Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, season 2 episode 9 recap

This week's theme was "Nightmares," nicely timed to coincide with Halloween, and the focus was technique. Tough one here, and you know Abby is going to be all over everyone twice as much as usual.

The initial challenge was a ballet combo. It came down to McKaylee and Kalani, but McKaylee won by a hair. She earned the right to choose which two dancers would get the week's only duet (the other three dancers would each receive solos). Although she was nervous about having to perform a solo herself, McKaylee decided to put JoJo and Kalani into the duet together.

This week was full of conflicts. JoJo's mom Jessalyn and McKaylee's mom Shari, who apparently have been friends in Nebraska for 20 years, got into a truly vicious - and if you ask me, senseless - screaming match. The cause: Jessalyn was upset that Shari didn't speak up to defend JoJo during the moms' table session.

Jessalyn caused a lot of upheaval this week, not just yelling at her (now-former) friend but gloating over other dancers' mistakes, and even driving her daughter JoJo to tears. Meanwhile, Trinity lashed out at her mom Tina, Cindy got on Gianna's case for not trying hard enough, and McKaylee was terrified at the prospect of her solo dance - and her mom only made things worse for her.

First on stage was Trinity in a modern funk routine called "Possession," which was genuinely disturbing number featuring elements from The Ring. Trinity wore a simple white shift, thrashed around in bed while being possessed by a demon, then scampered out from under the bed in a particularly unsettling move.

Despite its effectiveness, the judges were harsh, calling Trinity out on many elements of technique that were lacking.

Next up was McKaylee, wearing a stunning raven-feathered costume, and dancing a modern aerial number called "Bird of Prey." McKaylee's number included a bungee cord harness and apparently someone backstage to haul her up in the air.

This looked like a dubious prospect to say the least, but McKaylee absolutely killed it. Her routine was amazing and organic, and the judges were blown away by her technique and fluid grace.

McKaylee's routine was followed by JoJo and Kalani in a contemporary duet called "Vampire Attack." I absolutely loved adorable little JoJo with a blood-smeared face, playing the part of the predatory vampire.

Unfortunately, both girls did poorly. JoJo was behind, and Kalani was rushed. The judges were merciless, and even Abby had to admit that her favorite dancer (Kalani) did a terrible job, "dancing down" to meet JoJo's level.

Finally we had Gianna in a surprisingly adorable jazz/funk routine called "Zombie Dreams," where she danced as a sassy zombie cheerleader. (I think?) Rachelle aptly described this routine as being "kooky."

Gianna's performance was outstanding, and it motivated Abby to provide a surprisingly insightful comment: that Gianna only feels confident when she's playing a character (i.e., when she is anyone other than Gianna).

This observation hit Gianna's mom Cindy hard. Harder than, one suspects, any cruel thing Abby could have said. Cindy commented that she hadn't thought that her divorce had affected Gianna, but now she wondered if Gianna had just been internalizing everything all along. (Um, hello? Yes? Did you really think your kid was unaffected by your divorce?)

The final judging is getting more and more suspenseful and difficult as the number of dancers is reduced. This week the judges gave JoJo a pass, but only barely, because they felt that she "danced up," even though she didn't do very well overall. McKaylee and Gianna were in no danger. It came down to Trinity and Kalani, and the judges decided to send Trinity home.

However, Rachelle swooped in at the last minute and used her one and only (and judiciously saved) Callback Card to save Trinity. But as of next week, every week a dancer will be going home until the challenge is over. With only three episodes left, it's going to be tense!

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