What is the best Dancing with the Stars episode all year long? If you jumped up and said, “The Halloween episode!,” then you are definitely a DWTS viewer. It’s the one we LIVE for all year long.
You can’t go wrong by the pros dancing to “Time Warp” to kick everything off! Such fun.
Victoria and Val kick off the dances with this beautiful Viennese waltz. Just stunning. The music was perfect, the dance was perfect.
Val, in the package: “Victoria survived death. I think she can survive Jordan Fisher and Lindsey Stirling.”
Every single dance they do, I appreciate Val’s choreography, and his dancing, so very much. It was lyrical and just beautiful. (They were portraying ghosts.)
Len: “Lovely amount of rotation. You floated across the floor like a leaf on a stream. Beautiful.” Bruno: “That was so fluidly ethereal, and I have to praise you because you have taken into consideration our comments about arms. That’s how you do it. Simply beautiful.” Carrie Ann: “The hold, the way you guys worked together, is magical. A magical routine.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 27 (out of 30)
Tom comes back from the break to warn us not to turn Halloween puns into a drinking game: “You will not survive the night.”
Jordan and Lindsay do a Red Riding Hood paso doble. (Can I just say that Sasha does more somersaults on this show than anyone? By far...) The troupe of fellow wolves at the beginning of this paso was kinda scary.
They really could have omitted the “oh, it’s so hard to keep up with the troupe” comments, though. Dude’s a professional dancer. C’mon.
(As you can see, the set makers go all out on Halloween night, too.)
Bruno: “It was the biggest, baddest paso ever! The choreography you manage, Lindsay, is insane. It was insanely good. Absolutely superb.” Carrie Ann: “I felt like this routine was harder for you than routines in the past. I felt you going a little outside your comfort zone. It was really powerful and aggressive. I loved it.” Len: “There was plenty of tricks, and there was plenty of treats. I’m looking for faults. I gotta be honest: you little devil, you dance like an angel.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 30 (out of 30)
Super great costumes for this jive with Nikki and Artem. Fun dance to “I Put a Spell on You” in a Starbucks (-like coffee shop).
Carrie Ann: “I appreciate that you really try to extend your feet when you’re dancing. But I didn’t feel you connected as much to the music this week.” Len: “The coffee was a decaf, cause it lacked a bit of punch in the whole routine.” Bruno comments on how they messed up and it happens to everyone. “I’m sure you’ll be back next week, and kill it.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 24 (out of 30)
We have a fun Halloween bumper by Sharna and Keo to come back from commercial. Then Maks argues in the package how everyone is talking (rightly) about Jordan and Lindsey (to win), and that he and Vanessa are still in this. Sorry, Maks, you guys are good, but Jordan and Lindsey are a level above. They just are.
Oh sorry, I just heard Maks call the paso doble he created, “brilliant.” Always love Maks’ modesty.
It’s Halloween. Of course there are a lot of zombies.
There were a lot of troupe zombies here (Sasha notably). And in Maks’ pantheon of pasos, I don’t know that this one was the most brilliant, but it was pretty notable. Also, there was some serious acting going on, not just from Maks, but from Vanessa. So, yeah. Pretty good dance.
(Sad to see Nick cheering her on from the sidelines, though.)
Len bitches about the difference between “production and dance. For me, this was lacking a bit in paso doble choreography.” (He’s right. And Maks knows he’s right, cause he’s looking down.) As Len is talking, the Grim Reaper walks behind the judges’ table with his sythe. Perfect. Bruno talks about how when she gets overexcited with her movements, she doesn’t finish a line. (Also true.) Carrie Ann: “It’s hard, cause I have such high hopes for you, because you are so powerful. You move beautifully.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 24 (out of 30)
Cheryl and Terrell do a tango to Rick James’ “Super Freak.” Points for a great song. And a fun dance.
Bruno: “Cheryl, how you manage to make him hold frame and posture, considering the difference of height, and he never skipped a beat. He kept gliding, a proper tango.” Carrie Ann: “I agree absolutely. Well done.” Len: “You captured that staccato feel. You stalked the floor. Cheryl, you’re doing a wonderful job.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 25 (out of 30)
Clown Sasha scares the bejesus out of Cheryl. Fun stuff.
Then, they show all the ways that Sasha scared people all week. Well, except Terrell. He was unphased. PS. He does this every year, and I love seeing it.
BTW, can I just say that Erin Andrews’ jumpsuit is the absolute coolest?
In their package, Lindsey talks about how she hurt her ribs in the dance last week, and doesn’t know if she can dance this week. They show her at Urgent Care on Sunday night (the night before the show). But of course...
The show must go on...
Rib injury? What rib injury?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the mark of a true professional. Wow. Incredible paso too.
She’s in so much pain, she sits on Mark’s knee while the judges comment and give scores. Tom Bergeron sits on the floor with her.
Carrie Ann: “That was a really difficult routine. I could see the pain you were in the whole time. While I saw it in your face, and sometimes in your back, I did not see it in the movements. You were able to execute those shapes with strength and bravery and conviction. And that was so difficult. That was the fastest paso doble ever. I am so impressed.” Len: “I am a fan of your dancing. What saved the dance were the twist turns, and that fantastic press line that you put in over there. And the knee walks. Well done.” Bruno: “That was so ambitious. And totally intriguing, because you managed to put a combination of paso doble, Irish dancing and a celebration of the Day of the Dead, but it actually all worked extremely well. Dramatically as construction... the speed of the dance was impossible to do, even if you feel well. And you managed to do it. Great achievement.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 27 (out of 30)
Great troupe dance bumper to “The Name Game” to promote their live show.
Now, this next dance... Frankie says in the package that usually when people see him, they laugh. They don’t expect him to be a big scary mean guy. But, to the dance... (To a creeped out version of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take (I’ll Be Watching You),” which really is a stalker’s dream song.)
Also, I can’t ever remember a #DWTS dance which involved a stalker breaking into someone’s home and trying to rape them. So it was very powerful, too.
Just a couple weeks ago, she was snottily asking him if he could “act sexy.” Guess she had no idea how much he could act, cause this was... just incredible.
Tom, afterward whispers to Frankie: “You do creepy so well.”
Len talks about how he’s not a fan of horror movies. “That was one and a half minutes of horror. I thought it was fantastic.” Bruno: “You two tonight were truly inspired, and back on top. The storytelling, the interpretation, the dramatic tension, you maintained all the way through. It was spine-tingling good.” Carrie Ann: “I love when I see something that elevates the world of dance. That wasn’t just an incredible routine, you elevated what dance is, the way you interwove the story. You guys were connected by this invisible string of emotion. It was fantastic. It was riveting.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 30 (out of 30) (The judges this week have cute little ghost paddles for their 10s.)
Oh, who’s next?
Oh, these guys! YAY!
So, all of the audience has glow sticks for this number.
Drew’s package shows him at the bottom of the leader board after last week (course, he’s forgetting how much people LOVE Property Brothers...) Emma gives him a great pep talk.
And they are dancing a Charleston (which is my favorite dance on this show). They whine about his hectic schedule and two dances and “I’m still here.”
But then, the dance...
I’m sorry, but that Charleston kicked ass. So fantastic. Drew’s lankiness really worked for this character.
Bruno: “That was murder on the dance floor at its most delicious. But you still managed to put a lot of jazz, Charleston, even jitterbug into there. You even kept up with the change of tempo, which is very hard when you come out of a lift. What’s happened to you?” Carrie Ann: “You were so in sync. You guys are so different. Every line matched, despite your complete different sizes and shapes. And you kept the energy all the way to the end. I think it’s one of your best dances so far.” Len: “Halloween is a marvelous thing, because last week, you were dead and buried. You’ve come back to life. It was fun, it was joyous, and I loved every minute of it. Well done.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 27 (out of 30)
Then, since it’s Halloween, of course we have Team dances! YAY! But first, they announce that these three former winners will return next week to dance in the Trio round. Then, they release some results.
Team Monster Mash (above) dances first. We have just learned that Cheryl/Terrell and Nikki/Artem are both in jeopardy. (The other two couples are safe.)
The team also points out that ALL FOUR couples finished on top of the leader board last week.
They plan to dance with a literal maze onstage. Mark mentions how normally it’s “kind of a disaster. This is just a complete disaster.”
It was a pretty fun dance overall. All the moving scenery though. Ugh.
Len called it “a bit messy.” Carrie Ann: “I felt like you all underdanced.”
JUDGES’ SCORES: 24 (out of 30)
Then, we have Team Phantom of the Ballroom. (Dancing to “The Phantom of the Opera.”
We have some standings and two couples are in jeopardy: Drew/Emma and Vanessa/Maks are in jeopardy.
Their costumes for this dance, if you can’t already tell, are stunning. Both sets of teams had to have sequences where the celebs danced alone (without their pro partners) for 30 seconds. This team (I thought) did that more successfully.
Both Carrie Ann and Bruno are giving them standing ovations before they speak.
Bruno: “That was a splendid theatrical extravaganza. The choices of paso doble, tango into a waltz was absolutely genius. It was flawless in construction and it brought the best out of all of you.” Carrie Ann: “Words fail me. That was by far the most exquisite team dance ever.” Len: “Shut the front door and call me Andrew Lloyd Weber, that was the most polished dance I’ve ever seen as a team dance.”
(For the record, I don’t agree with Carrie Ann, though it was pretty darn good.)
Who goes home?
These were the four in jeopardy at the end. Right before the announcements, the ghastly death figure that had been looming around during the show came to Tom and Erin and handed them black envelopes with their names on them in red. Tom said the result was going to be “a surprise.”
These four couples get narrowed down to only Maks/Vanessa and Nikki/Artem being in jeopardy. As they are nervously waiting for which one is going home, Tom says: “It’s a double elimination. You’re BOTH going home.” :-0
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Miche’s Favorite Halloween Dances
1. Mark and Lindsey (paso doble)
2. Witney and Frankie (contemporary)
3. Val and Victoria (Viennese waltz)
4. Emma and Drew (Charleston)
5. Lindsay and Jordan (paso doble)
6. Maks and Vanessa (paso doble)
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