Episode Report Card Jeff Long: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Polly Want The Head Of Anya On A Platter?
By Jeff Long | Season 9 | Episode 11 | Aired on 10.06.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.It's getting really real for the designers, now that Anthony (Ryan) is gone. I never could call him Anthony Ryan. It just felt weird. They don't really suit each other, those names. They meet Tim for the challenge and Collier Strong is there! Also, there are a bunch of exotic birds. I'm scared for those birds. This is the Paris Challenge. The designers have to create a couture look that is inspired by a bird. The winner of the challenge will be featured in Marie Claire and will take home 20 grand. Seriously. They have to work in teams of two which, of course, excites no one. But, they are randomly matched with the button bag and it's Anya and Laura, Bert and Josh and Viktor and Kimberly. Everyone seems pleased with their teammate. They are matched with specific birds -- Anya and Laura get a raven, Bert and Josh get a parrot and Viktor and Kimberly get this fluffy pink bird. Tim adds that this is a head-to-head challenge. The people on the teams are actually working against each other. One person from each team will be on top and one person will be on the bottom.
Josh thinks he's more high fashion than Bert. Is that true? Tim tells the designers that they have to make a second version of their look, a read-to-wear look. A cockroach makes an appearance in the workroom and Kimberly freaks OUT. Then, she sews through her finger. Poor thing is not having a good day. She has a moment in the bathroom but pulls it together. Kimberly has had a rough go of it -- her mom, stepdad and brother have all died -- and the stakes in this challenge bring all of that up for her.
Josh decides to scrap his original dress and start over and gets upset that Anya won't lend him any fabric. Tim comes in to consult and gives Kimberly a huge hug and tells her to stop thinking and just feel. She scraps her original idea and ends up with a one-shouldered gown that Viktor feels is a rip-off of his look. On the day of the show, Tim tells the designers that they have to (get to?) choose the favorite of their two looks to walk the runway.
Most Important Moment In This Episode: We learn that the hot make-up daddy's name is Javier. Of course it is.
On the runway, the designers really make a good showing. Everybody loves Anya's look and the designers are getting really antsy about how much praise she gets. Anya, Josh and Kimberly are in the top! Kimberly is in the top! That's awesome. Anya wins again and it makes Josh furious. Not a good sport, that one. Laura and Bert are the bottom two. And, Bert's going home. Heidi says that he's a great designer but botched this challenge.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: When Anya was at Mood, she lost the money for her supplies. It never turned up ever, which is a little odd, don't you think? The other designers, minus Viktor, come together to help her out. She had previously given tons of fabric to other designers, so it's not like she didn't have some good karma coming back to her. Josh says, in an interview that we have never ever, ever seen, that he'd really like to spend some more time with BERT, because he's really a sweet man. Certainly, that's what I think of when I think of what has happened previously on Project Runway, stuff that has never been seen and is totally the opposite of the stuff we have seen. I don't know what I'd do without them refreshing my memory like this. I'm right, right? That has never been seen, Josh talking about lunch dates and craft hours with Bert. Anya won the challenge because she's amazing. She's getting some serious backlash from the other designers. Not Anthony, but, sadly, he got the boot.
It's morning at Atlas. Laura is curling her hair and says to Anya that she is standing by Anthony's dress -- she liked it. I liked it too, but his first look was so awful that I think he was kind of doomed. Coupled with the fact that, while Josh's look was ridiculous, he was taking a bold risk and they don't usually like to punish people too much for that. Laura interviews that Anthony leaving makes real the fact that they are all really talented now and it's every person for themselves, though she has lots of issues with gender and pronouns and the mannequins are all, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves -- minus the eats. We want the other two to happen."
In the boys' apartment, Josh says that the best thing to do (for himself) after the previous challenge is to put it behind you. Then, Viktor offers that it's like Heidi says, one day you're in and the next you're oooot. It's been a while since I've done that. Viktor. There's been this weird inverse reaction for me where the more I like his clothes, the less I like him as a person. He seems so desperate, even as he's doing well. So afraid to see other people get help in any way. He's kind of the opposite of Valerie from last season. She struggled as the season went on but worked hard to recognize the talent around her, while Viktor seems like he's trying to vilify the others in his mind a little bit. Look how cold and tight he seems most of the time now. Granted, he's more successful in the competition than she was, but I imagine that she's a happier person. He seems to have that notion of success as a zero-sum proposition -- there's just only so much to go around. Anya, meanwhile, the absolute opposite of that point-of-view, has the exact attitude I'd want a daughter of mine to have. Treat other people as well as you can and you're own success is up to you -- it doesn't have anything to do with anyone else. That's probably not entirely true, but look what a confident, inspiring person it makes of her? I know that I'm reaching bizarro heights in my worshipful stance about this girl, but I so don't care. He says that Josh is the only competition that he has, but he's a very bad editor. These people are not paying attention. Anya is winning. Just because she came with less sewing experience is not a reason to discount her. In fact, she's probably getting better at it every challenge. I'd be afraid of her. As the boys leave, Viktor makes a remark about how it's always a pleasure to see Tim and the other guys laugh. Sounds like they're not that fond of his critiques?