of Ronald, who was convinced the shapeshifter was something with laser eyes, and FBI Agent Victor Henricksen, whose vendetta against the boys, particularly Dean, started off with a bang here. Because of that, this episode led to some other great ones down the line with Henricksen too. It also featured one of the coolest music cues in the series (which is my featured clip up there at the title), with the boys escaping under the guise of the SWAT team with "Renegade" by Styx starting up in the background. So fitting, so awesome.

4. Tall Tales (2x15)

By far one of the funniest episodes of the series to date. I loved how the episode was structured so that we saw various scenes from either Sam or Dean's point of view, leading to great and hilarious exaggerations on both sides. We also met another recurring character that would play a bigger and bigger role as the series continued, the Trickster. You have to love a "monster" with such a great sense of humor. Slow dancing aliens, people, slow dancing aliens. It will never not be funny. I also liked how it showed that the brothers do get on each others' nerves after spending so much time with just each other. So true, so true.

3. All Hell Breaks Loose, Part II (2x22)

Okay, now we're heading into much more serious territory with these top three episodes. I wouldn't fault you for picking this as your number one episode of season two, because it has tons of great stuff, but there's just something about the top two that send them over the top for me. Anyway, back to this one. So much happened! Dean makes the deal of a lifetime (deathtime?) to bring Sam back from the dead, setting in motion a huge chain of events for the rest of the series, but he also gets to kill Azazel, who the boys had been searching for all of their lives. On top of that, we got to see John Winchester in the "flesh" one more time, as he was able to escape from Hell via the Devil's Gate, sharing a tearful goodbye with his boys before flitting off to, presumably, Heaven. So many of my top moments in other lists come from this episode! It was hard to choose just four screencaps to use in the graphic! The scene that I have featured as the title link, however, is maybe my favorite from the episode. It's when Bobby lets Dean have it for selling his soul to bring Sam back. It's just so heartbreaking to see Dean with so little self-worth!

2. What Is and What Should Never Be (2x20)

Some people don't like this episode, I've heard, but I think they're crazy! Crazy, I tell you! I mean, come on, alternate realities are always an interesting concept. In this one, Dean gets one "wish" from a djinn, which is that his mother never died. As he finds out, it completely changes the way his life would've been, though John still died young. While it seems like a perfect place at first, he soon finds out that his relationship with Sam is pretty terrible, and that all of the people they saved over the years had died instead. On top of that, the whole thing was really just a dream in his head, a dream he so wished he could stay in. But being the heroic guy he is, he comes back to reality and his Sammy. The scene I've included is the one where they're trying to convince him to stay. You can tell he wants to so badly, it's so sad. Another of my favorite bits from the episode are all of the pictures using real photos of Jensen, Jared, Jeffrey and Samantha. Awww!

1. In My Time of Dying (2x01)

This is one of my favorite episodes of all time from the show. I don't even know how many times I've watched it, but if I ever happen to just see even a glimpse of a scene, I'm like OOH and stop to watch it. It's a fairly serious episode, though there are certainly a few light moments. But the way it started and the way it ended - both tremendous scenes. I have to also give props here to Kim Manners, who directed it, because it was directed really well. I miss his skills something fierce! This episode also featured the debut of Fredric Lehne (or Lane, he seems to go by both) as Azazel, and I think we can all agree he was the best Azazel ever. While it was certainly a shame to see John die so early in the series, it definitely set major events in motion and gave the boys a lot of angst to deal with, which we all love. The scene I've included is that coffee drop very ending scene, you know the one. Wonderful editing job there, too. Hey, props all around!

Honorable Mentions: Born Under a Bad Sign (2x14), Heart (2x17), All Hell Breaks Loose, Part I (2x21)

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...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 7 Results

Sigh. That's really all there is to say after tonight's show. It seemed like a foregone conclusion to me from the very start of the episode when we didn't see hide nor hair of poor, injured Ashley. At least when Alex was hurt he was able to sit in the audience. Was Ashley not even allowed out of the hospital until the very end there? It's all very mysterious. And now we are left with only one girl and five guys. Lauren, I think it is safe to say, will be in the top four.

Joining Ashley in the bottom three tonight were Billy, who I was not in the least surprised to see there, and Jose, who I have to admit I kind of shouted for joy when it was announced he was in the bottom. Mostly because it was between him and Robert, and if Robert had been put in the bottom after having such an awesome routine last night, it would've been a travesty. Not that it would've really mattered anyway, since neither of the guys ended up really being in danger. Billy, I think you've dodged a bullet two weeks in a row, now. Unless something crazy happens next week, it seems like his head is on the chopping block. And it seems like he knows it too. Nigel kind of berated him for his solo, but I really liked it. It helps that I adored the song, true, but come on. He is a great soloist. On the other hand, Nigel praised Jose for his solo, which he said showed Jose's commitment to the competition and was the fastest he's ever done his b-boy moves. Yawn. I'm not saying I don't like Jose, but there's only so much coddling I can take.

As for the other performances of the night, it was rather jam packed. I *gasp* actually liked Tyce's opening Broadway routine! What! It probably has to do with the fact that it was a big group number, and I think he handles those better than the duets. But in addition to that, there were four, count 'em four, other performances! Jeez.

First up featured a couple of little munchkins by the names of Fernando and Lauren who had a ballroom number. I'm not sure - was it salsa? I get those mixed up. That little Fernando was a firecracker of a personality, challenging Cat to an arm wrestle right there on stage! Cute. The other professionals to dance were from Alvin Ailey, by the names of Jamal Roberts and Rachel McLaren. I would describe their piece as strong. That's the best word for it. And those pants were distracting, that's all I'm saying.

The all-stars in the spotlight were Twitch and Comfort. Apparently they had a hip hop number together back in season four that was supposed to be memorable, but seriously I did not remember that routine in the slightest little bit! But I do wish we were seeing more of Twitch this season. He's only done like one routine, I think! Twitch! More Twitch! The other performance of the night was a rendition of "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri, which featured a dance by Neil and Allison. I really loved their dance, I have to say. I wish the camera hadn't needed to cut away so often to focus on Christina. No offense to Christina, though, she must be having the time of her life!

And that's about it. I'm really bummed that two dancers have been unfairly ousted due to injuries. If there are any more injuries this season, we might have a Tanya Harding bumbling around trying to sabotage people! Oh man, please tell me the people reading this aren't too young for that reference!!

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 7 Performance Show

Another week, another injury. If this keeps happening every week, voting is going to become obsolete! That's right, after losing the wonderful Alex last week, this week another dancer was placed on the sidelines - Ashley. We won't find out until tomorrow whether she will be able to continue in the competition, but she wasn't even in the audience during the show, which doesn't really bode well.

Of course, that might make it easier to predict who's going home! Because otherwise, it's a bit tough to figure out who will be joining Ashley in the bottom three tomorrow night. I certainly know who I'd like it to be, but I have strong doubts that it would be at this point. I'm being vague. Deal with it! Nearly everyone did a great job tonight, so I'm just going to talk about each contestant in the order of their voting numbers. I know I change this up every week, but whatever! Get over it! Variety is the spice of life!

Lauren - She started out the night with all-star Mark doing a type of dance we had yet to see on the SYTYCD stage - a Tahitian piece choreographed by Tiana Liufau. Honestly, it seemed like Lauren's only requirement in this piece was to shake her tail feather a lot. I mean, literally, her butt was surrounded by feathers. Mark was, of course, awesome, and I think the only guy who could pull that off. Mia compared it to a duck in heat, so... right? Much like Nigel, I don't have a lot to say. Lauren's second routine of the evening was a Mandy Moore jazz piece with fellow contestant Billy, and it was so very super cute! A Mandy Moore routine that was actually a lot of fun! It was all about the shoes, and they worked them well. Adam said he thinks that Lauren has a chance to outlast a lot of the boys, and I think he could be right, to a point. If Ashley goes home this week due to her injury, she'll be the only lady left!

Adechike - His night kicked off with all-star Anya in a salsa routine by Liz Lira and Danny Davalos. And, whoa, that looked like an epically difficult routine. Also epic? That outfit. Eeesh. Not in a good way. I thought it was really evident that even Anya had to try hard to do that routine, and some of the moves seemed a bit labored and slow even though overall there was a lot going on. Mia seemed to really be trying to hold back on any negative comments toward him this week, though I think she did have them. I mean, it was okay. For his second routine of the night, Adechike was paired up with Kent for a Dee Caspary contemporary number, about a friend trying to help another friend let go of a bad relationship. With a chair. Symbolism! First of all, there was more personality from Adechike in that intro package than I think we've seen all season. Secondly, the judges were praising that routine up and down, but I found it kind of confusing that there were two chairs when the chair was supposed to be the girl. Adechike did have a really awesome leap, though.

Jose - If anything, Jose had the most trying night. It started off with all-star Courtney in a Joey Dowling Broadway piece that really showcased Jose's lack of technique. He was focusing so much on the acting performance that I think he kind of let the dancing bit of it go. I always want to see him push farther than he does, and the judges were pretty harsh on him for it all, despite his ultra sad face. Mia's response to that face: "I hate you right now for that face." She almost started crying just looking at his face! So expressive, he is. Jose did get a chance to redeem himself in the second routine of the evening, an actual b-boy number with all-star Dominic, choreographed by NapTab (and I saw Legacy there too! Legacy, you have left too large a legacy to follow! Sorry, I am full of bad puns tonight.). The judges were over the moon for this routine, but honestly, apart from the opening diagonal bit across the stage, I didn't think it was quite the bees knees. They weren't really together on the parts they were supposed to be together, and Dominic's windmill things totally outpaced Jose's. It was certainly 100 times better than the Broadway, but does that mean he deserves to not be in the bottom three? I don't think so, but I am doubting he will be yet again.

Robert - Robert's first routine of the night was by far my favorite of the evening, and one of the best of the season so far. He was paired up with all-star Allison for a Travis Wall contemporary piece that was very emotional and personal for Travis. When they showed Robert right before the break and I saw what he was wearing, I thought to myself, "well, he's dressed just like Travis!" And no wonder. He was basically playing Travis in the routine, which was about helping his mother while she's sick, which Robert could also relate to. And oof, that routine gave me some chills. When they were doing the side by side dancing, it was amazing. By far the best dancing Robert has done on the show. Tons of people were teary-eyed or full on crying. Robert's second dance of the night was not quite so powerful. He was originally paired up with Ashley for a Doriana Sanchez disco, but because Ashley was sidelined, all-star Kathryn stepped in. It was an okay disco, though I don't know that anything can top that crazy one from Janette and Brandon two seasons ago. That one was insane. As it was, the judges were kind of back and forth. Nigel really liked it, but Mia wanted Robert to be more masculine. I actually agree with Mia here, there were a couple of his moves that just weren't masculine enough. He was trying his hardest, though, that's for sure.

Billy - Billy's night started with all-star Anya in a jive choreographed by Louis van Amstel. Anya had a bit of a dress malfunction, and the music was really distracting to me in this routine too. The judges were all very complimentary of his performance, but said he could've gotten down a little more with the actual steps. To me it was just an okay routine, but that may just be the jive in general. Nigel again mentioned the world cup and NIGEL! It's over, so get over it! Let it go! As previously mentioned, Billy's second routine was the Mandy Moore one with Lauren. I think it was probably one of his best performances to date, but I'm not sure that it was enough to keep him out of the bottom this week. He's been there twice already, and there's something that's just not connecting. I can tell that he's trying hard, but I agree that there's still something not quite there. I don't even know what it is.

Kent - Kent started off the night with all-star Neil in a Tyce Diorio Broadway routine about baseball. It was way cheesy and all about a lot of gymnastics moves, which is appropriate for Neil, as he was always known for doing a lot of gymnastics moves. It's not secret that I'm not a fan of Tyce's broadway pieces, and honestly this wasn't really any exception. Not to say that Kent didn't dance it well, I just found it sort of boring. The judges, however, were over the moon, though all Mia seemed to be able to say was, "I love boys so much." Moving on to Kent's second piece with Adechike, Nigel made the "bold" statement of saying he thinks Kent could win the whole thing. Really? As if this is news. Now that Alex has been taken unduly out of the picture, this thing is Kent's to lose. He has been listening  to the judges, though, and reigning in his personality for the routines that need it. I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve to win it either. He's consistently a good dancer and he has the big and shiny personality to boot.

In tour news, Cat said there will be 14 dates, and that the all-stars will in fact be joining the dancers on tour. You can check out the page at www.fox.com/dance for info on that. And? My favorite part of the show tonight was probably seeing Mark dancing with Cat at the end there. Love you, Mark!

So who do you think is going home? Assuming Ashley will be okay. Seriously, what is with all of the injuries these past couple of seasons? Before that, there didn't seem to be hardly any! Sigh.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural: Top 10 Brotherly Angst Moments (Seasons 1-5)

Last week, we discussed the much happier topic of brotherly love, but this week? This week is all about the ANGST. Angst, technically speaking, is a kind of fear, usually applied to a deep and philosophical anxiety about the world in general or personal freedom (don't worry, I looked that up, I don't just know these definitions off the top of my head). But in this case, since it is brotherly angst, it's applied to their relationship. And boy, is there a lot of that. I'd say it's one of the things the show has become rather famous for, actually.

There is indeed so much brotherly angst that it was rather difficult to make this list. When I'm doing these top tens, my process is basically: write down all of the ones that come to my head first, then go through a list of all of the episodes and think on whether there were moments that could qualify, then from there try to narrow down which are the "best." Honestly, there's probably one moment from every episode in the entire series that could technically qualify, but hey, let's not make my head explode here. Usually the ones that come to mind first do so for a reason!

That being said, I do feel I am presenting this list with the most trepidation compared to the others. It seems very heavy in a couple of seasons, with one season being left out entirely. So feel free to have at it in the comments with the moments I missed! But for now, here is the list...

(Reminder: The title for each number is a link to a youtube clip of the moment I am addressing!)

10. Sam shoots Dean

(1x10 "Asylum")

While the boys certainly do a lot of disagreeing with each other in season one, and some arguing about John and whether they should follows his orders, this episode brought all of their tension to the forefront when Sam gets sort of "infected" by Dr. Ellicott, this evil ghost psychiatrist dude. Through the ghostly influence, Sam's pent up feelings toward Dean come raging to the surface, to the point where he even shoots him - once with rock salt, and well, the other is an attempted shooting with a real gun, but it wasn't actually loaded. The point is that he actually shot it, though! Sam! How rude. Though most of the scene features Sam berating Dean for always following John's orders, I think my favorite part of the scene is that part I have quoted in the above image, when Dean says, "You really hate me that much?" Awww. Dean just wants his little brother to love him!

9. Dean punches Sam

(2x03 "Bloodlust")

Truth be told, Dean punches Sam more than in just this episode, but this is the first time he does it, I'm pretty sure. And though his later punches are more directed at Sam specifically, this one was less about Sam and more about his anger and guilt over John being dead. Nevertheless, John's death creates quite a lot of tension between the boys, as some of the later moments will no doubt further reveal. In this particular moment, Dean has become rather taken with vampire hunter Gordon, to the point where he's trusting him more than he's trusting Sam. Sam gets fed up with it and tries to get through to him, so Dean naturally punches him rather than address his feelings. Ah Dean, there are other ways to express distress aside from punching. Of course, as we'll see, Dean's words can often hurt worse than his punches.

8. Siren fight

(4x14 "Sex and Violence")

Throughout season four, the boys grew distant toward each other, what with Dean dealing with what happened to him in Hell, and Sam doing his mind mojo to exorcise demons. At this point, Dean didn't even know he'd been drinking blood yet. And while the boys had done a good job at keeping their emotions about it mostly pent up, when under the influence of a siren, they finally got to let their real feelings about each other be known. Dean says that the Sam he knew is gone, basically insinuating that Sam's sort of  becoming a monster, whereas Sam accuses Dean of being weak and holding him back from getting the job done. It even escalates to the point where the boys get into a battle of the fists! Luckily, Bobby comes to the rescue. Unluckily, the boys do not get to un-hear what they said to each other, and despite both of them claiming otherwise, it was clear they had both been speaking the truth. As we know, things only go downhill from here.

7. Sam's been using his scary demon powers after all

(4x04 "Metamorphosis")

Before their feelings ever came to such a head, however, we first got a glimpse into the rapid destruction of the brothers' relationship when Dean found out that Sam had started using his demon powers again while Dean was in Hell. This gains Sam another classic Dean punch to the face and many more protestations about what he's doing, to the point where Dean basically says without saying that he thinks Sam's starting to become exactly what John had warned him about. Later in that same episode, Sam gets fed up with Dean and unloads on him how he's just trying to make the best of a bad situation. He seems to get through to Dean a little bit, but as we know, it is short-lived, mostly because neither of them really likes to listen to the other when they think they're in the right.

6. He told me something about you

(2x10 "Hunted")

At the beginning of season two, John whispers something into Dean's ear before he walks off to his untimely death. We finally find out just what he told him here, and it's definitely nothing good. Turns out, he told him that he had to save Sam, and that if he couldn't, he'd have to kill him. This has been weighing on Dean all this time, and he finally unloads it on Sam after it turns out that Sam is immune to the demon zombie virus in "Croatoan." Sam is appropriately pissed that Dean would keep such a secret from him, despite their dad's insistence on the matter, and even though it looks as though Dean convinces him to try and lay low for a while, it turns out that Sam takes off on his own. Sammy, you can't always just run away when you get upset with your family. But that was certainly his MO for quite some time.

5. Too little, too late

(2x02 "Everybody Loves Clowns")

After John abruptly dies in the previous episode, Sam suggests they go on a hunt, and gets rather gung-ho about the whole situation, even stating that he probably won't go back to school after they find the demon that killed their mom and Jess, which is a complete 180 from what he had previously been stating. Dean finally has enough and confronts him about how Sam is suddenly so loyal to what John wanted after he's dead when the last thing they ever really did was fight (which is what they nearly always did). This is particularly upsetting to Sam, as Dean is basically voicing all of the things he is unable to admit to himself. By the end of the episode, Sam does admit that he feels terrible about how things ended with John, but he also points out to Dean that he isn't handling it well either, despite what he may say, which will eventually lead to Dean punching him, as mentioned up in number nine above.

4. Sam's best moments are Dean's worst

(5x16 "Dark Side of the Moon")

In this episode, we find out that Heaven is a place where everyone gets to relive their best moments. While Dean's moments are all filled with being together with his family, Sam's are anything but. In fact, they turn out to be some of the worst moments of Dean's life. While Dean mostly lets this go by being passive aggressive for a while, it all comes to a head when they arrive at the point when Sam decided to leave John and Dean and go off to Stanford, which ranks as the worst night of Dean's life (the comics that show what happened to get them to this point purport that John also leaves Dean at the same time.. I'm not sure if this is true for the show, since it seemed in the pilot that Dean and John had been working together and John had only recently disappeared... but if it is true then well, no wonder it was the worst night of his life). Anyway, sorry for that digression. While Sam tries to make Dean understand that he has never viewed family the same way as Dean, Dean conversely wonders whether this means that he and Sam aren't really as close as he thought. Seeing as this whole season was about the brothers Winchester figuring out their issues, it's really no surprise.

3. Dean can't trust Sam

(5x01 "Sympathy for the Devil")

You know, I originally had this moment at number two, but I switched it to number three after writing up the bit about the next one. You see, my opinions are variable. Just like the relationship of Sam and Dean! Hjuck hjuck. Moving on. Though at this point it seemed like Sam and Dean had gotten things back on track after their major break up over killing Lillith via demon blood, it turns out that Dean hasn't forgiven Sam after all. And it's not just that he hasn't forgiven him, because even Sam understands that that will take time, but he doesn't trust him anymore, and that by far is probably one of the worst things for Sam to ever hear. So much of their relationship is being able to depend on each other no matter what, but it was all thrown for a loop when Sam decided to go with Ruby instead of Dean. It's not really repaired until Dean realizes just how much Sam has faith in him way down the line.

2. Dean doesn't believe in Sam

(5x18 "Point of No Return")

As I mentioned above somewhere, while Dean often takes out his frustrations in the form of a punch to the face, it's sometimes his words that are much more painful. Case in point, here. After everything they've been through, Dean has finally decided to just give himself over to Michael and get it over with. Sam tries to get through to him that he shouldn't, but that's when Dean gets to his cutting remarks. His reason for wanting to give in is that he doesn't believe that Sam will be able to resist Lucifer. He's convinced that Sam will eventually say yes, and since he believes that will happen, he has to say yes too. That really broke Sam's heart, more than anything else could, I'm sure. But, he's the bigger man this time around, having faith in Dean when Dean doesn't return the favor (at first). Eventually Dean does come to his senses, but this was a seriously low moment that showed just how broken Dean had really become, and how far their relationship had gone downhill.

1. Big ole fisticuffs

(4x21 "When the Levee Breaks")

I briefly mentioned this moment above when I was talking about Dean not being able to trust Sam anymore, and it's all because of this moment here. Though the boys had been getting in fights throughout the season about Sam's trust in Ruby, it all came to a head when Sam took off with her rather than detox himself from the blood and do things the way Dean thinks they should be done. Dean follows him and they get into probably their worst fight ever, both of them saying many terrible things to each other, and eventually leading to fisticuffs (that's fighting with your fists, you know). Sam gets the better of Dean in the fight and leaves with Ruby, leaving Dean alone and beaten on the floor. Their last words to each other, in the image above, are chilling, and I would say this is probably the lowest point in their relationship, as they are both upset with each other, rather than it being more one-sided, like some of the other moments.


Next week I will be going over the top five episodes of season two.

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...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 8 Results

Guys, I need to compose myself. Because I just cried having to see poor, sweet, wonderful Alex leave the competition much, much, much too early because of his injury. I believe this is a red letter date for me, because I'm pretty sure a reality show has never made me cry before. I think all of us can agree that this is devastating. I think he could've won the whole thing. And after all he'd been through just to be able to compete on the show at all... ahem. Get it together, Jen. You don't even know these people.

I feel like the rest of this recap is sort of bunk at this point. But I suppose I must soldier on. Before we found out what the doctors had to say about Alex's injury, we found out who else was in the bottom three, or rather, two. First to get the news was Billy, which I'm not too surprised by. There's something about him that's not connecting with the audience. The second, though, was Ashley, which I think was not right. If anything, the reason she was in the bottom over Adechike was because he got a lot of sympathy votes after the fiasco of hateful comments last night. Hearing them back again was maybe even worse. Mia did step up and apologize for being too harsh, though. You know, I thought I'd like having Mia step in in place of Mary, but I have to say I kind of am missing the crazy Mary Murphy and her hot tamale train lately.

As for their solos, Billy's was amazing once again, while Ashley's really seemed to be a lot of desperate flailing. If Alex hadn't been forced to go home, though, it probably would've been Billy who was let go, because let's face it, there are only two female dancers left, and he's already been in the bottom before.

Otherwise, we got to see Anya and Pasha dance together for the first time on the So You Think You Can Dance stage, and it was appropriately awesome. I was really hoping that they'd have them do a dance together for their feature, because every time I see either one of them dance with someone else and it only turns out okay, I always think, "Damn, now if only we could've seen them do that one together!"

For the guest dance performance, we had a group number from In the Heights, which personally I found a little disjointed. The musical performance was by Natasha Bedingfield, featuring most of the all-star dancers. Let's be honest, I only watched for the dancers and cared not a whit about the song. Sorry, Natasha. That's just the facts.

Oh, and the group number that opened the show was choreographed by Mia. It was very beautiful, though Billy was forced again to wear something too feminine. Are they doing it on purpose?

Okay, that's all I can handle. I'm still upset about Alex. Nigel said he's invited back next year - but what does that mean? He has to go through Vegas again? This cruel, cruel world! I wish you a speedy recovery Alex, and hope you know that so many of us fans were rooting for you to take the whole shebang. The competition will not be the same. (As one last note, I was a little peeved at Nigel for coming back from the "judging" and saying their decision was unanimous, when in fact it wasn't a decision at all. Stupid. It's not like they ever would have eliminated Alex if he had been able to come back next week.)

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 8 Performance Show

First of all: ALEX! Seriously, you guys, I will be so upset if he isn't able to continue in the competition. Seeing as he is probably the best dancer on the show and he had a legitimate chance at winning (often the best dancers only come in second or third for whatever reason). Seriously, let us all hope that his injury is not one that will require months of recovery. Fingers crossed. 

Otherwise, this week found the remaining contestants dancing two dances - one with an all-star that they hadn't yet been paired with, and one with one of their fellow contestants. I wonder what they will do next week when the numbers are uneven again? Because I enjoyed seeing them dance with each other. Didn't you?

Who had the worst night:

Adechike - Though I don't think he deserved quite the harsh criticisms he got, he definitely got some of the harshest of the night. His first dance was with all-star Courtney for a Mandy Moore jazz that mostly just required Courtney to look sexy. Not a whole lot o' dancing going on in that number, which Mia outright seemed to loathe. Adechike also was unlucky because he was supposed to have his contestant dance with Alex in a Nakul bollywood number. Instead, he had to dance with Nakul's assistant. I feel like the routine was probably a lot different when Alex was doing it, because it didn't seem like she was actually doing very much but circling around Adechike. And while he did better than Jose did a few weeks ago, he still wasn't as good as we have seen in the past (Joshua!). The judges, though, got very harsh here, and I have to give props to Cat for actually bringing up the fact that mere weeks ago they actually sort of praised Jose for the very thing they nit-picked Adechike on, which was infusing a little bit of his own style into the bollywood. But, despite all of that, he may be spared the bottom three again. Why's that? Because he still hasn't been in it! It baffles me.

Who had an okay night:

Jose - It's interesting with Jose. The judges were quick to address various notions that they are light on criticisms of Jose because of his personality. Their response was basically to call everyone nanny nanny boo boo heads with a bit of pish posh thrown in. Basically, they say he has a lack of ego that shows through in his routines, and that is appealing. I don't disagree, he seems like a completely sweet guy. But his dances tonight were only okay for me. His first dance was a Mandy Moore contemporary with all-star Lauren. Maybe I'm getting a little over contemporary, because it just seemed like more of a bit of fluff. The judges liked it, but I was left kind of... eh? I didn't expect it to end when it did, and thought he had kind of a stiff neck. Jose's second dance was with Billy for an African jazz piece, choreographed by Sean Cheesman. The choreography itself? Amazing. But the judges didn't think Jose brought enough power to it, which I can see too. But I'm pretty sure Jose won't be seeing the bottom three this week.

Billy - Billy had an interesting night. His first dance was supposed to be with all-star Allison in a Spencer Liff Broadway piece, but Allison got injured during their rehearsal, so they brought in.... KATEE! OMG! Sorry, I'm a big Katee fan. So happy to see her back. Anyway! The routine was fun, I do enjoy Spencer Liff's Broadway choreography so much more than some *cough* Tyce *cough* others we see so often on the show. The routine was one of Billy's best of the season so far, but the reason he's only in the okay category is because of his African jazz. I actually thought he did a rather good job in the number, but was seriously distracted by that outfit, which looked liked it was meant for a lady. Billy comes across as too fay sometimes, so that just doesn't help. But, I did think their roles fit them well in the dance. I don't think they deserved quite the lashing they got. Though certainly they both could've put a little extra oomph, because the routine itself was so cool, it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

Robert - Robert is in between an okay and a good for me, but because he got so many comments in his second routine, I'm going to put him in the okay. I fear he may be in the bottom three again merely because he got the kiss of death routine. Gee, producers, give someone you keep saying shouldn't be in the bottom three the kiss of death routine? What are you trying to do? ANYWAY. Robert's first routine of the night was a Sean Cheesman jazz number with all-star Kathryn, and it was tons and tons of fun. It was about a couple of dolls who break out of their boxes to have some fun. It was sort of hilarious to see Rob be purposefully cheesy when he sometimes is too cheesy on his own. The concept was made for him, really. I don't think any of the other guys could've pulled it off quite as well. His second dance of the night, however, was the dreaded quickstep with Ashley. I actually thought they did a pretty good job, but Nigel started going on and on about all sorts of things. Mia also commented on the song being too jarring for the type of dance. The song was "The Man with the Hex" by The Atomic Fireballs, and I actually thought it might have been a help in getting votes, to be honest. We'll see come tomorrow. 

I'm taking a quick break here to mention the awesome Old Spice guy, who had a commercial in there somewhere. I even stopped and rewound it to watch. Love it. Okay, recap recommencing...

Who had a good night:

Ashley - For coming out of nowhere with virtually no background given before being on the show, Ashley has made it really far (same goes for Robert too, in that case). This week Ashley finally go to do something other than contemporary, starting out the night with a NapTab hip hop piece with all-star Dominic. I have to say I didn't really see their supposed story coming through in the choreography, because it was pretty old school hip hop, a lot of side by side synchronized moves and such. However, Ashley was pretty damn good at it! Dare I say, I think she was even better than all-star Comfort in her routine, whose style is hip hop. Adam called her a quiet contender in the competition, and I think he's right. Her second routine of the night, however, was that dreaded quickstep I just talked about. The judges didn't lambaste her quite as much as they did Robert, though. I think she'll be safe, but now that Melinda's gone, who knows with the girls!

Kent - Kent actually kept his face mostly under control tonight, and didn't play to the audience - way to listen to criticisms, Kent. I salute you. His first dance of the night was a Dave Scott hip hop with all-star Comfort. And do you know, he was actually not bad at hip hop! Who would've thought? It was a very smooth hip hop, though, if he had been trying to do a krump, it would've been a different story, I'm sure. But do you know what I wrote, even before his second piece? I quote: "Why do they insist on making it look like he's making out with every girl?" Seriously, does this not happen every week? Because it happened again in his second number with Lauren, a Travis Wall contemporary piece about the prom. How fitting for these two, the youngest contestants on the show. It was a very sweet number, and I don't really have much more to say than that. I will mention that Adam seemed to have a lot of double entendre comments about Kent's routines tonight, though. Adam!

Lauren - Wow, who would've thought I'd be putting Lauren so high up? She really impressed me this week, particularly with her first routine with all-star Pasha, a cha cha choreographed by Jean Marc and France. My comment for her here, and I'm going to just quote my notes again: "Who knew Lauren had that kind of sexy beast in her?" And also, the costume! Whoa. Nigel of course made some dirty old man comments about that, as he always does. But that dance was sexy, and she was really great in it. We even got a crazy Mia comment: "Pure murderation." Yeah, there you go. Her second dance was the prom one with Kent, which, as I said, they both danced very well.

And, I'm spent. Who do you think is going home this week? That's assuming it's not, gasp, Alex, and his poor hurt foot! Seriously, please don't let it happen. He looked like he was in near tears the entire night watching from the stands.

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