Episode Report Card Jeff Long: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Soutache Her?
By Jeff Long | Season 11 | Episode 5 | Aired on 02.21.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.We begin on the runway, right after the last runway show. Heidi is carrying the lovely velvet button bag! She says that it's time to mix things up. They will be working in smaller groups. Samantha gets to choose first. She goes with Daniel. Then, Heidi starts choosing from the button bag. It's Richard and he chooses Stanley. Patricia is next and she chooses Layana. Layana is not psyched. Matt is next and chooses Michelle. Kate chooses Tu. That leaves Benjamin and Amanda together.
That night, Amanda tells Michelle and Layana that she is hurt that her team said she was the weakest link. The next day, they go to honky tonk bar Johnny Utah's. Tim greets them and tells them that they will be designing for Miranda Lambert. Each team will create a performance look and a red carpet look.
At Mood, Benjamin didn't get enough stuff. While they are designing, Tim comes in for his consultation and hates what Tu is making. He thinks it's more Lady Gaga instead of Miranda Lambert. He is thinking about enhancing her curves, something Miranda Lambert needs no help with. Layana and Patricia are also not getting along, as Pat is making a dress that Layana feels might be to ambitious. Richard's look shows a lot of skin and Tim warns him about that. Amanda gets a lot of enthusiasm from Tim for her idea of a fringe dress. He also likes Benjamin's look a lot, so that is encouraging.
Michelle reveals an EXCELLENT Nina Garcia impression. Truly stellar. Amanda reveals that her brother is a member of Maroon 5! She wants her overachieving family to be proud of her. Michelle gets worried because Matt is super slow making his look.
Everyone thinks that Daniel's wins have gone to his head, because he is in love with his manipulation of his textiles while they think it's not that great. Richard uses some Mood t-shirts that he purchased for personal use as a way to line his garment and not show so much skin.
On the runway, Amanda's dress turns out great. Benjamin's is lovely too. Tu's dress is super interesting. Daniel's dress actually looks really cute on the runway. Matt's look is really simple and short, but Michelle's look is cool. Patricia pulled off her look as well. Richard/Stanley and Amanda/Benjamin are the top teams. They all say that they enjoyed working with each other. Michelle/Matt and Samantha/Daniel are in the bottom. Nina yells at Daniel about his look being cheap-looking. Richard wins the challenge! The bottom three are Matt, Daniel and Michelle. Matt goes home, which is so sad.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: The designers worked with items from a flower shop and a hardware store to create two cohesive lines. Dream Team finally woke up from their nightmare (see what I did there) and won a challenge. Everybody essentially did a nice job, so they had to kind of makeup reasons to put Amanda and Joe in the bottom. I stand by the fact that Joe's look was really cool and thoughtful, but he got the boot. As far as Amanda goes, it looks like her team sort of glommed onto this idea that her look had been a time suck for the team, which she was surprised to hear. I think it was a stretch to say that she dragged everyone down, but bygones. Moving on. Samantha won the challenge! After Joe left, Tim came in and told the designers to get back to the runway. This isn't over.
The designers make their way back into the runway area. Heidi appears behind the scrim and everyone sees that she's carrying the button bag. Uh oh. They're all nervous and hate the bag. Heidi explains that they are going to be working in smaller groups and they are going to choose their design partners. Stanley says that he is excited to be free of the group dynamic. He's eager to work with just one other person. Tim says that they should consider which designers will complement them and push them to up their game. Samantha gets to choose first. She interviews that she doesn't know who to choose, but she chooses Daniel. He's very excited. Samantha thinks that it's a good idea because they both like shapes. Then, Heidi chooses a name from the button bag. It's Richard's. Without hesitation, he chooses Stanley. He interviews that his vibe with Stanley is great. This is destiny. OK, he looks just a little creepy when he says that, but that's fine. Patricia is chosen from the bag next and she chooses Layana, maybe because she's standing next to her. Layana is a little worried because she says that she and Patricia don't get along that well together. This could be disaster. People really don't like Patricia very much. I sort of dig that she seems to have no idea that she's not popular.
Matt is chosen next and he chooses Michelle. They seem like they should be a good pair, but I worry about Michelle being the total Dark Princess of the workroom all of the time and potentially bringing him down. Matt seems like a bit of a delicate soul. Michelle worries that he will be his worst enemy and they will somehow end up in the bottom. Now, that's just negative. Also, worry about yourself. Obviously I've been dancing around it for a while, but I just think I don't like Michelle very much. There's something simultaneously tight and strident about her. It's an ugly combo. Kate is next and she chooses Tu. That's kind of an adorable pairing. I feel like we don't hear enough of what Tu has to say, which is unfortunate because his designs so far have been really creative and I'd love to hear more about his influences and how he approaches the challenges. If the problem is that English isn't his first language, they should just hire a translator and let him speak unencumbered. That leaves Benjamin and Amanda together. Benjamin interviews that he doesn't know much about Amanda, except that her entire team hung her out to dry during the last judging. So, he's feeling a little nervous.