DWTS/Heroes - Coming into the Home Stretch

As we cruise towards the finals, Helio and Mel B. are definitely separating themselves from the pack--in terms of judges scores anyway. Who knows if their efforts will be enough for the fickle fans? And who cares at this point? I don't know about you, but this season of Dancing with the Stars--although fraught with deaths and assorted injuries--has been fairly lackluster for me. Marie Osmond was back, bravely doing her best after the death of her dad. That will probably score her some sympathy votes from the fans, but it didn't do much in her favor with the judges. Her Rhumba felt a little off and scored only a 24 from the judges. She followed in up with a cute, cowboy-inspired Jive which Len liked and it earned her a 25. She's at the bottom of the pack with only 49 points total. My guess was that she was actually the second lowest overall scoring contestant last week, but I feel her fans will keep her around for at least one more week.

Which means Jennie Garth could be in trouble. After two less than stellar performances last night--the first a sloppy, choppy Jive and the second a smoother, but boring Fox Trot---she earned a total of 50 points. Cameron Mathison earned high praise and a good score of 27 for his Waltz, but his Cha-cha didn't wow the judges and he got a score of 24--for a total of 51. Mel B. broke away from the rest of pack with her Tango. In what could have been a funny moment--Maksim tells her to think of something that gets you upset in order to display the proper emotion for the dance. The go-to line should have been "Eddie Murphy." All her husband could come up with is, "You're fat." I thought her Tango looked a bit drowsy--but the judges gave it a 27. Her Mambo was definitely impressive and earned her a 29 for a total of 56 points.

Helio topped everyone this week with a competent Paso Doble that netted him 27 points. But he really went into race car driver mode with a Quickstep that had plenty of speed. The judges loved it and gave him a perfect 30. So my prediction--which from past experience means little--is for Jennie and Cameron to be in the bottom two. Cameron just recently came off an All My Children promotional tour, so I think he's safe. So Jennie goes home this week and perhaps Marie next. Of course, the fans could pull another surprise and send one of the really GOOD dancers home again. You never know...

Last night's Heroes was an improvement from the beginning of the season--but it wasn't as spectacular an episode as I had hoped for. So what did we learn about what happened after they saved New York? Well, Peter exploded in mid-air and instead of raining down in the Atlantic Ocean in a million pieces, he was able to regain all his powers and save Nathan, who apparently caught some backlash from the blast. That was why Nathan kept seeing the gory, bloody visage in the mirror. Also, "Mommie Dearest" Angela convinces Heidi that Nathan has inherited his father's delusional disease so that's why Heidi divorced him.

After dropping off Nathan at a hospital, Peter was tracked down and captured by Elle using her lightning blasts. He was brainwashed by Bob to stay locked up for his own good--and the good of others--while the Company worked on a "cure." In the cell next to him was Adam, who eventually convinces Peter he's in a prison, not a "facility" (uh, DUH!) and to stop taking the meds that are suppressing his powers and so they can escape together. Peter pulls the D.L. walking through walls trick and he and Adam go to the hospital to cure Nathan with Adam's blood. (Adam has regenerative abilities like Claire. Is that why The Company wants Claire? To use her blood to save people? Why not just use Adam's? Or Peter's? He has regenerative powers as well...)

Speaking of D.L., he didn't die from the gunshot wound inflicted by Linderman at the end of season one. Instead, he went on to become a heroic firefighter, but when Niki stops taking her meds to suppress "Jessica," another alter called "Gina" appears and she takes off for L.A. D.L. tracks her down and shows her a picture of her with him and Micah. So she regains her memory and leaves the sleazy guy she was dancing with to go home with D.L. Sleazy guy is upset and pulls out a gun and shoots D.L. OK, only moments earlier, sleazy guy had tried to punch D.L. and his fist went right through his head--how come the bullet didn't pass right through him? Does D.L. need to know it's coming?

The "show the family picture and regain your memory" trick worked for Adam with Peter later in the episode. But before that, Peter and Adam are separated when the Company--Bob, Elle and the Haitian--come to recapture them. The Haitian chases Peter into a crate, and then puts his necklace around his neck and takes all his memories. He then shuts the crate up with Peter inside--his way of "saving" Peter from the fate that awaits him with The Company. Um, yeah--whatever...But when Adam and Peter are reunited in Montreal, Adam shows Peter a picture of him and his brother Nathan--his memory is restored. They should try that trick on Samantha Who?

The episode also provided backstory on Maya and Alejandro. Snore. Maya's powers first surfaced when Alejandro got married (hmmm--just a bit incestuous are we?) and she catches his bride fooling around with an ex-boyfriend. Her anger and fear is what unleashes the plague and Alejandro is what calms her down to stop it. I still think it's a stupid power. They're still traveling with Sylar so maybe something will come of that. So is it Maya's plague that decimates the earth's population--or the virus unleashed by The Company's "cure?" According to the promo, there's three episodes left until this all comes to a head--no doubt a quick and dirty tying up of loose ends by Tim Kring and Company pre-writers strike. Hopefully the grand finale will be more exciting and less anti-climatic than last year's.