"Step It Up And Dance" (1.02): The cry me a reever recaplet

Before we get to how our four out dancers did this week, I have to give a special shout out to my favorite of all the competitors, the hot mess named Jessica. For some reason, reality shows always work best when there's a designated basket case, and Jess fills that role with tear stained abandon. I knew she was going to be something special last week during the premiere, when she became "overwhelmed" and fled the stage in hysterics DURING the big dance-off. As John and Colin demonstrated in their hilarious Suck It Up & Dance vlog, it was definitely the highlight of the episode.

In case you missed it, there were twelve dancers competing. After the first dance-off, they were put into two groups, a "winners" group, who were safe from being booted out, and an "elimination" group, one of whom was shown the door. Somehow, Jessica ended up in the winners group, and was immune from elimination, although all the judges were in agreement that she should have been the first one to go. The guilt of knowing that carried over to this episode, and she spent the entire show proclaiming her unworthiness (at one point, Jerry Mitchell had to sit down with her and convince the blubbering blonde to stay on the show). This episode, she was demoted to the elimination group, but happily avoided the axe.

Our four openly gay dancers were not so lucky, however. One of them got the Sandman Sims treatment, and was given the hook.

Oscar has now become my favorite of all the male dancers. I don't know if it's his huggable Italian accent (he wants to win the $100,000 because his mother is "eel with leever cancer"), or because he really stepped it up this episode. Not only did he end up in the winner's group (the only one of our four guys to do so), but he won the night's singular competition, which means he's immune from next week's elimination. Or maybe it's because he has the guts to walk around in white short shorts. His roommates were none too happy with his "clothing optional" mindset, but in the show's funniest moment, he proclaimed "freedom of expression!" while doing the Nomi Malone hand gesture.

After the break, find out which of the three remaining out dancers was eliminated.

Miguel, on the other hand, has quickly become my least favorite dancer. First of all, how can you take seriously someone who dresses like Duckie from Pretty in Pink? His obnoxious attitude, which was only hinted at in the first episode, went full blast this time, as he called himself the best dancer, and blamed everyone but himself for ending up in the elimination group. After last week's show, where he was warned to "man it up", he made a concerted effort this time to tone it down a few notches, but it didn't stop him from ending up in the bottom two. In the final dance, he wore suspenders over a striped shirt, which for some reason made him look like an anorexic version of Rerun from What's Happening. He survived, barely, but this was definitely a wake up call.

Parole Officer Perez Michael didn't have a whole lot to do this week, except give me happy pants. He did make one startling revelation when, in the process of helping to choreograph a dance number, let it slip that he was "bi" (at which point my pants became melancholy). He was also the victim of a gang back stabbing by the rest of the dancers in his elimination group. After the final dance, everyone was asked who they felt was the weakest of their group. They all answered "Michael", but he didn't let it faze him, and he survived to dance another week.

James started the show mooning straight boy Nick, but that was the highlight of his day. Unlike Miguel, James couldn't man it up enough to avoid elimination. This week's big dance-off was something called "Apache Tango", which involves "creating a character and storyline using provocative, violent, and passionate dance" (in other words, it's French). It's interesting that the bottom two dancers this week were the two most flamboyantly gay men...the judges said they just didn't buy the performances they were trying to sell.

Last week, I said I thought Miguel and James were the two front runners to win the competition. The fact that they both ended up in last place this week, and James was eliminated means...I may have to amend that prediction.