Ballroom drama for Poldark, Food Network Star takes a holiday and Face Off returns to the make-up table

The Warleggan ball was the setting for many a showdown on Poldark this week, as Ross was in a foul mood well before he and Demelza arrived. His ire was due to the sad death of poor Jim, who died of a fever caught during his prison sentence for poaching.

While Ross was moody and drinking as well as playing at cards, Demelza was doing her best to make a good impression at her first society party. She was doing well, thanks to her good manners and lovely dress, yet the catty comments of the other ladies there caused Ross to pick a fight with her.

Demelza,to her credit, didn't take any of his nonsense, pointing out the shortcomings in his personal pity party. Even when he snapped at her "Maybe this is the last time I take you to a ball", she sharply replied "If this is how you act at one, maybe I won't want to go!"

Meanwhile, Verity was having a crisis of her own as Captain Blamey showed up and she did her best to keep him away from her jerk of a brother,Francis. Of course, they ran into one another and Francis tried to fight Blamey but it was clear which of them was the better equipped to throw down.

*Sigh* Poor Verity! She so needs to get out from under Francis' thumb. As her Aunt Agatha wisely said, the trouble with the women in the Poldark family is their men(except Ross, most of the time):

Sadly, Poldark season will soon be coming to an end,as the two hour finale airs this upcoming Sunday. I did hear that there will be a second season,which is wonderful, but waiting until next summer could be quite a trial. Then again, awaiting more Poldark does sound like a burden worth the bearing:

The main challenge for the fellas remaining on Food Network Star was to create a special holiday themed dish and then do a video presentation(with help from former FNS winner Damaris) that embraced the spirit of the day.

While Alex did well enough with his Fourth of July showcase, Arnold charmed everyone right off the bat with his Valentine's Day dessert offering. Unfortunately, he didn't offer any insight into the French based recipes that were the core of his dish.

Out of all of them, Jay did the best with his Thanksgiving quail tale and won this round. I did feel bad for Eddie, who tried to make Halloween work for him but mentioning an upset stomach isn't very appetizing there.

I was glad to see Dom go, for his lackluster take on Christmas. Dude, you had the Feast of the Seven Fishes to work with and you could even make that interesting, come on!

 Bobby and Giada wanted to keep on trying with Dom but his on camera skills are just terrible so I was with the network bigwigs on this one. He did survive his first round on Star Salvation but I want Rue to get that spot, not Dom! We'll soon see on that front but for now, this is still an all guy game:

Syfy's Face Off returned for an ninth season of special effect/ make up artist competition and yet no one was eliminated in the first challenge.

That was due to this being a extremely difficult opener, as everyone had to work in teams of two to create creatures for an "intergalactic zoo" using two model to make up one being. Also, their inspiration had to be either animal or mineral based.

While there were a lot of interesting takes on the subject, we also saw quite a few misfires. For example, the guys who had a clam as their inspiration were a tad too literal with their interpretation. One of the judges said it reminded her of Little Shop of Horrors and that was not meant as a compliment!

I don't always watch Face Off but this time around, I may give it more of a chance. The incredible artistry on display is always fun to look at, plus the make up contenders are often very driven to excel in their field and that kind of dedication is great to see:

RANDOM NOTES:

Disney's Descendants: If you're a fan of Disney style villains, this made for Disney channel movie is your sinister sweet spot this weekend. The plot has the wicked offspring of some of the classic Big Bads(Jafar, Cruella De Vil and Maleficent) being allowed to enter the high school realm of the kids from the good side of the magical kingdom.  Should be some fine funky fun and yes, we have musical numbers!: