Survivor: Thailand Winner

Ted was the first one to find himself out of the Chuay Gahn tribe in Survivor: Thailand Episode 13, which brings us down to the final four: Brian Heidik, Clay Jordan, Helen Glover, and Jan Gentry.

They are given floats to be decorated in memory of their 12 eliminated tribemates. While doing this, Brian continues his mantra. It’s just a business trip.

The immunity challenge is called second chance, and it’s a chance to revisit aspects of previous challenges. They will dig up a wicker ball, carry it over the balancing beam, and head through the fishnet tubing. Then, they will work on a slide puzzle to release materials to build a pole and retrieve a key to get out of the jail cell. Lastly, they will sprint to the food table for a surprise treat. Clay is the first to grab the ball and retains the lead across the balance beam and past the tubing. Brian manages get across those obstacles pretty quickly and catches up to Clay on the puzzle. The other two are completely hopeless on the balance beam. Brian is the first to finish his puzzle. Helen and Jan finally get across the balance beam, but they’re out of it. Brian’s done escaping from jail before anybody else is even done with the puzzle. Then he lifts the lid. He’s going to have to eat a tarantula to win. Considering how big a lead he has, there is no drama, although they would like there to be. Brian wins immunity.

Brian thinks it’s time for Helen to go. The writing was on the ground. Helen and Ted plotting with each other first burned Ted, and now it’s time for her to get bit. Clay’s quickly onboard with that, but Jan is not sure what she wants to do. It’s either her or Helen. If she doesn’t go along with this plan, they can simply opt to vote her out instead. Unless she decides to force a tie with her and Helen and hope the tiebreaker goes down in her favor.

Votes
Helen
Helen
Jan
Helen

By a unanimous vote, Helen has been voted off the island. She blames Brian the most for her elimination, but she’s pretty much bitter at all of them, despite the fact that she started it.

Upon returning to camp, they’re immediately given one last krathong float to decorate. The next morning, Jeff arrives with a map and sends them paddling off into the river to set their floats adrift. Their ultimate destination is the final challenge site.

The cave they arrive at is about 105 degrees. The challenge is simple. Don’t let the money slip through your fingers. They put three coins inbetween their fingers in each hand and will stand in a traditional Thai stance for as long as they can keep holding at least one of the coins. Stranger things have happened, but the theory is that this is a battle between the boys, with Jan a non-issue. Around 12 minutes, Jeff tells them to stay in their game mentally. The image they put forth either gives the others power or takes it away. With that said, Jan quits. Clay, meanwhile, is visibly shaking and quits shortly thereafter. It’s obvious what he was waiting for. Brian wins immunity.

Brian’s got a choice. Take with him the grandma who everybody seems to like but who hasn’t done very much, or take the guy who nobody likes nor would vote for. In either case, it really shouldn’t matter because Brian has played a masterful game.

Vote
Jan

Jan has been voted off the island, leaving Brian and Clay as the final two, a stark contrast as compared with Marquesas, which had two equally useless contestants left standing. Regardless of how Clay may or may not have played the game, however, he has no friends on that jury, so he’s gonna have to fight to get votes. Although Brian played the role of everybody’s friend, he’s not so sure that the relationships he built were necessarily real. It’s just business.

Clay’s opening statement is that he’s lucky, but he promises that they would do what he did to get where he is. Brian says that his focus was to make sure that everybody felt comfortable and wants them to vote from their hearts and feel good about their decision.

Erin wants to know why they think the other person does not deserve the money. Brian says that Clay did not put forth the effort that he could have. Clay responds that Brian thought he was the leader at camp, although I’m not entirely sure what this response is supposed to mean.

Ken says that he wouldn’t do what Clay did. That’s why he couldn’t have gotten any further than he did and had no business playing this game. Then he asks Brian why he said that Ted had to go, which Brian denies saying. Although this conversation that Ken believes they had clearly sticks out in Ken’s mind, Brian is unsure what the heck Ken is babbling about, so he just responds that Ted is unable to gel with the group. This also is not an answer that Ken is happy with, and God will smite Brian for not knowing the answer to this question.

Penny asks Brian where she grew up, and who are her siblings. Brian does not know the answers. Clay, however, does know some things about her. What the heck this has to do with the vote I don’t know, but if she’s really going to vote along lines as pathetic as this, Clay just secured himself something.

Jake takes the opportunity to revisit the conversation about performance that Clay blasted him about. Clay’s answer is that he really was upset that Jake was trying to make an alliance with everybody. Brian, however, strokes Jake’s ego and says he was performing well.

Ted calls Brian a great car salesman. As for Clay, he just rode coattails and is just an ignorant southern redneck hillbilly. Bitter much? Ted’s question to Clay: how does he define a racist person? Oh, is this really necessary? Putz. (We later found out that Helen indicated to Ted that Clay had said something, which generated this line of inappropriate and completely irrelevant questioning.) The follow up question: why should he get his vote? Clay responds that he was fair with him. Brian disagrees.

Jan wants an explanation of Clay’s work on the island. Clay says that he did his fair share for the food, but Brian didn’t want any help with the water. Brian responds that he did water, food, and fire.

Bitter, part two. Helen claims she just wanted to be told that she was going home. She’s just mad she got beat. While she expected this from Clay, who she tried to get voted out more than once, she was surprised that Brian turned on her. Brian’s response is that she was plotting with Ted, which she was, but she’s not going to accept that answer. He answers her question again and again and again and again. It’s pretty obvious she does not want to hear anything. So Probst interrupts because they don’t have an hour and a half to sit and listen to this whining. Regardless, Brian does not feel that she should not vote for him over one him lying to her once. From Clay, she would like three ways he contributed to aiding people survive on that island. He did a little bit every day. That’s his only response. He’s not even going to try to satisfy the questions of a raving lunatic who cannot be satisfied.

In his vote, Ted denies that he was plotting against Brian. In truth, he was plotting against him, just not for the very next vote.

Votes
Clay (Penny)
Brian (Ted)
Brian (Helen)
Clay (Ken)
Clay (Erin)
Brian (Jan)
Brian (Jake)

The Survivor: Thailand winner is Brian Heidik. The sore losers from Sook Jai tried unsucessfully to derail him, but Brian was one of the more skilled players to win the game. Had he been up against anybody other than Clay, Brian may well have been in danger. It’s entirely possible these people would have voted for Jan over him out of spite.

Helen and Jan wish they would have forced a tie, a move that’s not any smarter but sounds better in hindsight.

The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Episode 7

Vicki joined the vampire crew in The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Episode 6.

Everybody thinks Vicki’s drugged. For once, she’s not on anything, but she could use a fix. She pays a visit to Ty, who’s lucky Stefan is around to save him. Damon’s there to mind control him into forgetting, then he has fun tossing him across the parking lot.

Nothing about that dead Logan guy in the paper. Somebody’s covered it up.

Stefan has a solution for Vicki’s hunger. What is it? Skunk? Saint Bernard? Bambi? Complete with the animal blood comes a lecture about how it’s wrong to feed on people. If she messes up by trying to feed and ends up killing somebody, she’ll have to live with that for the rest of her life, which would be eternity.

Bonnie’s grandma is a witch, which everybody knows, but it’s too absurd for them to actually believe.

Elena doesn’t want to take the risk that Jeremy will get hurt. If she’s going to enforce that, she will have to be willing to take the risk that her head will be ripped off.

Stefan’s planning to keep an eye on Vicki. He’ll need to keep an eye on his brother, too, then. Damon’s lesson is the perks of being a vampire, such as super fast speed, which can easily get her away from the watchful eye of the brothers. Oops.

Vicki returns home, where her brother isn’t going to make this an easier. Stefan drops by, but he’s not exactly invited in.

Jeremy wants to see Vicki, whether it means getting bit up or not. He gets a text from her and will go see her, regardless of his sister’s warnings. They’re headed to school. It’s Halloween. Perfect place for an addict vampire to hang out.

Damon’s also at school, where he meets up with someone who’s looking to secure some vervain from the now dead Zach. He also gets some information that anyone who showed up during the day was eliminated as a vampire suspect. So he should be good then. In his travels, he also meets up with Bonnie, who burns his hand when he tries to take the necklace she’s wearing.

With the aid of distraction from Matt, Vicki is able to hook up with Jeremy at the party. If he comes with her, they can be together forever. Or longer. Unable to control herself from getting all bumpy faced and biting him, perhaps now Vicki has lost the trust of Jeremy. Not before Elena ends up bloody and bitten, though. Stake through the heart should fix her. Unconcerned about what he’s just witnessed, Jeremy’s mostly just sad to see her go.

Damon did this. It’s all his fault. Elena confuses him for someone with remorse.

Elena’s plan is to make Jeremy forget. Stefan doesn’t have the ability to do it, so Damon volunteers. The new story is that Vicki left town, but it’s for the best. She, too, would like to forget, but she doesn’t want to lose how she feels about Stefan.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Vampire Diaries Episode 8 162 Candles, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on The CW.

Survivor: Samoa Episode 7

Russell S worked himself too hard in Survivor: Samoa Episode 6, collapsed during the challenge, and was eliminated for medical reasons. As a result, there was no vote at tribal council.

The guys on Galu are hoping to get Shambo on their side so that she does not side with the girls instead. There’s a problem with that. Even if she sides with you for now, she ain’t on your side. She likes the other tribe better.

Foa Foa has some indication that they may have a chance. I’m not entirely sure what part of this game gave them that indication.

In an attempt to boost Shambo’s ego, the guys have decided to vote for her to be the leader. After the voting process using fingers and numbers or… something… that does not make anything resembling sense, Monica realizes her head’s probably on the chopping block.

Dave’s afraid of the alliance with Shambo because he considers her too dim to share information with, which kind of negates the concept of an alliance.

The challenge is a memory game with a twist. The leader may decide to keep the item, but if they do so, they forfeit the point. Additionally, 4 items are dummy items without a match. Reward is lunch on a sailboat. Kelly, Dave, and Shambo sit out for Galu. Because Shambo is sitting out, she appoints Erik to make decisions for the challenge. At Dave’s very vocal insistence, she chooses Brett instead. Was there an actual point to that, or just a way for him to show that he can control her? Laura scores the first match for Galu, a fire starting kit. They opt for the kit instead of the point. Brett takes the lead 1-0 for Galu, declining the mosquito net. John then takes the lead 2-0 for Galu. Russell makes it 2-1. Laura makes it 3-1. Then time fast forwards and it’s 5-3 Galu. Then 6-3. With 3 items left, all Galu needs is one more match. Natalie makes it 6-4. Monica scores the final point to win reward for Galu. Wow. Shocker. Shambo’s first decision as leader is to send someone to the other tribe (and miss reward). She chooses Laura.

Laura doesn’t think Shambo likes her, and she’s not shy about letting Russell know that she’s not surprised that she was the one to be sent to their camp. Russell has an offer, as always. They make a final two deal. Neither of them is 100% onboard, but at least it’s something. Oh, and by the way, don’t bother looking for that hidden idol, Laura. Ben found it and hid it somewhere in the camp. As if.

Laura’s also getting along well with Natalie, who is the person Russell suggested as their secret final three partner. This does not sit well with Liz, who would rather their guest work than talk.

In the immunity challenge, both tribes will paddle out to get puzzle pieces shaped like fish, which two members of the tribe will catch from their boat. John, Monica, and Laura sit out for Galu. Wondering whether the leadership necklace is bad luck (it sure wasn’t good luck), Foa Foa leaves it back at camp. Using their height advantage, Foa Foa gets off to an early lead. Foa Foa’s the first tribe to the second station. Their 5-2 lead following Dave’s sucking at fishing turns into a 5-4 lead as they struggle to get the final piece, but they are the first tribe to head back to the beach. Both tribes end up back at the beach at roughly the same time. Liz, Jaison, and Mick work on the puzzle for Foa Foa; Dave, Brett, and Kelly do it for Galu. Galu solves the puzzle first to win immunity. Again.

Russell blame Jaison for the loss. Not only was he dragging in the water, but he gave up on the puzzle and just stared at it as if it were going to solve itself.

Jeff doesn’t sugarcoat it. Foa Foa sucks. Their challenge record is 1-8-1, one of the worst overall performances of any tribe ever.

Russell promises that, if they can just keep the 4 remaining people together, the whole thing’s gonna change. Yeah, this again.

Probst notices that Jaison’s had his head down most of the time during tribal council, occasionally popping his head up. Weighing on his mind is that he screwed up the puzzle, which may be a reason to get rid of him.

Votes
Jaison
Liz
Liz
Liz

Despite the poor attempt at creating drama, Liz is the obvious boot choice.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Samoa Episode 8 All Hell Breaks Loose, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Trauma Cancelled

NBC’s had a rough go of it on Monday nights this season, and Trauma is the first casualty. Trauma, which started with low ratings to begin with, fell off slightly from those low starting levels as the season went on. As a result, NBC has finally decided to cancel it.

The plug will be pulled on the show after it is finished filming its current 13 episode commitment. Without much else in the pipeline, NBC will allow the remaining episodes to air.

In related news, Chuck, which is scheduled to take the place of Trauma in midseason, has been given an additional 6 episodes.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 11

The top 20 were revealed in So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 9. Since that time, Billy Bell has left the show due to illness, and Brandon Dumlao has taken his spot. Tonight they will all dance before the judges eliminate two of them.

Nigel’s apparently begging for Paula Abdul to come on the show to do some guest rambling judging. The empty chair with her name on it will suffice.

In addition to Billy Bell’s aforementioned problems, Noelle has done something to her leg and will not be dancing tonight. Free pass to next week, but she will need to be better by next week to remain.

Channing Cooke & Phillip Attmore
Style: Jive
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Song: Rockin’ Robin by The Jackson 5
Adam: Phillip did well, which was expected, but Channing’s strong performance surprised him.
Mary: Good but still want more. Legs got a little bit lazy. Phillip got a little lazier as it went on.
Nigel: Phillip was good as expected considering his tap background. Channing needs a little work. Thought Phillip wasn’t so much lazy as out of energy. Lack of chemistry.

Ashleigh di Lello & Jakob Karr
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Hit Me with a Hot Note (And Watch Me Bounce) from the Sophisticated Ladies Original Soundtrack
Adam: Incredibly smart choreography. Jakob’s spreading the gospel of dance. New standard of excellence. Ashleigh will have difficulty being partners with him. Just needs to watch her lines and hands, but she’ll be just fine if she does that.
Mary: More than just fine. Phenomenal, sexy, sultry. Didn’t think Ashleigh was capable of that. As for Jakob, can I get an Amen?
Nigel: Ashleigh proved why the judges had faith in her. Dancing with one of the most gifted dancers ever. If Ashleigh keeps dancing like that with Jakob, he’s gonna take her into the finals with him.

Ariana DeBose & Peter Sabasino
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo
Song: Black & Gold by Sam Sparro
Adam: Not dancing like each other. Focus on the similarity of musicality. And get buck.
Mary: Good beginning and end. A little bit sloppy in the middle.
Nigel: Didn’t ever find it. Peter got a little bit closer than Ariana. Disappointed.

Noelle Marsh (Melanie Lapatin fills in for her) & Russell Ferguson
Style: Foxtrot
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Vagabond Shoes by Vic Damone
Adam: Continues to defy explanation. Incredible, amazing, effortless, beautiful, fantastic.
Mary: Hat’s off to you. Respectable job. It factor.
Nigel: Living proof of why it’s so important to focus on the arts. So many things that weren’t good as far as technique, but done really well.

Bianca Revels & Victor Smalley
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: Wasted Time by Me’Shell Ndegeocello
Adam: Impressed again by Travis. Bianca is at a distinct disadvantage because of her style. Good but needs to watch her shoulders and toes. That was Victor’s dance. Found the character of the music so beautifully.
Mary: Bianca did a fabulous job and sold the passion and chemistry between the two. Victor took it to another level.
Nigel: Most connected between partners so far. Both are growing. Confident.

Karen Hauer & Kevin Hunt
Style: ChaCha
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Push It (Glee Cast Version)
Adam: Karen, yikes. Pretty hard to watch anything else. Kevin did a great job visiting her world. Last lift series was awkward.
Mary: Karen was sharp, rhythmical, and sexy. On the hot tamale train. Kevin got 2 out of 3, not sharp enough to be on the train.
Nigel: Kevin danced that very well indeed. Karen’s got this in her blood.

Ellenore Scott & Ryan di Lello
Style: Contemporary Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Arcadia by Apparat
Adam: Sonya rocks. Two of the most exciting dancers, albeit not the most technical.
Mary: Chemistry was crazy. Ryan was focused on his partner 100%, which is tough for a ballroom dancer.
Nigel: Ryan was a total surprise.

Pauline Mata & Brandon Dumlao
Style: Smooth Waltz
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Song: You Light up My Life by Whitney Houston
Adam: Some beautiful performance moments. Brandon needs to improve on some things but did well all things considered.
Mary: Very dynamic chemistry. Brandon really has to expand his quality of movement. Pauline was so elegant and beautiful.
Nigel: Felt a little like a prom couple. Beautifully done but not strong enough at all. Didn’t get enough from Pauline either.

Kathryn McCormack & Jonathan “Legacy” Perez
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Song: On & On by Missy Elliott
Adam: Fantastic chemistry. Amazing opportunity to learn from each other.
Mary: Yabba dabba doo. Legacy’s learned to dance. Kathryn was right on the money, too.
Nigel: Legacy brought this to life. Kathryn could be a little better but brought it together.

Mollee Gray & Nathan Trasoras
Style: Disco inspired by Mexican wrestling
Choreographer: Doriana Sanchez
Song: Turn the Beat Around (Pablo’s 12″ Remix) by Gloria Estefan
Adam: Most adorable couple. Infectious energy. Very sexy lifts, none of which seemed that dirty at all. Big fan of that number.
Mary: Really hard and really pulled off. Charisma off the charts. Gonna be here for an awfully long time.
Nigel: Bring the fun to this competition.

The judges have put Ariana, Brandon, Pauline, and Russell in danger. The Russell choice draws boos. It is quite thoroughly confusing.

The girls go first. All three of the judges are unanimous. They would like to see a little more passion from Pauline. Ariana DeBose will be going home. She needs more charisma in her work.

The guys are next. They were again unanimous. Russell is urged to keep dancing and learning other styles. Brandon has been eliminated. But Nigel will ask that the rules be changed so he can come back next season, as it should be. Giving him a day and a half to catch up after being cut because he wasn’t ready clearly did not work.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 12, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 7

Following their week at home and Daniel’s 1 pound gain, the black team fell below the yellow line in The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 6, and they chose to vote out Dina.

Amanda says that the vote came down to her and her three good friends: Daniel, Shay, and Abby.

This week, each person will be going head to head against someone from the opposite team. If they beat that person, they get a point. The team with the most points wins. Welcome to face off week. Whoever wins the pop challenge gets to choose who goes against whom.

The task is to bob under the bar and touch their disc, then go back and touch the other side. First one to 500 wins. Only one person can compete at a time. They can switch at any time, but each person is only allowed one turn. Tracey and Abby start off first, both in their first challenge. Abby starts off with a slight lead before dropping out at 20. Tracey will be doing 100 no matter what. She and Shay tag out at the same time with black team ahead by 4. Allen and Danny are up next, and Allen manages to gain the lead for the blue team. Allen’s up by 15 by the time Amanda tags in for black. Allen tags out at 250, having improved his team’s standing from down 4 to up 16. Liz stumbles and gives up half that lead before tagging in Rudy after about 50. Amanda tags out, having brought the lead down to 2. Rudy tags out at 391, up by 2. That leaves Daniel and Rebecca to finish out the game. Daniel takes the lead 417-416. About 20 later, Rebecca’s back in the lead. In the end, the blue team wins by 5.

That gives the blue team (which not surprisingly includes Tracey) control.

Rebecca (16.9% lost) vs. Amanda (12.8% lost)
Tracey (15.1% lost) vs. Abby (17.4% lost)
Allen (16.9% lost) vs. Danny (17.0% lost)
Rudy (19.7% lost) vs. Shay (13.7% lost)
Liz (14.6% lost) vs. Daniel (11.2% lost)

If the season’s numbers hold, the blue team will win. The three black team members who have the lowest percentages of weight loss but voted out Dina have the opportunity to prove their worth. Granted, considering Daniel gained a pound last week, he should put up a huge number this week.

Bob tosses his team in the pool to do a workout there. Yeah, it ain’t gonna be fun. Sink or swim.

Jillian, meanwhile, is in the gym with her team. Amanda’s on the treadmill. Sorta. She can’t do this. She can’t. She can’t. She can’t. Time to walk out of the gym.

The contestants arrive on a baseball field, where they are greeted with pictures of themselves from when they first came to the ranch. Derek Jeter is really proud to be part of this challenge. Via satellite. On the field are 2535 balls, one for every hit he’s had in his first 13 seasons. They will grab as many as they can and throw them at their opponents’ pictures. When they’re hit by 316 balls (his batting average), they’re out. Reward is a meal cooked by Curtis Stone, plus a 2 pound advantage at the weigh-in. Abby is sitting out, so Tracey will join her. Allen is immediately targeted by every member of the black team. Blue team is splitting their balls between Amanda and Daniel. Allen is obviously the first one eliminated. Next target will be Rebecca. Amanda is the first person eliminated for the black team. Rebecca is the next one out, bringing blue team down to 2. Daniel is the next one out, putting them at 2 each. By this point, though, the black team is up by about 100 baseballs. Rudy is the next one eliminated. It’s pretty well hopeless for Liz. Black team wins the challenge by a massive margin, their first challenge win.

Abby’s managed to find people she loves again, a tough thing to do since she lost everything not so long ago. She’s also proving to herself that she can lose weight, having the second highest percentage of weight loss so far this season despite being on the sidelines for medical reasons throughout much of it.

Now we go back to Amanda. Hopefully the whining has passed. Jillian tells her she didn’t walk out on her. She walked out on herself. Jillian’s lesson to her is that she has to redefine her fear of failure.

Bob brings in a step about 3 feet high for Allen to jump on. Don’t think. Just do. He manages to land the jump.

Shay’s lesson for the day is that it’s not her fault.

The black team has decided to give both of the two pounds from their advantage to Amanda. She requested that advantage out of fear she will not do well. She had a lot of emotional days this week. Yeah, I noticed.

Amanda: 214 pounds (-4, -2, 2.75%)
Rebecca: 223 pounds (-9, 3.88%)
Blue team leads 1-0

Abby: 201 pounds (-3, 1.47%)
Tracey: 197 pounds (-5, 2.48%)
Blue team leads 2-0

Danny: 345 pounds (-12, 3.36%)
Allen: 262 pounds (-8, 2.96%)
Blue team leads 2-1

Daniel: 272 pounds (-5, 1.81%)
Liz: 221 pounds (-7, 3.07%)
Blue team wins the weigh-in

Daniel’s performance receives immediate responses of “What?” from both Bob and Jillian, who knows something’s not quite right.

Shay: 402 pounds (-9, 2.19%)
Rudy: 341 pounds (-14, 3.94%)

With that weight loss, Rudy has lost over 100 pounds the fastest in Biggest Loser history. That new record of 7 weeks tops the old record, set by Dane last season in 8 weeks. Dane is there to watch his record get broken, as he’s preparing for a triathlon with 12 former contestants.

As the Biggest Loser from his team, Danny is safe, which is the worst news for the black team, since they can’t make the (stupid) decision of getting rid of him. Abby says she’s learned what she went there to learn, and she offers to sacrifice herself.

Votes
Abby: Amanda
Shay: Abby
Amanda: Abby
Danny: Daniel
Daniel: Abby

Well, that was not a smart decision for the team either. However, they felt it necessary to honor her wishes. Abby is down from her starting weight of 247 pounds to 167 pounds today. She hopes to turn her story into a positive message for others.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 8, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

Heroes Season 4 Episode 7

Hiro travelled back in time again in Heroes Season 4 Episode 6, this time with a goal to save Charlie. Samuel attempted to get Sylar to turn to the dark side, culminating in the death (thanks to Edgar) of the cop who was after Sylar. HRG and Peter paid a visit to healer Jeremy, which gave Peter a healing power and Noah a new purpose.

Being trapped inside Parkman’s head offers fringe benefits to Sylar: the ability to sleep with his wife.

Jeremy has been locked up by the cops. He seems to be having a pattern with problems in that town. Whether charges are being pressed against him are unclear, but help is just a phone call away. Tracy arrives in the town with no lattes. They won’t release Jeremy to Noah because he’s not family, but it turns out he’s very fond of his aunt Tracy. I’ll bet.

Claire wants to talk about how her roommate has a crush on her. She doesn’t want to mess up the first real friendship she’s had since she left Texas. While they’re chatting, people with hoods and masks bust in. Naturally, Claire beats them up. Next time, they might want to choose a better initiation for their sorority. Realizing what’s going on, Claire allows them to kidnap her and Gretchen so they can spend some time tied up together in the dark. Claire’s gonna need some more time to decide which team she wants to bat for.

When they arrive, they’re left in a room to compete with another pair of girls. The winner gets to sit out Hell week. They’ve been taken to a slaughterhouse to search for clues.

Despite the arrival of Jeremy’s next of kin as requested, the police still want to hold him. They’ve found a drawing and some words in his notebook about being the bringer of death. Noah responds that half the songs in his iPod sound just like that seeing as he’s 17. Jeremy also allegedly kills animals for fun.

Samuel shows up. What’s Tracy’s next move once she frees Jeremy? He takes her to the carnival and insists he’s a friend.

Gretchen hasn’t yet decided either. She has had more boyfriends than girlfriends. Claire, meanwhile, is a virgin. Maybe they’re strange attractors, a physics term for particles that end up together that don’t really belong together but end up super powerful when they are. Fascinating place to be having this discussion. This time, Claire ends up having to save Gretchen’s life from certain doom, and she’s starting to think this isn’t a game.

Matt asks Janice to trust him while he goes out and gets rid of the psycho inside his head. She’d like him to stick around, and she’ll take baby Matt Parkman elsewhere. His plan is to call Suresh.

HRG has given Jeremy a new identity, Jared Mitchell. He will be living a few doors down the hall from him in DC. Tracy assures him nothing will happen, and he will be safe.

Gretchen keeps asking questions she probably doesn’t want to know the answer to. She eventually arrives that the conclusion that somebody’s trying to kill her, although it’s not a conclusion she’s ready to believe.

As he’s being escorted out of the prison, Jeremy’s confronted by someone who doesn’t want him to get away with murder. Jeremy kills him in front of a mob of people. Well, that’s gonna be a little harder to cover up. HRG says that he can save him. Perhaps that will buy him some forgiveness. Not interested.

Jeremy’s been dragged outside by one of the cops, who chains him to a car and has someone start driving it.

During his drinking binge, Parkman has found a way to get rid of Sylar. Keep chugging until he’s ready to pass out. In the process, he discovers that Sylar is afraid of dying.

Claire and Gretchen have won. They find a teddy bear hanging on a meat hook. As Claire realizes she needs Gretchen, the next attempt on her life comes a bit closer with Gretchen’s strangling. That didn’t work either. In the process of this battle, Claire stabs the invisible Rebecca to reveal their attacker. That probably wasn’t part of the plan. Now would somebody mind getting Claire down from the wall she’s been stabbed to? With that, two additional people now know Claire’s secret.

Tracy and Noah find Jeremy’s body abandoned in the street.

Parkman wakes up from his drunkenness. When he blacked out, Sylar stepped in. Now Sylar’s in the driver’s seat. Good luck with that.

Samuel has arrived at the scene of Jeremy’s murder. With the flick of his hands, the people responsible for it (and the building they’re in) are no more.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Heroes Season 4 Episode 8 Once Upon a Time in Texas, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 15 Episode 6

With their elimination in The Amazing Race 15 Episode 5, Lance & Keri became another unsurprising team to be sent home. Tonight’s episode will be starting on time. That’s new.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Meghan & Cheyne – 8:17AM
Second: Brian & Ericka – 9:59AM
Third: Herbert & Nathaniel – 10:42AM
Fourth: Gary & Matt – 10:45AM
Fifth: Sam & Dan – 11:34AM
Sixth: Maria & Tiffany – 11:47AM
Seventh: Mika & Canaan – 11:54AM

Meghan has never been this stressed out before. Ericka puts on fresh makeup and does her hair. It’ll all be messed up by the end of the day, but you’ve gotta try. Big Easy just keeps saying the word hot over and over. Gary & Matt are getting along fine, although this is the longest they’ve ever spent together. Matt made sure to bring some hair dye because he wouldn’t want to look normal for any length of time. Maria & Tiffany mostly just want to get the hell out of Dubai. Mika’s never done much of anything, so she depends on Canaan to push her along.

After choosing a briefcase, teams will travel by taxi to Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. When they arrive, Cheyne’s prayers of getting in the water are answered, as the road block is to row an inflatable dingy to a yacht. Then, they must return to the dock with the watch they’re given and open their briefcase, using the time on the watch as the combination. Ericka doesn’t do water, but it doesn’t look like Brian does either. He eventually figures it out but does end up with a rowing injury and bleeding hands. Gary rows lying on his stomach with one oar, while Big Easy just paddles with his arms. Seeing this effective strategy, Dan just uses his arms, too. As everybody figures out the watch clue on the first try, Big Easy is stumped, putting his team in last.

Road block (in order of arrival): Cheyne, Brian, Gary, Big Easy, Dan, Tiffany, Canaan

From there, teams will head to the Abra Station, a water taxi port. The detour is a choice between gold or glass. In gold, teams must weigh out exactly $500,000 worth of gold. To do this, they must divide $500,000 by the constantly changing gold exchange rate shown on the monitor. In glass, they will assemble 12 hookahs. Both of these detours are unappealing. Glass requires a lot of attention to detail, while gold requires the ability to do math without a calculator or Excel. For anyone who can do longhand division, gold is the easiest, but for the other 99% of the population, suffering through the hookahs is probably easier. As luck would have it, Sam & Dan were smart enough to bring a calculator with them, but they’re completely clueless on the calculations, so Maria & Tiffany come by, borrow their calculator, and tell them how to do it. This effectively bails both teams out and puts them in a good position. Realizing quickly that long division is futile, Big Easy goes next door and asks to borrow a calculator.

Glass: Meghan & Cheyne, Brian & Ericka (switched from gold), Gary & Matt, Mika & Canaan
Gold: Sam & Dan, Maria & Tiffany, Herbert & Nathaniel (switched from glass)

The next stop is Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai resort and the leap of faith, a 6 story waterslide at a nearly 90 degree angle through a shark tank. All the teams are somewhat afraid, but they’ve got nothing on Mika, who was crying earlier in the race because she thought she might have to do something involving heights. At least she’s got her floaties with her. Canaan’s trying to be patient with her, but she seems willing to throw away the race over this. This leads to praying to God, saying she hates her life, nonstop crying, and repeated saying of the words “I can’t.” When the Globetrotters show up, she’s got a choice. Get over herself, or come in last. She has two minutes to decide. Once they’re in last, it may well be moot. In the end, Mika decides to quit. It’s very rare that somebody quits something in this race. I didn’t think I would see it on something this simple.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Dolphin Bay Beach. Meghan & Cheyne’s lead from the fast forward is still holding up (surely whoever planned the race should have seen this unfair advantage coming), but there are four teams at the detour at the same time bringing up the rear.

First: Meghan & Cheyne (win personal watercrafts)
Second: Maria & Tiffany
Third: Sam & Dan
Fourth: Brian & Ericka
Fifth: Gary & Matt
Sixth: Herbert & Nathaniel
Eliminated: Mika & Canaan

Mika & Canaan have been eliminated from the race. This is another team that needed to be eliminated. Mika was so crippled by her fear on more than one occasion that it makes me question why she decided to come on the show in the first place.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 15 Episode 7 This Is Not My Finest Hour (The Netherlands), which airs Sunday at 8/7cish CBS.