... D/W were not fully on their game today.
It's a very fine line. And in this case, it comes down to subjectivity for you to think that D/W were not on their game. D/W laid it down, and V/M went out and did them one better. D/W were great and V/M were impeccable -- ironically the competition between these two teams is what makes each of them fight that much harder. They are both at the top of their games. The other top teams IMO are quite good, but not overall as great as D/W and V/M.
For their technical mistakes in the rhumba section, the Shibs were hit hard. It looked to me like Maia and Alex in this case were not able to make their nerves work for them. They were just slightly off, but that's all it takes.
Bronze belongs to W/P in my truly unbiased opinion (because I only became a real W/P fan five minutes ago) and I really hope P/B don't take it with a sympathy/home vote. Just the thought makes me

. I don't see how that bandage program can compare to Je Suis Malade!
P/B fairly or unfairly have the advantage of home field. I think W/P are better in many aspects than P/B. W/P have certainly proved their worth all season long. I'd love to see W/P win bronze, but the French might riot if P/B don't at least come in third. Did you see the look on Gwendal Peizarat's face at the scores of the other French team who did not perform well?
No comparison. V/M are in a league of their own. I would have given them a 4 point cushion. Free Dance will be closer though.

Why? Because you know just how good D/W are, so you think V/M need a cushion to sit on? D/W free dance is a masterpiece! The free dance of V/M while good, has had to be tweaked to improve it, which they did at 4CC. So yes, again it should be a battle in the fd, because both top teams want this championship. If D/W skate their fd to the highest level, they should win, but alas fs is a political sport, and the fact that no U.S. officials are represented on either the judging panel or on the technical panel (while Canada is represented on both), IMO will definitely make it that slight bit more difficult for Meryl and Charlie to come out on top. Also, -1:33 behind although not insurmountable is a sizeable lead in ice dance should both teams skate well in the final discipline. I too thought D/W deserved to be scored higher in the sd, although I agree with V/M being ahead, but not by that much. Sure, the skaters have nothing to do with picking the judging panel, but I'm pretty sure Scott and Tessa (as well as all the teams) know the makeup of the judging panel.
FS is not only subjective, it is political. When rivals are as close in abilities as V/M and D/W, at any event it can go either way. We shall see what happens. To me, it is quite clear that V/M's fd is not overall as strong as D/W's, despite the improvements Scott and Tessa displayed at 4CC. Meryl and Charlie will need to relax, enjoy and be in the zone. Their program is so good. I hope if D/W skate their beautiful program to their best and don't win, that they will know in their hearts that they still won by achieving their best performance. I hope they will take possibly not winning gold in stride and come back even stronger next season to take their title back from V/M in Canada, no less. Yes, I know, not gonna happen on V/M's home turf. But Meryl and Charlie will never give up. They most certainly deserved to win 1st place in the sd at the 2010 Olympics. But they didn't let the judges get them down -- they kept pushing to improve. I like how Meryl and Charlie carry themselves when they don't come out on top. Contrast that with Scott's sulky attitude when he and Tessa didn't come out on top at GPF in Canada!