Episode Report Card Potes: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Roll with the Punches
By Potes | Season 15 | Episode 8 | Aired on 10.27.2010
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.We're two-thirds of the way through the season, and thus the impending Ann meltdown comes partially to fruition. The girls start off with a surprise visit from Miss J. and designer Zac Posen, and learn that they will be walking in a show for Zac's new line, Z Space. But the girls aren't the only ones who will be in the show. Several professional models are on board as well, and are told by Miss J. to be mean and catty and try to throw our still-fragile contestants off their game. They are real naturals at this. Several of the girls dismiss the professional models as whack bitches, but a few don't fare so well. Esther tries really hard to show her personality, but instead winds up looking like she has a prosthetic leg. Ann takes the model bullying the hardest, and completely freaks herself out. She is a total disaster on the runway. Chelsey works it the best of all, and gets five looks from Zac's new line for her troubles.
Instead of a photo shoot, the girls must shoot a commercial for H2T water, which is not in fact a real drink. Nigel directs. As if the challenge of memorizing a few simple lines weren't enough, the girls must be in bathing suits, on roller skates, and kissing a boy. Kayla really freaks out at the prospect of kissing a boy, and finally tells Jay Manuel that she was sexually assaulted when she was eleven. This is the first time Kayla has told this to anybody, including her family and her girlfriend. Jay actually seems to offer her some words of comfort, and basically ends by telling her to go to therapy. Determined not to lose the competition because of her psychological distress, Kayla works her way through the commercial and does a fine, if not exceptional, job. She also realizes that talking about things is helpful, which bodes well for her future prospects.
Liz biffs the commercial royally and then laughs about it at every turn, which really pisses off Nigel. Esther continues on her path of having zero personality and impresses no one with her performance. And then there's Ann. She's completely freaked out about the possibility of falling on her roller skates and having people laugh at her. Thus, she looks absolutely frightened the whole time and continuously falls. It's really a terrible performance, replete with lots of tears and a continual patina of misery. I hope Jay suggested therapy to her, too, because this girl needs it. Chris takes the top prize for the week with her bubbly if cheesy performance, while Esther and Ann land in the bottom two. And you know they're not going to eliminate Ann. Esther is toast. Kosher toast.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Top Model: The girls competed to be a Grammy girl, with Kayla taking home the ultimate prize, which was to give out prizes. The photo shoot for the week had the girls embodying famous fashion designers, and made clear who reads Vogue on a regular basis and who doesn't. Liz's portrayal of a cock-eyebrowed John Galliano finally broke Ann's top photo winning streak, while Kendal got the boot. Seven bitches remain!
The girls return to their house after the last judging, and Liz squeals with delight upon seeing her best-of-week photo framed as digital artwork. She tells us that she feels privileged to have broken Ann's five-week winning streak. Liz doesn't want to get conceited and bigheaded, but at the same time she feels great. From homeless shelter to having your photo displayed as digital art! Someone alert Lifetime to this moving story of courage. Ann is a little sadsy-sads about the whole situation. She says that she's not particularly worried about going home, but she is getting a bit nervous because the other girls have improved so much. Ann should get worried about the commercials and runway shows that loom in her future, because that shit is not going to be pretty. Esther reminds us that she was in the bottom two at the last panel and, per Tyra's instructions, has to come out more personality-wise. She also needs to blow her nose, because she always sounds stuffy. Esther is going to try to show more of herself, which I don't think is actually a good strategy given how sweet but dull she seems. When in doubt, adopt the personality of the contestant who is most irritating but has some sort of disease or secret pain.
There is Tyra Mail: "To be a top model, you will need help with posin'. Love, Tyra." Before you can say "Joan Crawford eyebrows," Miss J. enters to give the girls some information. They have a fashion show tomorrow, and are about to meet their amazing designer -- Mr. Zac Posen himself! Zac emerges imp-like and with some level of panache, and all of the girls must really regret being bare-faced and in their PJs. Chelsey, who seems like the one true fashionista of the bunch, is freaking out. Zac tells the girls that tomorrow they will be launching his new brand, Z-Spoke, and that they'll be accompanied on the catwalk by some real-live professional models. It's a challenge, and so Zac and Miss J. will be judging them. Ann tells us that she's not sure if she's ready to walk in a real runway show, given how whack her walk is. She tells us flatly that it's exciting but nervewracking at the same time. It is also exciting but nervewracking to see her impending breakdown telegraphed so soon into the episode.