Episode Report Card Al Lowe: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Ripped from the Headlines
By Al Lowe | Season 6 | Episode 5 | Aired on 09.17.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Everyone's pretty scared now that they look around and see that the remaining designers are all pretty good. Insecurities are on full display when Irina bashes Althea's suit from last week in an interview (again) and Nicolas rips on Johnny and Irina. Tim Gunn levels the playing field when he reveals that this week, the designers have to make garments out of newspapers. Because... sure. "Um, yyyeah," Nicolas says, and I totally agree. They all grab huge stacks and rolls of newsprint, and haul it back to the workroom. They are also given paints, markers and dyes, and allowed to use muslin as an infrastructure. Tim delivers an awesome little history lecture on paper clothing and gives them until midnight to work on their designs.
Naturally, many of them freak out, but several of them seem to have interesting ideas for unique designs. Much folding, ripping and painting goes on. Personalities we have not yet seen begin to emerge in this time of tension. Irina's kind of a witch and Shirin never shuts up.
Tim's early reviews include positive reinforcement for Gordana and Christopher, and woeful concerns for Johnny. Of course, this causes Johnny to wad up his dress and throw it away with four hours left, meaning he will have to start all over. The models arrive and Johnny does his standard routine, spiraling and whining. He gets depressed about his design and blames the iron for ruining it even though everyone saw him throw it away, himself. The other designers seem completely over him.
In spite of all the ridiculousness, many of the dresses ended up being quite cool. The judges once again love Althea's work and also like Irina's trenchcoat and Christopher's ballgown. Things get ugly when Johnny tries to bust his lies on the runway about his original dress, and Nicolas cannot hold his tongue. It doesn't do either of them any favors, because the judges hate both their designs and they go together into the bottom two. In the end, Irina is named the winner, and Johnny gets the boot.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The real competition has begun, now that the nutty people and the less-capable designers have been sent home. I do miss Malvin, frankly. I still think his austing was unfortunate.
It is the morning of a new challenge and everyone is getting ready. Carol Hannah is putting on her eye makeup... with a chimney brush. She unfortunately styles herself every day to look like she just woke up from being out drinking all night, and while that is certainly sexy on occasion, if you do it every day it comes off a bit... how shall I say it? Essence of Tara Reid. We don't want that, CH. She says that they all realize that they are narrowing down to the designers who really "have it together." But, she adds, "someone has to go home, so that's a little bit scary." Meanwhile, my beloved Gordana diligently irons her clothes and hope that the challenge doesn't have some weird twist to it.
In the men's bedroom, Johnny sings a little song of insecurity about how he will never be in the bottom three again. He says in an interview that being in the bottom three is probably the most icky feeling he's ever felt. He says that he's really focused now. "I really want to get to Bryant Park," he says. "So, I'm just trying to get my job done." Good idea.
Althea is hoping she can show the judges that her win last week was not a fluke, and that she is really talented. The judges may already know this, but Irina, for one, does not agree. "Althea ends up winning," she snarks in an interview, complete with eye-rolling, "and I was in utter shock." She says she'd be the first to congratulate anyone who wins if she feels like their win was well-earned, but "that wasn't." Irina, you sly dog. Waiting until episode five to carve out the Bitch Niche. Interesting.
Maybe she's been working on it a lot behind the scenes, though, because it seems Nicolas, for one, has put on her on his People Who Do Not Deserve To Be Here list. At the top of that list, however, is Johnny.
At the runway, Heidi appears in high-waisted pants and a black-and-white striped t-shirt, looking kind of overly casual. But, as usual, the outfit is themed. This week, she says, the answers "will all be in black and white." Everyone gasps like they know exactly what she is talking about which obviously none of them do. "Because we're in L.A.," Logan says in an interview, "my thoughts instantly go to like, old Hollywood black-and-white movies." You wish, gorgeous. Instead, they are met by the always-educational Tim Gunn, who takes them on a little trip to the L.A. Times. Exciting! Indeed, seeing a newspaper press will soon be tantamount to visiting a museum, considering the current state of journalism, so this is pretty cool. Tim introduces Booth Moore, "the celebrated fashion critic" of the L.A. Times. She tells them that for their next challenge, they'll be bringing all their experience to bear at a practical level and using pages from the newspaper to create their next look. "Our material is newspaper," Nicolas interviews. "Ummm, yyyeah. I'm speechless." Imagine the most "whatever" 14-year-old girl saying that in her most "whatever" attitude, and you might have the tone right.