‘Dancing with the Stars’ season 28 recap: Lamar Odom and Sean Spicer are safe — judges unhappy about who was sent home

ABC/Eric McCandless(LOS ANGELES) — The 28th season of Dancing with the Stars turned up the heat for its second show of the season as a new competitor eclipsed James Van Der Beek and is one step closer to winning the Mirrorball Trophy.

The best dance of the night came from Bachelorette star Hannah Baker as she dazzled on the dance floor during her romantic Viennese Waltz with partner Alan Bersten — dancing to Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” no less.  Baker not only collected the highest score of the night — 24/30 — it was enough to nudge her ahead of the former first place competitor, Van Der Beek.

Baker shouldn’t get too comfortable in first place, however.  Watch out for Kate Flannery, who underwent a complete dancing 180 since last week.  Flannery and partner Pasha Pashkov wowed the judges and audience with their spunky foxtrot and fancy footwork, which earned them the second highest score of the night, 21/30.

Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, again, had the strangest dance of the night.  Still, he knew how to generate buzz well before his performance by taking to the streets and begging passerby via a megaphone to vote for him. Although his tango was stiff and, as judge Bruno Tonioli described, “militaristic,” he finished with the fourth-lowest score of the night.  However, he did flash the birthday card, which could have influenced his score.

Again, the worst dance of the night came from NBA star Lamar Odom and dancing partner Peta Murgatroyd.  Odom seemingly struggled with the complicated choreography, but the judges praised the athlete for his improvement , and scored his salsa 12/30.

The night concluded with the first elimination of the season.  Points earned during the DWTS two-hour season premiere carried over into Monday night’s show and, along with viewer votes, determined the bottom two.

All three judges strongly disagreed with the couples who eventually stood before them in hopes of being saved.

The audience sent NFL star Ray Lewis and founding member of the Supremes Donna Wilson before the judges, who struggled to decide on who to save. 

Head judge Len Goodman had the final say and acted as the tiebreaker over who was eventually sent home because Carrie Ann Inaba and Tonioli couldn’t come to a mutual decision.  Goodman said he had to vote with his brain and not his heart, and chose to spare Lewis.

Dancing with the Stars returns next Monday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.  

Here are the current standings:

Hannah Brown, The Bachelorette star, with Alan Bersten  — 24/30 (combined score: 44)
James Van Der Beek, Dawson’s Creek actor, with Emma Slater — 20/30 (combined score: 41)
Lauren Alaina, country singer, with Gleb Savchenko — 19/30 (combined score: 38)
Kate Flannery, actress from The Office, with Pasha Pashkov — 21/30 (combined score: 36)
Ally Brooke, former Fifth Harmony singer, with Sasha Farber — 20/30 (combined score: 36)
Kel Mitchell, actor and stand-up comedian, with Whitney Carson  — 20/30 (combined score:36)
Karamo, Queer Eye reality TV personality, with Jenna Johnson — 19/30 (combined score:36)
Sailor Brinkley-Cook, model/filmmaker and photographer, with Val Chmerkovskiy — 18/30 (combined score: 36)
Mary Wilson, founding member of The Supremes, with Brandon Armstrong  — 15/30 (combined score: 32)

**ELIMINATED**
Ray Lewis, Baltimore Raven’s Super Bowl MVP, with Cheryl Burke — 15/30 (combined score: 30)
Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary, with Lindsay Arnold  — 16/30 (combined score: 28)
Lamar Odom, NBA Lakers star and ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian, with Peta Murgatroyd — 12/20 (combined score: 23)

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