They couldn't do it three straight weeks, right?

After Alex Wong and Ashley Galvan couldn't even perform the last two weeks, rendering the results show effectively moot, Billy Bell was in the same position last night.

Only he could have danced, yet opted not to.

Billy, who didn't perform with the top six Wednesday, was on the block with Robert Roldan and Jose Ruiz. Lauren Froderman, Kent Boyd and Adechike Torbert were safe.

Thursday, Billy sat in the audience and didn’t participate in the group dance routine, assuring us he was following in Alex and Ashley's injured footsteps and going home.

But that's not how it went down this time.

Billy Bell won a surprise reprieve last night.

When it came time to announce the results, Nigel announced that he, Adam and Mia "haven’t made up our minds, but we came to a conclusion." Cryptic and non-committal.

Robert was told they didn’t think he was growing, and Jose informed that he simply isn't improving enough in other genres other than breaking. Not looking good for either.

BUT, then Nigel told Billy he set a precedent on the show for opting not to dance even when the doctors said he could. So he's got to go home out of fairness then, right?

Wrong.

Taking a page from American Idol, no one left. Seriously, they are winging this.

Call it a judges' save, only without even realizing they could have done so until now. Next week, two dancers will be eliminated instead. We don't know if this is better or worse.

Most likely, the last two weeks' eliminations left fans feeling short-changed and they simply weren't willing to go that route again. But did they make an exception for Billy?

Had the doctors told Billy not to dance, but opened the door for him to try next week, this decision might have sat better. But that's not what happened at all. He sat out.

Obviously Alex wasn't returning from his injury at any point this season, but Ashley wasn't nearly as badly hurt. Why not give her the chance to come back too? It's strange.

Do you agree with the So You Think You Can Dance judges' controversial move? Are they making up rules as they go? Comment and discuss below!

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.