Episode Report Card Jeff Long: A | 2 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Claws Out
By Jeff Long | Season 11 | Episode 9 | Aired on 03.21.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.We start the show with the girls talking about how crazy they think Richard is. Michelle calls him an '80s diva queen, which I find a little annoying. They meet Tim at Lord & Taylor to hear about the next challenge. First, Tim tells them that the teams are being reconfigured. Patricia and Stanley are working together. Michelle and Daniel are a team. Of course, Michelle has shit to talk about Daniel. They have to produce a look inspired by the Lord & Taylor rose that is right for spring. There is still a lot of tension between Layana and Richard after the knock-down drag-out on the runway during the last challenge.
Stanley and Patricia have a hard time working together. He is trying to lead her and she resists and he calls her on being defensive. They seem to work their stuff out, but it’s not comfortable. Michelle hates the pink fabric that Daniel is using and she is letting him know. Richard won’t speak to Layana at all. Tim comes in to consult and likes Samantha’s look, though he has problems with both Layana and Richard. He thinks that the vest Michelle is making is way too severe. That said, Tim is not a fan of Daniel’s pink either. After he leaves, Daniel and Michelle get into this weird fight where Daniel was really offended that she said he needed his design to be right for 21-year-olds. Did she actually say that? I don’t know, but since it’s Michelle we’re talking about, I’m on Daniel’s side. Samantha is actually the only person that doesn’t seem to have some beef with someone else in the workroom. This is hardcore. When was the last time you can remember the episode title not pertaining to the actual challenge?
That night, Daniel is consoled by Richard and Stanley at the apartment. Michelle interviews that she would feel sorry for Daniel if he were eliminated, but she doesn’t care ultimately. I can’t stand her. The next day, he and Michelle sort of make up right away. Samantha has some construction problems towards the end and Daniel is working on his dress up to the last minute.
Patricia and Stanley make it to the next round. Michelle and Daniel are the winning team! Which, of course, means that Layana, Daniel and Samantha are the losing team. Wow, Michelle’s model is a full foot taller than Daniel. Samantha gets grief for her design being too literal. Heidi loves Richard’s dress, though Nina is not impressed. Layana gets mixed reviews. Everyone likes the design but hates her floral print. Michelle wins the challenge. Gross. Whatever, her dress was great. Richard and Samantha are the bottom two. Richard is... in. I’m sorry to see Samantha go.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: The designers had to create tear-away clothing for Australian strippers who live in Vegas. There were two teams and the team of Richard, Layana, Richard and Samantha completely imploded, including a knock-down drag out fight on the runway with Richard and Layana (and a little bit Amanda). Amanda should have fought harder, because it might have saved her from going home, but I doubt it. The pants that she made were beyond wrong.
At the Atlas Building, the guys are waking up and seem sad to realize that it wasn't a dream. The Thunder from Down Under does indeed exist and it paid its wrathful visit upon their lives. Richard, who seems shell-shocked, interviews that he is thankful that he survived it. Don't relax, Richard. They could still be out there. He thinks back on Layana and Amanda trashing him on the runway. He says that he is still upset with them and he won't forget it. I'm not sure that is the best idea for him. Someone like me, now I can take a grudge, wrap it in some velvet-y pouch-like creation and stuff it in the back of my head all shiny and protected until the moment that I need it, say when you are bent over at a water fountain or you have toilet paper on your shoe. Richard? I'm not sure he can do that. He's a little too emotional all of the time.
Michelle and her stupid soccer mom who went to Lollapalooza hair says that she and the other girls have three goals: Richard, Daniel and Stanley. Layana says that Daniel and Stanley are vintage and Richard is (jazz hands and sunrise hand movement accompaniment) "crazy." OK, here's the thing: over the past few challenges, Richard's personality has started to wear on me a little bit. There is some sort of disconnect with him, at least for me watching him on television. He seems to not be able to read a room very well and that's one of my requirements for people that I like a lot. But, Layana has revealed herself to actually be a pretty nasty person. A friend of mine and I like to always have sort of a briefing on our feelings about the different designers and I mentioned Michelle and Layana as the two that I'm really not feeling this season. My friend named it though. She said that, first of all, Layana was a gross mix of whiny and snobby. Nailed it. Additionally, while Michelle is sort of straight-up mean girl, it's preferable to Layana's daddy's little mean girl. Also, nailed, which makes Michelle seem more likable by default, I think. Another thing I've noticed, and Layana is flaunting it right now with her stupid Fosse movement, is she is very subtly making fun of him because he's gay. She has done it before too. All of her coded bullshit about him being a man (which she kind of posed as a question) so he should know menswear and the way she describes with a sneer his work as "over the top" or whatever, I think it's pretty disrespectful. Maybe she thinks that because she works in the fashion industry and probably works with a lot of gay dudes she's definitely not going to come off as inappropriate. It's just like gay guys touching boobs because they think it's not a big deal. Don't do it. She interviews that she doesn't get Richard, mentioning again that he's over the top and tacky. She thinks he should have gone home instead of Amanda, which is kind of ridiculous. The pants wouldn't even stay on the Thunders. Michelle adds that Richard has a lot of "1980's diva queen" in him. Now, you see, maybe I'm just being too sensitive, but I want her to shut the fuck up. Masculinity aside, this concept that you lose your freaking gender because of an aesthetic choice...I'm super annoyed with this right now. I mean, I can be a total sissy and that doesn't mean that I'm not a man. I can know NOTHING about making menswear and that doesn't make me less of a man. And they toss it out there in such a glib way. Hmm. This may just be my beef, but whatever.