And The Winner Is... #DancingWithTheStars #DWTS #ABC #SeasonFinale

And The Winner Is... #DancingWithTheStars #DWTS #ABC #SeasonFinale

All pictures courtesy of ABC

What a crazy two nights it has been with all the dancing and the singing and the Christmas spirit and the emotional tug-at-your-heartstrings roller coaster ride. Christmas came a little early this year as Dancing With The Stars (#DWTS) had it's two-night four hour 21st season finale (#SeasonFinale). Woo!

With four couples in the finale, the judges and America had plenty of potential winners from which to choose. First, there was the All-American Hero Alek Skarlatos who, after he and his friends helped thwart a train terrorist in London, became an international story of American bravery. His story along with his shy and humble nature propelled him to the top three as his dancing was clearly not the best. However, the charm coupled with his partner's ingenuity on just how to properly use him in the dances made for not only good routines, but one of the more creative dance numbers in the four-hour finale. Incorporating his military background into the dance, the set designers and prop masters created a dance-worthy bootcamp set equipped with ropes, climbing walls and even a drop wall trampoline for them to fall into at the end of the routine. Though I disagree with Carrie Ann (it wasn't an all-time great and memorable routine that viewers will still look back on fondly), I will say that it was quite possibly his best dance of the season in my eyes.

Next was Carlos Penavega from Big Time Rush fame. After the booting of his wife Alexa (Spy Kids; Machete) a few weeks prior, he tried really hard not only to keep positive (he really wanted to dance against her in the finals), but to give it his all to win the whole thing. While he had a few inspired moments during the first night, I thought it was the freestyle where he both shined and may have floundered. In a never-done-before twist, he invited a few of the past contestants booted earlier in the season to come back and join him and his partner in their sports-themed dance that saw them moving and shaking to Missy Elliot's newest hit "WTF." Probably the one thing everyone looked forward to the most--him dancing with his wife--didn't pack the "oomph!" I would have liked to see. Still, it was a very memorable dance.

Sadly, Carlos' journey would stall in the four spot as he was eliminated after the first two hours on Monday, cutting the group down to three.

My two big contenders for the entire season remained along with Alek. Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys fame not only brought the funk, he brought the speed in his first dance of Monday night. Truly one of the most exciting dances of the night, he and Sharna got everyone on their feet as even he was winded by the end of it, yet still energized enough to run up the stairs to the balcony section of the ballroom. Giving the fans more of what they wanted, in his freestyle he danced to another Backstreet Boys smash hit "Larger Than Life." Living up to its name, the production saw him not only flanked by other professional dancers but holding his own in what was mostly a solo effort in a near mosh pit stage, bringing laughs and fan hysteria with him.

While Nick went for fun and entertaining, Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late Steve Irwin AKA The Crocodile Hunter, went for a more sentimental slant. Partnered with the All-Time great Derek Hough (he's won five times; it's OK to say that), she danced in a number that was a send-up of the big band era as helped by Carrie Ann. Making not breaking hold a point of emphasis as Derek disobeyed that rule of the dance the previous time he danced it with a partner in the finale, he made sure not to break the sacred dance rule this time, ensuring he and Bindi perfect tens for the perfect dance.

.@BindiIrwin & @derekhough definitely impressed with their moving freestyle. Will it be enough to win? #dwts https://t.co/RPxherlg38

— Official DWTS (@DancingABC) November 24, 2015

For their freestyle, they opted for an emotionally heartfelt dance to encapsulate not only her time spent on the show, but the love she had for her now deceased father. Dancing to a song based off the old poem Footprints, she and Derek danced as one with movements more fluid than water. Sandy footprints projected onto the floor, the routine ended with a special surprise for Bindi from Derek. The surprise? A picture of her kissing her father on the cheek as a little girl. All eyes teary, she could barely make out the second string of perfect tens she garnered for the night, giving her another perfect night for the season.

With the top three set, what a night it was. Performances from Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande scattered the night with new music. Many of the past contestants returned as they usually do. Kim Zolciak was able to return to do the dance she would have had she not suffered her serious medical condition--a send-up of I Dream of Jeannie. Unfortunately, due to her ongoing condition Tamar could not return to participate in the festivities.

Someone who did return was crazy ass Gary Busey and his strangely hypnotic old man moves. There was also Paula Deen who returned to meander her way through a dance so badly that she didn't even appear to know she was back on Dancing With The Stars. Chaka Khan sang her biggest hit "I'm Every Woman" while her partner pranced onto camera in the most hilarious attention-seeking moment of the night. She then sang with the country/pop guy whose name I forgot, but who makes some really good music.

Another finale that was both outside and inside, the outside setting was a winter wonderland not shying away from the Christian theme equipped with both a huge Christmas tree with a star at the top as well as Santa Claus and his reindeer flying across. The usual shenanigans of clip compilations and behind-the-scenes stuff was interrupted by a few important announcements. Not only would the internet sensation teenager Hayes Grier eliminated earlier in the season be going on tour with the Dancing pros, but Alek would also go on tour with the dancing pros. But the biggest announcement of the night outside of the winner came from across the pond when Len Goodman videoed in that he would return next season to re-take his position as head judge.

The time finally arriving, the contestants were whittled down to two after Alek was sent packing. And after all of that, the winner of the 21st season of DWTS is...

Derek takes home another mirrorball trophy. Almost as dominant as the 50s Celtics. 

Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough. Come on, did you really think that Derek would not win with Bindi Irwin being a natural-born dancer and their chemistry being so phenomenal? Congratulations Bindi and Derek... again, and also congratulations to Nick for making it that far. He was pretty good too.

What do you think? Did you watch this season of DWTS? Did you pick Bindi to win? Are you happy that Len is returning? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare, check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "dance is not just about dance. Dance is a lifestyle... about dance."

P.S. What? It's a quote about dance? I see nothing wrong with that. I'll think of something better next time.

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In Need of a Hand, An Inhuman Plan, And Don’t Take the Fish Oil, Dude! #AgentsofSHIELD #AgentsofSHIELDSeasonFinale

In Need of a Hand, An Inhuman Plan, And Don’t Take the Fish Oil, Dude! #AgentsofSHIELD #AgentsofSHIELDSeasonFinale

 

  All pictures courtesy of ABC

Wow! Like... totes-ma-goats wow! Wowzereenie, Mr. Feenie! Those are a few ways in which I’m trying to show you wa-how I feels about this season finale. All joking aside (don’t roll your eyes at me. You know your inner-child got at least a chuckle from one of those silly things), I really loved the finale. Maybe it is because I just saw #AgeOfUltron earlier and had some interesting feelings about that movie or maybe it was just because it was a kick-butt finale. I don’t know but let’s find out together.

There was so much going on in this two-hour season finale, but first I must stop and thank God and the inventors that blessed us all with the power of the DVR. I was watching both the Cavs/Bulls game (#NBAplayoffs, #gocavsgo) and this at the same time. I had to rewind after to catch Agents from the beginning but it was worth it.

We began with a pretty good fight between May and Skye/Daisy. At first May Mr. Miogi’d/Bruce Lee’d Skye by blocking her every move without much of a muscle-twitch. I nearly thought she was going to turn into Neo and start seeing green numbers scrolling through the matrix, but “Quake” quickly got her act together and actually moved May with a few strikes and kicks. She ended the short battle by using her powers (total cop out) and going off with her family. Meanwhile Jaiying implemented her plan to make it look like SHIELD attacked the Inhumans by instructing her goons to take over one of the quinjets and fire on the compound. After the dust settled, the Inhumans escaped to another secret hideaway with Daisy and Raina in-tow, while Coulson’s brood got away with minimal casualties and Mr. Hyde.

For much of the show we switched back and forth between Daisy slowly learning that her mother was evil (courtesy of Jaiying killing Raina right in front of Skye by accident, something that made old flowers seem like a sacrificial rose), Coulson questioning Mr. Hyde about his wife’s plan against SHIELD, and Ward and Agent 33 trying to get Bobbi to confess to her transgressions against 33. Honestly, the third story was a bit of an add-on that I could take or leave and served little importance accept but to show that Ward is still trying to be an evil mastermind (of which he is not) and to show Bobbi getting shot in the back of the head/shoulder? I wasn’t quite sure where the bullet actually went but I know it wasn’t a nice place. They telegraphed the play of Agent 33 dying as soon as May said she wanted to go and kill Ward. That was probably the most obvious part of the story but again I let it go because it wasn’t very important at all. After Bobbi got back to SHIELD near to death, she did her best Tony Stark impression and said how she couldn’t do this anymore, though she’ll probably be back for next season (hopefully, they actually explain that return). Moving on!

 

The two important story-lines of the night came from Mr. Hyde and from Skye. Their ability to track white nightcrawler—I mean, the inhuman with no eyes now gone, SHIELD had no advanced warning when he transported a few Inhumans onto their ship and took it over from the inside. Jaiying imprisoned her own daughter, saying that it was for her own good and that this was a war started by Agent Peggy Carter’s people when SHIELD first came to fruition. While she may have a point, she is also ruthless and bloodthirsty and kills a few high-ranking agents with the use of a crystal. With the help of Mac, Skye breaks out and seeks to try to stop the complete spread of the mist through the entire ship as there are plenty of agents still unaffected by the mist and the takeover. Jaiying’s goal is to put the mist into the fan/ventilation system, as well as to lure as many agents to the ship as possible to have them breathe the mist. Skye plays directly into this plan, sending out a help beacon to all of the agency and attracting Coulson’s attention.

Meanwhile, Coulson interrogates Daisy/Skye’s father about his wife’s intentions. He discovers that the man wants to kill as many agents as he can while there and will use a transforming elixir of his own creation to do it. He morphs into Quasimodo—I mean, Mr. Hyde and runs around like a monster destroying various rooms but not really killing anyone (#NotTheBestDayEver). He and Coulson have a heart-to-heart when he’s pinned against the wall. It is revealed that he only became a monster and only killed all of these people because it fulfilled Jaiying’s desires. He only wanted his family back. He only wanted to be loved. He only wanted her to be... her again. But now that Daisy is in his life and is so benevolent, Coulson convinces him that his wife’s actions will destroy the girl. He agrees to help SHIELD for Daisy’s sake.

It all culminates in one epic battle after the next while on the SHIELD ship. Daisy/Skye/Quake fights with a few different Inhumans until finally meeting her mother and nearly dying at her hands (her mother tries sucking the life out of her which is how she stays alive and youthful). She halfway ruins her mother’s plan by sending the ship with all the crystals into the ocean. In possibly the saddest family reunion, Mr. Hyde manages to stop his wife from killing his daughter only to bearhug Jaiying to death. After all was said and done, he’d have to serve his punishment as a vet living with no memory of his family after a mindsweep courtesy of the MIB... or the Tahiti program, whichever.

Coulson, Fitz and Mac all got into a fight with the no-eyes man and managed to trap him in the ventilation room. It was Fitz who accidentally killed him as the man ghosted into the end of a pipe he was holding. In dramatic fashion, upon dying the man dropped a crystal, hoping to break it on the floor and kill them all. In a second of harrowing heroism, Coulson dove forward and caught the crystal. His arm began to turn a blackened ash, causing me to almost completely lose my sh! Then Mac made me jump up and yell, “what,” as he axed the man’s arm off before the blackness could spread, Ultron-Klaue-ing off his left arm. Wow!

At the end, everything was settled. Coulson would survive having one arm. Ward is trying to become the new head of Hydra—good luck with that. Skye has been put in charge of a new secret division of powered people. And even Fitz and Simmons flirted with going out to dinner. And then I lost my crap again! First, they showed that the crystals that were on the quinjet that sank into the ocean mixed with the water, was taken in by the fish which were caught and pressed into fish oil supplements. That could kill or transform millions of people, though to be fair probably not that many Americans as we are not nearly health conscious enough to be taking fish oil. Seriously, no matter where I go I always see the same dusty fish oil supplement bottles in stock. When was the last time you bought and used some? But the second and most depressing part of the show was the fate of Simmons. Gasp! Sigh! I’ve already said how cute and all-around charming I think that Simmons and Elizabeth Henstridge is, so when it happened, I wanted to throw something at the TV. Messing with the secret rock/liquid thing that was previously in the SHIELD ship, she went to close its door back when it turned into a liquid washed over her, then sucked her back into the solid rock-like form. The question: What the hell just happened to her? Please don’t be dead!

So, what did you all think about the season finale of Agents of SHIELD? What do you expect from season 3? While I still believe that Spider-man is going to be the catalyst for the civil war events (you can read that article here), they could use this newly formed team led by Quake to sub in for the New Warriors also. Do you think it will serve a big role in continuing to set up the events of civil war or do you think they should try to do their own thing? As always, let me know in the comments section below.

As always leave your comments below (click the no comments button if no one has commented yet). I look forward to reading your opinions. Follow me here and on Twitter. Join me on Goodreads in the group Books Similar To Breaking Bad, Scandal and other Popular TV Shows and check out my books on Amazon. #BrandNewHome is on Amazon for just $1.00 until Monday (check recent posts for a better description). #Darker is coming in June and so is #TheWriter. Also, look for the short story #ThePowerOfTen also out now for $1.49 or check out the books I already have up there.

Until next time, If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.

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The Good, The Bad, The Crazy, The Author, The Magic, The Dragon, The Finale #OnceUponATime

The Good, The Bad, The Crazy, The Author, The Magic, The Dragon, The Finale #OnceUponATime

All pictures courtesy of ABC

So much to talk about! I really don’t know where to begin. I just finished watching the two hour season finale of ABC’s Once Upon A Time and my jaw was nearly to the floor.

First, pretty much everything changed because of the author (side note: look for my episodic novel series #TheWriter this June) re-scripting the happy endings for everyone. In what was possibly the craziest part of the episode, the author wrote a different story for everyone going forward from that point in time (a very important fact to remember). Suddenly, everyone was gone from the town and back in the fairy tale realm, leaving Henry the lone survivor(?) in amidst the chaos.

 

Waking to the empty town, Henry ventured off to find everyone by hopping into a car with no license mind you, and zooming down to the nearest diner/restaurant/information place. OK, I don’t really know what that place was but the woman working there didn’t seem to bright as she thought he was a runaway even though he was looking for his parents—don’t think a runaway would do that. He happened to see a copy of a new book by the author and somehow managed to get to the man’s book signing. A little arguing, some threatening to use a key on a paper door and poof! They’re in his book.

 

 

 

Inside the book everyone is supposedly different. Mr. Gold/Rumple is a knight in shining gold armor; Regina is a forest bandit ala Snow White when she was on the lamb from Regina in the original version; Snow and Charming are the Evil Queen and her head knight/guard with the seven dwarves only being six, which dwindled to five before the end of the night (unless we’re counting granny as one now?) And Robin Hood was still a thief... but he was also getting married to Selena and would wed at the toll of Wedding bells in the morrowmorn (new word! Aww snap!). The author being as evil as he is, immediately tried to get Henry killed to preserve the sanctity of the story and maintain his fandom like every writer wants (yes, I want that).

Lo and behold, the Gold Knight saved him from the monstrous ogre before galavanting off to another harrowing adventure (tangent: I cannot believe that #Galavant got renewed. Who saw that comin’? Seriously?) With his life in hand, Henry found Regina and blew her mind by telling her he was her son. He led her to Robin Hood who introduced his soon-to-be wife Selena which made Regina all frowny-faced when she fell in love with him at first sight but couldn’t have him. Henry asked about his real mom and was told that she was locked up out on a tiny island at sea, one he’d need Hook to take him to.

After helping a wimpy Hook steal the Jolly Roger from Black Beard, they found Emma locked in a tower guarded by one Queen’s guard who was easily subdued by the butt of a sword to the forehead. Amazingly, Emma knew who Henry was unlike everyone else, and escaped with him, narrowly avoiding the flame when it turned out that the guard was actually Lily who did her dragon thing at the boat and failed.

Returning to land, the three ran into Snow and Charming where Hook was stabbed and killed by Charming (very important in a confusing way). Henry and his mom escaped and managed to get to the chapel along with Regina to stop the wedding but all she could do was stand at the door and stare at Robin Hood, instead of pulling off an epic The Graduate scene (did I mention my epic novel #Unrequited will be out later this year). Rumple came and twisted swords with Emma in order to keep his happy ending and would have slashed Henry’s throat had it not been for Regina jumping in the way and taking the blade.

With all the hubbub, the bells rang, Robin got married and Regina laid dying when the happy couple emerged from the chapel. Selena grew green when Regina dared bleed on her dress, and Robin gave her that “did I seriously just marry this chick” look. Thankfully the writers didn’t use the true love’s kiss trope again as it had become a little worn, opting to make Henry pick up the pen and become the author. That’s right, the other author was around to laugh and point at Regina’s non-happy ending and still had the pen which he said had been rendered powerless on account of him breaking the rules to not write your own happy ending. #HenryIsTheAuthor.

Henry wrote the magic right out of the book, returning everyone to Storybrooke just as before. The author tried to flee upon re-arrival but was quickly caught. Henry broke the pen because with great penmanship comes great responsibility... or something like that. Still, the one thing left to solve was the riddle of Rumple’s impending succumbing to the darkness. For that, they needed to get back the sorcerer’s apprentice.

Finally being useful, the apprentice tried sucking the darkness out of Gold’s heart and trapping it in the magic hat. While he succeeded at taking out the darkness, he failed in trapping it. In the biggest and best twist of all, the apprentice said that they needed to find the sorcerer who was, drumroll... Merlin! Yeah, it was Merlin the whole time like some of us guessed. Other’s thought it might be Yen Sid, but that would have been too much subliminal Disneyisms. Merlin battled the darkness and could only trap it onto the soul of a single person. This led to... Emma becoming the dark one. What? Did you just read that right? Yes. Yes, you did. #EmmaTheDarkOne . She sucked up the evil energy knowing that her people would find a way to cure her and get her back somehow. The final shot of the season was seeing the name Emma Swan on the dagger. The question: where the heck did she disappear too? Not only did she take on the darkness, it looked like it consumed her. Strange.

 

Another strange thing was Lily’s small mention setting up another plot for next season, her looking for her father. Maleficent (a character mysteriously absent with everything changing completely) said she didn’t know who her baby daddy was because... well, it happened in dragon form. So she clearly couldn’t tell who she was sleeping with because, you know, there’s all those dragons flying around and having unprotected adult fun (though we’ve only seen two).

 

Hook was mysteriously alive again even though it was said that the author couldn’t bring people back to life. In one of the most confusing explanations to me, Baelfire (the other person they wanted back) couldn’t be resurrected because he died in the real world, but Hook could because he died in the fake world which actually wasn’t the same as the fairy tale world they originally came from? I don’t know.

 

With all of that, I was still flipping my lid. I loved every minute of it. I am more jazzed by this finale than I was last season at the introduction of Frozen characters.

 

So, what did you think of the finale? Did you enjoy it? Did you think that the villains getting happy endings was as good as the author’s fans thought it was? Who do you think is Lily’s father (my money is on Mushu from Mulan)? What do you think about Emma becoming the dark one?

Mulan picture courtesy of Disney

As always leave your comments below (click the no comments button if no one has commented yet). I look forward to reading your opinions. Follow me here and on Twitter. Join me on Goodreads in the group Books Similar To Breaking Bad, Scandal and other Popular TV Shows and check out my books on Amazon. Oh yes, my two new stories #BrandNewHome and #ThePowerOfTen are out now. You can look into some of my earlier posts to read more about them and visit my Amazon page to purchase your copy. Get Brand New Home in the next week before it goes up from $1.00 to 3.49. 

Until next time, Welcome To The Jungle!

P.S. OK, so maybe that was a quote from Guns and Roses, but man did that song seem to fit at the time I wrote this. I now see that I was wrong. Hmm.

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