A Cheetah-less DWTS and a More Heroic Heroes

In light of last week's stunning elimination, I'm at a loss to try and predict what might occur tonight. We started off by ridding of the "pretty people" as models Josie Maran and Albert Reed were the first to leave the show. There's more than a bit of schadenfreude in that, huh? Then the really bad dancers got sent home--starting with Wayne Newton, then Floyd Mayweather and finally dark horse Mark Cuban. That brought the number of dancing couples down to seven. From last week's elimination, it appears that the GOOD dancers are at risk for the next round of eliminations. Perhaps Mel B. and Helio will be the next to follow Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan off the dance floor. At this point, it's a total crapshoot...

Despite the writers strike, Dancing with the Stars muddled on. Host Tom Bergeron was at home with his ad-libs, but poor Samantha Harris definitely needs a script. The dancers sported little pawprint tattoos in honor of the late, lamented Cheetah girl's departure. Aw, sweet! They had to dance TWO dances last night--one Ballroom, and one Latin. Surprisingly, Marie Osmond was atop the leader board after the ballroom round with a 40s inspired Quickstep that earned her lavish praise from the judges and a 28. Unfortunately, her vampy Cha-cha wasn't as well received and she got a score of 24. Still, her 52 total for both dances puts her smack in the middle of the race--tied for third place with one of the judges' favorites, Helio. That and her fan base, which has kept her out of the bottom two the entire competition thus far, should keep her safe tonight.

Helio started off with a Tango that looked to me like partner Julianne was doing most of the work. The judges weren't too impressed either and scored him a 25. His Samba, on the other hand, was a different story. Being a Brazilian dancing a Brazilian dance, the Samba came far more naturally to him. The judges loved it and it earned him a 27 for a total of 52. He's one of only two males left in the competition and the only sports figure, so I think he has a shot to continue.

Mel B. still continues to be the teacher's pet of the competition. Although her lackluster Foxtrot got lukewarm comments and an even lower score--24--she came back in the Latin round with a Paso Doble that knocked everyone's socks off. Personally, I think the skin-revealing outfit she wore probably distracted them from the fact she looked like she was counting the entire dance, but her sharp, dramatic moves earned her another perfect score. She sits atop the leaderboard with a total of 54. Still, she has been in the bottom two before--will she end up there again tonight?

Jane Seymour is dead last again this week. She is pretty and perfect--but there's no passion to her dancing. Len called her "dainty and delicate" and Carrie-Ann said she needed more "excitement." Her Quickstep earned a 24 and her Cha-cha a 26 giving her a total of 50. She's been in the bottom two before as well--with these low scores is she next to leave the dance floor?

Jennie Garth has really stepped up her game. Her soft and gentle Waltz looked very pretty last night--as did she. The judges were a bit hard on her and only scored it a 25. But she really wowed them with a sultry and romantic Rhumba that earned her a 28--including a 10 from the hyperbolic Bruno. Her total of 53 puts her in second place after last night's dances.

Finally Soap star hottie Cameron Mathison did an athletic Quickstep that didn't please the judges too muc--he only earned a 24. But his athleticism was put to much better use in the Latin round with a Jive that drew much praise and a whopping 27 points. He's in second to last place, ahead of Jane Seymour. He was also in the bottom two last week. Hopefully all the All My Children fans with rally to save him from leaving.

Heroes is finally starting to hit its stride again with last night's episode. Unfortunately, the writers strike has already made a casualty of the Origins spinoff. Initially I thought the American Idol styled plan to vote on new cast members was a cheesy idea--but Tim Kring had lined up some impressive talent to write and direct the episodes, including Kevin Smith and John August and I was looking forward to seeing what they would bring to the table. Let's hope now that Heroes is starting to regain momentum after a fairly ho-hum season thus far, that the strike will be resolved soon.

Hiro is finally back from his 17th century exploits in Japan. Yay! Did it turn out that HE was really Takezo Kensei all along? An overjoyed Ando says, "I haven't seen you since we saved the world!" and an even more overjoyed Hiro is happy to learn that they did stop New York from blowing up. His joy is short-lived, however, when Ando has to tell him of his father's death. More shocking was the fact that the guy we all thought was Kensei is actually the mysterious (and possibly evil?) Adam Monroe. Bob tells Nathan that Adam was the one who brought the original heroes--aka The Company--all together. But that he developed a God-complex and became a rogue force, using corruptible agents such as Matt's father Morrie, to do his evil bidding. He also tells Nathan that Peter is still alive. But can we trust Bob? Mohinder seems to--confiding in him that Mr. Bennet had him playing double agent to help bring down The Company.

Morrie unleashed his nightmare power on Nikki--causing her to see D.L. and go all Jessica on everyone. But he was thwarted by his son Matt, who refined his mind-reading abilities to mind-controlling abilities just like Daddy. Matt turned out to be the stronger of the two, subduing Morrie and freeing Molly from her coma. This also freed Nikki enough to, instead of injecting Bob with the virus as Morrie planned, use the syringe on herself. Mohinder's antibodies, however, are now powerless against the mutated strain of the virus. Bob says the only hope is Claire Bennet and her regeneration abilities.

Claire and West continue their romance--until Mr. Bennet returns from the Ukraine. When West sees the guy in the horn-rimmed glasses who abducted and tagged him, he freaks out and flies away. And when Bennet finds out from his wife that Claire is dating, he freaks out as well. That and a certain newspaper story about a drunken cheerleader see a flying boy who dropped Claire fifty feet to her apparent death had him so incensed him he ordered his family to start packing. Claire stormed out rebelliously refusing.

Trapped in yet another apocalyptic future, Peter tries to figure out not only who he is, but what the hell is going on. Apparently the Shanti virus has killed off much of the population and those not infected have been quarantined. Peter is reunited with mom Angela and regains at least part of his memory. But he accidentally teleports back to the past, separating himself from poor Caitlin who is trapped in 2008 being deported back to Ireland. The episode ends with Peter coming face-to-face with Adam Monroe, or should we say Takezo Kensei?

Next week's episode is supposed to answer what happened in the four months following the explosion. More Adam, more Elle--hopefully more Sylar as well. No Maya or Alejandro this time around, which suits me fine. But no Micah or Monica either. Oh well, you can't have everything--or everyone, as this cast is now straining the seams. Maybe the cancellation of Origins wasn't a bad idea. It's hard enough to keep up with all the current characters as it is...