'Dancing With The Stars' Season 13, Episode 21 The Mirrorball Goes To.... Recap

"Perfection" had been the Season 13 "Dancing with the Stars" winner's middle name.

Technique? Perfect. Charisma? Perfect. Work-ethic? Perfect.

Oh, AND a come-from-behind performance that sealed the deal? Absolutely perfect.

Bum ankle and all, J.R. Martinez came away with the coveted Mirrorball Trophy after months spent dueling with Ricki Lake and four-time winner Derek Hough for the Leader Board crown and a rough final two weeks of performances that included a bum ankle, troubles rehearsing the final freestyle dance and a harshly critiqued first final dance.

In a season filled with inspirational, something-to-prove stories, Martinez' might've been the most heart-warming. For those for whom his still isn't exactly the household name some of his more notorious competitors entered the competition with, he's the "All My Children" star who found daytime television success after being wounded and permanently scarred by an IED explosion during his 2003 tour of duty as an Army infantryman in Iraq.

Yet, the charismatic veteran and actor - who in spirit is a throwback to a time when men of fame could make few claims prouder than that they served their country in harm's way - could rarely be said to have exactly traded on his fame to win it all this season, unlike the fact that there's not a snowball's chance in Hell Chaz Bono would've lasted past Week Three if he hadn't gotten the sympathy vote for being bullied by right-wing groups from the time his casting was announced.

In fact, he really won it all in what I'd call "the Magic Johnson Way": he has a smile that measures in megawatts and could light the dark side of the moon, and he danced every last dance like it might be his last. He's just that good. And that's why his partner, Karina Smirnoff, now has her very first "Dancing With The Stars" title.

Martinez was hobbled by a Week Nine ankle injury that became a focus headed into the finals. Replays showed that he landed very, very badly during a performance's closing moments. His finals rehearsal package showed that a doctor reported the bum wheel was swollen but not fractured, clearing him to dance. However, his first performance left judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Len Goodman a bit cold as far as his timing and technique.

Though their lower scores were bolstered by Bruno Tonioli's generous "9" for Martinez's enthusiasm, he was still left with an overall 24 that left him behind Lake and Rob Kardashian after the initial performances. Both his fellow finals competitors pulled straight 9's to tie at the top with 27.

But once more, the freestyles decided the champions.

Lake and Hough framed a cha cha-to-quick step mash-up with Lake's incredible transformation both in confidence and a 20-pounds-lighter body throughout the season that left her with another 27 and an overall 54 that, for a time, kept her tied for the lead with Kardashian.

Kardashian and Burke danced wonderful, classy slow-to-fast freestyle to Cab Calloway's "Minnie The Moocher" that ended Kardashian season on the ultimate high note - his first perfect "30" from the judges, after a season of improving week after week. Incredibly, that left Kardashian with sole possession of the last Leader Board crown.

Then came Martinez and Smirnoff. The rehearsal package for their freestyle showed that both had some concerns about their final dance: Martinez had doubts about whether he could safely execute a lift that relied upon the strength of Smirnoff's surgically-repaired neck. During performance-day rehearsals, timing issues had Smirnoff rattled to tears and Martinez - truly, like a general steeling a frightened soldier - was there to bring out every ounce of heart in the graceful European's small, trim body.

When the performance to Kat de Luna's "Whine Up" rolled around, Smirnoff was dialed-in, fearless and "on," much the way Lake would be throughout the season by letting the nerves have her during rehearsals so she would be loose and confident come performance time. Martinez was his dynamic, fiery self, and Inaba ultimately called the lifts "the sickest I've ever seen" en route to the second perfect score of the finals.

That perfect score, somewhat appropriately, left Martinez and Lake Leader Board-tied with 54 each.

But come the results show, it was Lake, the new "Dancing with the Stars" record-holder for single-season judges' points scored, who was bid farewell. Lake's grace on her feet has been equaled this season only by her grace off the floor. Every single week, Lake has been the best kind of humble: always overwhelmed and seemingly surprised at just how well she performed with every bit of confidence that emerged from her.

Her final freestyle began with the sexiest Lake seen all season exploding through a paper cut-out of her pre-season promotional photo for the show amid fireworks, and showing a physical smoothness with Hough that announced "Win, lose or draw, I earned this and I'm going to love every last moment like I should."

 

That left Martinez and perhaps the finalist that might've been least expected.

He comes from a family whose fame irritates some to an almost irrational point. Atop that, he may be the Kardashian who's spent the least time being burned by the limelight. Before the season started, rumors had it that his mother Kris Jenner had almost bullied him into competing, that Jenner had practically brow-beaten him over the importance of him placing better than his sister Kim had (lasting a mere three weeks) and that partner Cheryl Burke grew irritated during rehearsals with his work ethic.

But something happened in Week Two. After a mediocre Week One Viennese waltz, he looked like a shoe-in early elimination. But then came a quick step to "Surfin' Safari" that was the first time all three judges saw him loose, having fun and seeming like he wanted to be there.

Week after week, he kept getting better and better. He looked less like a kid being led about the floor by Burke, and took a little more "lead" in the routines. He became less and less the bit-player Kardashian, and more and more the leading man.

 

When the finals arrived, I honestly was sticking with my Lake-Martinez prediction. He danced as well as ever in Week Nine - in fact, since Week One, he's hardly had an "off" night - but I felt he was certainly "helped" by Hope Solo once more under-performing and Martinez being hobbled.

But the judges were right: on finals night, he peaked at the perfect time. He brought it all together and actually matched the unstoppable Martinez momentum.

But when the time came, this was the moment I think we all anticipated all season.

That's no bad thing, either. Sometimes, it's good to be right.

A final thought: there is a lesson to be taken away from "Dancing With The Stars." Put aside the fan-voting controversies. Put aside the pity party that Bono threw himself after his elimination. Put aside even winning anything.

Most of the contestants on this show showed incredible personal growth by attempting something so far outside their respective wheelhouses, that the whole experience clearly grew intimidating and frustrating. Each seemed to have gained something very personal and very special by the show's end.

This was arguably David Arquette's greatest personal endeavor since dealing with his substance abuse issues and his failed marriage.

The brassy Nancy Grace had to actually acknowledge that she was for once out of her league, but that she had to give her all, anyway.

Hope Solo had to embrace being girly.

Rob Kardashian emerged from his family's shadow and discovered something about who he is beyond merely his last name.

Ricki Lake found a whole new person inside herself after a year spent losing everything.

Martinez had to step up in crunch time and help bolster Smirnoff's heart to travel the last mile to maybe the only ballroom dancing honor she'd never won. She may have had the expertise of the pair, but in that moment, Martinez had to have heart enough for both to assure her that he wouldn't let her be hurt during their performance.

If you want to impress others, do something where success is guaranteed. If you want to really be proud of yourself, attempt something where you have to acknowledge you might fail.

But above all else, as someone more dear to me than any other once told me, "Never dull your colors for somebody else's canvas."