At the halfway point in season four, the five finalists are poised to strut their stuff. They appear on Rachael Ray's talk show with their own Brownie (Girl Scout, not the dessert) and there are a number of surprises.

Aaron's Shining Moment
His culinary chops never in doubt, his nemesis ha always been the camera, the spotlight, the defining moment of presentation. But Aaron embraced this moment as he is a daddy himself and so he is right at home with his Junior Chef and knocks the ball out of the park.

Kelsey's Authority
All season long the judges have tried to get Kelsey (who I keep referring to as Casey) to 'grow up' and seize authority in her food segments. Well, she tried, bless her heart but it backfires. She connects well with her kid partner but makes Rachael do the actual cooking! Meanwhile, all Kelsey does is talk and it puts her in a vulnerable position of possible elimination. Thus ends a string of successes that has seen one recipe get published on a Red Lobster menu and another featured in Bon Appetit magazine.

Adam's Inner Child
On thin ice in the early going, there has always been someone just a little worse when it came time to get the boot. Adam has gotten this far on charm alone. The food for the most part has been undercooked and one more slipup and he would most certainly be history. So he comes out with his partner and absolutely kills! The audience loves him, Rachael loves him and the kid loves him. Most importantly, the judges love him and his food is delicious to boot! Lisa's Couscous
By far the most complex personality in the competition, one never knows which Lisa will show up and whether we want to love her or hate her. No one has tried harder or invested so much emotional capital in her individual segments. Lisa the elitist shows up tonight and the judges nail her on bullying the kid to make dishes that she never even heard of, such as couscous. When on set with Ms. Ray, Lisa is obviously overwhelmed and intimidated by the affable Rachael Ray and shuts down emotionally. Ray rescues the segment but wll it be enough to rescue Lisa?

Shane's Vicarious Journey
Her name was Francesca. A real cutie, but Shane didn't notice. In fact he forgets her name in the only moment during the 4 minute segment he didn't ignore her. Shane admits he isn't comfortable around kids which is ironic because at 19, he is the closest to their age than any of his fellow contestants. At the end of the show, the judges probe his heart. Why is he so enamored with French cuisine? As it turns out, it has been through only what he has read and studied in culinary school. He's never actually lived it or even visited France. It's all one vicarious mirage. And although he has proven himself in the kitchen on most episodes, it has in the end been a technical achievement at best. The passion itself is absent and it costs him dearly. Shane is sent packing. He will not be accompanying his fellow finalists to the big Vegas showdown with Paula Dean next time. It's now anybody's game.

Michael Johns started with "Dream On" and failed to make it his own. I won't say it was karaoke, but it was definitely not original. And he failed to hit the final note on spot, which if you go there, you definitely need to ace. Nevertheless, Michael lives to see another day.

Syesha Mercado tried to tap into the remarkable magic which was Fantasia with "I Believe" but as Lloyd Bentsen would undoubtedly point out here, "Syesha, you are no Fantasia." Despite that, I think her performance was good enough to get her into the round of 7.

Jason Castro went for "Over the Rainbow." No, not the Judy Garland arrangement but rather some dude's in Hawaii, ukulele included. It was definitely Castroesque and he certainly has an audience (kinda reminds me of Sanjaya without the sex appeal) but my wife sneaked a peek for the first time and couldn't get past Jason's dreadlocks. I didn't even know how to spell dreadlocks or know if it was one word or two. The judges loved Jason's performance so I'm sure we'll see him next week.

Kristy Lee Cook turned in the best performance of the night with Martina McBride's "Anyway." Kristy's smile and vocals more than compensate for a questionable taste in wardrobe. A lock for next week. And Simon, the phrase is "Good for you" not "Good on you." David Cook put on a white jacket and sang how everyone is "Innocent." I agree with Simon, a bit self-righteous on David's part. Normally a solid performer, not his best work this time but his past submissions will be good enough to get him through one mediocre performance.

Carly Smithson has the raw material to be a genuine talent but she must not have gotten the memo that this song was to be inspirational. "The Show Must Go On" may have worked for Freddie Mercury on Live Aid but it doesn't translate here for Carly. I believe she is the most vulnerable to be ousted from the competition, definitely in the bottom three. David "sigh" Archuleta brought us "Angels" last night but really, when hasn't he? I was holding my breath, hoping to high heaven he wouldn't reprise his "Imagine" offering from a month ago. Thank the angels he didn't. David continues to choose songs I haven't heard before but whatever he chooses he knocks out of the park (except that one time he forgot the words). Of course it goes without saying that I am in the tank for him, so take my analysis with a grain of salt. The piano was a nice touch. Safe to sing again and again and again.

Brooke White capped the night with "You've Got A Friend." Like Michael at the beginning, I just didn't feel she put enough of herself nto the number, playing it safe with an arrangement everyone has heard a thousand times. Nevertheless, she should have no trouble getting enough votes to come back next week.

After a somewhat lackluster and uninspiring run of episodes lately, BL got its groove back with this offering co-written by series creator David E. Kelley. Alan Shore defends a man attempting to terminate the pregnancy of a woman who acquired his sperm on their second date during oral sex and had the seed implanted after a test tube conception. Every man was cheering Alan on in his crusade on behalf of their half of the species. Of course the law is on the side of the woman but this is Boston Legal so anything could happen. Adding to this particular drama was the identity and weirdness of the mother - Missy from earlier episodes (the flake married to and divorced from Ivan) she was undergoing music therapy and would annoy Shirley and the judge with moments from Xanadu at every turn. Add to this her complete disregard for the father, her agenda seemed to be that she was going to give birth to a black baby and that's all she truly cared about. Not wishing to be an absentee father, he had no plans to be with Missy at all and thus the court case.

The other case was an avenue to character development. Jerry's ex gets fired for hugging one of her students - a violation of school policy. Leigh was only comforting her pupil for a bad test score but her employer caved to pressure from the insurance company and so they canned her. Reluctant to even take the case for fears that old wounds were not yet healed, he agrees anyway and gave one of the most personal and poignant closings this show has seen in quite awhile. "The human touch cannot be quantified. It cannot be analyzed with statistics. We cannot place a number on it. It is much more than a doorway to sexual molestation. It's the best, most direct, the most lasting way of affirming another person's humanity."

Of course Christian Clemenson's performance brings warmth and depth to these words but then the scene gets even better when a pause is followed by the confession that amidst the despair of his own social isolationism, Jerry almost took his own life six years ago but due to the support and physical contact of others, he survived and has grown emotionally. Jerry loses the battle (the case) but may have won the war. After the judge rules, a grateful Leigh convinces Jerry to risk an expression of intimacy - they hug.

The balcony scene, a proven staple and trademark of the show, returned to its heightened expectancy for excellence with a prolonged dialogue between Alan and Denny on fatherhood, women and family. They close by counting their blessings on how rare - and precious their friendship really is.

What a great episode.
First, the title "To C.I.R. With Love." A bit cheesy, perhaps but irresistible. Next, everyone is looking great, especially the star of the show. But the best part of this episode is the wonderful balance between action, suspense and warmth between the characters. Who cares that Jessie emerges from a cataclysmic leap over the cliff without a single scratch? We've come to expect stuff like that in this show. The word of the night seemed to be "freedom." Enslaved before to forces and emotions beyond their control, each character seemed to express the freedom to live and love and breathe. And did I mention that Matt Dallas is still gorgeous?

A plethora of vignettes worth mentioning. Great to see Paul back. And doesn't actor Rene Auberjonois look distinguished with his goatee? Not sure if this will be permanent or not but even if it's not, still great to see him. Anyone know who ene studied actingwith? Richard Sanders. That's right, Les Nessman and Odo side by side honing their craft in the late 1950's.

And Bethany is back as well. More dwarf jokes. Interesting how it is still ok to make light of a person's size (in both directions) but not at a person's race. The judge Bethany goes toe to toe with is black but that isn't even germain to the dialogue. She is slightly on the hefty side. Nothing like the really really big female judge in an earlier episode when Denny Crane got the firm sued by a woman who was in his opinion "too fat." Why didn't they get that judge totry this case? Don't try to tell me it's because this show doesn't like to go to the well repeated times, because they do all the time. Was it last season when Alan would hold cue cards for Denny as hedidn't know what to say in a given situation? The first time it was hilarious. The second time was bland. Or, from this season when they had the nun interpreting double entedres left and right in open court. One case had to do with cock fighting. uff said. The first time it was a riot. They went back to the well the very next week and by then it was stale. So maybe they are learning their lesson. I doubt it but you never know.

You knew they had to lampoon the Larry Craig story somehow. Sure enough, Denny gets busted in a bathroom. Feet tapping, humming, looking through the occupied stall, it's all there but the fingers under the stall asking for toilet paper. Besides providing Alan a soapbox to once again pontificate on the idiocy of sting operations in public bathrooms, this episode allowed for a fair examination of the underlying subtext of the Denny/Alan pseudo homoerotic male bonding vein of the show. One wonders just how far the producers will be willing to go with this. Sometimes I think Denny protesteth too much (reminds me of a guy I used to know - yeah, the one in the mirror).