calipiano81

Another thing about Mark that makes him my favorite pro is, IMO he is a very versatile and talented actor. To me, he is equally believable whether his character is dorky, creepy, boyish, evil, old-era, modern-era, yet he can also be the dashing gentleman or the sexy guy bringing the heat. The other male pros may be more typical "leading man" material, but I don't always buy them in other roles.

I loved Carlos and Witney's Golden Girls jazz. I thought it was SO CUTE and it made me smile the whole time. The theme song is also a great tune, IMO.

I have mixed feelings on Alfonso as a judge. On the one hand, I think he gave useful and valid comments to all of the couples. On the other hand, he sounded a little like a DWTS parrot, saying things that he might have heard the judges say previously to the couple. There was one moment, though, that bothered me. I am an Alexa and Mark supporter, so I will admit my bias...Alfonso's comment to Alexa to focus on Mark & not Carlos was valid, but the timing and the way he said it made it seem as if Alexa had done something wrong in the performance and was scolding her, when I think he actually thought they were a great team this week and loved their dance. And really, other than the first show, what has Alexa done since then to make it seem like she is not focused on her own partnership? After their Week 2 salsa, Julianne said "there is no denying the connection this week" (which completely contradicts her saying that the jazz the first time they acted as a team) and for their rumba, Alexa expressed how she really wanted to do well because she knew how much it meant to Mark.

Mark is a handsome guy...when he actually keeps his hair cut short, I think he looks striking. Since the man bun requires his hair to be pulled back, I think it looks nice from the front (and the facial hair complements it). It's when he turns to the side, that I don't appreciate it as much, lol.

Sheldon may deserve it, but since the group still includes him as a "friend," I expect some concern from them on his behalf.

I agree with this very much. Last night made me miss Len because I could not believe none of the 3 judges pointed out there was NOT A SINGLE moment of dancing in hold in Bindi & Derek's "waltz." (How do you have a ballroom dance without any ballroom hold?) Instead of docking for a lift, Carrie Ann and the other 2 should have deducted (or at least commented) for not doing the dance assigned. Tamar and Val's was less egregious since there were some Charleston feet swivels, but yeah, it looked much more like a Lindy Hop.

Even though Sheldon is frequently a selfish, condescending jerk, it bothered me that no one in his circle of "friends" showed any care or sympathy for him over his break with Amy, when Sheldon was the actual dumpee (and Amy the dumper). I was especially disappointed in Penny, to whom Sheldon made the voluntary friendly gesture of bringing tea over to commiserate their situations together. Even though he ruined it by being Sheldon again, it made me sad that Penny succeeded in only hurting his feelings further.

I agree with everything you said, katha. Since the theme is "Hometowns" next week, that hopefully also lends to establishing more individuality for Alexa and Carlos. And since the second night is about the pros' hometowns, hopefully we'll see her getting to know Mark more.

Do the young people really spend more money? Where do they get all that money? (I'm mocking TPTB and advertisers, not the poster) But, yeah, that comment from Jake annoyed me too. Contemporary and jazz on the show has made it less successful, IMO, not more

My favorite pic is actually...Gary and Anna! I worry about them as a team, but I love their smiles, Anna looks gorgeous, and they were at least comfortable enough to do such a close, pressed-up pose.

Since I doubt Hailee will win (not that I would mind if she did), it will be the first time the winner never had to dance a single ballroom routine in the competition. That puts a whole asterisk on the season for me, since I thought this show was about versatility.

Nigel implied it when he told Gaby, "I'm crossing my fingers for you." Why do the judges feel the need to say who their favorites are anyway? Do they think that actually helps the dancers? (Though at Top 4, it just might)

It seems like the judges heard that some people thought they were too pro-Street last week, so they decided to balance it out by being pro-Stage this week. Gaby is clearly being set up to win, to the point of giving JaJa the worst hand of the night...she was the only one of the four to not have any standout choreography. The animation routine had way too much "messing about" and not enough animation, which was such a waste of the dancers. I thought Jaja did well with everything she was given, and while her contemporary/jazz technique is not as good as Hailee and Gaby's, it is completely decent enough for my taste and doesn't take me out of enjoying her performances. However, I feel like JaJa's fate has been sealed.

Actually, I think JaJa has some of the better technique on Team Street (outside of Yorelis and Ariana), or at least displays enough convincing technique to impress me. And for me, I think JaJa is a great actress and I find her performances dynamic and exciting.

Will Alexa really split votes with Carlos? I had heard of Alexa before, whereas I didn't know her husband. They have different working credits, with Alexa having done the Spy Kids movies long before she met Carlos.

No posts for Alexa? I hope with the big personalities and controversial casting picks this season, she won't be overlooked as being "ordinary." I'm looking forward to watching her and Mark this season!

Actually, I think the extra 13th pro being female or male was up in the air. Also, we ended up with 7 female pros and 6 male pros (Derek, Mark, Val, Tony, Keo, and Louis).

Gaby has very good technique and is quite versatile (although I have no idea how well she would do in ballroom), but she doesn't quite display the level of commitment and expressiveness in her performances that I would like to see. Her hip hop with Joshua is the only routine I feel she really hit it on the mark for me.

To be fair, Nigel said Gaby was ONE of the best dancers they've had across the series.

JaJa ALWAYS reminds me of Anna Trebunskaya (it boggles my mind whenever two unrelated people look like they could be twins), but especially tonight with her facial expressions and performance quality.

Why would foxtrot be any more boring than, say, Broadway (not that I find Broadway boring at all)? It is smooth and elegant, uses similar, old-time Hollywood-type music, requires the dancers to show personality, and utilizes a lot of jazz elements.

Why HAS ballroom dropped so out of favor on this show? There used to be SO many ballroom routines in the early seasons and quite a number of ballroom dancers who were made it far. Then, somewhere around Season 8, the ballroom routines began to dwindle (sometimes down to 1 a week, or in the case of last season's finale--none), and the ballroom dancers started to get cut early or struggled to stay on. I love ballroom dancing, so I never agree with the reasons why it's not appealing...to the younger demographic or otherwise.

So it seems like a lot of the favorite episodes listed here are Penny-Sheldon centric...so (a) why has the show not used more of this winning formula in recent seasons? and (b) why are the Shenny shippers given so much grief?

By losing Mary, I fear that we've lost the last shred of hope for true ballroom on the show. The ballroom choreographers will continue to water down routines, but now noone on the panel will be able to call it out. Or, the opposite will be true, a ballroom routine will be very challenging or intricate, but without an expert to point it out, it will be underappreciated.

Both. Whether romantically or as father/daughter dynamic, there are a lot of fans of the Red-Lizzie relationship in the Blacklist fandom. And yes, there is a good number of "Lizzington" shippers (who battle the Daddygators, Keenlers, and Keenx2). They are active on social media (Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Fanfiction) and interact with Megan Boone and the show's writers/producers.