Project Runway: S14E12 "Roll Out the Red Carpet"

Not gonna lie, Runaways, I had a lot of thoughts ranging all over the place during this episode last night and I'm hoping that over the course of my tedious day I didn't lose all of them, but it's highly possible. In the interim, I'm left thinking that the fact that this episode had me kind of buzzing and inquisitive while it was on has to be a good thing right? I think this season has been a roller coaster ride for us fans, but not because of the fireworks on screen. Instead, we, or more particularly I, have felt pushed and pulled in all different directions by the inconsistent quality of this season. Remember back around the first episode when I triumphantly, and prematurely, declared that PR was back and probably better than ever? How quick did that devolve into questions about direction, editorial choices, and the overall talent and personality level of the contestants? But then those questions could just as easily be blasted away with another strong outing. This season of Project Runway has felt more like a scripted TV show than any season before it in the way that it's been able to vary in quality from episode to episode. Not only in quality, but also in certain "artistic" flourishes. For example, remember the unconventional materials challenge that had the designers rummaging through outdated electronics trash to get materials to make their looks? I made mention of the batman-like flashes of words on the screen denoting what each contestant was looking at in the dump. Guess what's back this week! Seriously, were these two episodes directed by the same person? And if so, how problematic is that? Should we ever be able to see the hand of any particular director on any particular episode of a reality show? My gut says no, but I'm not an authority on such matters.

Either way, the 12th episode of this season has us gearing up for the finale with one more challenge to whittle it down from four to three finalists. To make that call, the producers bring in the time tested "Red Carpet" challenge. The contestants are heading out to LA in order to be inspired by...well LA basically, and create a Red Carpet ready look. They've got, dare I even say it, $400 and two days to get it done. But since all of their work and construction is being done in LA, they don't have the benefit of a model fitting before the runway. So I guess there's that. I'm torn about something here: I'm pretty sure that in PR history, the challenges tended to go from more time and more money in the beginning to less time and money as the season went on. In other words, the challenges got harder instead of easier. Going from one day to two day challenges feels like the opposite of that and it bugs me. But on the other hand, the early one day challenges do a good job of culling dead weight and exposing some of the less capable designers quickly. So maybe that's a good thing? Furthermore, the fact of the matter is to make a solid Avant Garde or Red Carpet ready look, you need at least two days in PR time. But still, it feels backwards to me.

Everyone arrives in LA to be told that the winner of this challenge will also be rewarded with 100 free nights at any Best Western in the entire world. If you've ever stayed in a Best Western, then chances are, like me, you were wondering if this was a reward or a punishment. But everyone at least seems to be rather excited for it, so good for them, I guess.

There's a trip to LA's Mood where the camera was very fond of cutting to shots of their own dog who clearly was not Swatch and therefor not at all worthy of screen time. At Mood, Edmond comes across a very....let's say busy fabric that he likes but isn't sure he should take a chance on. Tim tells him to go for it because now isn't the time to play it safe. Last episode, I mentioned that I thought Ashley was getting a little extra help and attention from Tim. This week, I'm following that thought up by saying that I actively think Tim is trying to sabotage other contestants. This is more of a conspiracy theory than an actual belief, but hear me out.

So the designers get to their LA workrooms, and get to work. Kelly's got this brilliant and elaborate idea to create her own textile by cutting her fabric into triangles and then layer some other fabric on top of it, and just doing all this work that is clearly ambitious and stands to be a knockout if successful. Ashley's also got a shiny shimmering fabric and plans to push herself with this cool asymmetrical dress. Candice is doing this standard black dress (surprise surprise) that stands to be gorgeous anyway. And Edmond is doing nothing. Literally, he spends the entire first day staring at the crazy fabric Tim told him to buy and does nothing with it because he feels like it doesn't speak to him as a designer. With the day pretty much fully gone, he uses some of the supplemental fabric he's bought to start making a different dress.

Edmond works on said dress for pretty much all of the second day until Tim comes in for visits with around seven hours left before their work time is up. He offers very solid guidance to Candice. Actually, he does little more than stand there and allow her to say what they're both thinking and make the decisions she should have been making all along. It's a pretty wonderful moment if I'm being honest. But it's followed up by him meeting with Ashley and giving her so much advice that it almost feels like he's designing her dress for her. He also says, and I quote, “I don’t want you to be the one to not make it." He's referring to the fact that a slip up at this point in the competition after putting in so much hard work will be enough to keep her out of the finale. But my question is, if you don't want Ashley to not make the cut, then who is it that you honestly wouldn't mind being left behind at this point? As Mentor, shouldn't Tim be at the point where he's rooting for them all? Was that a bit of a slip up on his part admitting that Ashley's his favorite?

Well he moves on to Kelly who's doing that great stuff with creating her own textile and trying to work it into the dress part of her Red Carpet dress, but Tim asks her if she wouldn't rather be doing pants... Listen, there's no "dress" or "gown" type of requirement for a Red Carpet look. Indeed, a quick Google search returns a load of results of actual celebrities wearing pants on the Red Carpet. And if Kelly pulls it off, it has the ability to be a stunning and bold choice that will wow people, right? But when this happened in the moment, I was left thinking that this is not sound advice from the group's mentor. I can't say that I felt totally confident that Nina and Heidi, purists that they tend to be a lot of the time, would really go for a jumper on the Red Carpet.

Then it's back to Edmond who has the makings of a fine, albeit boring, dress in his simple supplemental fabric and a full untouched few yards of the more extreme fabric that Tim liked. And of course Tim tells him he's going to be so much better off using the crazy fabric than the other. A crazy fabric that he might have liked a little in Mood but that seriously is not inspiring him as a designer at all. And Tim's big advice is "Fuck it, use that fabric anyway, your intuition and inspiration be damned!" Again, I couldn't help but to wonder if this was good advice. Or at the very least, is it advice on par with what he's given Ashley?

This is all just speculation, so it's fine if no one agrees with it. To his credit, Tim does tell Edmond that his best bet with that fabric is to create something simple and form fitting and let the fabric itself be the wow factor the look needs. So in theory, all Edmond has to do is follow that advice and he'd be pretty good. But of course after a full day of no ideas, he finds himself a bit panicked and perhaps with too many ideas on the second day and he can't help but to continue hacking away at the perfectly suitable dress he made at first. He makes it shorter and shorter until it resembles nothing of its former shelf and also nothing anyone would ever want to wear. Or at least that was my thought in the workroom. I held out hope for the possibility that the dress would be better on the model and on the runway.

Everyone flies back to New York where they have limited time to have a quick fitting, get their models all done up and pretty and accessorized, and then rushed off to the runway. Seeing his look on his model, Edmond decides that it needs to be even shorter, which is the opposite of true, and Kelly has moment where she doesn't think she'll be able to zip her model up into the pants, but she does and it's no big deal. Off to the runway where Christian Siriano is our guest judge, and how great was it to see him again? He and Kelly Osbourne are easily the best guest judges we've had this season.

The Runway:

Ashley: I like it. I wish she could have got the fit right without needing the strap, but I like the concept a lot and I think it’s pretty well executed honestly. I think the asymmetry and the split between the corset and the other side of the top is sexy and smart. I like the split in the skirt too. I think she's show the right amount of skin to be sexy without being trashy at all. I don’t know that it would make any best dressed lists, but I like it.

Kelly: The first moment that it turns the corner and she just stands there for a second, I love it! I think it looks chic, well made, it fits wonderfully, and she looks powerful. Kelly thought about this and that thought and planning shines through in something that I think is a bit of a wow moment. I do not, however, see Red Carpet anywhere on this look at all, and I can’t help but to think that a jumpsuit was the wrong way to go. She took a chance, and I respect that, but even though they look well made, I’m not feeling the pants. There's also a weird thing the top is doing when she walks where it peels away from her body in a stiff and flat movement that makes me think it's made of plastic or something. 

Candice: This is beautiful, and lovely, and elegant, and chic, and yet still feels horribly safe to me. It’s not edgy, or horribly innovative. It’s black, which I’m sick of seeing from Candice at this point, and it feels like a silhouette we’ve seen on the runway a million times before. But nothing detracts from how beautiful and well made and generally breathtaking I think it is. I think this could be on the Red Carpet right now and it would turn heads and make lists in all the best ways, but I don’t think we’d be talking about it so much as a day later. And all I keep thinking is how much better it would be if it were a shiny silver color instead of black. That train is fabulous though!

Edmond: I fucking hate this. I hate it so fucking much. Kill it with fire! It wouldn’t surprise me if Heidi likes it, sadly, but I fucking hate it. The sleeves are hideous, it’s way too short, and the darts in the front are so fucking distracting and sloppy looking. What Tim wanted him to do with this fabric was make a simple gown and let the fabric do all of the heavy lifting and make the statement. And he just couldn’t do that. I think what he had on the dress form at first just needed an open back and it would have been perfect. But this thing is the worst thing I think I’ve ever seen.

The judges like Kelly's look more than I expected, but more important than that, she does something on the runway that totally changes everything: When she's talking about her look she says "Katy Perry" and "The VMA's," and as if those are the magic words, my entire interaction with this look changed. It's another moment where you can see how much she thought about this look and made a plan and then executed it perfectly. It also makes a point that I had been thinking for most of the episode: Red Carpet is not some catchall term that is universally applicable. The Grammy's, Emmy's, and Oscar's all are different award shows with different requirements and expectations on what is acceptable to wear. How many times have you seen something make a worst dressed list for the Oscar's that would have been best dressed on the Grammy's? In specifying which carpet she was designing for, as well as which celebrity she had in him, Kelly made her entire look make a level of sense that I didn't think it had before. If I liked her look before she talked about it, I loved it afterwards!

The judges make mention of how safe Candice's dress is, so we're on the same page on that one. Heidi and Christian like Ashley's dress a bit more than Nina and Zac do. And one thing I thought about Ashley dress was what if she had purposely moved the fabric on the sleeveless side of the top so that it had that cool silver effect that the fabric was capable of having while trying to keep the rest of the dress in that gold color? I don't know if I'm explaining this well, but in my head, she had a way to make it at least seem like those two portions of the top were made of two different fabrics, which is what she wanted to begin with, without actually having to make it out of two different fabrics. I don't know if it would have held up in the long run, but it was an idea that I kept coming to. 

They hate Edmond's look though they're at least polite enough not to suggest taking it out back and burning it like I would have. Everyone acknowledges how much of a disappointment it is from him since they all know he's better than that, but it's clear that they really hate the look. 

After that rundown, the moment we all knew was coming arrives and the designers are asked why they should go to NYFW and who'd they take with them. In truth, I cringed when this came around because I was so ready for everyone to throw Ashley under the bus and have her be left as the only person no one thought should move forward. Luckily, Edmond saves us all from the latest version of Ashley and the Mean Girls by acknowledging he'd take her with him. So Kelly and Candice leave Ashley out of their own personal top three, and Edmond and Ashley leave Candice out, making Kelly and Edmond the only universally chosen designers. 

But of course, Edmond loses the challenge and is sent home. I mean, it's almost like the judges weren't even listening to the designers on this one. Kelly wins which makes this her third win in a row. if there's any such thing as momentum in Project Runway, Kelly has all of it and she's the designer Ashley and Candice have to beat. Or is she the designer Ashley, Candice, and Edmond have to beat? The show makes a big deal of Heidi talking to Edmond and explaining how disappointed they all are in him before she kisses him off. And then he goes back to the greenroom to say his goodbyes and the episode cuts out. The preview for next week is just about the three girls and Tim's standard home visits and such, there's no sign of Edmond in them, but the lack of Edmond feels too forced and purposeful. Tim doesn't send Edmond to clean out his space as is customary for the end of the episode, and we know he hasn't used his save yet, which I think can only mean that Edmond gets saved at the beginning of next week's episode and no amount of attempted misdirection can convince me otherwise. 

There's no rule that says Tim has to use his save if he doesn't want to. But the obvious break in tradition from a show that's as clearly steeped in their catch phrases and sayings as this one is too much of a red flag to be ignored. At this point, I'm hoping Tim doesn't save him and it's all just one big Gotcha! from the producers. It would be refreshing to be wrong in this case. But PR has had four final contestants for a long time now and I can't imagine they'd go back to three now. And I can't be upset by the probability of Tim using his save here either. The fact is all four of these designers are equally matched. All four of them would create unique and interesting collections for NYFW, and thusly all four of them honestly deserve to be there. Or at least, they deserve to be there in as much as contestants on the show deserve to be there. We've already covered how I don't think calling them all equally talented is necessarily a compliment. But if Tim does indeed use his save here, I think it's the right call all around. The judges are right to send Edmond home for what he put down the runway this week, and Tim would be right to save him given what we've seen him do over the course of the season. Also, given how Tim clearly sabotaged his efforts at every turn this week, saving him is the least the old man can do. 

Loose Threads:

--What annoys me about the probability that Tim will save Edmond is that I think the judges are counting on it to a certain extent. He's the only person they talk about during their deliberation, and they know Tim still has his save, and all of their talk is really about how disappointed they all are. I think if Tim had used his save earlier, they would have gone with a cop out "We aren't sending anyone home this week, but you're on the bubble and if we don't like what we see from a selection of your collection when you get back, then we will send you home!" 

--Speaking of Tim's save, would it make sense if they forced him to use it at a certain point in time? Like if there was a stipulation that he had up until the top six to use it or it's taken off the table, would that be better? It's just something I was thinking about. 

--When asked about the difficulty of Edmond's look, Christian points out that he could make that dress in 10 minutes. Can you imagine how much Christian would have wiped the floor with these contestants if he'd been on this season? I've droned on and on about the talent level this year, but just seeing Christian again made me realize just how great he was in comparison to these jokers. I didn't even love Christian that much during his season, but he's a giant by comparison. 

--I mentioned that Christian and Kelly were the best guest judges this season, and going based on the previews, it seems the two of them will also be judges on Project Runway Juniors. You all know I don't watch the PR spinoffs as a general rule, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about tuning in to this this. It also looks like Tim will be there at least for an episode if not all season.

--In LA, Ashley and Edmond get their own rooms instead of bunking up. Can someone explain to me what PR has against co-ed rooming situations? In a show where 98% of the male contestants are all gay, would it really matter if they shared a room with the girls? Granted, I don't think Edmond is gay (though I could be wrong), but even so, would it really be a huge deal for him and Ashley to share a room for a night or so in LA?

Project Runway: S13 E12: "Who's In and Who's Out"

Well here we all are. The last challenge before fashion week contestants are chosen. And I'm guessing it comes as little to no surprise that Sean, Kini, and Amanda are still here and are joined by Char and Emily. But who will make it the next step? Will there be three people showing or four? It's a kind of moot point since we all know that everyone here gets to show at Fashion Week, but for the sake of the drama, let's keep the facade up for a bit longer. If there's one thing to take away from this episode, it's actually just how unremarkable it is without some of our more dramatic designers there to stir things up. So how does the show manage to create the drama without the acidic presence of a Korina there to poison the workroom? Or without the divisive aesthetic of someone like Sandy? I guess we'll cross those bridges when we get there.

But until then, first things first: Tim comes to wake the designers up and invite them up to the roof. Anyone hoping that this would be the episode when the pressure finally got to Tim Gunn and he snapped and started pushing designers off the rooftop to rain down on the unsuspecting peons of New York was gravely disappointed. But on the other hand, is there any better way to be woken up than by the sight of Tim Gunn on your doorstep? (The answer is with a shirtless Chris Hemsworth on your doorstep, but for the sake of argument let's make that question rhetorical.) Tim's little "This is how you live?" comment had the best amounts of snarky condescension. It was like he couldn't believe someone could survive in such condition. Where are your servants? Do you not eat your dinner off of 24K gold plates? Peasants! Oh Tim, how I love thee.

On the roof, we meet somebody about something having to do with making the sponsors happy, and then we're informed about the challenge. Go out into the city and get inspired to make a Street Wear Chic look. The designers are given cameras and instructions to go take pictures of unsuspecting people without their permission. Because that's legal! No really, is that legal, because I was really uncomfortable with it all. To the designers' credit, most of the inspiration comes in the form of buildings and street art. Or as Amanda puts it "I'm reacting to bright colors and lines." I'm starting to think Amanda is just an animal, like a bird or something, disguised as a human being for the sake of the show.

It's off to Mood where Swatch is looking chubby and lazy and like the single cutest thing on the face of the earth!!!!! OMG did you see him just laying around there not even giving a damn about anything? Loves it! Also, Sean decides to make an all white look, but then sees this soft teal colored fabric that he can work into it in the event that the white gets too boring. And I was so happy with with because all white sounds like a kiss of death at this stage of things. The teal, I was sure, would be the saving grace of the outfit in the end. So we'll come back around to this point a bit later.

And then it's back to the workroom where everyone's so happy about having two days for this challenge and they all start working out how they want to distribute the pieces of their looks so as to maximize their time. I was left wondering if any of them had actually ever seen the show before. You're not getting two days to make one look at this stage in the competition. Who doesn't know that? Apparently these idiots because when they come into the workroom on the second day and find five losing looks stationed around, everyone looks so surprised.

Obviously the challenge will be to take the losing looks and redo them. Available to choose from are Korina's look from the last challenge, Sandy's look from the nightmare inducing doll challenge, Mitchell's Red Carpet look, Fade's Rainway look, and Samantha's boring something or other look. All of Samantha's looks bleed together for me at this point, and I'd honestly forgot she was even a contestant until just now.

Tim comes out with the button bag of doom. So here's the thing, I actually don't think (usually) that the button bag is as loaded with producer tampering as some of you guys do. There are times when things pan out in a manner that's just too dramatic to be true, but I generally think that the button bag is more random. Maybe not when it's choosing pairing of designers, but certainly on something like this. So I do think that the order the designers pick their redo looks is perfectly random, but I'm more than willing to listen to any theories on how this was crafted as an attempt to sabotage Sean.

That isn't to say, however, that I don't see the hand of producer tampering in this. Because you see, Char chooses Korina's look from the last challenge to redo. That I think is a purposeful decision on her part. Either because she wants to prove she could have done it better than Korina did and justify her continued place in the competition and Korina's ousting, or because, as she says, it has a lot of fabric to work with. And then the designers go back to Mood for supplemental fabric. It isn't until they get back that it's revealed that they'll be given helpers for these looks. And guess who those helpers are! And guess how you get paired with your helper! I'm not going to say it doesn't make a level of sense to pair the losing look's designer with the contestant who chose said look, but I will say that it's clearly a decision made (I think in the last minute during their trip to Mood) just so we can get a little bit more of Korina's bitch fit into the episode. Because without that moment, the episode is decidedly lacking in drama. Even bringing Sandy back doesn't add in any drama. She doesn't get a confessional sequence and she and Sean seem to work really well together. All of her defending that look on the runway before the judges sent her home for it seems to be gone. So that just leaves Korina and her attitude, and her body language, and her eventual walking out and refusal to help.

Given the fact that this all exists for purely manufactured drama reason, do we really have to engage with them? Korina reacts exactly the way we and the producers knew she would, no one comes to blows (sadly), and then Alexander is brought in to help Char. It could be read as a way to sabotage her since she seems to spend a lot of time micromanaging Alexander's sewing, but I also think that that was pointless. As Alexander points out, "I know how to sew!" the implication of course being that he's the only one of this duo that can really make that claim. Nevertheless, it's off to the races and Tim's comments.

He compliment's Kini's coat, but points out that it isn't special or Kini enough for him. We could walk into any Michael Kors outlet and buy it. It's the manner in which he evokes Kors' name that makes me think Kini should burn it and start over, but that's just me. Over at Sean's table we see.....something. So remember when I said that the Teal would be the saving grace of Sean's otherwise boring all white outfit? Well you can feel free to beat me with sticks for that mistake, because the use of the teal here and the cut of the outfit is just horrible. It's boring and ugly and just totally wrong, and Tim tells him as much. So it's time to whip something together to save it. He's got very little to say to Emily one way or the other and I'm reminded of how much he really does believe in her aesthetic. It continues to be odd to me that the judges don't. He and Char have a disagreement about the placement of a pocket on her Street Wear Chic look and I'm left thinking that that damn pocket is honestly the lest of her worries on that fucking thing. But what do I know?

It's off to the Runway where Shay Mitchell is a very helpful and surprisingly insightful guest judge. I don't watch Pretty Little Liars, so I have no idea who this lovely lady is, but I would certainly like to see her back judging PR in the future, I loved her comments.

The Runway:

Amanda Chic: I actually do like it in spite of myself. I certainly think it’s her, and I could easily see someone wearing it out and about. It’s not a look that I think I would ever buy or than anyone of my personal friends would wear, but it’s really not bad at all.

Amanda Redo: I don’t know about the cuts of leather on this one. The top one looks almost like a bib, and the bottom just looked tacked on. Honestly, I think the best thing she does with this look is to make it a two piece. And I think if she had just sent it down that way, I would have liked it a lot more.

Emily Chic: hm…. Ok I like the fabric on the pants outfit a lot. I think it adds something interesting and visual to the entire look. The hoodie…not so much. I can see what she was going for, and I respect the attempt, but the hoodie just doesn’t work for me.

Emily Redo:  She mentions that this look is “really commercial” and God help me but that’s what I like about it to be honest. I find it to be a bit simple, but I also think it’s heads and shoulders ahead of what Samantha did the first time.

Sean Chic: I love this. I think the cut outs and the shape of the skirt make this look into something brilliant and formidable. I'm so deeply ashamed of my early thought that all white would be a disaster. This is s far from boring that it's scary, and I love it!

Sean Redo: This might go down as the season of fringe for Project Runway. I like it. I still hate the pink, I don’t think any grown woman should be wearing that kind of pink in that quantity, but I think it’s a nice way to update the original atrocity. It shouldn’t win any awards, but it’s cute.

Char Chic: Ok ladies, please tell me if you’d ever wear that skirt? I don’t think I know anyone that would be caught dead in that skirt. I think the top is cute, and happy she got the fit issues under control, but I also don’t really think that those two pieces even go together. This is just a big no-no for me.

Char Redo: What the hell is that? Ill-fitting, kind of boring, and no real element of the original look to it at all. She claims to have chosen Korina’s look because of the abundance of fabric, but then she doesn’t really seem to use any of that fabric. It’s officially time for Char to go home.

Kini Chic: I think this look is 100% beautiful and breath taking and I also think it’s 100% wrong for this challenge. I think there are times when that entire outfit would be worn, I just don’t know if those times are about randomly being out and about. A job interview would be an interesting place to wear it to, but other than that, I’m honestly not sure. There just seems to be a lot going on here and it doesn’t say Street Wear to me. But it is honestly beautiful. 

Kini Redo: Damn, look at dat ass! You know you were all thing it! This is beautiful. Slinky and elegant and showing off her best ASSets. Can't say one negative thing about it, it's just beautiful. 

 With only five designers left, there's no designated top or bottom. Add to that the fact that the judges are just about split on everyone's looks and you've got just a lot of talking. They think Kini's Chic look just has way too much going on and if he had streamlined the skirt it would have been much better. But they can't say enough good things about his Redo look. Likewise, Amanda's Chic look is praised in so many ways, while her redo look is rightfully questioned. I love Heidi's point about Emily's Chic look reminding her of PJs, because I got that impression too. I also agree with Zac's point about it looking a little homeless. But when the hoodie is taken off and we're just left with that great print and the fascinating cut of the outfit, it's really interesting and beautiful. I wonder what the reaction would have been had she just divorced herself from having to do the hoodie? The judges comments to Char all feel like people trying their best to find compliments where there really aren't any. Nina mentions her enjoyment of Char's eye for color, but that's about it. Zac likes her ideas but thinks they're never executed well. And then there's Sean's critique. Nina thinks his Chic look might be the best thing on the PR runway ever and Heidi thinks he's a genius. Is this the not the second time she's said so? I feel like she had similar praise for his Rainway look too, but I could be remembering that wrong. Not so glowing is the reception given to his Redo look, which can't be surprising. I mean how was he going save that hideous thing to begin with? 

Afterwards, everyone is asked why they should go to Fashion Week, and it's Sean's response that I find to be the most interesting: He's shown them things they haven't seen before and he knows he'll be able to do even more of that when the constraints of the challenges are lifted and he's given more time. It's a a reasoning free of ego. It's a simple statement of fact, and I can't help but to agree with him.

And so the judges look at the clothes a little closer and state outright that the question before them is whether or not to take three or four designers to the end. Do they get rid of Char or Emily or both of them? In truth, my vote was for both of them. I like it more when there are only three people showing at Fashion Week, and I think it's been clear that this has been between Amanda, Kini, and Sean for quite some time now. Any fourth designer would just be dead weight. But if I had to choose who I would like to see an entire collection from between Char and Emily, the choice is Emily hands down. 

But Emily goes home and Char, Sean, Kini, and Amanda all move on. So what do I know? The judges say it's because they believe in Char enough to want to see more from her, but I call bullshit on that. Tim might believe in her enough for it, and even I question if that's true at this point, but I don't think that the judges have nearly the level of confidence that they claim. Even Tim states that if he had another save, he'd use it on Emily now and the whole thing just feels weird. The pall of the save has loomed over this season a lot more than it did last time. There was a question about why he saved Justin last year, but I don't think we kept bringing it up challenge after challenge like we have with Char. And the collection that Justin sent down at Fashion Week put any doubts to rest. I don't think that even with the added time we'll be saying that for Char. And now we have Emily going home on the last week before Fashion Week, but do we blame the wasted save for that? If he still had the save, would he be allowed to use it this late in the competition? And if so, should he? Does Emily, or any of the others really, have anything to be upset about having made it this far? I can't say that I think so, and Emily's peace with being sent home suggests that she isn't upset by it either. And in a lot of ways, her emotionless response caps what would have been a totally emotion and dramaless episode had it not been for the Korina thing. And I have to tell you, Runaways, I don't think that that would have been a bad thing at all. 

Streetwise Thoughts:

--I actually think I perfectly incorporated most of my thoughts into the writeup this week, so I don't know what to really put here. 

--I will point out that the product placement of the episode is about Lexus and the designers are driven around to collect their inspiration. I get it that the show has to makes its sponsors happy, but the random way those sponsors have been worked into the challenges this season just seems awkward.

--I don't think any of us had Char making it to Fashion Week in our predictions of who'd be there. And rightfully so. But at which point do you think the Tim Gunn save just becomes the Tim Gunn pick for Fashion Week? He's 2/2 on it thus far. 

--The interesting thing about Korina's added drama is that I think it might have been even more dramatic to bring the designers back and do a school yard pick for who you wanted to assist you. Korina would have been more likely (I assume) to actually want to stick around and help out someone other than Char, but what if none of the designers wanted to work with her? What if Emily was the last person to pick and Korina was the last designer standing, and Emily was just like "After yesterday and how it went when I helped her with her last look, I think I'd rather work alone."? I don't think that that's the way it would have gone for sure, but still; sometimes you don't have to try so hard, Producers.

Under The Gunn S1 E12: "Superhero Fashion"

OK fellow readers, here we are! We're almost done with this season's set of episodes. We're down to four, and after tonight, we'll be down to three. Hopefully, Asha will be gone, but it could be Sam. I remember that all three were in the finale clip we saw at the beginning of the season, so those are the only two possible outcomes, right? Right?

It's been a long season. The premiere was in 2 separate 90-minute blocks. There was an episode where we didn't have an elimination. We started off episode 3 with 12 designers, have knocked off 8 of them, and here we are.  *sigh*

I'm gonna be blunt. I'm finding it hard to get behind most of the designers this week. I know you are too. I'm rallying against Asha, but even that just seems unworthy of my energy. Maybe I'm having a Project Runway meltdown.

Speaking of meltdown, today we go to Meltdown Comics where the Marvel juggernaut can get in some free advertising for whatever superhero movie is coming out this week, as well as their comic books. And, it's also advertising for a Tim Gunn edition of Iron Man. But, really, it's all about Marvel because god forbid anybody read or learn about any of the independent geeky comic labels that exist, like Fantagraphics (Seattle!), Dark Horse, or Image. 

Anyways, we're introduced to the VP of Animation, Cort Lane...which...um...hot! Well, except for his hair. Cort, you're really hot, but you're soooo fucking WeHo. Does he bleach his hair? It looks like it in other photos. He's a hot cub, I just want hot cubs to not have be so affected by the shallow WeHo standards, which are so plastic and unsexy it's not even funny. Still, I'd not kick him out of bed. Maybe he could replace Mondo for a week so I can gaze at he all episode.

The goal this week is to pick one of four superheroes and to make a female outfit inspired by these superheroes, without going to costume. Oscar chooses Gamora, the most dangerous woman in the universe. Asha chooses Falcon, the first African-American superhero. Sam chooses Hawkeye, a rebel. And, Shan chooses Captain Marvel, formerly Ms Marvel, a strong woman or something. Why, yes, Marvel does have a couple of female superheroes...apparently. Just because Gamora is a side or group character in most of her comics, doesn't mean she doesn't count! Shut up!

The main thrust of this week's drama is Sam and Shan centric. Sam gets stuck in a gloomy depressed place because he's been all alone and under pressure for a month, and now that he's in the final four, he knows that it's time to let his drama fly so he can be in the final three! First he chooses Hawkeye because he's a rebel. Then, he starts reading the Hawkeye comic book and sulking in the green room so everybody can see him sulking in the background. Then he opens up about being teased on the bus as a kid...which was so done last season. "Just like what every gay kid has to go through." And, then, at the end of the episode, he talks about his suicide attempts! WAY TO GO SAM! 

Sorry if I sound a bit cynical, but, throughout the episode, he hit a lot of different buttons. Not that it's not a typical story of gay people around the world, but it seemed rather calculated compared to other reveals. Especially given what he eventually ends up with.  But, we'll get to that when the time is right...

Shan is also feeling lonely, but he constantly reminds us that YES, Shan is straight, and YES, Shan is married with three kids. Stop thinking he's gay! He's very married, thank you. Oscar also wants some drama time, but his attempts at creating drama is so half-assed compared to bullying and suicide. Oscar only has semi-low confidence due to a bad critique last week. I have to say, I respect his trying not to fabricate drama to save his ass. Asha saved her ass by throwing Natalia under the bus a couple weeks ago, so she doesn't need to be the star of this week. And, yes, I'm still bitter about that.

Sam's design has been waylaid by his day-long depression, so he only has a variety of fabrics to show with an explanation of what he's doing. He has a LOT of fabrics. A LOT. Purple, and polka-dot, and another patterns, and another color and things are color blocked and...it's all confused. But, because we have to walk on eggshells with Mondo and his positivity, Tim tells him that this is SMASHING, and that's in a good way. By the time we get to the model fitting, his whole top is completely confused. There's purple underneath a black and white hash pattern with a thick black shoulder strap. It's like the 80s got drunk and vomited all over the 90s. And, to add to it, he gives his model an afro, adding in the 1970s. 

We finally boogie down to the runway. This week's special guest judge is Jaime Alexander, a co-star of Thor 2. See! There are females in Marvel movies!!

• Oscar (Team Nick): It's a borderline costume. I mean it's a badass outfit that totally captures powerful aspects while also emphasizing the model as a female. The cloak is kind of cool. but, its the giant panels of fabric that extend from the shoulders that take it into costume land for me. They're unnecessary but would look cool in slow-mo.  It's rather Gamora, but not literal.
• Asha (Team Mondo): A Grecian goddess meets a warrior. It's not bad. It's just not that superhero to me. It's a little too soft to be warrior. And, more than that, I don't see any connection from the hard-edged urban Falcon to the Grecian goddess. Maybe I'm missing it though.
• Sam (Team Mondo): Wut?! You're kidding, right? I'm sorry you guys, but...this is a clown outfit. Those pants are amazing pajama clown pants. The top is an amazing bib that doesn't match the pants. The back of the top is long and deep (because superheroes don't wear bras) with all sorts of manner of straps hanging down in weird directions. Then there's the bit that's stained. It's a fucking mess. It's not boring, but it's not good.
• Shan (Team Anya): LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Hard-edged bad ass dress with leather straps. I mean, we've seen bits and pieces of it before. But, put together it is a great and amazing outfit that is all strength and fierceness. Amazing. 

The judging makes good observations. You guys, I haven't mentioned the judging much, but I think the judges on this show are actually really good. There isn't much egregious terrifying lapses in judgement, and they say things that I think we're all thinking. The only time things go haywire is supposedly after Sam breaks down on the runway. He doesn't bring up his suicide attempts on the runway literally, saving that for the asides. Or, at least that's the way it's edited. Anyways, after the suicide attempt reveals, suddenly everybody starts revealing their private parts of their lives and say that Sam's outfit is interesting. For some reason. And, nobody wins. Nobody loses.

What a gyp. Finale is a one-parter next week with special guests Heidi Klum and Neil Patrick Harris! If there's one way to get me to be excited for next week, it's fucking Neil Patrick Harris. OMG, that guy is awesome.

Stray Observations:

• Cort Lane is really hot, but he has nothing on Handlebar Moustache Guy. *swoon* Maybe they could get their own reality show together? I know, I've been swooning over HMG for years now, but...he's so fucking hot.
• Asha was hilarious. "Sam isn't being himself. He's not even talking to me!!!" It's so Asha centric, I couldn't even deal.
• Oscar is totally channelling Bruce Willis with his hat choice.
• No, Mondo, Asha did not expose such a private part of her soul. That was just an outfit. And kind of a storebought one compared to previous works.
• The Trevor Project is totally worthwhile. I highly recommend passing their glory around. The more people who know about The Trevor Project, the better. Because the more people who know, the more people who will use them, and the more lives that may be saved. Which is a good thing. Just keep the trauma off the runway.

Project Runway S12 E 12: "Butterfly Effect"

Just shut up and do your damn work!

Zzzzzzzzzz

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

*huh* Wuh. Wut.

Oh yeah, Project Runway.

You guys, this is was the most unnecessary episode of Project Runway I think we've experienced.  It's the final episode before we send people home to design for Fashion Week.  We still have five designers, but anybody who has watched Project Runway for any length of time knows that we have to pretend like there is something of suspense in this episode.  Like the stakes are really high, when the overall stakes of the next two episodes are "Whose outfits will we get to see on TV?"

To Project Runway's credit, they played down that tension.  They know that we know that everybody at this point goes to Fashion Week.  It worked like the first two seasons, but when one of the biggest fan sites has pictures of everybody's runway already up for a month, then you might as well give up the fakery.

So, what are the producers to do?  Well, they saved the avant garde episode for last.  Normally, the avant garde episode isn't the FINAL episode since many of the best avant garde challenges have been from team challenges (still fondly remembering Chris March and Christian Siriano's Season 3 look), but its a 2-day challenge this year, so yay for that.

We haven't had the L'oreal makeup challenge yet.  So, that gets tossed into the mix.

And, the last bit of challenge (at this point) is that they're inspired by...butterflies.  I guess this is because of some sort of butterfly mascara.  Billy B is L'oreal's rep.  His words of wisdom?  "Be inspired."  Thanks, Billy.  Alexandria is attracted to a dark butterfly.  Justin is attracted to an "outsider" butterfly that kind of looks like a moth.  Dom expresses enthusiasm for being able to go wild with color and inspiration.  Helen is going to be "Lux as Hell."

Once we get out of Mood, however, we get the best 5 minutes that I think Project Runway has ever had.  Now that's we're down to 5 designers, we get to spend time with the designers learning their process.  Justin goes into detail on his piping and sewing to make this incredibly intricate look of ropes. He explains how he has to make each and every pipe and sew it into a pattern.  And, then Bradon, who spent his time watching butterflies, is inspired to make noodles, but he doesn't know why.  He's being driven by divinity.

L'oreal comes in and does makeup consulting with Billy B.  I miss Handlebar Moustache Guy in this sequence.  HMG, you're amazing.  There is also a special focus on nails.  No, Nomi Malone, not your murder nails.  No, Nomi...that's a bad Nomi!!! Shouldn't you be on Dancing with the Stars?  Maybe you can do mine sometime?   /sorry

Tim comes in and does his critiques.  This episode really shows Tim's strength as a consultant.  I really couldn't see much of the final dresses in any of the forms at this point.  The only thing that I could see was that Cryface is making a cheap Halloween costume, and Tim calls her out for it.  Cryface breaks down again.  Bradon echoes the audience, "drama drama drama."  Tim is like, "stop crying every episode."  Dom is like "stop crying!!!"  Cryface's model is like "stop fucking crying, or I'm not getting my goddamn spread!!"  Oh, and Alexandria's look is another dark goth cyberpunk deconstructed dress.  Zzzzzz.

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Oh, wait...there's another challenge?  What?  Producers, were you bored?  Did you actually have scheduling conflicts with the judges?  Regardless of the reasons, we get a day 3, and a second challenge. Anyways...Because butterflies are transformative, then the designers have to transform their ex-fellow designers' losing looks into a new look.  You know, its not bad enough for the losers to have lost...they have to see what other designers will do with their losing look.  Now, turn the knife to the right.

Justin chooses his own dress.  I have to wonder if Justin was told to choose his look.  Sort of like, "dude.  You've not impressed us since your save.  How about impressing us by revamping your losing look?"  Nothing else of note was chosen.

At some point, mid-afternoon, Alexandria calls home to some camp.  You can tell it's mid-afternoon by how bright the window is.  But, the storyline chooses to push this to end of the night when Alexandria is having a breakdown.  zzzzzzzzzz.

Makeup, nails and hair time.  Random dreams about fashion week blahblahblah...and then its runway show!  Guest judge is Emmy Rossum.

Runway:

Avant Garde
Dom: It's like the Paris version of "I threw a jacket over my PJs." I really love the jacket, and it feels very edgy and sweet.  The sweatpants jumpsuit look...its OK.  It's better on its own.  But, the jacket is to die for.

Alexandria: Goth, deconstructed cyberpunk complete with silver hair on a black woman.  Jesus. It's like Halle Berry from Swordfish stole out of Catwoman's closet to go to a blood rave in Blade.

Cryface: OK, I know that Tim Gunn said he liked carrots at the beginning of the episode, but you didn't need to make a carrot.  OK, that was a bit of a potshot.  The dress is like a fall fashion look.  I think it was unfair for the judges to compain about the orange, because I quite like the orange and think it went well on the model.  It was a nice dress, but I dunno if it was avant garde.

Justin: A total Monet. The rope effect is nice from far away, but up close it's a big ole mess.  From afar it has great lines. From up close, its like a mop.  And the jacket was good, but over that dress it made the model look pregnant.

Braden: Stellar.  As soon as I saw what he did, I thought it looked amazing. Like Zac, I've never seen anything like it. It's brave, bold, experimental, and not ugly.  It's not costume, but it toes the line between costume and art.

Transformation
Dom: Transforming London's look which was based on him dressing Peach Carr (it seemed), from some sort of mom real estate agent into a youthful modern wintery look.  I kind of love.

Alexandria: Transforming Portlandia's losing look based on her dressing some form of lame Amy Winehouse, Alexandira tok it, and deconstructed it a little bit, make it a bit more pomo richy punk.  You guys, she just really hammered home my judgement of lame cyberpunk.  With a shitty fake mohawk and pigtails.

Cryface: Transforming Kate's What-the-hell-I-don't-even look, she made it look like a chic secretary. Meh.  It's a damn sight better, but its still meh.

Justin: Transforming his own foamy vagina look, he made a perfectly acceptable blak dress with a little touch of fabric.  I'm nonplussed as its a totally different dress with a helluva lot of new material.

Bradon: Transforming Sue's look of junky placemats, he makes a fetishistic rubber maid outfit?  I dunno.  The judges loved it, but I kept wanting to heat up the rubber to make it mold to the skin.  And the half panel of placemat in the front.  Not a fan.

Anyways, the judges are indecisive.  They know they want Bradon and Dom in the competition (as all of us do by this point), and can't decide who is worse between Alexandria, Cryface and Justin.  Our commenters also feel this pain.  So, nobody goes home, but because we have to have a competition in Episode 13, Alexandria, Cryface and Justin are all on the chopping block.  So, no real winner. No real loser. The show goes on.

Non-episode.

zzzzzzzzz

Stray observations:

- Heidi really likes sausages

- Heidi also sees the stupid cyberpunk aesthetic in Alexandria, and may be the only reason she didn't go home.

- I used to love Doggy Chow.