This week, many odd things happened: half of the stars broke, DWTS integrated Twitter in a meaningful way, and shippers got their most tantalizing tidbit yet. So take off your clothes and get the spray tan, it’s Latin night!

The guest judge this week was Ricky Martin, who at least has the credentials to be judging a Latin American dance competition. As far as guest judges go, he was one of the better ones (not that that’s saying much) – he was chipper and supporting, and sounded intelligent. The opening number was one of Ricky Martin’s newer songs, which just isn’t quite as good as the old ones. But the man is a god to all ballroom dancers – I think I spent more time dancing to his catalogue than to all other songs combined, so I’m a huge fan.

Latin Night is always lots of fun. Everyone gets really into it. For example, after a commercial, a heavily feathered Lindsay gave out fake tropical cocktails. Tom turned his upside down and commented, “that’s sobering.” Tom had some great one-liners this week, but that was my favorite.

DWTS must have saved a ton on the costuming budget this week – between the individual numbers and the group dance, every single guy was shirtless at some point in the evening. Tony appeared hesitant, but DWTS finally found a good use for social media – having Twitter vote on whether Tony should dance with a shirt or without. Surprising absolutely no one, #DWTSShirtOff won by a 90% margin, so we got to enjoy a shirtless Tony again this week. Maks was the most excited about this, leading chants of “Shirt off!” In general, the Maks/Tony bromance was out in full force tonight. There was a moment before commercial, when Tony was poking Maks’s abs; Maks turned around, and Tony started smacking Maks’s butt. Typical Latin Night.

The couple heading home tonight, finishing in seventh place is… Nene and Tony! Nene made it further than anyone expected, but everyone knew it was time for her to go home. Especially when the other celebrities in jeopardy were the two remaining guys, who are attractive and good dancers to boot. A seventh place finish is par the course for Tony, whose average finish is just a hair below seventh place. I’m just glad we don’t have to deal with Nene any more, whose personality never stopped being grating. This week, we were treated to her multiple personality disorder revolving around Nene and Naynay and Nenay and whoever else she became.

Nene went out with a bang, delivering her best dance yet. She and Tony did an Argentine Tango and received a 31 for her troubles – including Ricky’s only 8, and the only 7 of the night (from Len). This was because the technique was meh (no sharpness, no contrast between fast and slow). However, this was a proper Argentine Tango with lots of choreography, and Nene delivered a passable dance. So good for her.

This week also saw my favorite gimmick – Team Dances! It was Team Vida (Charlie, James, and Nene) versus Team Loca (Meryl, Amy, Danica, and Candace). We didn’t see much of their rehearsal (shame, because I love seeing the stars interact). Candace was heartbroken over being picked last – it’s gym class all over again! – but really, why on earth did Charlie pick Nene over her?

Team Vida went first, and featured the only two guys left in the competition (how did that happen?). In what we saw of team rehearsal, Nene kicked James in the head when they tried to lift her, and the rest of rehearsal focused on Charlie taking off his shirt. It looks like someone finally joined the chest-waxing club this week! The actual dance was a hot mess. There was no synchronicity to speak of, and there was not much samba either – mostly shimmying and gyrating. I give points for making it more complex than just one couple following another. But minus points for not actually taking off shirts on Latin Night. In general, this was a disappointment, and it’s just a shame that this team dragged James down with a score of 35. The song was the Spanish version of “Cup of Life,” which was one of my favorite songs to dance to, so this travesty especially hurt. It also paled in comparison to when Maria Menounos and Derek did a salsa to “Cup of Life” on Season 14.

We did not get to see Team Loca dance live because Amy was incapacitated by an injury. While I lament that we won’t get to see the live version (unless they take Tom’s suggestion and include it in Agents of SHIELD), this was one of the best team dances I’ve ever seen. Derek extends his winning streak (he’s never lost a team dance) with a near-perfect 39 (Len was being a grump).

We didn’t see much of rehearsal – only Candace being made very uncomfortable by Maks (he pushed down on her, he’s tall, and she’s short… and apparently her mind went there). “La Vida Loca” is one of the perennial favorite samba songs – I’ve danced to it more times than I can count. And this team did that song justice. The synchronicity, the level of difficulty, the energy, the group interactions were all tremendous. The women all looked smoking hot, and because they all have a high caliber of dance, it looked like a true group dance, not just four couples. As befits team dances on Latin night, all the pros went properly shirtless (and Mark’s whiteness was a little blinding).

The other theme of the night was injuries – half the celebrities have some kind of debilitating injury at this point, and here’s hoping they can pull through. So let’s welcome our spray-tanned stars!

First Place, 39 points: Meryl and Maks (Salsa). As a production, M&M’s salsa was great. As a proper salsa, not so much. Why in blazes were there half a dozen other dancers on the floor? Why were the women wearing hobnail boots? Why can’t these Olympians do proper dances for heaven’s sake? Yes, Meryl’s dancing is good, now if Maks could craft proper routines perhaps I’d enjoy watching them. Also, whoever did Meryl’s media training may have overdone it. In every single interview, she gives polite and proper responses that revolve around what she wants to say, not what the interviewer actually asked. I anxiously await the day she says something spontaneous or shows a little emotion, but it might not happen this season. (Combined with team dance, 78 points, First Place)

Second Place (tie), 36 points: Amy and Derek (Rhumba). I’ve gotten to the point where I forget that Amy doesn’t have both her legs – her rhumba was first-class (as Len put it) for any dancer. Amy did beautiful things with her hips in this dance. Bruno actually made some very good commentary – that while their rhumba was sensual, it never lost its class and elegance. This is a good thing, since so many of the rhumbas now seem to be one scrap of fabric short of sex on the dance floor. We also saw what a trooper Amy is – in the package she broke down (forcing Derek to do a comedy routine and show off his vocal chops), and then she hurt her back right after the dance. But she kept the smile on, did the interview and received her scores, and didn’t let on anything was wrong until that was done. I really hope she’s okay. Carrie Ann said to her, “When and if you win…” So now that’s out in the universe. (Combined with team dance, 75 points, Second Place)

Second Place (tie), 36 points: Charlie and Sharna (Paso Doble). Charlie wants all tens. He’s an Olympian dancer, why does he not have all tens yet? We just witnessed the beginning of Charlie’s Quest for a Perfect Score, which will probably be fulfilled within two weeks tops. Personally, I can’t stand it when stars start acting like a perfect score is owed to them by virtue of them just being there and dancing. I think this hubris was Gilles Marini’s undoing in the All-Star season. Len said that a ten requires something special, and “this wasn’t special.” He is absolutely correct – and considering Charlie has been BSing his way through most of the season, he absolutely shouldn’t be getting tens. For what it’s worth, Charlie finally delivered a proper dance this week, a paso that I would expect of a dancer of his caliber. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was much better that what we’d seen thus far. (Combined with team dance, 71 points, Fifth Place)

Third Place (tie), 35 points: Candace and Mark (Argentine Tango). Candace’s storyline this week: seeing a sports psychiatrist to get over her fear of performing live. The producers must really be lacking material if this is the best they had to offer. However, maybe the sports psychologist did change something, because Candace gave us her best dance by far. She is on a hot streak after the past three weeks, finally returning to fulfill the promise we saw in her the first week. Her technique was superb, and that Argentine tango was full to the brim with great choreography, no messing about. Mark’s actually doing a good job these days – is hell freezing over? My only issue was Candace’s complete lack of expression – Argentine tango should be rage-filled and raunchy, as Bruno would say, and there were zero emotions on display. Still, Candace became a contender just in time, and it’ll be interesting to see whether she can pull through next week’s elimination. (Combined with team dance, 74 points, Third Place)

Third Place (tie), 35 points: James and Peta (Samba). This may be the hottest dance I have ever seen on DWTS – it got Carrie Ann all hot and bothered, and blew Bruno’s spark plugs (whatever that means). Peta was dancing in actual lingerie (there wasn’t even room to put a mic on her!). James came out in a tank top, that Peta actually took off mid-dip – coolest stripping ever! My favorite thing was that this routine was chock-full of actual samba, including many quite advanced movements. Peta deserves a lot of credit for choreographing a great samba and making it that sexy.

Before introducing them, Tom said we’ll see “how they trained for a sexy yet network-friendly samba.” That’s because, when Peta said there’ll be hip action and James will be rubbing up against her, James commented, “And this is allowed on ABC? Gotta love good family fun.” I love this guy! James and Peta are finally returning to the storyline that was foreshadowed in week one – their possible romance. Their chemistry is sizzling. James says they’re “trying to keep in platonic,” Peta demurs that she “looks forward to seeing James every day.” In other words, stay tuned for a possible full-fledged romance! Perhaps it’ll finally happen just in time for the finals. (Combined with team dance, 70 points, Last Place)

Last Place, 33 points: Danica and Val (Salsa). What about the salsa screams “back-up dancers” to the Chmerkovskiy brothers? Maks I would expect this of, but I expected better from Val. Danica fractured her rib, but chose to soldier on in a “ghetto-fabulous” (per Bruno) salsa. As Len said, there were maybe two sections of salsa, and the rest was pop-video. Of course, with a broken rib, the dancing couldn’t be as full-out as a dance like this calls for. Here’s hoping Danica soldiers through the rest of the season, and delivers better dances next week. (Combined with team dance, 72 points, Fourth Place)

Do you feel the urge to do crunches and starve yourself after Latin Night? Do you ship James and Peta? Do you like Charlie’s newly waxed chest? And who do you think will go home next week, as we get into the final stretch?